New M-Lab website!

Pleased to announce the creation of the new M-Lab website. Thanks to Lia at Allia Studio for the initial design. Check it out: mlab.mit.edu

Definitions

There are a lot of words, names, and acronyms thrown around like you know exactly what I'm talking about, so here's a list:

Places
CCBR - A disability organization where Abdullah works part time. They do assessments of people's disabilities.
KASI - Kilimanjaro Assiciation for the Spinally Injured. The first and only such organization in Africa. They inspired several similar organizations in Uganda and Kenya.
KCMC - Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center. They are the #1 hospital in Tanzania, located in Moshi. There is a wheelchair workshop there that KASI hires to make wheelchairs (KCMC Wheelchair Workshop), and this is where Albert works. Located in Moshi, Tanzania.
Arusha Mobility - one of three wheelchair workshops KASI hires to make wheelchairs. Located in Arusha, Tanzania.
Njoro Wheelchair Workshop - the third wheelchair workshop KASI hires, located near Arusha.

People
Abdullah - my mentor in Tanzania. His website is here: abdullahonwheels.googlepages.com
Albert - wheelchair technician, works at KCMC Wheelchair Workshop
Amos Winter - my mentor at MIT, head of M-Lab

Misc
M-Lab - MIT Mobility Lab, working on several wheelchair related projects and has a class every spring semester
Tigo - a cell phone provider in Tanzania
WC, wc - wheelchair (we're not British)
Zain - a cell phone provider for a large portion of Africa, including Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya

Kiswahili - Swahili
jambo - hello
hamjambo? - how are you (plural)?
kusoma - to study
kutoka - to come from
ni/si - positive/negative present tense form of to be

Mimi nipenda Tanzania!

Hamjambo? Jina langu ni Danielle na mimi nisoma Kiswahili. Mimi nipenda Tanzania! (How are all of you? My name is Danielle, and I am studying Swahili. I love Tanzania!)

Tanzania has been fantastic so far. I'm settling in with my host family, and they are terrific! They're teaching me Swahili. So far I'm pretty terrible/inconsistent, but maybe in a few weeks...

It's impossible to say what has surprised me the most. So many things are different, but so many are the same. There are street vendors everywhere that want to sell you anything you can imagine. (Think New York times 10 and this isn't even the biggest city!) Yesterday I saw a single DVD that claimed to be all of the Lost seasons 1-6. I'm a tad skeptical, but that sort of thing is everywhere. There are lots of people selling shoes, but they'll only put one of each pair out! It makes sense because that way someone can't steal a pair, but it was definitely funny the first time I saw that. People will walk around with baskets and sometime one of their items on their heads. I was surprised the first time I saw a shoe on someone's head.

People here are so nice. Sarah and I went out to town for this spicy fried potato dish. (I know it sounds like French fries, but it was more like potato chunks and no crispy outside.) We were getting gas on the way back, but the car wouldn't start. There was a guy who saw us having trouble and he and his friends roll-started the car. Sarah said she knew him from a carnival or something like that. While it's important to be on your guard and act safely, it's good to remember that many people are nice.

It was great having help with that, but I'm glad I knew how to fix it, thanks to Amos's car breaking at the Yale conference. If we hadn't been as lucky with those guys there, I think I would have been able to help. It's funny what bits of information turn out to be useful. Thanks for breaking your car Amos =P

Tomorrow I'm meeting with Abdullah at KASI - can't wait to really get started!!!