Prep Week in Arusha

I left for Tanzania, flying out of O’Hare International Airport, Friday, the 5th, and arrived late on Saturday, the 6th. Following almost two hours of waiting in customs, due to me having been asleep on the plane when they handed out the required paperwork, I was finally able to retrieve my luggage and rendezvous with …

T-minus 3 days ’til Tanzania!

Hi Guys! My name is Reese Yount, and I am a senior at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. I am a Biology major with an Ecology focus. I love the outdoors, and frequently spend my free time kayaking or hiking the dunes around West Michigan. I have had a passion for travel for as long …

Chapter 3: Morocco

When you think of Morocco, what comes to mind? Everyone has their inclinations. If you’ve seen movies or know a little about the country, you may feel like you have an idea. The three short days that I spent there, I realized two things: that everything I thought before was very wrong, and that I …

Rabat to Meknes and Back

Where do I even begin? It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Morocco for a little over a week. I feel like I just got here, but at the same time, I feel like I have been in Morocco for forever. In the short time I have been here, I have stayed in two …

Travel Day!

As I write this, I’m halfway to Rabat, Morocco! I’m sitting in the Paris airport waiting for my last flight. When I get to Rabat, I will have been traveling for 28 hours. At this point, the travel is definitely starting to exhaust me. I could have booked my flights differently, making a shorter travel …

To My Local Friends: Asante!

This semester I have gotten to know some pretty awesome locals here in Iringa who have made this town feel like home, and have contributed in huge ways to how great this semester has been. Here are some asante’s (thank you’s) to some of my favorite locals! Dear Agnes, the first Tanzanian I got to …

“Dada, Chai!”

“Dada, Chai!” I hear my Mama call as I open my eyes. “Baba! Mama! Dada!” My baby host brother is yelling from outside of my bedroom window, which is obviously code for, “Dada, time to wake up, come play!” My family calls me “Dada,” (sister) because my name is very hard to pronounce for most …

Hello Nepal and My Sweet Host Family

During these past few weeks, I have transitioned from Chile to Nepal. While some parts of transitioning are challenging, I have had an amazing experience. I live with my host dad and his mom who are Newari, and my host mom who is Japanese. I have two host siblings, a little sister who is four, …

A Change of Pace and My New Family

Karibu Kidete Village! Welcome to Kidete Village! The nerve-wracking, exciting, much-anticipated part of our CIEE program finally began last Sunday: moving to rural villages to live with homestay families for a month! Many of us have different assignments for this month; mine are conducting a needs assessment in my village, conducting interviews and focus group …

Can I Be Honest for a Minute?

“Why Africa? Why wouldn’t you just go to Europe where you won’t have to worry about typhoid and malaria and unsafe water, and can actually take a hot shower?”  I wanted something different from everyone else. I wanted to live with less; to martyr myself for the sake of learning and helping, and being one …