where i will be - what i will be doing!

So if you're wondering where I am in the next few months...

Approximate Dates of Activities and Trips

I leave Boston on August 14 and travel for 2 days - including a 12 hr layover in London

August 16 - 21 : Orientation at compound in Karen (picture above) - covering aspects of cross-cultural living, introduced to Kiswahili - Kenya's national language

August 21 - 29: Travel to the Roret division of the Buret District in the South Rift for the rural agricultural component - we will receive individual introductions for our rural home-stay families, then we will spend 7 days with them learning about the life of an agricultural community in rural Kenya

September 1 - 12: 1st cluster of classes - staying at compound in Karen, taking classes at the Kenya United Club & at the compound

I will take 4 classes throughout the semester - 1 of them will be Introduction to Swahili - and options for the other 3 are:

* Culture, Environment and Development in East Africa
* Health, Sickness and Healing in Kenya
* The Making of Modern Kenya
* Critical Issues in Socio-Economic Development in Kenya
* Biodiversity Conservation and Management in East Africa

September 13 - 19: Participating in a field component in northern Tanzania - focusing on the causes and consequences of the changes of the culture and livelihood of Hadza, Hadza live on the Yaeda Valley and are among the few people that still practice hunting and gathering, we will make bow and arrows, learn to start a fire with sticks, climb trees, hunt, forage, accompany women on a foraging trip and men on a hunting trip

September 22 - October 10: Continuing classes while doing a 3 week home-stay with an urban host family in Nairobi

October 13 - 22: Participating in the pastoral field component - takes place in the Amboseli Region at the foot slopes of Kilimanjaro, focusing on the socioeconomic and environmental factors responsible for changing Maasai culture and pastoral lifestyle from pure nomadic pastoralism to semi-sedentary mixed agro-pastoralism in the region, we will explore Maasai life and surrounding areas, learning how the Maasai manage their own wildlife sanctuaries, tourist lodges, campsites, and such

October 23 - 26: Mid-Semester Break - students can arrange their own independent travel - most likely to the coast!

October 27 - November 7: Last weeks of classes, staying at compound

November 10 - December 10: Independent Study (Field Placement) - A period of intensive practical experience in a field of your choice and background, can take place in Nairobi, locations throughout Kenya, or somewhere in East Africa - stay tuned to see what I will be doing!

Program ends officially December 13 - I may decide to stay for a few extra days to do other activities - examples being: climbing Mt. Kenya or other travel in Africa - we will see what happens...