Pig Roast and Goodbye

We had an event that I think I will never forget, because there were so many great things that happened.  One of our fellow students gifted us with his great cooking skills and slow-roasted a 10-kilogram pig (I weigh about 60 kilos, for scale) for 6 hours, periodically seasoning and spraying beers on it.  It tasted amazing.  The whole night was amazing.  

I used some of the coals to make a potato, carrot, onion, garlic, rosemary and olive oil side dish wrapped in foil.  And we made a salad of other vegetables we got at the market.  

We saw a chameleon in the bushes near where we had the fire, standing absolutely still.  Late in the night we saw it again and it was still white, the same color as a plastic bag nearby.  Adaptation?

I kept thinking, as we sat around the fire after eating, this is one of those timeless activities that human groups have done since humans existed.  This is it.

Five people representing five countries.  Sometimes I think if we set our minds to it and didn't have so many pig roasts, we could save the world.

Enjoying a "Safari" in front of the fire.

Our awesome chef.

Cutting the roast.  We shared some with the owners of the outdoor bar and grill, for being so cool and letting us roast the pig there.

After dinner conversation.  The guy second from the left was our guide up the mountain two times, once halfway and the second time all the way 2090-some meters to the top of a mountain nature preserve.  There were monkeys!  But I only saw them from far away.  He brought his friend to our feast--I'm so happy we invited them.

At the end of the night, we all ended up spontaneously dancing to some great music, in a big circle with all of us plus people who worked at the outdoor bar.  It was such a fantastic night.

Now, the group trip has ended, and many of us have gone off to do our individual field work, after a short respite on a really nice beach close to Dar Es Salaam. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but I'll look forward to seeing most of them in Norway.  We'll have to get together and fight international injustices and save the planet!  But first we will have another pig roast, I think.  It takes energy to save the world!

Now I'm staying in the Forestry department's guest house here in Morogoro, and I will get up early tomorrow to go to the Amani Nature Reserve, where I will do my field work.  I've had a great introduction to Tanzania, and I only hope I can work hard enough to make up for how fortunate I've been to come here and be shown around by such friendly and giving people.