1 Match – I’m AMAZING!

Walked to church with my mkuu, his wife, and 5-yearold daughter. I think the seating is mostly by gender so I sat with my mkuu’s wife for the nearly 2 hr service I didn’t really understand. It’d be shorter if the priest didn’t like to talk so much (he appears to be on a soapbox) and if all announcements weren’t read at the end of mass but the latter is in place of the paper bulletin common in the States. In addition to the language, I couldn’t figure out how people get up to get into line for collection and communion. It was similar in Kihonda and I can’t figure out any pattern to it.

After mass, I had to go to my mkuu’s house for lunch; it was ugali like yesterday but with spinach as a side rather than meat. I made the mistake of saying I like church music while there. I thought he meant the music at church…and he did, sort of. I was subjected to several songs on a Christian music video before I could leave. I continued my attempt at cleaning but made more of a mess because I went through some of the things Zach left (the PCV who was here before). However, I did have a great accomplishment today. I lit my charcoal jiko with only 1 match!! It’s hard enough getting the matches to stay lit, much less the dry sticks and grasses. I’m sure I’ll never do it again but it still feels like a hole-in-one.

My Abode

I did not want to spend another night with the decomposing lizard so I needed to clean it up. For some reason, I expected it to be somewhat dry and stiff. What I found when I moved it was a filling of maggots. Yummy. I quickly scraped as much as I could onto the broken plate from the garbage pile and threw it out back before returning to spray the remaining maggots with insect killer spray. The ants took care of the rest of the job so I didn’t have too much of a mess to clean up. There was some more cleaning but I don’t have much in the way of cleaning supplies (broom, dustpan, or bleach) so there is still much to be desired.
Ok, my house. I live on the NE side of Mt. Hanang, an inactive/extinct volcano, and the house faces it. Only thing is, I don’t have the key to the front door because the teacher, who stayed there temporarily after the other PCV, has it and is gone for break. I enter through my courtyard, which is the closest door to the school anyway. Inside the house, approximately half is the main room with table & water buckets and the other half is split between the 2 bedrooms, each of which has a bed. In addition, there are 5 wooden chairs and a small desk from the school and a bookshelf. The other PCV had hung some string up I the bedrooms so I will able to dry clothes inside when it rains as well as hang my clothes up (no hangers though). Outside is my courtyard with 2 rooms on the side for cooking (the “kitchen”) and storage. At the back are 2 small rooms for the toilet and bathing. The choo (toilet) has a hole in the concrete floor and the bafu (for bathing) has a smooth floor with a hole out the back corner to drain the water. My house is duplex style so I can hear my neighbor through the walls and over the courtyard wall but he cannot see into my courtyard. This means there is no need to close the choo door if the courtyard door is closed; though the view isn’t quite as good as the outhouse I used in the Adirondacks this past summer (whose door wouldn’t close).

INSTALLATION COMPLETE: WHERE the HECK DO I SLEEP?

Left on the bus at 06:00 again, this time traveling on dirt roads because the highway is still under construction (being supervised by the Chinese). After a few hours, we disembarked and our bags were loaded on the top of the local bus to Gitting – a daladala (large van). Then we went shopping at the safi duka (store where you can buy things like peanut butter & powdered milk), another store, and soko (market). We bought some basic supplies like a jiko (charcoal stove), a couple of cooking pots, 2 spoons, 2 mugs, a plate, a large wooden spoon, and some fruits & veggies. Then Uma & I were placed in the van where we sat for awhile, not really knowing what we were supposed to do or where our mkuus had gone. Around noon, the conductor took us to a nearby place to eat lunch and we’re pretty sure our mkuus had just been there the whole time drinking in the back room. After eating, we waited for a couple more hours for the daladala to fill and we finally headed out of Katesh. Only we didn’t go straight to Gitting. Instead, the daladala takes the main (dirt) road to Endasak, where it drops people off and waits to fill up again for the trip on the side road to Gitting. At least the van dropped me off at the school with my bags and I didn’t have to walk from the village of Gitting; thanks mkuu.

I am now officially at my site and installed. Upon arrival, I met the second master, who went w/ me to the village once my bags were in my house. The village is actually 2 separate villages separated by a distance of only about ¼ mile. We went to Gocho, which is just slightly closer, where I bought matches (quite useful for getting charcoal lit), rice, sugar, salt, flour, baking powder, peanuts, and cooking oil. Now I have enough to be able to cook so I can eat.

Once alone back at my house, I tried to start settling in. I am replacing a PCV who Eted (early termination – aka quit) a few months ago and he left several things behind. I am grateful for the extra things, like some books and cooking things, but am thinknig it will be harder to clean. He left 2 large bags in the bedroom that hid a little surprise from me at first. When I moved them, I discovered a partially decomposed or eaten lizard. In the guest room, one corner is heavily littered with rodent feces. This presented me with my first major problem: Where the heck do I sleep?? I felt like sleeping in the main room but the hassle of trying to get the wooden bed through the doorway was too much and I didn’t feel like sleeping on the floor where insects and arachnids could more easily crawl over me. Cooking tonight was a breeze in comparison so at least I ate good food – yay for vegetables!

INSTALLATION: Day 1

This morning I was up at 03:30 so we could pack the vehicles and get to the bus station before 05:00. Since I couldn’t send my packages yesterday, PTO Brian was kind enough to take them and money for postage so they should get to their respective recipients in time. Thank you thank you thank you Brian.

Andrea (CD) was in charge of the group on my bus and acted a bit like our mother at the bus station, in a good way; we were her children. We got our bags loaded, paid a little for excess baggage, said our good-byes, and loaded the bus. The 4 of us (Uma, Justin, Mike, & me) sat near one another but next to our respective mkuus (head of school). I was dozing off before we left the lot, which took ~45 minutes as all of the 06:00 busses tried to depart. I had bought a package of plain small muffins before we left that I ate with some fruit from dinner yesterday and a juice box & cashews my mkuu gave me. Though I slept much of the way, I was awake when we went through Morogoro and it felt a little bit like going home because it is so familiar now. I’m glad I was tired enough to sleep most of the time because I think it was less awkward for me than being awake sitting next to my mkuu for 10 hours, sleepy head bobbing, mouth agape, and all.

At the “lunch” stop, I decided to use the bathroom after Uma. Only I didn’t find the one she referred to and the line for the one out back was really slow. Now I almost missed the bus on the way to Shadow because we didn’t realize that the bus only stops for a short time (~10 min) and I did not want this bus to leave without me. Rather than waiting for my turn in line and risk missing the bus, I followed some other women to the back side of the choo and proceeded to pee right there on the cement. I really did not want to miss the bus. Only in Africa.

In Singida, it was just me, Uma, and our mkuus left. We found a hotel really close to the bus stand and (over)paid a guy to push our large bags there on a cart. Uma & I decided to share a room since it was plenty big enough for both of us, had its own bathroom, and the bed was bigger than the one we shared in Mikumi anyway. Eventually our mkuus got us for dinner and “helped” us order. We couldn’t quite figure out if they’d already eaten of not because they ordered a plate of meat and ugali that they ate from with me (Uma is vegetarian) but they seemed to partake of it like a snack. Being Thanksgiving back home, I was grateful to be able to talk to my mom and sister a little today. Happy Thanksgiving.

Oh Sweet Glorious Food: Swear-In & Thanksgiving

I’m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! 38 of us were sworn-in this morning at the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam (we only lost one during training due to a program change she didn’t like). To get into the embassy, the guards (locals) were having us individually sign-in. Then
Andrea, our Country Director (CD), arrived and was rather miffed because the guards have the guest list and having ~120 people sign-in individually would take forever. I think they learned not to mess with Andrea.
Our ceremony was in the main hallway of the embassy and was kept to 1.5 hours so as not to disturb the workers’ whole day. It was covered by ITV, a popular news channel here, though we didn’t get to see it. The guest of honor was , the minister of Tanzania Institute of
Education (TIE), who gave a speech after Andrea. Us soon-to-be-volunteers led the audience in the Tz & US national anthems then we all went onto the stairs facing them and performed a song in Kiswahili set to the tune of the Beatles’ “I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends”. Paul accompanied all songs with his concertina (like an accordion), which was really cool. He then gave our speech in Kiswahili with Mindy, doing the English version, to finish our portion of the entertainment, I mean ceremony. Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt (retired 2-star Army general & whose wife I sat next to during the ceremony) gave a short speech and swore us in as Peace Corps Volunteers. We were then officially PCVs. (Although we swore-in as Peace Corps Volunteers, the written statements we signed actually read “Peace Cops” J)
The ceremony was all well and good but the snacks at the reception were the best part of the whole thing. We had tender, marinated shish-kebabs and scrumptious samosas (meat & veggie filled pastry dough triangles). Then they served us the congratulatory cake. It was so good, I couldn’t help myself and had 2 pieces. In fact, I’m pretty sure most of us newly minted PCVs had more than one serving of the snacks served. We also took our CBT group pictures and the guys did a mustache picture to commemorate their brilliant pan to (almost) all grow mustaches for swearing-in. Not to be left out, us girls took a picture in which most of us are sporting finger mustaches – mustaches drawn on our fingers.
During our break between events, PC graciously drove ~6 of us to the Zain store in the middle of the city to buy modems or take care of other issues. If I really do have a computer or 2 at site that work, I will also have Internet. Cross your fingers. I also needed to go to the post office to send out a couple of 50th birthday packages but the Zain store workers were too slow to have time for us to stop at the main PO. Instead, one of the PC staff had the PC driver drop off the others at Msimbazi then directed us to a nearby PO. Unfortunately, this PO is really small and does not have Customs forms. The person working was able to tell me how much each should cost to send so I will have to ask someone from PC to send them with some cash I give them. I very highly doubt I will have a chance to send them once I leave for site early tomorrow morning.
After most of us had changed clothes and some had shaved, we headed to the ambassador’s residence for Thanksgiving dinner. To be sure, the place was beautiful outside (where we ate) but let’s be real, we mostly cared about the food. For our 2 months of training, we were hoping and praying that we would get served Thanksgiving dinner on the day we swore-in because we will be traveling on the actual Thanksgiving Day. Some people lusted after specific foods but I think many of us just wanted some good “American” food. We were not disappointed.
Among the foods served at dinner were green salad, fruit salad, corn, mashed potatoes, chicken (turkey is imported & extremely expensive), cranberry sauce, and rolls. I had a food baby from just dinner but still went up for a plate of dessert: pumpkin pie, apple pie, vanilla ice cream, brownie, and cookie. If I could gurgle like Homer Simpson, I would. Oh man was it good. They even had us take fresh fruit and extra desserts for later (esp for traveling tomorrow).
Back at Msimbazi, I packed up my bags again and was glad I’d left a small box of things at PC-HQ that I won’t need for awhile (including a few heavy books). Then I hung out for awhile and got some pics from the events today on my jumpdrive. Eventually I went to bed for a few hours of sleep. It’ll be weird not seeing everyone for several months.

HOS

Yesterday we spent at PC-HQ where we went through the Volunteer
Handbook (aka condensed rules and regulations) and ate some delicious
food. Afterward we played some Ultimate Frisbee; I was happy to be
running around again.
This morning, we met our Heads of Schools (HOS). Mine looks like he
stepped out of a 70’s cop show with his mustache, glasses, and
straight face. Seems he has only been at the school for a couple of
months so he is also new. Turns out that Uma is really close to me
though! Our HOS say it is 1km but based on my experience, it is
probably a few km. Anyway, it’s still wicked close for PCVs.
We were set free this afternoon and I was with a group trying to find
a Zain store (cell phone company) to buy wireless modems. We were
given directions and kept asking people on the street but never found
the place. We even tried directions from the website – we found the
address but no store. In the end we walked for at least a few miles
but I do know where Kariakoo is now (supposed to be good for spices
and other things). When we returned to Msimbazi, we found out that a
few other PCTs were able to call the store, which sent out a rep who
sold them modems. Dang. Just to note, we did try calling but got
nowhere with the automated system.
While hanging out tonight, I was sitting looking at my pictures of
home. Different people looked at them with me and I was told that both
my mom and dad are hot (by a guy and girl respectively). 

Good-Bye Kihonda

After church, it didn’t take me long to pack up my remaining things.
A few things I left for my family and they were, again, very grateful.
Then I waited to be picked up. And I waited some more. It was a bit
awkward for me just sitting around waiting to leave, knowing I would
soon be saying good-bye, but the kitty did provide some entertainment.
At one point it was biting its tail and ended up doing a somersault.
Once picked up, we ate lunch at CCT and then headed to Dar and the
Msimbazi Centre. It was a little weird saying good-bye but I am
looking forward to going to site.

Packing Up

Last night and this morning was spent packing my big bags so PC could pick them up today. All I knew was the PC would come sometime after 11:00 to get them; I got tired of waiting around. By 14:00 (2pm), they still had not come so Ezra and I headed to town to get a few things. I had bought earrings earlier in the week and went back for more to give as presents and bargained a better deal. Woohoo! We bought some chocolate and 20-in-1 movie DVDs for our teacher too. In honor of Tim, who is Chinese and jokes about kung-fu, one of the DVDs was kung-fu movies – some Jackie Chan even. We also ran into other PCTs who were out shopping. Most notably (tall) Lisa was out and bout looking great. I learned that she had come down with malaria right after having food poisoning during Shadow. She was our first malaria victim. The juice box she was drinking was the 1^st thing she’d had in days but she looked and sounded wonderful. Definitely recovered from the car crash feeling of malaria. For those who don’t know, our malaria prophylaxis pills are not 100% effect against malaria so we can get it even if we are taking our pills.

After town I was able to pick up my mom’s birthday present: a skirt, blouse, and matching bag made from a kanga. The kanga was poorer quality than I thought but at least the bag is good if the skirt doesn’t fit. Jordon’s mama still wasn’t done with making my outfit (it was supposed to be ready Thursday) so I went to the internet café. The only computer available wasn’t working so I tried to get it working. The thing has a couple of Trojans still but it is doing better. I left instructions with the guys on what to do to try to get rid of them because it was dark and I had to get going. On my way home, I stopped to get my outfit and waited with Vero and Jordon for a couple of hours until it was finished. I felt bad about being away from my family on my last night with them but didn’t want to walk in the dark more than necessary.

When I finally got home and had eaten dinner, I gave my family the last of my gifts for them. Before I left home, I went to the Farmer’s Market and picked up 3 wooden whistles, a glass ring, and a few sticks of flavored honey. From the NYS Fair, I gave them 2 “I ♥ NY” pins and a ruler with pictures of the US presidents. In addition, I gave them my map of the US, a fun-size packet of M&Ms each (thanks mom!) a glow-stick (thanks dad!) and a kanga I picked up in Njombe. My family was very thankful for the gifts, however small they may seem to many Americans. The family also received a framed picture of me with them, courtesy of PC, which was dropped off when my bags were picked up. As an added treat, I gave Simon a small bottle of vanilla flavoring because he likes to bake (& the whole family benefits).

OPI

I’m pretty sure my first oral proficiency interview (OPI) a few weeks ago was better than today. Both were taped and I think the first would sound better if listened to I totally blanked at the beginning and it took me most of the interview to recover. Maybe I’m tired from yesterday, maybe I haven’t used Kiswahili enough since our CBT ended (2 weeks ago). Anyway it was awful.

Tonight was our CBT Farewell party and us PCTs were glad they gave us some beers because the alcohol helped us deal with the awkwardness. We had to sit at a head table with a bunch of chairs to the side in front of us, facing the space in front of our table. At least our teacher Anna sat up there with us. After a delicious dinner of pilau and fried chicken and such, 2 men danced to a few songs. There was also some awkward dancing by us and some of our family members. I was glad some of my family got up to dance because it made it a little easier – definitely not like a dance in the US unless its your first dance in grade school. Then the gift giving began. One of us would be introduced with a song and our families would come up to us in a line, give us a hug and a few presents. Although we really wanted to go out together to have a drink to assuage the awkwardness*, we went home with our families instead because they just gave us this party and gifts. When I got home I opened the presents. My sister gave me a kanga (already cut and trimmed) and Mama gave me batik fabric! The fabric is bluish-green with large white giraffe print on it; it is the same print many of my fellow trainees have, but a different color. I love it and am really glad I didn’t find batik to buy before.

*Note: For those who don’t know me, I don’t drink much alcohol and am against using it as a coping mechanism; wanting alcohol should give you an idea of just how awkward it was.

Shorts!!

For our permagardening session, Peter said we could wear shorts because we are within the confines of CCT. My legs felt so wonderful and free! I just wanted to hop, skip, jump, and dance; so I did a little. Amazing how energetic I felt just by removing the lower half of my pants (and the kanga wrapped around my waist).

Half of us worked on the garden today and the other half (talking OPI today) will finish it tomorrow. A permagarden is a combination of the concepts of permaculture and gardening. It is a sustainable and more productive way to grow food. Not only can we build a permagarden for ourselves at site, we can teach others how, especially people living with HIV/AIDS. The initial labor output is high to build the swales for water control and to double dig the seed beds but the result is higher production and less work in the end. The idea is great and can be accomplished with local materials, namely a hoe (& rake if you are lucky) and native plants (you just have to find them). In addition to the plants in the seedbed, the perennial plants along the berm (between the seedbeds and swales) are edible too. On the outside of the garden, other plants can be placed to grow into a natural fence or to provide more food, like papaya. I’m excited to get started on my garden though my friends won’t be around to make hoe jokes with ;-).

Bake-Off

PC staff decided to give us Saturday off so they packed today full of sessions and quizzes that, if we “fail”, will not stop us from becoming volunteers. As you can imagine, we all studied really hard and were worried.

I finally made chocolate chip cookies for my family! The only substitutions I had to make were honey mixed w/ sugar for brown sugar and for chips I cut up 2.5 Cadbury baking chocolate bars. After slowly cooking just 6 cookies at a time, I got tired of it and put the remaining dough in the pot for a large coolie pie thingy. Turned out great and was much faster than making individual cookies. While I was making the cookies, Simon was making cake. He loves to make it so I gave him a translated recipe for the chocolate bundt cake I had made before Shadow. With these sweets, this family is going to be hyped up on sugar!

Simulation

To test our abilities to deal with situations we might encounter when out on our own, PC brought in people from the bus company, Immigration, Police, and teachers. Each station was 7 minutes and we had to deal with a situation given to us. I feel I did fairly well but couldn’t stop laughing when describing to the Police how I was robbed. I explained that the man tried to hit me but I dodged and that he was wearing some crazy color combination like orange pants and blue shirt J. I think he was also short and fat and maybe even had one eye. There was no way I could keep a straight face while describing my thief. At the bus station, I “bought” my ticket just fine but did not understand what the guy said when he asked if I am married (he asked most girls). I really need to learn the words because it is a pretty common question here (much like in Utah).

Money Matters

Eric was feeling better today after a good nights’ sleep so no need for the hospital. His eyes are much better and he will be back with us again tomorrow. Our whole week is at CCT so PC will pick Eric up in the morning so he doesn’t have to deal with the stress of riding the daladalas.

Today we learned about giving and lending money. Compared to many Tanzanians we make more money and it is consistent income. Plus, everyone assumes we are rich because we are white (& Americans). Therefore, we will be asked for money a lot. As part of the community, we are expected to participate in events. For things like weddings, you first get a notice asking you to contribute. If you contribute, you will likely get an invitation to the actual event. NO contribution, no invite. People will also ask us for loans, whether or not they really intend or are able to pay you back. We got some tips on smart lending and how to politely say no. PC is trying to make sure we budget our money so we can take care of ourselves; not give it all away.

New dress

Up bright and early for our bus ride back to Morogoro. We did not take the same bus line as our trip down but we did have some issues with our tickers the past couple of days. The bus that Eric and Lisa had reserved our seats on is now broken. On Friday, we found out our reserved seats had been transferred to another bus line but it costs more. I paid the extra bit for Eric and Lisa, who hadn’t arrived yet, but was told to pay more than I should have. Luckily it only took Eric (w/ concussion) and me about 15 minutes to get the situation sorted out yesterday. In contrast to our other bus ride, I felt relatively safe. It wasn’t a great ride however. We endured hours of religious music videos (we can’t figure out why they don’t just sell CDs) and a really old film about Jesus based on one of the gospels. The ride was also really bumpy, which made me feel bad and was probably one of the worst things possible for poor concussed Eric. He is not going to CCT tomorrow and is headed to the hospital if he is not feeling better when he wake up. Hopefully he will be better with just some rest.

My dress is done! My sister here picked it up while I was at Shadow. It seems a little tight in the shoulders but will probably fit a little better when I lose some of the weight I’ve gained and/or stretches from washing.

Kitenges galore!

Megan and I headed out this morning to look for kitenges, which are pieces of patterned cloth. Specifically we were looking for Batik (like a monocolor tie-dye) but we found lots of other kitenges we likes. By the end of the day, I’d bought 4 kitenges to have clothes made. 2 are red-based because my mom like me in red and I couldn’t find any in Morogoro. I also bought a cool kanga to use as a wall-hanging; it is the same one I saw hanging at the RPCV’s house last night.

Eventually we met up with the others and had lunch at one of the favorite spots. Most of us had the “special”: Chipsi Kuku – potato wedges with fried chicken. Then Marilyn showed a few people the local sto (where PCVs leave tings when they COS) while Ezra and I picked up some things at the market for the bus ride tomorrow. Those who went to the sto came back with some great books (the sto acts like a library) so Ezra and I went down to check it out. There was a great selection and I borrowed the books “Trekking in East Africa” and “The Tree Where Man Was Born”.

We met up with the PCVs again today to celebrate Trudy’s 50^th birthday. Our Shadow group had masala for dinner and it was great but I’m glad I split it with Megan because it was a large serving.

Party

W packed and cleaned this morning since we leave the village today. I had enough time before teaching to go for a run. It felt great to exercise but I’m really out of shape. During my lesson for the Form 3 Chemistry, I talked about caves because I was trying to explain what limestone is, since it is used as part of the process for extracting metal. I was excited and a few students may have even understood what I was talking about. Then at the end, before leaving, I asked if they had any questions at all. I told them about the snow back home and even tried to describe lacrosse because they asked about sports. I explained that lacrosse is a local sport where I am from but it is spreading and my (2^nd) cousin even came to Africa with someone who was teaching the sport to kids in Uganda. I tried to make them feel special that lacrosse has come to Africa when it hasn’t even spread throughout the US. They mostly looked confused.

Due to some confusion w/ the taxis, they were waiting for me when I returned from teaching and there were 2 instead of 1. We learned that it is important to know the language and be able to order a taxi by ourselves, not thorugh someone else. In Njombe, we met up with all the current PCVs for a party for those leaving (COSing). The party was at the house of an RPCV who is now working for an NGO. Her and some of the PCVs made spaghetti and garlic bread – with some mozzarella! Cheese is pretty scarce here so it’s generally considered sacred. We had a good time hanging out with the PCVs and we learned a lot to tell Jordon, Tim, and Philip who are coming to the region from our training group. Both Tim and Jordon are replacement sites so I found out a lot about the sites from the guys they are replacing. One PCV, who is coming to training next week, was trying to remember my name and was going through “M” names because 3/5 in our Shadow group have “M” names. For some reason he said “Matriarch” so I am now Matriarch too. We met a celebrity too! Jill, who is about to COS, is dating a guy on a really popular TV show here called Ze Komodi Show (not quite American comedy but beloved here). So yeah, we partied with a celebrity.

While leaving, I didn’t see the crossbeam fro the opening in the fence and I whacked my head. When Eric returned to the hotel on the next taxi trip, he said he did the same thing. Except Eric was running to catch the taxi and ended p on his back. He had good major motor control and his pupils were responsive so I let him go to bed despite the mild lateral nystagmus (little eye shake when following finger) indicating a concussion.

Cookies!!

I taught Form 1 Chemistry today and tried an activity with the students but they didn’t quite understand. I had them get into 2 lines; one boys, one girls. Then I would ask the first person in the lines a question based on the material covered. Only the students at the front of each line were supposed to answer and then both students would go to the back of the line. A few students may have understood but most didn’t seem to. It made me realize that I will have to teach my students how class games work because the students have not grown up with it - it is new to them. Marilyn observed me and said I’ll be fine teaching. More reinforcement doesn’t hurt.

The guys went for charcoal and beer in the village so were we able to make pizza again and try banana beer. The local brew smelled a little like bananas but was so fizzy from fermentation that I had trouble getting a taste, which was really yeasty when I did. To top off the pizza, I made cookies! I went with my favorite to bake: chocolate chip cookies. Only, Marilyn didn’t have any plain chocolate and it’s not available in the village. She did have some Halloween chocolate. For the first half of the dough, I made cookies with pieces of a Reese’s peanut butter cup, a Take-5, or a Kit-Kat. Then I mixed some (drinking) cocoa into the mix and finished by making cookies with peanuts and /or peanut butter. It took forever because I could only cook 5-6 at one time in a jiko (stove) oven that doesn’t quite reach the proper cooking temp. It was worth it though because the cookies tasted scrumptious and now I feel confident enough to make cookies for my host family.

Hike

Marilyn made French toast this morning; even I liked it and I normally don’t like it (I think she added a lot of cinnamon). While others were teaching today, I washed the large bin of dirty dishes – man we use a lot! This afternoon we all went for a walk to find this crevasse that Michael and Ezra had seen on their walk on Monday. On the way, there was a stick (bamboo?) so Ezra and Mike put it on their shoulders and Mindy hung off it like a tied pig. I’m sure the person who passed by thought that us white people are crazy. We passed a couple of young kids on the path herding goats and cattle. The path then lead down to a creek and we could see the kids come partway down the path to watch us. I’m not sure how private property works here butu we passed through a small farm (with lots of great veggies) and soon afterward noticed a fire in the small area. Hopefully no one thought that the white people passing through cause the fire. We did find the crevasse. It is just a split in the earth and it looks like a partial arroyo (deep ditch formed by heavy rains in dry climates) with a beginning. I’d like to know what cause the crevasse to form there. Was it the underlying geology or something else. To avoid the fire on the way back, we struck out in the general direction of Marilyn’s house. In the end, we made a loop as we found the road that passes through the village and connects to the road the school (and her house) is on.

Yesterday Mindy mentioned something to the effect of wanting alfredo. Today, we had pasta and I surprised her by making alfredo sauce using the parmesan cheese. Both it and the red sauce turned out delicious. For dessert, we had Bucket-o-chocolate. But some of it needs to cook longer. Oh well, it was chocolate.

Pizza & Wings!

Observed the Chem. teacher today and he gave a good lesson. I was glad I got to observe him because now I have a better idea of how my lesson can go since I am teaching the information to follow. Mike actually got all of his teaching in today so he is free the rest of the week.

The boys had as much trouble today lighting the charcoal as us girls did yesterday. We feel a bit redeemed. Once it was going, we made a tomato sauce which we used to make…drumroll please…pizza! We used Marilyn’s grated parmesan cheese that her sister had sent from America. For dough, Marilyn made her bread recipe and we just added various fruits and veggies for toppings w/ the cheese. With the delicious pizza, we ate salad made from Marilyn’s small garden. It was a spicy leafy mixture because the lettuce had already bolted (went to seed – makes it bitter) and there was quite a bit of mustard greens. We also drank some of Marilyn’s homemade wine. It was good but really strong. For dessert, Ezra and Michael ate toasted termite queens. The large insects were flying all over tonight so they each caught one, placed it near the coals to kill & crisp it, removed the wings, and chowed down. Maybe us girls will try it another night.

We slept in a little this morning because of our long day yesterday. Eric and Lisa took a small bus to their Shadow PCV and the rest of us (n=6) crammed into a taxi for the hour drive to Kinenulo. Since we were supposed to arrive in time for dinner yesterday, there was a ton of food waiting for us. After our delicious lunch, we met the head mitress of the school (Philip Mungulo Sec.,) who gave us a tour of the school. After meeting all the teachers at lunch (which we gratefully declined), Marilyn told us our schedules for the week. She tried to give Megan, our only Math person, her full teaching schedule for the week but it was cut down to a reasonable load. Mindy, Ezra, and I split up the Chem periods so we will observe tomorrow then each of us teaches 2 periods sometime during the rest of the week.

Later in the afternoon, the boys went exploring and saw a small crevasse in the earth that we want to try finding this week. When the boys were away, us girls tried to light the charcoal stove and it took us about 30 minutes to even get it started and stay lit. We didn’t tell the boys how long it took us. We’ll see how long it takes them tomorrow.

This evening we joined Marilyn at her Life Skills session. Today’s activity was coming up with responses to lines a student might hear to have sex. Some of the lines were hilarious, like, “Sex makes your boobs bigger.” Others were tougher ones to think of responses to, like, “Practice makes perfect.” The kids did a great job coming up with responses they can use if someone uses one of the pressure lines on them. We even got the boys and the girls to work together a little, which is really hard to do.

“Hail Mary, full of grace…”

“Experience traveling in Tanzania” – check. That was one of our assignments for Shadow this week and 9 of us definitely got our fill. The problems started before we even left Morogoro. Paul, a staff member, helped us find the bus when it arrived but when we boarded, there were people sitting in our reserved seats. Most of us just found random seats and 3 of us were in the middle back so we were able to pile our big bags at the end of the aisle. Then someone from the bus company realized there were too many people for the number of seats and we had to move to our assigned seats, which meant our large bags had to be placed between our legs or under the seats (they didn’t fit above). A few people (not in our group) ended up sitting in the aisle even. Lesson #1 when traveling: pack into smaller bags even if it means taking 2 bags instead of 1.

As we drove through Mikumi National Park, our bus broke down. Not only did the bus guys standing outside the bus look worried, people in passing vehicles also had the look of, “Oh man, they’re screwed.” Someone in our group said s/he saw a large, dark puddle under the bus. At one point, Megan saw a large section of the bottom of the bus on the ground below it as they attempted to fix it. After 1.5 hours, the bus was back together and limped to the town of Mikumi. We sat at the garage there for about 3 hours before we finally left.

Since we were now running very late, the bus driver decided he needed to drive very fast – on a very curvy road. The 9 of us looked at one another as we promptly buckled up (or made sure we were still buckled). If the bus went down the cliff, we had the greatest probability of survival. As you’ve probably guessed, we made it through ok but I was praying during most of it and am glad I’d gone to church before going to the bus station.

We aren’t supposed to travel at night but we had no choice. Gene and Paff got off at their stop to meet their PCV and the rest of us continued on to Njombe. At one point, there was a long line of stopped vehicles. Our driver didn’t want to wait but there want’ quite enough room to squeeze between the truck in front of us and the vehicle to the right. He tried anyway. The side-view mirror broke off and he kept going. That’s right folks, we had a hit-and-run.

COSing PCV Andy met us at the bus station in Njombe when we arrived at 23:30 (11:30pm) – 14 hours after we started but at least we were still alive. When we arrived, Andy said he would have recommended not taking Grazia Bus Lines; now we know for when we buy our return ticket to Morogoro. He put us in a couple of taxis and sent us to our hotel where Marilyn, my Shadow PCV, was waiting with water and some food for dinner/midnight snack. In summary, we were stuffed on a hot bus for 14 hours that broke down a half dozen times, defied physics going around turns, and had a hit-and-run. I can’t wait for the return trip.

SITE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

We had to wait to find out where we will be living the next 2 years until the big-wigs showed up. PCV Jeff gave a presentation on the National exams (NECTA) and we learned that the exams consist of questions sent in by teachers so they do not follow the national syllabus very well. However, he has gone through about 10 years of tests with his colleagues and they have created study guides for the different subjects based on what is usually asked. He highly recommends having the students memorize some things while trying to get them to understand. Some people didn’t like that he recommended straight memorization sometimes but it can really help the students do better on the exams. If a student does poorly on the exams, s/he cannot continue in school. It’s not like in the US where it doesn’t matter as much. Here, the tests determine their future. So I’ll be teaching to the test and seeing if I can get them to think along the way.

After chai, we all gathered outside as some local group played drums and danced. We all got up and danced with them for a song before starting the announcements. All the Americans from PCHQ-Tz came in from Dar (CD, PTO?, PCMO, AO) and they were excited as well. There was a big map placed up front with Post-It notes covering our pictures that were arranged around the map. Each “group” of sitemates (“close” PCVs) had a string from the pictures to the site location on the map. Our group decided the youngest should go first so Geneva had the honors of revealing the first site announcement….and it was me! I was in a bit of shock as I never expected to be first.

I am headed to Gitting Secondary School near Katesh in Manyara Region to teach Chemistry. It is south of Ngorongoro/Serengeti area and Andrea (our CD) said it is a little cool and there is a nearby mountain – woohoo! There was a PCV there last year but he ET’ed (left early). In the site description e wrote that the school provides electricity and there is a close water pipe that works most of the time. The local tribe is Wairaqw and the former PCV said that some villagers only speak their language, Kiiraqw. In addition to studying Kiswahili, I will be trying to learn some Kiiraqw at site. I have a feeling I will have plenty of opportunities to get back in shape because the nearest market is apparently a 2 hour walk. I’m looking forward to getting a bicycle asap once I arrive. Also the post office town is a 2 hour bus ride or a 2 hour walk then a 1 hour bus ride. And that’s not even my banking town. Hopefully there are other PCVs in the area that I can share a PO box with and any of us can let the others know if they have mail. That way I don’t have to go into town to know if I have mail sometimes. Uma and Ghee are in the same general area and there are some Health and Environment volunteers there too. Unfortunately, we are a 2 day bus trip from Dar; guess I won’t be going to PCHQ much.

Others in our group were placed from north to south to east. 3 even ended up on the island of Pemba and we only expected 1, who already knew because she is part of a pilot program to teach English at a teacher’s college. Megan (S), who I ran with in Philly, is in Kilimanjaro region so we are already planning on doing the marathon. We think the ½ marathon will be perfect this year and we’ll train for the full Kilimanjaro marathon in 2012. Carolyn and (Chris) Paff are near Ngorongoro Crater so they are also expecting a visit. Plus they aren’t too terribly far from me so I will probably be reading all the books they brought (mostly sci-fi).

We finished early and PC took pity on us so they drove us back to Kihonda. This meant I was able to get measured for my dress! I asked the lady to make it a wrap dress by showing her a sketch (thanks Megan) and saying some words like jacket while miming. I have no idea how it’ll turn out but will see when I get back from Shadow.

I talked with my parents a lot today because the cell company had a great deal. It only cost me about 10,000Tsh for ~55 min total -> ~$6.50 (I think it was 130Tsh a min, which is the price for 1 text message to the US). Not worrying so much about time let me have a better conversation and I even left a couple messages for people (like Eric whose birthday was yesterday).

Exam

Tim’s brother was on the daladala this morning so we had him show us where his school is because we had heard that it is on the shortcut to CCT. Although the route isn’t straight, we were able to find out way just find and are questioning if it is actually shorter. Even if it’s not shorter, at least there are much fewer vehicles and more shade.

The final written exam was this morning and even though I studies I still had some trouble with it. I realized there are some words I should know that I don’t but overall I think I did alright; at least I should have no trouble getting a passing grade. The oral proficiency interview is after we go to Shadow so I still have some time to really work on speaking Kiswahili.

PC wants pictures of all of us with our host families so I finally got one tonight but the little girls (Beatrice & Mariamu) weren’t in it. Hopefully I can get another with them before I leave. As I was going to bed tonight, I recognized the song that the neighbors were singing and beating on the drums – it was “Awimoweh” from the Lion King!

Happy Birthday Eric

Is that a Placenta?!

Our last day at Kihonda Secondary was spent in our tech POD for which the Educare group joined us. PCV Yue had taken apart 2 computers in the school’s computer lab and we had to put them back together. They mostly work again. For me, it was a funny POD because not only did we joke around a lot with one another, but Yue has the same mannerisms and similar voice as my friend Marty; I got a kick out of it.

At the end of the day, PCV Jeff joined us and he bought a couple music DVDs at the shop next to the bar. Some of the song titles were unreadable as English and some were hilarious because some of the words were wrong (esp. different English words that look similar when written). Wish I could remember some of them…

I headed back to the school in late afternoon because I had told my students I would answer any questions they have for their exams next week. On the way, I ran into Tim, who is feeling much better and was on his way to meeting a student for English help. None of my students showed up but Tim and I were able to help some Form 3 students who were studying and I joined him for awhile at the English session he held. Basically a handful of students come to get a quick lesson on English and to practice speaking English.

As I was walking home, I noticed a goat with what looked like a reddish-pink balloon coming out of its rear-end. When I got closer, I saw a baby goat lying on the ground, occasionally bleating. I just missed a goat being born! The “balloon” looking thing must have been the placenta that was still stuck to the mother, who didn’t seem to care as she went on munching the grass. Definitely not something I’d be likely to see I the US on any given day.

Happy Birthday Katie!

Chai Goodbye

Our CBT has suffered a casualty. Tim got sick last night with a fever and vomiting so he couldn’t make it to class today. It’s too bad because he missed our goodbye to the school. We were given money from PC and bought meat sambusas, fried biscuits, and soda for the teachers during chai time. I gave a short speech in Kiswahili thanking the teachers and the others said a few words too. We also invited a couple of students to represent the student body and we gave them a soccer ball and net ball (volleyball) for the school. The teachers and students were thankful to us but I’m not sure how much of it was the snacks talking ;-).

Towards the end of chai, one of the teachers invited us to play soccer this afternoon. I invited the boys at home to some and Simon joined me but it turns out that I had heard the wrong start time and they don’t show up on time, or even close. We waited around for awhile and were just heading back when a few people started showing up. Simon and I bought a few supplies to make cake then went back to play. In the end, I ended up kicking the ball around for a bit (which felt really good) but didn’t want to wait around forever to play so we went back home to bake.

I have been wanting to make something for my family and found a recipe for chocolate bundt cake in our new cookbooks. It took awhile to get everything mixed properly, by hand of course, and also to bake it. I took it off the coals when the toothpick came out clean but when I removed the metal cup in the middle, one section was definitely not cooked. So I put all the coals in one spot in the stove and the same spot on top in order to concentrate the heat on the uncooked portion. It worked perfectly! The cake finished baking and didn’t dry out. We ate it after dinner and my family loved it. Too bad my run this morning was not nearly enough exercise for all the unhealthy food I ate today.

Run!

I finally made myself get up early enough this morning to run; it felt to great! I just found my way around the village and eventually turned around and made my way back. Along the way, I found that the street with the Carmelite Community also has 2 other religious compounds. I only ran for about 25 minutes but I’m so happy I went.

When I checked my e-mail, I found out that my Master’s paper should have been bound and ready for pick-up yesterday!!! This means my paper is finished! As soon as the semester ends, I will officially be done!

Food note: Don’t think my diet is too starchy? I had rice, potatoes, and beans for dinner tonight. I’m pretty sure none of them count as veggies on the food pyramid. I don’t think the students transfer their nutrition lessons to real life.

Kitenge

Due to the election yesterday, I wasn’t supposed to leave the village to look for a kitenges again. I made it to Morogoro after class today and tried to find a red kitenges again but gave up and ended up buying a blue one with an orange design. I really like it and I’m excited to get a wrap dress made soon so I have a local outfit for swearing-in. I picked up some chocolate, vanilla, and baking powder too so I can bake some chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies for my host family.