Catherine's Travels

Rowan and Janey's wedding in Tarkastad!

2009-11-04T02:13:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing time at their wedding, it was great to see Rowan and meet Janey. The S. Africa/Scottish traditions were fun to take part in, from the braai (bbq lamb - a whole lamb!), to the bagpiper and to the many many toasts. Rowan also busted out a country song that he sang to Janey, it was quite good - and interesting to see how quickly he has transitioned from a city slicker to a "country boy"!

Tsitsikamma National Park

2009-11-04T02:05:00.000-08:00

Today we spent at Tsitsikamma National Park outside of Plettenberg Bay. We had a busy day, starting out with a hike to Storms Mouth, then a delicious cheese lunch at a small cheesemaker's house, followed by a canopy tour. We have never seen such high waves!

Hermanus - whale sightings!

2009-11-04T02:00:00.001-08:00

Hermanus is a small town along the Garden Route towards Port Elizabeth. It is known for its whale watching. The whales are a different kind than we see in N. America - they travel to Antarctica after the S. Africa summer.

Cape Town!

2009-10-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brent and I toured around Cape Town. We went to Camps Bay for lunch, and I took a pic at the beach there. It is very beautiful here with the mountains and the water almost everywhere you look (that sounds a lot like Seattle, doesn't it!).

Whale Sharks, Mafia Island and Tree Houses

2009-10-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Mafia Island, a very underdeveloped island off the coast of Dar. It was absolutely beautiful. We stayed at a place that had NO electricity, NO running water and the accomodations were open air tree houses. It was amazing. Mafia is known for its whale sharks, which is not only the biggest shark, but also the biggest fish (great piece of trivia!). They are like whales in that they don't eat people, just plankton and little fish. Unfortunately, we didn't see one, but we had an amazing day snorkeling.

The Himalayas!

2009-10-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday we hiked up to the top of "Gun Hill" in Musoorie to catch a glimpse of the Himalayas. They pronounce it as "ihm-ahl-yus" accent on the second syllable. After we reached the top we all had a breakfast picnic with chai tea - it was a pretty great morning!

A busy, but GREAT day!

2009-10-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Field visit in very rural area!

Today I had a busy, but great day! It started out with a field visit, followed by an impromptu stop at a sugar mill and a final stop at a monastary that was built by Tibetans that sought asylum in India. I am loving Mussoorie! Mussoorie is a hill station, situated in the foothills of the Himalaya ranges (at 7,000 feet!).

Mindrolling Monastery

Phnom Penh Delicacy??

2009-10-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after our meetings, we went to the Russian Market or "Tol Tom Pong." We saw these and thought they were prawns and considered getting some. They were sautéing them, and it smelled quite good. You can imagine our faces once we realized what they really were... GRASSHOPPERS! Needless to say, we decided to pass on trying them!

Leaving for two months!

2009-09-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Today I am leaving for a long, but I am sure rewarding, trip! First stop is Cambodia in which I will work with an MFI that is starting work to support victims of human trafficking. After that, I will head to India for our annual Leadership Summit. Then it is over to Tanzania for two weeks of strategic planning sessions and finally - on vacation in South Africa, for a friend's wedding...

Mombasa street scene

2009-05-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

These houses/ shops remind me a bit of San Francisco with their bright colors. There is a really cool and bustling night market in this area too.

Don't leave home without it...

2009-05-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

In the middle of a rural village in Kenya this tiny store accepts AMEX, Visa and Mastercard - priceless!

Safari!

2009-05-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

I went on a short safari over the weekend in Tsavo Park East in Kenya, and LOVED it! My favorite were the giraffes; especially this one that was playing peek-a-boo with me! I really thought the gazelle were beautiful too. As you can see, it is really dry; they are in a horrible drought. Almost all of the waterholes we saw were completely empty.

Zanzibar Pizza!

2009-04-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

Setting up the Pizza stand

Zanzibar Pizza Making - in process!

My colleague and I went to Zanzibar last weekend; which was a lot of fun! They have a specialty at the late night food market called "Zanzibar Pizza". It is beef, cheese, egg, mayo in sort of a pastry shell and then fried. Sounds like a gut-bomb to me! I wasn't able to try it as I had already eaten dinner. You can see in the pictures that they take this very seriously!

I was also able to enjoy a beautiful sunset!

My new favorite food - Ethiopian!!

2009-04-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the best dinner - both food and atmosphere, at Addis in Dar. It is Ethiopian food, which is sort of similar to Indian food. You eat various gravies with a fermented (it is good, just risen) pancake. Pair that with delicious honey wine and top it off with delicious spiced coffee and popcorn. Yum, yum - I will be looking for an Ethiopian Restaurant ASAP when I return.

Kasubi Tombs

2009-03-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the Kasubi Tombs, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tombs are where 4 of the last kings in certain tribes are buried. The descendants (women) from the Kings stay for one month a year at the tomb; then new ones come in. You may think - are there enough descendants to make that work? Well - each of the kings had about 100 children, so it's not a problem!

I also got to met Nicholas, who was my guide. He is quite the entrepreneur! Not only is he a guide for the tombs, but he also owns a soap/shampoo/lotion company and wrote a book (see pic). He also supports his four siblings - from 9 years of age to 20. At 26, that is quite a bit of responsiblity.

Kampala - an African San Francisco?

2009-03-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

Kampala is comprised of seven hills, which makes me think of San Francisco. These are some pictures I took in the very early (yes - I am still very jet lagged!) morning of the city.

Flying into Kampala, over Lake Victoria

2009-03-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

I flew into Kampala, Uganda last night. It was a beautiful flight in, these are picture of Lake Victoria with the sun going down. Lake Victoria is the world's second largest lake and the source of the River Nile. It also has many islands, which are visible in these photos. Unfortunately I am not that great at taking pictures from the plane!

I am excited to spend time in Uganda, it is very beautiful, hilly and green. Kampala reminds me of San Francisco, it is said to be built on 7 hills. The traffic however - I haven't seen it this bad since Bangkok!

Pictures from a day in the field!

2008-11-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went out to the field to observe the operations of the MFI we are working with. I saw these cute kids coming from school and had to take a picture! After I took this I showed them their picture on my camera and they just loved it, I don't think they have seen a digital camera before.

We met with borrowers that had businesses ranging from a hair salon to chair rentals to chicken broilers (I never thought I would see a small room with 1000 - not exagerating- chickens!

Sad story...

2008-11-12T06:39:00.000-08:00

I've gotten quite fond of our taxi driver, Bashir. He has been shuttling us back and forth to our offices daily and yesterday took us all around as we did our field visits. This morning Bashir shared some bad news with us. He had been in the hospital all night with his five month old baby. His son had pneumonia AND malaria. It made me so sad as the likelihood of a baby in the US being faced with those two diseases at the same time I imagine are very small. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will be ok.

Tanzania sunset

2008-11-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

One night in Dubai...

2008-11-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

Friday night I had a very quick stop over in Dubai. We (my colleague and I) arrived around 10pm, and left at 10am. Nevertheless, we were able to see some cool sights. The sail shaped building is a hotel called: "Burj al Arab"- Tower of the Arabs.

Bangalore Office

2008-11-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

I thought I would take a pic of the Bangalore office today. Since I will be focusing on East Africa I don't know when I will be back again - which is sad. I think I have been to India 7 times during my 2 year tenure at Unitus, quite a bit! I leave tomorrow night (Friday) for Tanzania via a one night stopover in Dubai. I am hoping that I can see a little bit of the city - but I only have 13 hours!!

Babloo, the astrologist

2008-11-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight I visited my friend Babloo, the astrologist. He is located on Infantry Road at the Cottage Crafts Emporium. He gave me a very insightful reading and helped me pick out meaningful and beautiful rings for my friends...

YES WE CAN!!!!

2008-11-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

Today a group of my colleagues (all democrats - no surprise) gathered at the Chancery Hotel in Bangalore to cheer Obama on and watch the election returns. It is the first time, and probably the last time that I will:

a) watch election returns at 9:30 am!!!

b) watch election returns poolside

c) watch election returns on another continent, although I guess you never know!!

The shirts say, "Vote from abroad.org" on the back and "Democrats Abroad India"- (and of course "Obamea '08"). Needless to say, we are thrilled with the outcome!

Happy Birthday Karnataka!

2008-11-02T01:47:00.000-07:00

Last night was Karnataka's, the state which the city of Bangalore is in, birthday. There were several firework shows (think 4th of July) as well as a parade. This picture isn't that good (it is hard to take pictures of fireworks) so no, that isn't a planet, it is actually fireworks.

There was also a procession going right past our hotel. Again not a great picture, but it gives the general idea. There were drummers, fireworks being shot off right in the street, replicas of various Hindu gods, etc. It was another LOUD night in Bangalore.

Its a bird, its a plane, its a BALD EAGLE????

2008-11-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, I believe this is a bald eagle that I saw circling above our hotel, smack in the middle of Bangalore! Is that crazy or what?

India Images

2008-10-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had a lovely dinner with my coworkers at Olive Branch. It is an oasis from all the craziness of the city, I almost felt like I was back in Tuscany!

On my walk home I saw this familiar logo, but upon a closer you look you can see the difference to what we are used to at home!

Coffee Day: So close, yet so very, very far...

2008-10-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

Coffee day across the street:

Oncoming traffic:
Every day I am faced with a life changing decision, should I get a coffee at Coffee Day (the Starbucks of India)? The decision is made that much harder as for some reason I allow myself to have the "Tropical Iceburg" which is the equivalent of a frappacino, with probably twice the fat. I usually overcome this by coercing one of my coworkers to take me (and yes, I hold their hand while crossing!)

Purple haze

2008-10-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

Purple has arrived! I have never seen so much purple fashion - every store display is purple, purple, purple. I love it! I am clearly fashion-forward as purple has always been my favorite color! :)

An Italian Wedding

2008-10-26T08:26:00.001-07:00

Hien and I just returned to Milano; it was a beautiful drive from Bagni du Lucca, the village where the wedding was. AND we didn't even get lost with me navigating!

In true Italian fashion the wedding went from 3pm to 5:30am! (I rolled home at 2:30am and Hien of course stayed until the bitter end). The town has only ~10,000 people, so everyone in the village had heard about the "foreigner" wedding, the first one ever. The bride and groom live in Dubai, but are Irish/Australian. As you can imagine, it was a fun group; I am looking forward to going to Dubai and meeting up with my new buddies!

Stimulating the economy!

2008-10-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hien and I did our part in helping the global economy through some major shopping at the largest mall in Europe, Saravelle. Perfect rainy day activity.

Casting my vote

2008-10-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hien, Heather and I made sure to cast our absentee ballot... I am keeping my fingers crossed (Obama 2008!) and will get up very early to watch the returns in India.

At the airport now - flight is in one hour!

Packing and procrastinating...

2008-10-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

I started packing tonight and decided that I better wait until tomorrow, or maybe Wednesday... After all, I'll know more about the weather forecast then. I always end up packing last minute and forgetting stuff, which provides an excellent excuse for shopping...

Countdown to Italy, India and Tanzania!!!

2008-10-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

Six shots later and I am fully inoculated and ready for a whirlwind trip to Italy, India and Tanzania! In Italy I will accompany one of my best friends to a wedding in Bagni di Lucca, a small village in Tuscany. It is described as a "charming little Spa town, nestling in the green valley of the river Lima at the foot of the Apennines, which lie between Tuscany and Emilia." Sounds pretty great to me!

Following Italy I will make my way to Bangalore, India to meet with my Unitus colleagues and team for a week and a half. I am looking forward to a still TBD weekend trip in which I hope to see some of the more rural areas of India.

I will continue on to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to meet an MFI and provide them with strategic and operational consulting. They sound like an amazing organization and it will be a great opportunity for me to learn about the challenges of microfinance in East Africa. And I of course can't wait for my first visit to Africa, although it will just be for a short six days. I travel to Dar via Dubai - so I hope to be able to see some of that city as well.

I have never done a blog before, but I thought it would be fun to take you along with me on this fun adventure!