I think you all know the song, Cecilia, right? If not, look it up and listen to it. We made new lyrics to the song and sang it for our swearing-in ceremony, and I think it explains a lot about our feelings about living here right now.
Chorus 1:
Tanzania, you're breakin' my heart
you're shakin' my confidence daily
Tanzania, I'm down on my knees
I'm beggin' you please to be home
To be home
Chorus 2:
Tanzania, I can't figure you out
you're makin' me feel like a baby
lakini sasa, nina familie yangu
na kila siku 'najifunza
na wewe
(but now I have a family
and every day I learn
with you)
Verse:
Teachin' class in the afternoon
with my students packed into the room
Ninarudi nyumbani
kufua nguo, bado siwezi
(I return home
to wash clothes, but still I can't)
Chorus 3:
Tanzania, 'nakupenda sana
'nakupenda sana, Tanzania
Familia zetu, tutawakumbuka
tutarudi tena kuwaona
Asante
(Tanzania, I love you so much
I love you so much Tanzania
Our families, we will miss you
we will return again to see you
Thank you)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Things I Bought Today
Here is a comprehensive list of the things I bought/will buy today to get ready to live in my new house:
wash buckets and small pitchers/cups to wash dishes and clothes (I don't have a sink or running water)
a crappy cutting knife that may easily break soon (cost- 70 cents)
a spoon
a wok/frying pan thing
a metal spatula and a wooden spoon
a set of aluminum pots (forget about non-stick, those are hard to find and super expensive)
a set of hot pots to keep food warm
a small charcoal jiko (8" in diameter, 8" tall maybe)
a cutting board
a good lock for my front door
black pepper and curry powder
air freshener for my concrete squat toilet room
dish soap and steel wool
flour, butter, pasta, jam, pb, bread, powdered milk, sugar
And I think I'll survive on that in my village for the next week or two, I hope. At least the pb and j sandwiches will sustain me if nothing else I cook works out. Not exactly the things you would think to buy when setting up a new apartment in America are they?
I can get rice, tomatoes, fish (really gross fish-ey fish), bananas, mangos, and onions in my village, along with soap and cooking oil I think. Luckily it's very easy for me to get into Iringa town and buy absolutely anything I need, so I'll get some dishes, more buckets and water storage tanks, maybe a nice kerosene stove, more staple food, and that sort of thing next time I come. I hope you're all enjoying your safi (clean, fancy, excellent, awesome) lives in America!!!
wash buckets and small pitchers/cups to wash dishes and clothes (I don't have a sink or running water)
a crappy cutting knife that may easily break soon (cost- 70 cents)
a spoon
a wok/frying pan thing
a metal spatula and a wooden spoon
a set of aluminum pots (forget about non-stick, those are hard to find and super expensive)
a set of hot pots to keep food warm
a small charcoal jiko (8" in diameter, 8" tall maybe)
a cutting board
a good lock for my front door
black pepper and curry powder
air freshener for my concrete squat toilet room
dish soap and steel wool
flour, butter, pasta, jam, pb, bread, powdered milk, sugar
And I think I'll survive on that in my village for the next week or two, I hope. At least the pb and j sandwiches will sustain me if nothing else I cook works out. Not exactly the things you would think to buy when setting up a new apartment in America are they?
I can get rice, tomatoes, fish (really gross fish-ey fish), bananas, mangos, and onions in my village, along with soap and cooking oil I think. Luckily it's very easy for me to get into Iringa town and buy absolutely anything I need, so I'll get some dishes, more buckets and water storage tanks, maybe a nice kerosene stove, more staple food, and that sort of thing next time I come. I hope you're all enjoying your safi (clean, fancy, excellent, awesome) lives in America!!!
Monday, December 1, 2008
It looks like Africa here
Well, I arrived at site. After a long bus ride followed by a taxi ride for an hour on a dirt road in the rain, my headmaster and I arrived at our school after dark. I discovered my house is very nice and rather large with two bedrooms and a living room, an enclosed compound in the back, and bathrooms and a kitchen room across the enclosed area. However, as I'm at a new site in a new house, I have nothing but a bed, two tables and a couple chairs, a bucket and a kerosene lantern, and my clothing and books I brought with me. No stove, no pots and pans, no shelves or wardrobe or anything. Also, I wrote in my last post that my house would have electricity and running water. False. It has neither. So in addition to all of the things I need to find, buy, and figure out how to get back to my house, starting with a charcoal and a kerosene stove, I also need to figure out a system for water: getting it to my house from the neighbor's, storing it at my house, and then boiling and filtering it for drinking. I also heard that in the dry season the tap water for the whole town is only turned on on Fridays, so you have to store all of your water for a whole week! Woah!
Luckily my headmaster is really nice and has worked with 3 Peace Corps Volunteers before me. His family has been feeding me and entertaining me with chatter at his house (maybe too much! I haven't had time to sit in my house, unpack, or anything like that yet). He's also looking into getting some living room furniture and curtains for me this week. That'll make things a little more cozy.
One of the female teachers at my school took me to her house one afternoon, where I talked a little to her and another teacher. For most of the afternoon, though, I talked to one of the teachers' boyfriend who teaches in Iringa and has very good English and Western ideas. It was a lot of fun to talk to him, and it encouraged me that it's possible to have male friends in this country. Maybe. The trouble is that Tanzanians do not have intergender friendships at all. So we'll see how that works.
The landscape at my school is really nice. It looks like Africa. You know, the savannah yellowish tall grasses and trees with flat tops dotting the landscape. Just what you imagine as an American who's seen The Lion King but never stepped foot in Africa. And the blue mountains of Iringa town rise up in the distance. All this I can see right outside the windows of my house. The village nearby is right next to the school, and the market and shops are about a ten minute walk if you go straight there. However, the villagers were so curious about me when we walked around yesterday that we had to stop every few feet to greet and chat. They speak a local language here, so the greetings are different, but most people also speak Kiswahili so my training was not entirely in vain. However, my headmaster introduced me to everyone one by one, and I really can't say much more than my introduction myself, so I would stand there awkwardly, alternately nodding in confirmation of what I understood and furrowing my eyebrows trying to figure out what else they were saying so quickly. Mostly I just walked around wide-eyed and overstimulated by the sights. Village life is soo different than life in the town. Woah!
So I can't figure out whether to be scared to death of the prospect of getting everything I need and learning to live in a village independently and speaking broken Kiswahili to villagers who've maybe never seen an mzungu (white person) before, or excited and stimulated by the challenge of setting up a new site and getting to know villagers and making friends with them. I think right now I'm mostly on the side of scared to death, but I won't give up hope. I'm sure this month will be the most difficult, trying month I've ever lived, but things will come and I will become more comfortable and less overwhelmed, little by little as time goes on. What I'm really excited about is the time when I do get more comfortable and have my house set up a little and I'm able to at least support and feed myself. I'm excited to speak better Kiswahili so I can actually talk to people and maybe even make some friends. If I can get through the first few weeks (including the beginning of January when I start school), I think I'll be set. Then I'll be able to face any challenge that ever comes my way.
So here comes the determination, the courage, the independent streak, and the sheer strength. This is it- I'm really doing it!
Luckily my headmaster is really nice and has worked with 3 Peace Corps Volunteers before me. His family has been feeding me and entertaining me with chatter at his house (maybe too much! I haven't had time to sit in my house, unpack, or anything like that yet). He's also looking into getting some living room furniture and curtains for me this week. That'll make things a little more cozy.
One of the female teachers at my school took me to her house one afternoon, where I talked a little to her and another teacher. For most of the afternoon, though, I talked to one of the teachers' boyfriend who teaches in Iringa and has very good English and Western ideas. It was a lot of fun to talk to him, and it encouraged me that it's possible to have male friends in this country. Maybe. The trouble is that Tanzanians do not have intergender friendships at all. So we'll see how that works.
The landscape at my school is really nice. It looks like Africa. You know, the savannah yellowish tall grasses and trees with flat tops dotting the landscape. Just what you imagine as an American who's seen The Lion King but never stepped foot in Africa. And the blue mountains of Iringa town rise up in the distance. All this I can see right outside the windows of my house. The village nearby is right next to the school, and the market and shops are about a ten minute walk if you go straight there. However, the villagers were so curious about me when we walked around yesterday that we had to stop every few feet to greet and chat. They speak a local language here, so the greetings are different, but most people also speak Kiswahili so my training was not entirely in vain. However, my headmaster introduced me to everyone one by one, and I really can't say much more than my introduction myself, so I would stand there awkwardly, alternately nodding in confirmation of what I understood and furrowing my eyebrows trying to figure out what else they were saying so quickly. Mostly I just walked around wide-eyed and overstimulated by the sights. Village life is soo different than life in the town. Woah!
So I can't figure out whether to be scared to death of the prospect of getting everything I need and learning to live in a village independently and speaking broken Kiswahili to villagers who've maybe never seen an mzungu (white person) before, or excited and stimulated by the challenge of setting up a new site and getting to know villagers and making friends with them. I think right now I'm mostly on the side of scared to death, but I won't give up hope. I'm sure this month will be the most difficult, trying month I've ever lived, but things will come and I will become more comfortable and less overwhelmed, little by little as time goes on. What I'm really excited about is the time when I do get more comfortable and have my house set up a little and I'm able to at least support and feed myself. I'm excited to speak better Kiswahili so I can actually talk to people and maybe even make some friends. If I can get through the first few weeks (including the beginning of January when I start school), I think I'll be set. Then I'll be able to face any challenge that ever comes my way.
So here comes the determination, the courage, the independent streak, and the sheer strength. This is it- I'm really doing it!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Iringa, Iringa, Iringa
So I went to Dodoma for shadow and had an awesome time. Despite the fact that it's in the middle of nowhere desert, there are quite a few trees around and some of them are even green. It can be quite beautiful actually. And while the days are brutally hot and the sun beats into your skin (I learned the true value of chapstick), the nights are quite cool with a lovely breeze. Not such a bad deal.
We took a bus from Morogoro to Dodoma, where we met the volunteer we would be "shadowing" (i.e. hanging out with for 5 days), and then we walked a short way to find a pickup truck to take us on the road to the village and school. While the distance is only about 20km, it took a good hour precariously perched on the edge of the truck bed, squished beyond belief by the number of passengers with their loads, bumping up and down on the poorly cared for dirt roads. Quite an adventure, but that's not the end of it. I was also bargained for, for the first time in my life. Yes, a man tried to offer three cows, a few goats, and a handful of chickens to our volunteer (a male) in order to take me home as his wife that night. You might imagine how this might feel to discover (suddenly) what this man was saying, but I assure you no one really knows until they've been in this situation. At least it was an extremely high price, right?
Once I guessed what was going on, my shadow buddy/fellow trainee asked if I needed a husband and I agreed. He proceeded to explain to the man that I was his wife, and I showed off my ring (Skogfjorden!) that I happen to wear all the time. The man then became very afraid for his life and apologized profusely, thinking that my muscular new "husband" was Jean Claude van Dam(sp?). Jean Claude saved my life that day, but I now need a new action plan for dealing with these men who want to marry me when I am on my own at site and travelling to town. I have a few ideas to test, but I welcome any further suggestions as well!
Once we arrived at the volunteer's site, we pretty much just cooked and talked for 4/5 days straight, nonstop. Many students (upper level high school, ranging in age from 18-22ish) came over to talk, and we had a blast asking them questions, answering their questions, learning about each other and our cultures, and inspiring them to make goals and achieve them. I also talked to a Maasai student who told me a little about his culture and language. It was very interesting, and I hope to learn more about that particular tribe while I'm here.
Anyway, we went to Dar es Salaam after shadow for more training (of course) and for site announcements. It was so nerve-wracking and exciting to wake up the morning of our announcements knowing we would soon hear about our sites and where we'll spend the next two years of our lives. The staff described each site for a few minutes, one at a time, and then announced the name of the person who would be going there. As I was the third person mentioned, I didn't go through quite as much suspense, but it was still very exciting to hear where all of my friends would be going.
So without further ado, I'd like to announce my site to you:
I'm going to live about 40 km north of Iringa town, in the district of Iringa in Iringa region. The area is supposedly mountainous and beautiful and can get near to freezing temperatures in the winter (June-August), despite the fact that my information sheet says the climate is "hot tropical." The school has about 630 students, coed, with boarding facilities for about 200 of the girls. There are about 8 host country national teachers, none of whom teach science as far as I know, and a headmaster. They want to share their African culture with me as I teach them about American culture, and they want me to help out with sports (including volleyball, soccer, and netball) and clubs (English debate, geography, history, etc.) as well as teach any science classes I can. My house is on the school property, has two bedrooms, running water, and two and a half hours of electricity (I don't know if that's per day, per week, per month...). And that's all I know for now, until I arrive at my site in about 6 days!
I'm sure you can all find some information and pictures about the area on the internet sometime, and feel free to email me with questions and comments, or interesting information because I'm curious too!
So my schedule for the week:
Swearing in is on Wednesday morning, during which I will wear a gorgeous African dress I had made out of some beautiful material here. Until then, I have to pack, pick up a few necessities from town, and hang out with my host family. On Thursday, we bus to Dar, stay overnight, and then depart for site with our headmasters early on Friday morning (more than half of us have to travel back through Morogoro to get to site, but whatever). I'm guessing I will arrive at my site either Friday evening or Saturday morning. Hopefully, my headmaster or someone in the village will feed me for a few days until I can get a charcoal stove, pots and pans, basic foods, and other necessary kitchen items. Then I move in, buy everything I need (my house will have nothing but a bed, a table, and a couple chairs) with my allowance from Peace Corps, get to know my village and neighbors, and start on all of the projects I would love to do, like starting a garden, building shelves and tables, etc. I have a dream of building a trellis in my backyard and planting passion fruit vines to crawl up and provide a shade arbor in the yard. Doesn't that sound lovely? We'll see if I manage it...
Anyway, I'm super duper excited to get to site now. The nerves are settling a bit and even though I could never be completely prepared for these, I feel as ready as can be to go. This is the real plunge, the real test, the real challenge. Can I survive on my own in a small village in Africa? Can I teach kids here efficiently, not only from the government-issued syllabi, but also about life skills, girls' empowerment, HIV/AIDS, etc.? Can I communicate and make friends in my village? Well here I go; I'm gonna do it.
Tune in next week (or the week after?) for some answers to these questions, along with a better description of my site. I'll also get a new address to send out as soon as I can so you can all send me letters. Love you and miss you all!
We took a bus from Morogoro to Dodoma, where we met the volunteer we would be "shadowing" (i.e. hanging out with for 5 days), and then we walked a short way to find a pickup truck to take us on the road to the village and school. While the distance is only about 20km, it took a good hour precariously perched on the edge of the truck bed, squished beyond belief by the number of passengers with their loads, bumping up and down on the poorly cared for dirt roads. Quite an adventure, but that's not the end of it. I was also bargained for, for the first time in my life. Yes, a man tried to offer three cows, a few goats, and a handful of chickens to our volunteer (a male) in order to take me home as his wife that night. You might imagine how this might feel to discover (suddenly) what this man was saying, but I assure you no one really knows until they've been in this situation. At least it was an extremely high price, right?
Once I guessed what was going on, my shadow buddy/fellow trainee asked if I needed a husband and I agreed. He proceeded to explain to the man that I was his wife, and I showed off my ring (Skogfjorden!) that I happen to wear all the time. The man then became very afraid for his life and apologized profusely, thinking that my muscular new "husband" was Jean Claude van Dam(sp?). Jean Claude saved my life that day, but I now need a new action plan for dealing with these men who want to marry me when I am on my own at site and travelling to town. I have a few ideas to test, but I welcome any further suggestions as well!
Once we arrived at the volunteer's site, we pretty much just cooked and talked for 4/5 days straight, nonstop. Many students (upper level high school, ranging in age from 18-22ish) came over to talk, and we had a blast asking them questions, answering their questions, learning about each other and our cultures, and inspiring them to make goals and achieve them. I also talked to a Maasai student who told me a little about his culture and language. It was very interesting, and I hope to learn more about that particular tribe while I'm here.
Anyway, we went to Dar es Salaam after shadow for more training (of course) and for site announcements. It was so nerve-wracking and exciting to wake up the morning of our announcements knowing we would soon hear about our sites and where we'll spend the next two years of our lives. The staff described each site for a few minutes, one at a time, and then announced the name of the person who would be going there. As I was the third person mentioned, I didn't go through quite as much suspense, but it was still very exciting to hear where all of my friends would be going.
So without further ado, I'd like to announce my site to you:
I'm going to live about 40 km north of Iringa town, in the district of Iringa in Iringa region. The area is supposedly mountainous and beautiful and can get near to freezing temperatures in the winter (June-August), despite the fact that my information sheet says the climate is "hot tropical." The school has about 630 students, coed, with boarding facilities for about 200 of the girls. There are about 8 host country national teachers, none of whom teach science as far as I know, and a headmaster. They want to share their African culture with me as I teach them about American culture, and they want me to help out with sports (including volleyball, soccer, and netball) and clubs (English debate, geography, history, etc.) as well as teach any science classes I can. My house is on the school property, has two bedrooms, running water, and two and a half hours of electricity (I don't know if that's per day, per week, per month...). And that's all I know for now, until I arrive at my site in about 6 days!
I'm sure you can all find some information and pictures about the area on the internet sometime, and feel free to email me with questions and comments, or interesting information because I'm curious too!
So my schedule for the week:
Swearing in is on Wednesday morning, during which I will wear a gorgeous African dress I had made out of some beautiful material here. Until then, I have to pack, pick up a few necessities from town, and hang out with my host family. On Thursday, we bus to Dar, stay overnight, and then depart for site with our headmasters early on Friday morning (more than half of us have to travel back through Morogoro to get to site, but whatever). I'm guessing I will arrive at my site either Friday evening or Saturday morning. Hopefully, my headmaster or someone in the village will feed me for a few days until I can get a charcoal stove, pots and pans, basic foods, and other necessary kitchen items. Then I move in, buy everything I need (my house will have nothing but a bed, a table, and a couple chairs) with my allowance from Peace Corps, get to know my village and neighbors, and start on all of the projects I would love to do, like starting a garden, building shelves and tables, etc. I have a dream of building a trellis in my backyard and planting passion fruit vines to crawl up and provide a shade arbor in the yard. Doesn't that sound lovely? We'll see if I manage it...
Anyway, I'm super duper excited to get to site now. The nerves are settling a bit and even though I could never be completely prepared for these, I feel as ready as can be to go. This is the real plunge, the real test, the real challenge. Can I survive on my own in a small village in Africa? Can I teach kids here efficiently, not only from the government-issued syllabi, but also about life skills, girls' empowerment, HIV/AIDS, etc.? Can I communicate and make friends in my village? Well here I go; I'm gonna do it.
Tune in next week (or the week after?) for some answers to these questions, along with a better description of my site. I'll also get a new address to send out as soon as I can so you can all send me letters. Love you and miss you all!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Soon
So I just wanted to send an update of the basics of what's going on here these days:
We finished language training last week and have had tests for a few days now in oral and written Kiswahili and in education (kind of a silly test- "list ways in which kids might misbehave in class and appropriate punishments"). Now I'm done! Tomorrow I'm going to visit a volunteer in Dodoma, the political capital of Tanzania in the middle of the desert, for five days to shadow him, see what life is like at site, relax a bit, and ask gobs of questions. They paired us all up for these visits, and I'm going with a friend named Chris. I think we'll have a lot of fun and get a lot out of the trip because we get along well and he loves to ask questions. I don't think I'll have any questions left by the end because he'll ask them all!
We'll then travel to Dar es Salaam straight from shadow for site announcements. I can't wait to find out where I'm going! I requested a cooler site in the mountains in a smaller village where I can really get to know people, so I hope that comes true. I really don't think I'd be happy with going to the desert, but I guess that might change after shadow. Mostly, though, I'd just like to be near the people I get along with best, especially the closer friends I've made during training. It would be frustrating to be so far away from my good friends, but I guess we would make the effort to get together on occasion anyway. Plus, there will be many volunteers already out there to get to know when I go. So any site will be amazing, I'm sure. I can't wait!
We come back to our host families after a couple of days in Dar and an early Thanksgiving dinner. We'll have a couple of days of training in gardening and permaculture, which should be awesome (I can't wait to have my own garden at site!), and then we have our swearing in ceremony to become real volunteers. The next day we're supposed to travel to site with all our crap (more than I can carry myself by far) and our headmasters (awkward! we've never met them and we're supposed to travel with them for a few days to get to site?!). We don't start teaching until mid-January, so we have a month and a half to get to know our sites, get settled, and prepare to start teaching. It will be nice at first to have my own house and do things independently, but I think it might end up being a long, lonely month of heavy rains. We'll see.
So that's the basic schedule. I've got plenty more adventures to relate, but I can't write them all here right now. Please write to me (although I'm getting a new address when I get to site) and send me your address so I can write to you.
We finished language training last week and have had tests for a few days now in oral and written Kiswahili and in education (kind of a silly test- "list ways in which kids might misbehave in class and appropriate punishments"). Now I'm done! Tomorrow I'm going to visit a volunteer in Dodoma, the political capital of Tanzania in the middle of the desert, for five days to shadow him, see what life is like at site, relax a bit, and ask gobs of questions. They paired us all up for these visits, and I'm going with a friend named Chris. I think we'll have a lot of fun and get a lot out of the trip because we get along well and he loves to ask questions. I don't think I'll have any questions left by the end because he'll ask them all!
We'll then travel to Dar es Salaam straight from shadow for site announcements. I can't wait to find out where I'm going! I requested a cooler site in the mountains in a smaller village where I can really get to know people, so I hope that comes true. I really don't think I'd be happy with going to the desert, but I guess that might change after shadow. Mostly, though, I'd just like to be near the people I get along with best, especially the closer friends I've made during training. It would be frustrating to be so far away from my good friends, but I guess we would make the effort to get together on occasion anyway. Plus, there will be many volunteers already out there to get to know when I go. So any site will be amazing, I'm sure. I can't wait!
We come back to our host families after a couple of days in Dar and an early Thanksgiving dinner. We'll have a couple of days of training in gardening and permaculture, which should be awesome (I can't wait to have my own garden at site!), and then we have our swearing in ceremony to become real volunteers. The next day we're supposed to travel to site with all our crap (more than I can carry myself by far) and our headmasters (awkward! we've never met them and we're supposed to travel with them for a few days to get to site?!). We don't start teaching until mid-January, so we have a month and a half to get to know our sites, get settled, and prepare to start teaching. It will be nice at first to have my own house and do things independently, but I think it might end up being a long, lonely month of heavy rains. We'll see.
So that's the basic schedule. I've got plenty more adventures to relate, but I can't write them all here right now. Please write to me (although I'm getting a new address when I get to site) and send me your address so I can write to you.
Monday, November 10, 2008
2600m?
So I climbed a mountain the other day. Someone said Mount Uluguru was 2600 meters high, but that may or may not be true.
I found out the morning of (Sunday) that we were indeed set to go, where to meet, and when. Unfortunately, I had not yet asked my host parents if I could go because I hadn't seen them much last week, I was waiting for more details about it, and we'd had a guest over the night before. It was also the day they decided to sleep in and skip church. So there I was wondering what to do, wanting to go climb the mountains but not wanting to wake them up, asking my little brother what to do and not getting much help from him. Eventually I was able to tell the house girl that I wanted to go for the day and she said I could go.
So I met up with the group of my good friends and our guides, Julia's host brothers, and we got on a daladala (small bus/van/overcrowded vehicle) that was the sweetest ride ever. Not only did it have a sparkly samurai fish painted on the back and spoiler wings on the top, but the inside was pink and padded with a long mirror running along the middle of the ceiling. And then there was a plastic crystal-like gear shifter. Amazing. In town we bought some buns and PB for lunch and then headed up the mountains near town.
After three hours and a stop in a stream to cool off, we stopped for some lunch in front of an old haunted looking house overlooking the city through the canyon. Then we trekked on, this time much steeper and into the forests to the top for another three hours. They kept telling us it was only 30 min, 15 min, etc. even though it took longer and longer and we had to stop repeatedly to catch our breath. By this time, we had all run out of water and were rationing our last few sips for ourselves, sweating profusely and becoming delirious out of thirst. We also hired an extra guide, who was trotting up the mountain wearing a flannel button-down shirt, nice slacks, and the pointed men's dress shoes that are oh-so-popular here in Tanzania. He picked carrots for us in the farms growing along the mountain sides while we huffed and puffed up the mountain without water.
Finally, we curved around the back of the mountain and arrived at the top overlooking everything opposite the city. It was incredible to look out over the mountain range in all directions, completely natural and covered in green forests. The only mountain taller than Uluguru was a pointed rocky one behind it, jutting out from the rest of the majestic mountains.
On top of the mountain is a radio tower and a handful of men who guard it for a week at a time. They offered us ugali (a stiff mashed potato like thing made out of corn flour that Tanzanians eat with their hands and dip in spinach or beans; eaten in place of rice) when we arrived at the top, but all we wanted was water. We guzzled down the water they offered us, not caring whether or not it was boiled or safe (though it did taste like charcoal, at least) and lay there on the grass until our thirst was quenched. I took a little nap in the sun and then ate some ugali with spinach and beans and finished off another peanut butter sandwich.
By 5:00 we were headed back down the mountain, hoping we'd be back in town by dark, 6:30pm. What a joke! We took a different route, this time much steeper and more slippery, so we half slid half jumped/ran down the mountain, getting a few cuts and bruises here and there. Our guide in his pointy shoes, however, stayed perfectly clean far ahead of us, chuckling at our inefficient mountain climbing skills.
Eventually we ended up walking along a ridge that slowly sloped downward toward the city. We walked along in the tall grasses overlooking the canyons and mountains on either side of us and the sunset behind the mountains to the left. Eventually we came upon a tiny village, where we bought two large bunches of bananas and snarfed them down. They were the most delicious bananas I've ever had.
As we continued on, the light dwindled and the city down below began to light up. It was gorgeous. We kept hoping we were almost down, but soon it became dark and we pulled out our cell phones with flashlights on them. Our legs became jelly-like as we slowly made our way down through the paths. Water had again run out and thirst set in. We watched the stars and the fireflies as we waited for the slower ones, whose legs had started to object and refused to walk downhill any longer. We also worried about our families and texted them continuously giving them new estimates of when we'd be home. By 8:15 we had arrived at the road and by 9:00 we found the car that was waiting to take us home because daladalas don't run that late at night.
So we all made it home okay, gulped down glassfuls of clean refrigerated water, and sank into bed. I'm still sore today but it was totally worth the effort. What an adventure!
Next time, I'm bringing four Nalgenes full of water.
I found out the morning of (Sunday) that we were indeed set to go, where to meet, and when. Unfortunately, I had not yet asked my host parents if I could go because I hadn't seen them much last week, I was waiting for more details about it, and we'd had a guest over the night before. It was also the day they decided to sleep in and skip church. So there I was wondering what to do, wanting to go climb the mountains but not wanting to wake them up, asking my little brother what to do and not getting much help from him. Eventually I was able to tell the house girl that I wanted to go for the day and she said I could go.
So I met up with the group of my good friends and our guides, Julia's host brothers, and we got on a daladala (small bus/van/overcrowded vehicle) that was the sweetest ride ever. Not only did it have a sparkly samurai fish painted on the back and spoiler wings on the top, but the inside was pink and padded with a long mirror running along the middle of the ceiling. And then there was a plastic crystal-like gear shifter. Amazing. In town we bought some buns and PB for lunch and then headed up the mountains near town.
After three hours and a stop in a stream to cool off, we stopped for some lunch in front of an old haunted looking house overlooking the city through the canyon. Then we trekked on, this time much steeper and into the forests to the top for another three hours. They kept telling us it was only 30 min, 15 min, etc. even though it took longer and longer and we had to stop repeatedly to catch our breath. By this time, we had all run out of water and were rationing our last few sips for ourselves, sweating profusely and becoming delirious out of thirst. We also hired an extra guide, who was trotting up the mountain wearing a flannel button-down shirt, nice slacks, and the pointed men's dress shoes that are oh-so-popular here in Tanzania. He picked carrots for us in the farms growing along the mountain sides while we huffed and puffed up the mountain without water.
Finally, we curved around the back of the mountain and arrived at the top overlooking everything opposite the city. It was incredible to look out over the mountain range in all directions, completely natural and covered in green forests. The only mountain taller than Uluguru was a pointed rocky one behind it, jutting out from the rest of the majestic mountains.
On top of the mountain is a radio tower and a handful of men who guard it for a week at a time. They offered us ugali (a stiff mashed potato like thing made out of corn flour that Tanzanians eat with their hands and dip in spinach or beans; eaten in place of rice) when we arrived at the top, but all we wanted was water. We guzzled down the water they offered us, not caring whether or not it was boiled or safe (though it did taste like charcoal, at least) and lay there on the grass until our thirst was quenched. I took a little nap in the sun and then ate some ugali with spinach and beans and finished off another peanut butter sandwich.
By 5:00 we were headed back down the mountain, hoping we'd be back in town by dark, 6:30pm. What a joke! We took a different route, this time much steeper and more slippery, so we half slid half jumped/ran down the mountain, getting a few cuts and bruises here and there. Our guide in his pointy shoes, however, stayed perfectly clean far ahead of us, chuckling at our inefficient mountain climbing skills.
Eventually we ended up walking along a ridge that slowly sloped downward toward the city. We walked along in the tall grasses overlooking the canyons and mountains on either side of us and the sunset behind the mountains to the left. Eventually we came upon a tiny village, where we bought two large bunches of bananas and snarfed them down. They were the most delicious bananas I've ever had.
As we continued on, the light dwindled and the city down below began to light up. It was gorgeous. We kept hoping we were almost down, but soon it became dark and we pulled out our cell phones with flashlights on them. Our legs became jelly-like as we slowly made our way down through the paths. Water had again run out and thirst set in. We watched the stars and the fireflies as we waited for the slower ones, whose legs had started to object and refused to walk downhill any longer. We also worried about our families and texted them continuously giving them new estimates of when we'd be home. By 8:15 we had arrived at the road and by 9:00 we found the car that was waiting to take us home because daladalas don't run that late at night.
So we all made it home okay, gulped down glassfuls of clean refrigerated water, and sank into bed. I'm still sore today but it was totally worth the effort. What an adventure!
Next time, I'm bringing four Nalgenes full of water.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Hongera Obama!!!
I'm sooooo excited!!!! We've been partying all day today (yes, that means we started drinking at about 6:45am- oops! but don't worry, not too much, just a little extra celebratory-ness for the morning). We were supposed to be picked up at 6am to go to a hotel bar to watch the election happenings, but it got a bit delayed and we didn't make it until about 6:45 and the election was called at 7:03 our time.
So basically we had just gotten there and settled down to watch the action, we saw that Obama had taken Virginia, and then the signal for the TV went out and it started raining super hard. However, some people got phone calls and texts and some people brought their computers and got free internet, so we found out quickly he had won. A bit disappointing that it was so anti-climatic, but we were very excited anyway!
Luckily, the power came back on just before Obama's acceptance speech so we were able to watch that even though we missed McCain's concession. Despite the fact that it was super hot and humid in there, I had the chills for about half an hour straight. Even now, I just got the chills thinking about it despite the intense heat here! It's so amazing that the hope of his campaign reached people, that so many people went out to vote, and that we have our first black president- so cool! This is some serious history that we will remember and I can’t believe I experienced it in Africa, in the country next door to his father’s.
I can't wait to see what he does once he gets into office. He has a lot to live up to in office, but if anyone can do it, he can. I think he has the right mind and the right personality to change politics around and make a big difference in many people’s lives. Plus he’ll have a Democratic Congress to help the government be productive, more efficient, and more modern. At least I think he’s boosted morale and from what it looked like on the news, the economy is already starting to get better with the hope of Obama taking office in just a couple of months.
The Peace Corps Volunteers and Trainees are all really excited about this- talk about celebration! Tears, chills, hugs, shots, cheers… we had it all this morning. What an awesome day. And as for Tanzania, people here are also incredibly happy. I haven’t heard of one person here who wanted McCain to win, probably partially because Obama has African roots but I think they all realize he would be a great president of the US for America and for the world as a whole. I think pretty much the whole world is celebrating this victory right now; it will change the image America has gained in the past few years into a much more positive, revered view of our country. Awesome!
So basically we had just gotten there and settled down to watch the action, we saw that Obama had taken Virginia, and then the signal for the TV went out and it started raining super hard. However, some people got phone calls and texts and some people brought their computers and got free internet, so we found out quickly he had won. A bit disappointing that it was so anti-climatic, but we were very excited anyway!
Luckily, the power came back on just before Obama's acceptance speech so we were able to watch that even though we missed McCain's concession. Despite the fact that it was super hot and humid in there, I had the chills for about half an hour straight. Even now, I just got the chills thinking about it despite the intense heat here! It's so amazing that the hope of his campaign reached people, that so many people went out to vote, and that we have our first black president- so cool! This is some serious history that we will remember and I can’t believe I experienced it in Africa, in the country next door to his father’s.
I can't wait to see what he does once he gets into office. He has a lot to live up to in office, but if anyone can do it, he can. I think he has the right mind and the right personality to change politics around and make a big difference in many people’s lives. Plus he’ll have a Democratic Congress to help the government be productive, more efficient, and more modern. At least I think he’s boosted morale and from what it looked like on the news, the economy is already starting to get better with the hope of Obama taking office in just a couple of months.
The Peace Corps Volunteers and Trainees are all really excited about this- talk about celebration! Tears, chills, hugs, shots, cheers… we had it all this morning. What an awesome day. And as for Tanzania, people here are also incredibly happy. I haven’t heard of one person here who wanted McCain to win, probably partially because Obama has African roots but I think they all realize he would be a great president of the US for America and for the world as a whole. I think pretty much the whole world is celebrating this victory right now; it will change the image America has gained in the past few years into a much more positive, revered view of our country. Awesome!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Elephants, Hippos, Giraffes- oh my!
I don't have a lot of internet time today so I'll try to keep this pretty short yet informative and entertaining.
I started my internship teaching last week- I'm teaching about 11th grade age kids organic chemistry. While it's just the basics for the next few weeks that I'll be in charge of the class, I did have to learn all about fractional distillation of crude oil in order to teach it on Wednesday. I know that stuff backwards and forwards now after spending 160 minutes teaching it in one day. I'm going to be a chemistry genius by the end of my time in Tanzania, I think, or at least for the basics of chem! Next week, I teach on Tuesday and Wednesday for a total of 320 minutes, which is actually quite a bit considering the fact that we still have language training, etc.
We had language tests on Friday (oral and written), which I think turned out just fine for me. The fact that I'm constantly using the language and practicing and learning new things means that I generally don't study except in class. It's pretty nice. We switch language teachers starting next week, though, as this is the halfway point of our training. I really can't believe it!
While I'm getting super excited to go to site, I'm also scared to death. I'll be dropped off on or shortly after Thanksgiving to a new house in a new village somewhere in rural Tanzania, possibly without electricity or running water, and I won't know anyone at all. I'll also be required to speak in Kiswahili pretty much all the time I'm not teaching. We don't start teaching until mid to late January either, so we've got lots of time to do whatever we feel like and get to know our communities and start building relationships. Apparently volunteers usually visit each other (the ones nearby) about every 2-3 weeks, so there's an outlet for frustrations and for needing American time. It's going to be so awesome to be there!
The last thing is that we went to Mikumi National Park this weekend and we saw all kinds of wild animals- giraffes, elephants, baboons, warthogs, zebras, etc. No lions (darn), but we were allowed to get out of the bus at one point this morning and walk up to a pond/lake in which a herd (?) of hippos were chilling (on the other side, probably about 30 yards away), and I was about 4 or 5 feet from a real crocodile in the wild, which was super scary (but totally safe- there was a bit of a cliff going down into the water and we stayed a couple feet away). What an awesome experience!
Anyway, I've gotta go but keep the letters and emails coming please- I'd love to hear from you!
I started my internship teaching last week- I'm teaching about 11th grade age kids organic chemistry. While it's just the basics for the next few weeks that I'll be in charge of the class, I did have to learn all about fractional distillation of crude oil in order to teach it on Wednesday. I know that stuff backwards and forwards now after spending 160 minutes teaching it in one day. I'm going to be a chemistry genius by the end of my time in Tanzania, I think, or at least for the basics of chem! Next week, I teach on Tuesday and Wednesday for a total of 320 minutes, which is actually quite a bit considering the fact that we still have language training, etc.
We had language tests on Friday (oral and written), which I think turned out just fine for me. The fact that I'm constantly using the language and practicing and learning new things means that I generally don't study except in class. It's pretty nice. We switch language teachers starting next week, though, as this is the halfway point of our training. I really can't believe it!
While I'm getting super excited to go to site, I'm also scared to death. I'll be dropped off on or shortly after Thanksgiving to a new house in a new village somewhere in rural Tanzania, possibly without electricity or running water, and I won't know anyone at all. I'll also be required to speak in Kiswahili pretty much all the time I'm not teaching. We don't start teaching until mid to late January either, so we've got lots of time to do whatever we feel like and get to know our communities and start building relationships. Apparently volunteers usually visit each other (the ones nearby) about every 2-3 weeks, so there's an outlet for frustrations and for needing American time. It's going to be so awesome to be there!
The last thing is that we went to Mikumi National Park this weekend and we saw all kinds of wild animals- giraffes, elephants, baboons, warthogs, zebras, etc. No lions (darn), but we were allowed to get out of the bus at one point this morning and walk up to a pond/lake in which a herd (?) of hippos were chilling (on the other side, probably about 30 yards away), and I was about 4 or 5 feet from a real crocodile in the wild, which was super scary (but totally safe- there was a bit of a cliff going down into the water and we stayed a couple feet away). What an awesome experience!
Anyway, I've gotta go but keep the letters and emails coming please- I'd love to hear from you!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Soda that tickles my nose
Since my last entry was rather lengthy, here is a summary of a few things that I've enjoyed here in Tanzania (for those who prefer the bullet point to paragraph style of writing):
~There's a soda called Tangawizi (Ginger) that tastes like a strong ginger ale, and it tickles inside the back of my nose when I swallow. Quite an interesting experience.
~Tanzanians take a half hour chai (tea) break every morning at 10:00 or so. the job of the Personal Secretary in a secondary school in TZ is to type exams, class lists, schedules, etc. and to make chai.
~Saying "hello" can take about five minutes if done correctly. When two people meet, they ask each other how things are in general, then proceed to how things are at home, school, work, this morning, today, etc. There's also an extra greeting to show respect for an elder.
~I received a stack of Chemistry textbooks for TZ today (at least 10 books!) and had to carry them home. I was worried about not having resources to know what to teach, but I'm afraid I may have too many now!
~I rode in a car to school the first two days- it was like off-roading except in town. The roads are all dirt roads and they're uneven with ditches and bumps, presumably due to the heavy rains in April-June.
~Since the sinks at school don't work, washing my hands consists of dipping a cup into a bucket of water on the floor and dumping it on my hands with some soap.
~Dinner takes about 2-3 hours to cook every night.
~I eat papaya, banana, watermelon, pineapple, and oranges every day. Mango season starts in December. :)
~It's not uncommon to hear goats baa-ing outside my window in the evening. I also wake up to roosters at sunrise every morning.
~Washing clothes by hand in TZ can make your fingers bleed, at least until you develop the necessary calluses. It also takes about 2-3 hours to finish a normal load of laundry.
~People stare at me when I walk through the streets, mostly our of curiosity and surprise. Most, however, greet me (in English or Kiswahili) and are very excited to talk to me, especially when I respond in Kiswahili.
~The roads around here do not have names (or at least no signs), so even though I know my way around, I couldn't tell you what road I live on or where my school is except by a few small landmarks.
~The mode of transport here is a daladala, or a van/small bus built for about 10-12 passengers. I've never seen one with less than 15 passengers, most carry about 20-25, and my daladala yesterday must have had about 30 (we were all sitting on each others' laps!). However, they go fairly slowly, so I don't feel unsafe.
~While most of the training so far has been useful, we spent two hours today learning "how to write on a chalkboard." It was by far the most ridiculous lesson I have ever received.
That's all for now, but I will add more interesting tidbits later. I would love to hear from you if you get the chance!
~There's a soda called Tangawizi (Ginger) that tastes like a strong ginger ale, and it tickles inside the back of my nose when I swallow. Quite an interesting experience.
~Tanzanians take a half hour chai (tea) break every morning at 10:00 or so. the job of the Personal Secretary in a secondary school in TZ is to type exams, class lists, schedules, etc. and to make chai.
~Saying "hello" can take about five minutes if done correctly. When two people meet, they ask each other how things are in general, then proceed to how things are at home, school, work, this morning, today, etc. There's also an extra greeting to show respect for an elder.
~I received a stack of Chemistry textbooks for TZ today (at least 10 books!) and had to carry them home. I was worried about not having resources to know what to teach, but I'm afraid I may have too many now!
~I rode in a car to school the first two days- it was like off-roading except in town. The roads are all dirt roads and they're uneven with ditches and bumps, presumably due to the heavy rains in April-June.
~Since the sinks at school don't work, washing my hands consists of dipping a cup into a bucket of water on the floor and dumping it on my hands with some soap.
~Dinner takes about 2-3 hours to cook every night.
~I eat papaya, banana, watermelon, pineapple, and oranges every day. Mango season starts in December. :)
~It's not uncommon to hear goats baa-ing outside my window in the evening. I also wake up to roosters at sunrise every morning.
~Washing clothes by hand in TZ can make your fingers bleed, at least until you develop the necessary calluses. It also takes about 2-3 hours to finish a normal load of laundry.
~People stare at me when I walk through the streets, mostly our of curiosity and surprise. Most, however, greet me (in English or Kiswahili) and are very excited to talk to me, especially when I respond in Kiswahili.
~The roads around here do not have names (or at least no signs), so even though I know my way around, I couldn't tell you what road I live on or where my school is except by a few small landmarks.
~The mode of transport here is a daladala, or a van/small bus built for about 10-12 passengers. I've never seen one with less than 15 passengers, most carry about 20-25, and my daladala yesterday must have had about 30 (we were all sitting on each others' laps!). However, they go fairly slowly, so I don't feel unsafe.
~While most of the training so far has been useful, we spent two hours today learning "how to write on a chalkboard." It was by far the most ridiculous lesson I have ever received.
That's all for now, but I will add more interesting tidbits later. I would love to hear from you if you get the chance!
Another Family
I'm just now starting to settle in to my life as a Peace Corps trainee here in Tanzania. After two days of vague orientation and a few vaccinations at the office in Dar es Salaam, we came to Morogoro, a few hours' bus ride west of Dar, where we began some survival language training, got to know each other better, ate delicious Tanzanian food and drank lots of chai, and prepared to meet our host families here in Morogoro.
We moved into our new homes on Monday the 22nd, which was a very exciting and somewhat scary experience as we had very little Kiswahili capabilities and no information about our families before moving in with them! One bone, they dropped us each off in front of gates to our houses and we hauled our overloaded baggage as we struggled to greet our families politely in Kiswahili (greetings alone can take a few minutes, and that's before you get to "My name is..." and "I come from...").
Though I was prepared for a bustling household full of small children with a bucket for a shower, a squat toilet outside of the house, and a charcoal stove, I found a much different home awaiting me. Not only does my family have TWO normal toilets inside the house and a real shower (cold water only), but they also have a large TV, sound system, a Play Station 2, and a cell phone/mp3 player. I have a mama, a baba (father), a kaka (brother) who is almost 10, and two dadas (sisters, although I don't think either is really part of the family- they just live here) who are 13 and 23. Everyone except for the 23-year old dada speaks very good English, although they try to speak Kiswahili to me as much as possible to help me learn. I understand more and more every day.
The whole family is very sweet to me- even my dada who doesn't speak English points and smiles and helps teach me the language. I think we could become friends as we become more and more able to communicate. Most nights, Mama likes to come into my room to sit with me and chat and sometimes helps me study a little before bed.
I have class during the day with a small group of other trainees for the science education program. We have 4-5 hours of Kiswahili every day and have begun our education studies (the education system in Tanzania, how/what we will teach, etc.). We have a chai break every morning from 10 to 10:30, which is lovely. We love the fact that Tanzanians take a break in the middle of the morning every day to have tea for a half hour!
In the afternoons after lunch, we have been wandering around our area of town, practicing our Kiswahili with the locals, orienting ourselves to our community, grabbing a cold soda in the shade, and getting our feet very dusty. We've also been to the center of town a couple of times, which is very interesting. The outdoor markets are full of fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, and lovely fabrics. Getting to town is very interesting as well- we take small buses/ vans called daladalas which are quite old and break down now and then. I think they're meant for about 10-12 people, but I've never seen one with less than 15 people in it. Yesterday's had approx. 30 people I think!
Morogoro is a beautiful area of vibrant colors- green tropical plants, red dust and bricks (that deep, full red of the Southwest of the US), and blue skies, with big, majestic, jagged mountains at the edge of town. Though none of the streets have names (at least no signs) and few of the stores have signs, I am beginning to be familiar with the community and the town. Despite the minor frustrations of living in a new environment with a new family, I am enjoying myself and excited for what is to come!
We moved into our new homes on Monday the 22nd, which was a very exciting and somewhat scary experience as we had very little Kiswahili capabilities and no information about our families before moving in with them! One bone, they dropped us each off in front of gates to our houses and we hauled our overloaded baggage as we struggled to greet our families politely in Kiswahili (greetings alone can take a few minutes, and that's before you get to "My name is..." and "I come from...").
Though I was prepared for a bustling household full of small children with a bucket for a shower, a squat toilet outside of the house, and a charcoal stove, I found a much different home awaiting me. Not only does my family have TWO normal toilets inside the house and a real shower (cold water only), but they also have a large TV, sound system, a Play Station 2, and a cell phone/mp3 player. I have a mama, a baba (father), a kaka (brother) who is almost 10, and two dadas (sisters, although I don't think either is really part of the family- they just live here) who are 13 and 23. Everyone except for the 23-year old dada speaks very good English, although they try to speak Kiswahili to me as much as possible to help me learn. I understand more and more every day.
The whole family is very sweet to me- even my dada who doesn't speak English points and smiles and helps teach me the language. I think we could become friends as we become more and more able to communicate. Most nights, Mama likes to come into my room to sit with me and chat and sometimes helps me study a little before bed.
I have class during the day with a small group of other trainees for the science education program. We have 4-5 hours of Kiswahili every day and have begun our education studies (the education system in Tanzania, how/what we will teach, etc.). We have a chai break every morning from 10 to 10:30, which is lovely. We love the fact that Tanzanians take a break in the middle of the morning every day to have tea for a half hour!
In the afternoons after lunch, we have been wandering around our area of town, practicing our Kiswahili with the locals, orienting ourselves to our community, grabbing a cold soda in the shade, and getting our feet very dusty. We've also been to the center of town a couple of times, which is very interesting. The outdoor markets are full of fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, and lovely fabrics. Getting to town is very interesting as well- we take small buses/ vans called daladalas which are quite old and break down now and then. I think they're meant for about 10-12 people, but I've never seen one with less than 15 people in it. Yesterday's had approx. 30 people I think!
Morogoro is a beautiful area of vibrant colors- green tropical plants, red dust and bricks (that deep, full red of the Southwest of the US), and blue skies, with big, majestic, jagged mountains at the edge of town. Though none of the streets have names (at least no signs) and few of the stores have signs, I am beginning to be familiar with the community and the town. Despite the minor frustrations of living in a new environment with a new family, I am enjoying myself and excited for what is to come!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Can't wait!
Well, here I am at the JFK airport, waiting to board a flight to Amsterdam that's been slightly delayed. After just a couple hours in Amsterdam (no, not enough to explore), we'll fly to Dar es Salaam. A long trip on not much sleep.
It feels a little like I'm back on Term in Asia, flying around the world in a large group, getting to know the people with whom I'll be travelling, playing cards in the airport, and taking up quite a good chunk of the seating in the gate areas. The past couple of days have also felt a lot like Skogfjorden, discussing ideas about the definition of development and what might be involved in a job description as a "development facilitator," doing simulations of how a cross-cultural exchange in this particular setting might feel from both the perspective of the Volunteer and that of the local person whose culture the Volunteer is trying to understand. It's been so much fun to meet all sorts of people, all science and technology educators (or rather, we will be if we aren't already!), many of whom have recently graduated from college and some of whom know people I know. We're all super excited to be going, although I think we also share many of the same anxieties about what we might find in Tanzania.
So I'm off to Africa. Really truly beginning what I've planned for and anticipated for so long. Can't wait!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Bungee Jumping to Tanzania
This is how I feel about going to Tanzania right now- I'm diving headfirst into the unknown, excited, all-in, but with butterflies in my stomach and hearing my voice scream loudly the whole way down.
Green, Yellow, Black, and Blue
I considered naming my blog Hakuna Matata for the song in my favorite Disney movie. A Swahili phrase most people recognize meaning "there are no worries," hakuna matata is a good reminder to simply relax and let the wind carry me where it will. However, I'm not sure it represents my upcoming journey very well, since I know I will have troubles and challenges to face in the next 27 months. Still, I wanted a name more interesting and meaningful than "Liv's experience in Tanzania."
Green, yellow, black, and blue are the colors of the Tanzanian flag as well as, with the exception of black, my favorite colors. They are the colors of the earth, the sky, the ocean, the rain, and the sunshine (and of course pineapple!). They're fresh, optimistic colors that generate memories of days gone by, joys of the present, and hope for the days to come. Maybe that sounds a bit cliche, but I find that these colors represent me, provoke in me existential thoughts about life and about the earth, and frankly, make me smile.
The next two years will, undoubtedly, be a life-changing experience for me. Through my trails and accomplishments, new relationships with both Americans and Tanzanians, and ever-developing understanding of the world, I will grow and mature (let's hope!) and become a somewhat different person.
Sometimes I think- I've travelled all over Europe and Asia, lived with a host family in Thailand, learned other languages, so really, how hard can this Peace Corps thing be? It's a lot of the same thing for an extended period of time, right? -Except for the fact that I'll be forced by necessity to become entirely fluent in another language, unlike the time I've spent studying a language for fun. And I'll be in Africa, a continent on which I've never stepped foot and about which I know very little. Plus, I'll be teaching, a trade for which I am not trained and have never had any serious desire to do beyond working at Skogfjorden.
It's a bit scary to think that I have no idea what's ahead in my life. I don't know exactly what I'll be eating, who I'll be hanging out with, how I will spend my time, how much access to electricity, the internet, and the outside world I will have, how I will accomplish daily tasks such as grocery shopping or going to the post office or even attaining safe drinking water, how well I will be able to teach, etc. It's all a complete mystery at this point. But I have to keep reminding myself that the excitement and the butterflies in my stomach are part of the experience.
So, in less than two days, I will board a plane to Philadelphia, PA for a couple days of registration, intense pre-training, and last minute vaccinations. And on Tuesday the 16th of September, I will be on my way to Peace Corps training in Tanzania. I'll miss you all very much and hope to hear from you by mail and email. I'll keep you updated on my adventures as much as possible as well!
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