Owen and Mzee To 1C: From reading a book to meeting them in person
Hamjambo wanafunzi! Hello Students of 1C!
Each day at my new school, I learn Kiswahili words. It is like learning a new language. I think that's why you enjoy French so much! I can't believe that I have not been teaching you for almost 6 weeks! I have many new "jobs" to do, but I work in many classrooms with many students.
I must tell you that meeting Owen and Mzee (um-zay) was on my priority list of things to do and to report back to you. Maybe you can collect some more questions as a class and send them to me. Now I did meet them, but I did not expect I would meet them the way I did. When you are reading this letter, who remembers what was so special about Owen and Mzee? (If you are not from 1C and reading this on my blog: Owen was a hippo stranded and separated from his hippo pack during the 2003 tsunami. They moved him to Haller Park in Mombasa, Kenya where he befriended an old tortoise, named Mzee ("wise old guy" in Swahili). They basically became great friends who were never apart.)
Monkeys were everywhere. The warning sign says do not feed the monkeys as they may hurt you. The funny thing is, I saw them climb into a bus where they left their windows open! First we went to feed the giraffes. After the giraffes, we visited some tortoises (the top photo is the tortoise I met - not Mzee yet). The shell is quite hard and feels like wood. The turtle skin is quite dry and bumpy.
Now, 1C, after my tour of Haller Park, there was one thing missing. I did not find Owen and Mzee. After asking a guide, she told us that they are no longer together. I was sad to hear the news but happy at the same time. You see, Owen and Mzee were good friends when Owen was a baby. However, when Owen grew up, he became a hippo. His instincts to be rough, tough and aggressive kicked in, even though he never had "hippo" parents. He was starting to bite Mzee's head. The rangers at the park realized that the two of them were not playful anymore and they needed to be separate.
At first, the park ranger told us the story and I thought, I will never meet them. I asked very politely, telling them that there was 20 students in Canada who really wanted me to meet Owen and Mzee. The ranger said, "Hakuna Matata!" (No problem in Kiswahili).
Off we went off the beaten track to go visit them. The special part was that visitors to the park did not get to go on the paths that I went on to go visit both of them. First we visited Mzee.
We then went to visit Owen. Hippos are a very dangerous animal. They can run fast, have big teeth and weight a lot. Can you imagine a very heavy animal running toward you quickly and they also have big teeth? I can after seeing Owen.
Well that's all for now, boys and girls! Hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you for the letters that Mme. Pacheco sent me. You inspired me to visit Haller Park and visit our friends, Owen and Mzee!
I miss you 1C! But I also love my new experience. Always try new things! Trying new things makes you stronger!
Love, Mr. Jones
(P.S. - Here they call teachers by their first name, so my new name here is "Mr. Andrew").