Adios mis patos

I was going to make a funny, witty last blog about my time here, the things I’ve done, and all the weird and unique things that I experienced that most people wouldn’t be able to in their lifetime. As I was thinking of my list, I realized that none of, absolutely none of the experiences I had would be anything without the people with me. So move over smart-assed and witty, here comes over sentimental and sappy.

To my Patos:

Bina- I am so glad that you and Sarah really didn’t hate me from the first night- I can’t imagine not being friends with you over the course of this semester. Without your social coordination and screaming about hormigas, I don’t know if this trip would have been the same. Seriously, even though you hated being here in the beginning, and knew the least amount of Spanish, I think you have grown the farthest as a person. And I’m pretty sure you’re the only girl I know that could rock being a ‘girly girl’ so well in the heart of Malabo and still be aggressive in a bread line. Looking back over the past 3 months you have been so awesome to hangout, dance with, and have the ‘occasional’ glass of white wine with. Thank you again… and see you in Elkins Park.

Cait- What can I possibly say that you don’t already even know since we share the same brain? Without you I wouldn’t be on this trip- you pushed pulled, knocked on doors, emailed the president- all so we could come here. Thank you, for getting me here, listening to me blab till 2am, for helping me get out of the forest alive (and not killing me for being so ridiculous). Your caring nature has been such an asset to this group, which was extremely helpful after many Marathon nights. And I’m sorry I broke your glasses, (you know where I live). Thanks again for making this trip a reality for me, I honestly didn’t have the drive to get here on my own, but I can’t tell you how this experience is probably the best of my life. You are one of the best friends I could have.

Julia- I am so happy that there was another crazy liberal political junkie in this group. Thank you for making coffee In the mornings and listening to my ramblings about everything that’s going on in my crazy head. Also, I still don’t know how you didn’t kill me on the way up or down from the beaches. I would have left myself there – so I don’t know where you found the patience. I will do my best to go to ‘scones’ on Saturdays and I’ll make sure to skype you when I eat my first ‘Ben & Jerry’s’ ice cream…which I almost did, but it was way to cold in Madrid for ice cream. Good luck with the new crew (even though we are going to be still cooler) and when you get back you owe me a drink and I’ll take you to Chickie & Pete’s.

Sarah- Since we get mistaken for the same person, does that mean I don’t have to write one of these? Your love of dancing and music has definitely made this trip so much more fun for me. Your passion for what is going on in Moka actually made me enjoy science. It was always fun to out with you; as a part of the JD crew… well, you are probably one of the coolest people I could walk back from Macumba with. Thanks for listening to my random and ridiculous ramblings (alliteration much?) about life. I am so glad that we were able to have a cross accent exchange, even though I am sad that I no longer say water like a true Philadelphian. Come to Philly as soon as possible- and we need to talk about Grey’s ASAP.

Tristan – I’m sure that you never would have thought that you would have known so much about Clay Aiken. And you really need to read Harry Potter, they will always better than the movies. Seriously though, thank you so much for being our surrogate ‘big brother’ of the trip. From getting us away from creepsters and Bahia and Macumba, to worrying about whether we’d make it to the beaches alive; words cannot express how grateful I am that you were able to put up with living with five girls. I’m pretty sure that I will never hear ‘No Scrubs’ or ‘Bailamos’ the same way again. Your random commentary and sense of humor added another level to this trip… and karaoke will never be the same.


Without you guys (my family) in Bioko, I would never had (in no order):

Met new people in a new house
Travelled to Moka
Seen endemic species
Made a song about Tuacos
Met more friends
Sat and socialized in a tent for 5 hours while in rained
Walked through the forest at night
Walked through clouds
Climbed trails that I had deemed impossible
Swam in a lake…ina crater… in the middle of a volcano
Spent a night looking at the constellations
Bonded while sitting in different tents
Walked to cascades, swam in them, but couldn’t see them
Hung out with Lebanese architects
Drank awesome tea and had shisha
Ridden on the back of a pickup truck down a mountain…standing up
Wrote a crappy science paper
Hung out with Scotsman
Played Quizo
Danced and partied more than I had
Was Sarah Palin
Struggled, but survived Spanish class
Shared pictures, music and gossip
Had girly sleepovers
Stood at the tallest point of the island
Stayed up to watche the Phillies and the election
Experienced the joy of teaching children and frustration of a broken system
Taught the hokey pokey in Spanish
Enjoyed Southern Hospitality and cooking – and love the people who provided it.
Created dozens of quotes and inside jokes
Ran around in a stadium
Touched the mainland
Loved without running water for 3 days
Got super tan
Laughed and cried
Ate rice and pasta for 2 weeks in Moka
Didn’t shower at Moka
Laid out on the beach and swam in pools… in November
Hung out at oil compounds and watched ‘Friends’ for hours at a time
Ate way too much Oreos and other snacks
Almost fell in a ditch
Incorporated ‘torpe’ at least 4 times a day
Talked to my housemates on Facebook while they were all in the same room
Watched a bunch of movies
Wandered throughout the city
Ate cheap food; ate overpriced food
Learned Spanish that is not useful in everyday conversation
Got punch drunk
Baby sat grown men
Been called Turaco, Jim Beam, Obama, Imelda, and probably at least 4 other names
Walked down highways
Went to church with the President
Learned to cover my shoulders in church
Went to a bush meat market
Shopped for dresses
Applied Harry Potter to many aspects of Malabo and life
Shared information about Clay Aiken that noone was interested in
Stayed up past exhaustion to talk
Walked an insane amount of kms to get to a turtle beach
Saw a sea turtle
Spent 3 hours getting my hair done

And so, so much more

Thank all you guys again for all of the crazy, random unforgettable experiences… it would have been impossible without each one of you :)

Peace and Love Always,

Amanda Ilmeda Sita Mue Mude Turacobeama Malamut

I go to class...?

Just so you know, I actually am taking courses in a classroom this semester (it doesn’t seem like it according to my other blogs, but I digress…) The three classes I am taking at UNGE (National University of Equatorial Guinea) are Society and the Environment, Natural Resource Economics, and African Literature and Spanish Culture. I’ve only had a couple weeks of classes so far, but I’m pretty sure how the next couple weeks of the semester are going to fair.

Society and the Environment

Before coming to Equatorial Guinea I had a feeling that this was going to be my favorite class. Learning about how society views and interacts with the environment is one of my favorite things to learn about. This class is shorter than the other classes, mainly because our professor leaves early. (We are trying to correct this, but it happens) Most of what we are learning is the presentations we compose ourselves, which is pretty interesting. Some of the chapters are a tad redundant, but the basic we learn is interesting. We also have to write journals about certain topics like recycling, hunting, and creating policy. This class is extremely easy, I wish we did more in it, see as how it’s the class that applies to my major the most out of the three we are taking at UNGE.



Natural Resource Economics

I was a bit nervous about this class, but I wasn’t too worried since I took Macro a couple of semesters ago. I find this class to be very interesting and informative, but writing a 10 page paper about water scarcity was a bit challenging. I think its good, but we’ll see when I get my grade. I’m glad we were able to write about something we were interested in, or that paper would have destroyed me. After writing a 60 page paper with Cait about acid rain, a 10 page paper wasn’t so bad. I like this class a lot because I am able to apply the things I learned in Macro here. Our teacher understands that some of us have taken some econ classes, but doesn’t expect us all to be economists, which leads me to my next class.


African Literature and Spanish Culture

I knew before I came to EG that this class was going to destroy my brain. And I was right. We met with our professor before classes started and we all thought we are on the same level concerning our proficiency, but the first day of class mentally destroyed us. Since our classes started after our time in Moka, our teacher was pretty sure we would be all speaking rather fluently… yea right. We had a couple of classes at the US Embassy, but now we are back at UNGE. Cait, Sarah and Tristan are all pretty good, but my mental block always freezes my foreign language skills up. I’m not fabulous at speaking Spanish, but I’m not horrible. And I’m sorry, I’m from Philly and I’m a chronic mumbler, of course my pronunciation is going to be a tad off. Saying ‘aprender’ 50 times isn’t going to change how I say it, sorry. It has gotten a little better, but depending on the day it can be pretty cool or horrible.



All in all, my classes aren’t bad, and I’m learning a lot. The experiences outside the classroom, however, will stay with me longer and give me a greater understanding about my life and life in EG.

Why Oil companies Aren’t Evil: A look into the People behind the corporations

As any other bleeding heart liberal, an oil company would be as easily associated with ‘evil’ or ‘greedy’ as cow is associated with milk. When you look at a huge industry or corporation, it’s easy to forget the people who are working within the corporation. Is it really a Medusa rearing its head, only multiplying when the ‘regular guy’ tries to cut it down? Does ‘Big Oil’ have no human aspects to it? Is every single person who works for or is associated with an oil company inherently evil? As humans it is easy to make generalizations and quick judgments.
There are some aspects of oil companies that I agree with that I honestly wasn’t aware of. Promoting a project like the BBPP (Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program) here in Bioko has a great positive environmental impact. Do we not hear of such projects because the American people are not that interested or because the media is biased against ‘Big Oil’. I feel like it’s a combination of both. Like I said before, generalizations and quick judgments are easy; if it’s easier for some Americans to think that everything an oil company does is evil, what could the media or anyone else for that matter do to convince them otherwise. If you support oil interests in the U.S. or abroad… how much do you need to hear about what the oil company is doing outside of itself? The United States is a cynical country. If we hear that some huge corporation is donating to a charity or funding a program… how many of us would chalk it up to PR?
Without the help of oil companies like Exxon Mobil and Hess, the BBPP program in Moka would probably still not exist. Without the BBPP the fight for conservation and protection of bush animals would be near impossible. If I had only heard of this on the news at home, honestly I would be cynical. Of course an oil company would be trying to get positive PR in the environmental sector. But seeing it first hand makes me realize how they are putting money where their mouth is without getting media attention for it. And even if they were getting attention for it, would it devalue the work they are doing? Even if their intentions were solely for positive PR, good is still getting accomplished.
Also, the people who work on Bioko and live on oil compounds are not in control of how oil is run. They are doing their job; I have not met one person here whose sole intention was to screw the American people or the environment.
Do I agree with everything an oil company does now because of my experiences here? Do I think every single person working for an oil company is working for a greater good? Of course not. I am still a bleeding heart liberal. Do I still think that the oil profits have been ridiculously staggering over the past several months? Oh most definitely. I can still be critical of something I have grown to understand on a deeper level. Being liberal does not make me unable to judge things fairly.
The Americans working here are not maniacal neo-cons whose sole purpose in life is to destroy our environment and deplete our natural resources. They are welcoming, funny, caring and loving… they are the textbook definition of southern hospitality. Many of these women and men have taken this group under their wing and have given us a home away from home, making us feel welcome at their houses and BBQs; they are our little slice of America in the middle of Equatorial Guinea.
I know that I am probably biased because of all the hospitality we as a group have received on these compounds. I can only go by what I know and how I feel. As long as we are dependent on oil for energy, there will always be oil companies. As long as there are oil companies, profits will be made. Without profits, projects like the BBPP would collapse. Yes the CEOs and presidents of these companies could make a little less money, but that is not the people whom I am dealing with. One could argue the intentions of any CEO of any major corporation.
The whole point of this blog wasn’t to throw my support one way or the other; or to try to convince anyone of anything. I wanted to show the humanity behind the corporation. Putting a human face on something huge like an oil company makes it easier to evaluate it fairly. If we are not fairly critical of something we feel passionately about, generalizations and quick judgments get passed of as truth. Oil companies should be criticized for not passing profits on or a spill somewhere around the world, but they should also get recognition for work they are doing like funding the BBPP.
Having ethical questions about how a company runs is one thing; lumping all workers in a company as evil or malicious is judgmental and does nothing to solve a problem. It usually makes a situation worse.

Oil companies may not be viewed as cuddly teddy bears, but you can’t write off those who work for them as the ‘bad guys’. If you’re going to hate the company, don’t hate the workers.

Global Education

Education is our most important resource we, as the human race, choose to continue to progress and evolve. Without a thirst for knowledge and understanding… what would make us human? Without education, how do we advance? I feel that education is one of the beautiful institutions that reminds us and shows us the hypocrisy when we manipulate its beauty for profit and greed. It shows us how in many places in the world, it is not taken for granted, often cherished, and highly respected.
Education is sometimes our only tool to combat hate and fight poverty. Why should those with wealth and power be able to distribute education? When students around the world are craving for an education, fighting against all odds to learn, why do we as Americans take our education for granted? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that every American kid in the United States takes their education for granted. And I know the education system in the U.S. is broken. Many public schools are beyond understaffed and undersupplied at best. My complaint is with the kids, who are given almost every resource imaginable; who act like it’s a burden to receive an education. It’s not ‘cool’ to be smart, so slack and goof off. It doesn’t matter, you’ll learn what you learn, make your way through school, that’s good enough right?
Every Tuesday and Thursday, for probably an hour and half, Cait, Sarah and I are going to go to a school to teach the kids English and sing some songs with them. We have only gone once so far, but I want to share my experience of this school. When we first arrived at the school, we thought that we were just going to help out the teachers with their lessons, but the teachers wanted us to sing some songs with the kids in each class. When you think of classroom full of kids, how many do you think of? 20? 30? Try about 50 in each of the three classrooms. One teacher for each of the classrooms. So three teachers (one who was the principal) for about 150 kids ranging from 3 to 8. This younger group of kids goes to school from 8-12, and the older kids, from ages 8 to 12 go to school after siesta. There is no room for all of the ages to be at school at once.
I have read about many places around the world where there aren’t even buildings to house classrooms, so I know that they were lucky at least in that aspect. They had a building, they had chalkboards, they had uniforms, and desks. But could a school ever exist like that in the United States or Europe? If that was the school your child had to go to everyday, would you find that acceptable? Or is it only acceptable because it is in Equatorial Guinea?
The thing that struck me the most was the openness of all of the kids. Here were three white girls who speak very limited Spanish, standing in front of a classroom. We were singing “Row, row row your boat” and the “Hokey Pokey” in Spanish that Cait and I wrote for a dialogue in Spanish 202. Every single kid participated, every single kid showed us respect, and every kid was excited for us to be there. My favorite part was when they sang and danced their own version of the Hokey Pokey while we tried our best to follow the dance. We did 3 times. It took 30 minutes to go through the three classrooms. We were so blown away by all of the friendliness and hospitality that we forgot to introduce ourselves, but there is next Tuesday for that. I am beyond excited to continue to visit the school, play games, teach things like animals and body parts in English, and just to have a great time with the kids.
You could tell how appreciative of us they where, even though I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be getting a lot more out of this than what I can possibly give to the kids. It was so refreshing and joy-filled to see the kids so happy and eager to learn. In spite of all the setbacks these kids face, they still want to go to school, they still want to learn. I have found that education is never taken for granted when you don’t know how much of an education you are going to receive.
Without education, what are we? By withholding education for those who desperately crave it, what does that make us? How can we honestly look around the world, see the horrible state of education in many countries, and accept it for what it is? We have the power to change the world through education. We have an almost unlimited amount of resources as Americans. When used properly, our money can have so much impact throughout many places in the world. If everyone read “Three Cups of Tea” and decided to take action, the world would be a better and more educated place.
It is our duty to spread the power of education. Education is an inherent right for anyone born on earth; it is not something to be withheld because of poverty or geography.


Without an education for all peoples, there is no way that peace can exist in our world.

Back from Moka

Hello to those connected to the internet! It has been a very interesting two and a half weeks, which I wish I could have shared with you threw several updates. But as fate would have it, the internet was not accessible at Moka. So instead of working on my paper or checking my hundreds of emails, I have to decide to update you fine people on what has been going on for the past half month or so. So go walk your dog, go to the bathroom, balance your checking account before you read this, because it’s going to be a long one, and you best be comfortable while reading this.
I was thinking about going in order, but since I was there for 16 days or so it could prove to be a bit challenging. So instead of giving everyone a play by play I what I did for the past 2 and a half weeks (not shower…but I digress…) So I am going to hit on the major highlights (there is still a lot, so if you get bored, feel free to scroll) that I can think of, and if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask, since I will have a lot more access to internet now. (Going through 2 weeks of email- oh the fun)
When we first arrived to Moka, I definitely was expecting a whole lot more isolation (see pictures below), and was very pleased that we were so near a town, had cooked meals (same almost everyday, but I’ll get to that), and sometimes had electricity through a generator. Not too bad since I was expected 5 tents in the middle of the jungle with a stream as our only water source. A low expectation prior to our arrival has definitely fueled my excitement and enjoyment of my stay here in Moka.
What I’m sure will be to my sister’s happiness, I switched my research from squirrels to the Great Blue and Yellow-Billed Turacos at Moka. When you see 4x as many birds as you do squirrels, you get the idea that switching projects might be a good move. Not having any research on hand was a bit tricky, but I compensated with the books and former projects here. I honestly never have found bird watching all that interesting, but there were so many Turacos and they were so vibrant and seeing them fly throughout the forest was a marvelous thing to experience. Seeing 11 or so Great Blue Turacos fly out a large tree….it was probably the most intense experience you could have bird watching. I don’t know if I’m going to pick up bird watching back home, but I’m glad I got to enjoy the experience here.
Besides Turacos, I got to see chameleons, squirrels, red-eared monkeys, galagos (bush babies), bats and many different animals and plants (pictures below). It was so fun to go out on other people’s expedition to see the animals without doing any of the research work involved. The first time I went out to see galagos with Cait and Sarah, it was a fail for any galago sightings, but I had one of the coolest experiences here. After walking for an hour or so we all sat down on the trail, in almost complete darkness, the only thing lighting the sky was the occasional lightning in the distance that light radiating from our guide’s cigarette. It was so peaceful, tranquil, any word like that just to sit there in silence, listening to the sounds of the rainforest. I was upset because: 1. I couldn’t take a picture and 2. Even if I could it couldn’t possibly capture the awesomeness of it all.
The food in Moka has been interesting to say the least. And by interesting, I mean eating pasta and rice for 98% of my dinners, and some kind of cookie or roll for 100% of my lunch and breakfast. Thank God for Quaker Oats bars, and various snacks and such. Between the lack of constant eating and walking approximately what would be the length of Bioko Island (2x), I’m pretty sure I lost some weight, which I hope I can keep off at least some off for the rest of the trip. You know the food situation becomes a little strange when a meal of bread, cheese and hot sauce becomes something to look forward too. (I am very happy that Julia found some pistachios for me too eat, all I need now is cheese fries).
Some Hess guys and other oil workers came over to help us fix up BBPP (which looks a lot better than it did a couple of years ago; we looked through past pictures left at the station.) It was awesome because we got a BBQ out of it and lots and lots of snacks. ( I got a little sick from the chicken, but nothing too bad, Moritz got sick so much worse than I did).We got so many invites to oil compounds; we do not have to worry about being bored on the weekends here. I really have to remind myself that people who work for a corporation are not the people to rally against. It’s the corporation itself that needs to be fought; the people working in these oil companies have been nothing but hospitable and helpful to us. It puts it perspective.
One of my other favorite moments came from our trip the lake in the middle of a crater on MT. Pico. The walk was really hard, but it was so worth it. Looking out at the lake, I couldn’t help having a massive feeling a Déjà vu. It took me a while to realize that the lake was the same place where the picture displayed at Arcadia as a poster. It felt surreal. It was at that moment that I realized that all the crap I had to work through to get to this point was worth the trouble. I swam in a lake. In the middle of a crater of a volcano. In the middle of a cloud. In EG. In Africa. It had to be one of the best moments of my life. It was also the first time I was able to wash my hair using Julia’s shampoo. (Yes Sarah- your sister is gross, get over it). I have pictures of the area, but honestly, they don’t even get half of the awesomeness that we experienced. Seeing the clouds roll off the hills like waterfalls, see the reflections of the land in the lake, being able to see the stars and planets like I never had before…It was dreamlike and strangely familiar all at the same time.
Hanging out at BBPP (Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program) center was also a lot of fun. Whether it was hanging out with the UNGE students, watching movies, eating the snacks the oil companies give us, or just sitting up and talking, it was a nice escape from fast-paced life. There was nothing wrong with sitting, hanging around and discussing anything from politics, food, family, religion, or whatever random idea pops into our heads. For example, Cait and Tristan invented an awesome sport called Turaco Ball. You use a Frisbee and having to throw in through a hanger rack contraption. I hope it can be an Olympic sport one day… but people might have an issue since it involves neither a Turaco nor a ball, but such is life. When you invent a new sport you can judge us.
Actually working on the paper was very challenging and tedious, but the people there definitely made it a lot easier. Science had never been my strong point, but Demetrio, Heidi, Moritz definitely were life-savers and gave great advice concerning my paper. It was so nice to have people there who have had experience with field research and the Moka area.
One of the more random experiences we all had at Moka was hanging out with one of Demetrio’s friends, Abdel. He is a contractor from Lebanon who is working on one of the new palaces in Moka. So we hung out with Abdel and his friends at least 4 times throughout the couple of weeks. They were so hospitable and friendly. They fed us, gave us tea, and we got to dance in their living room. One of the best parts was that they put on some of the VP debate on TV. That was only political fix I got the whole 2 weeks, but it was still very nice. And I think I behaved really well, I tried to keep most of my comments to myself, but Heidi and Julia definitely brought the liberal out in me. Abdel also brought us to a beach one of the last days we were in Moka. It reminded me so much of Costa Rica, it was startling. How the trees and beaches formed, I could have been sitting on a beach in Costa Rica. One of the only differences was the water temperature, but it wasn’t too cold. It was nice to wade in water and play Frisbee and volleyball with everyone. I love being at the beach, its one of my favorite places to go. I know my dad would have liked this beach because it the water wasn’t too cold, but not too hot because of the rive flowing in, and there weren’t any shells to step on. There weren’t many waves though, since we were in more of a bay. No sharks either, which was really nice.
This group has been so awesome; this trip was so awesome. But it was nice to be back to a place with lots of running water, a shower, and some internet. I hope I can catch up on everything, but that will probably take me another week, at least.

I hope you haven’t died of boredom from reading this. It took me 2 days to write all of it (mainly cause I slacked off a bit, but whatever). Here are some pictures that were taken by yours truly throughout the trip

Staff House

Coco yams

Fresh water crab


View from the lookout over the lake at sunset


I figured you would all want a picture of me

Mt. Pico in the background- one of my favorite pics I took so far


(I took a lot more pics- which will be one facebook- when I can upload them)

‘See’ you in a week

Peace and Happiness.

Amanda

P.S. An impressive fact- in the 16 days I was there walking the trails I walked approximately the length of the island twice, or about 50 miles. Uphill, both ways, in the rain, and snow, and fire pits. and strange animals. use your imagination to make me look more extraordinary if you must