Things I love about my life (a list in progress)

1. My students
2. The sunset
3. Chai break everyday! Yum!
4. Pilau
5. Sambusas
6. Coming home to my crazy dog doing flips of excitement
7. Rainbows during the rainy season
8. Children here—the cutest ever
9. Realizing that being alone and being lonely are two very different things
10. The sound of the rain on my roof
11. All food made on my jiko tastes better
12. Surprising everyone when I can speak Swahili (even myself)
13. The joy people have when I speak the few words I know of the native language
14. The rainy season
15. The dry season
16. Holing up in my village until I have just enough money to get to town → then showering!
17. Warm bucket baths after a long day
18. Being greeted by everyone and always feeling so welcomed
19. Dance parties with my dog, other volunteers and my neighbor kids
20. Walking to my village with everyone yelling my name
21. Getting packages and letters from home
22. Feeling like a princess every time I get into my mosquito net
23. Clean sheets
24. Henry (who is 2) yelling my name and then running to me every time I see him
25. Lorry rides
26. Teaching all my students to say “cool”
27. Getting woken up by roosters everyday
28. My dog crawling under my bed to sleep every night
29. Boggle!
30. Having guests
31. Finding 10 students on my front porch taking shelter during a rain storm
32. The hike to the cell phone tower by my house to watch the sunset
33. The stars
34. The wind (just like Casper!)
35. Neighbors bringing me food when they see me arrive home late
36. Leaving a bucket on my front porch and coming back to find it filled with water
37. Everyone’s willingness to help
38. Picking out fabrics and getting clothes made specifically for me
39. Fresh food
40. Dancing in the rain
41. My buckets and the process of discovering all of their wonderful uses
42. Pigs—they are cute
43. Bonfires at night
44. Feeling accomplished/well worked when I am covered from head to foot in white chalk dust
45. Going for a walk and seeing monkeys!
46. Hearing call to prayer
47. Going to church on Sundays and listening to the choir
48. Khangas and all of their wonderful uses—never leave home without one
49. Getting a heartfelt shikamoo or receiving an actually delighted marahaba
50. Bananas-big, medium, little, yes please!
51. Chipsi mayai, especially kwa Gifti
52. Having the best friends ever (that’s you!)
53. Music, and its ability to keep me sane
54. Riding my bike around with no destination
55. Doing practicals/demonstrations and seeing my kids’ eyes light up
56. Talking about home with people and seeing how surprised they are to hear about snow
57. Skype dates
58. Coloring with the kids
59. Seeing my students perform
60. Being greeted by a little kid in the evening with “good morning, sir”
61. Sketchy dalas and the craziness that is traveling here
62. Taking a shower, shaving, doing my hair, and putting on jeans just to sit in my house and read a book after a hard week
63. Candlelight dinners for one
64. Catching up with other volunteers after a long time
65. Hoarding chocolate and safi American food for use after bad days
66. Discovering random, delicious food combinations-tuna, avocado, banana, dill, lemon sandwich=delicious
67. Clean towels hot off the line
68. Everyday is an adventure!

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Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my arrival in Tanzania.  For the past few weeks I have been incredibly strung out.  I keep thinking about how fast the last year has flown by.  Just like it was yesterday, I remember sitting in a hotel in Philly with 38 complete strangers, looking for anyone to be my friend, not having any idea what I was getting myself into.  Fast-forward one-year: I now know a new language, a new culture, I am living alone for the first time in a foreign land, a foreign land which has become not so foreign, and I have 38 new best friends.  Crazy.

Because this year has flown by, this past month my mind has been consumed with thoughts about how this next year is going to fly by too.  Then what?  In one year I am completely free.  I have no pressing attachments, no student loans, no car payments, no house, no kids, no significant others.  The world is literally my oyster.  I realize how lucky I am to be able to say this, but, even so, it is probably the most frightening thing I have ever uttered.  For any who know me, you know I like plans.  I like knowing what is coming, being prepared for the future.  I am a firm believer that a person needs to plan for the future that they want.  For the last two weeks I have been going to the village everyday to charge my computer and research jobs, update my resume, and talk with friends about the companies they were hired at.

The other day I realized that I was feeling very disconnected from Tanzania.  I am here, I am doing my job, but my mind has been in other places.  I love it here.  I feel so lucky to be here, and I only have two years here.  It was with this realization that I decided to change my thought process.  Instead of thinking “oh no, I only have one year before I have to figure out what to do with my life,” I am now thinking along the lines of “oh no, I only have one more year left in Tanzania!”

As much as I get frustrated with this country, as lonely as I feel sometimes, the fact of the matter is, I know that one day I am going to miss this.  This is a once in a lifetime event and even though some days it is hard to see, this experience, this country, my new friends (Tanzanian and American) have changed me.  The day will come, sooner than I would like it to, where I will wake up and long to return to my life, as it is right now.

For this, I am determined to seize this year.  I now have the tools I need to get things done, to really help and make a difference.  I know the language, culture, and the need, and I am excited to see what I can do to improve the lives of my new friends and community.  As for what is next, I am going to not worry.  I am going to have faith in life.  It always works itself out, I will end up someplace, hopefully great, and life will continue, kama kawaida.

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Lazy Sunday

Currently I am lying in bed, enjoying a nice Sunday morning.  Before 7:00am I had 4 different people come and knock on my door.  I ignored them all and just slept.  It was marvelous.  I slept in my guest room last night because the biggest spider I have ever seen decided to crawl into my bed last night.  I sprayed half a can of bug spray on it and made a beeline for another room.  It was nice to mix things up a bit.  I slept like a rock.

This has been a busy weekend.  Yesterday was Form IV graduation.  I was on the food committee so I spent a large portion of the day peeling tomatoes and carrots.  The actual graduation was scheduled to start at 9am, being on Tanzanian time, however, it did not start until 1:00pm.  The ceremony was nice, and included lots of song and dance, a play, and even some rap and hip-hop.  Afterwards, I felt like a major celebrity.  There was a huge crowd and everyone kept grabbing me to take a picture with them.  After a lot of cheezing out, we got to eat delicious food!  All in all, it was a fun day.

Today I have guests coming and there is a school dance…and so the fun continues….

Me with the girls cooking

Teachers and distinguished guests

Getting a zawadi!

Congratulations Form IV!

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The sound of settling

Break is officially over. School started on Monday. Back to the grindstone. On Monday, the secretary of the school greeted me. I had my hair down and she informed me that I looked pretty when my hair was cornrowed but when it was down, I didn’t look pretty. Ha. Ouch. They teach us in training that Tanzanians are really indirect. I think that is definitely true in situations where power is involved, but in day-to-day activities, I argue quite the opposite. If I am looking a little on the rough side Tanzanians have no trouble at all just coming right out and saying it. I appreciate the directness from the culture that I always thought to be so passive. It is refreshing and it makes my feel glad that people are comfortable enough around me to just tell me their honest opinions.

Monday, at chai break, the majority of the students were sent home to get food contributions for the school. I came to school this morning to find two other teachers present and that most of the students had not yet returned. This stresses me out slightly because the term end is fast approaching and I have to finish their syllabus. We are slightly behind in many of my forms so I really need to get my teaching on. With that, I was also mighty glad to have a free day today to finish up some Peace Corps paperwork I was behind on, clean house, and do laundry. I have a guest coming tomorrow! I love guests (ahem…mother…).

One of my village friends asked me if she could use my computer to see if she got accepted to accounting school. The schools just post the list of candidates who get in online. We searched for her name, and it wasn’t present. I just saw her face fall, I felt awful. She asked my what she should do and I suggested calling the university. She did this and a few minutes later came back with a different web address to check. We looked, and she got in! She was beaming with pride and happiness and started jumping around, hugging me. We then had an impromptu dance party in the middle of her store to the popular local music, Bongo Flava. It was a really good moment in my life. I will be sad to see her leave in a few days, but I am so glad she is going on to study and make something for herself.

In other news, yesterday my dog got out of my house. Everyone is scared of Bridge. I am not sure why, she is very sweet, and just likes to play. Every time she gets out children cry, animals run, chicks are eaten. It is a disaster. For this, I either keep her inside or on a leash around my house. Whenever she does get out I always chase her down to bring her back. I have always wondered if she would just come back if I let her run, but never tested it. Yesterday when she got out, however, I decided to give it a try. I went on the front porch, called her twice and was surprised to see her turn, and run into my house. I felt like such a proud mother. She was carrying something in her mouth, which looked a lot like a stick. After she dropped it at my feet in the front room, I realized it was actually a goat’s foot. Yum. Anyways, she enjoyed it and even posed for a picture.

Bridger eating her goat's leg. Delicious!

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This is that fresh, that fresh feeling

Tree through the roof

Hiiikkkkking

Offerings to the gods by the witch doctors

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From Tanzania to America, with love

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Show me the world in the shape of your looking glass

My life in the last 3 months

Birthday Cake!

Birthday Party

Getting Fed the Cake, hakutaka.

Me and the birthday boy

My Buckets–winners of my most prized possession

Best burrito ever. Eat your heart out Chipotle

Inside the Roman Catholic Church in Madibira

The church

I don’t think anything screams “man” so much as a hot pink bicycle

Built in the 1800’s

In my village: The waterfall that no one sees (the official name)–dry season

Terribly sketchy bridge across the river

Me with my girls on the way to the girl’s conference

Magreth

Lorry ride to Mafinga, Ghee on top of the rice, the girls in the cab.

Playing duck duck goose with the girls

Cutest Child Ever

Girl’s Conference fun

I love Tanzania

My girls rapping for the talent show

Waterfall

Waterfall

Bridge loves mashed potatoes

Matema Beach

Bliss

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Operation Save Big Mac: Success Cornrowed hair: Fail

My computer’s saga has finally been concluded, and with a happy ending!!  My computer’s backlight went out right after in-service training in April, making it rather useless.  I could only see things on the screen if I used a flashlight.  I spent many hours sitting on my couch with a blanket over my head and my headlight, trying to pick what music I would like to put on my Ipod as I prepared for Mac’s return to America to get fixed.  When I was not desperately hiding under my blanket trying to get even the smallest use out of my computer, it made a very nice, shiny, and expensive paperweight on my desk.  My site mate (well—if you count a neighbor someone who lives 5 hours away from me—which, here, I do) Glenn, was returning to America in June for a short visit.  I solicited his help, and the operation began.

Step 1: At our Girl’s conference, in June, I handed the computer off to Glenn.  He returned to America and everything seemed to be going right to plan.  My computer was only a few weeks over warranty so Mac even agreed to fix it under warranty.

Hitch 1 (in any great mission, there must be a hitch): Glenn was returning to Tanzania and the computer was not fixed yet.  Bummer.  So, now, my computer was in Georgia with Glenn’s sister (who picked it up when it was fixed after Glenn’s return), and I didn’t know what to do.

Step 2: My friend Danielle’s friend was coming to Tanzania.  This seemed like a great option to get the computer back into country.

Hitch 2 (if this is a mission involving me, there will probably be more than one hitch—just my luck): Danielle’s friend lives in Texas, and was leaving for Tanzania in 4 days

Step 3: Have Glenn’s sister Fed-Ex the computer to Texas overnight, with insurance. $133.  Yikes.

Step 4:  Have my mom send Glenn’s sister a reimbursement check.

Hitch 3:  Danielle’s friend was flying into Moshi, a 3 day trip from my site

Step 5:  Danielle left it at a volunteer’s house in Moshi

Step 6:  Another volunteer, Yue, picked it up and brought it with him to Dar a few days later.

Step 7: The handoff.  Yue handed it to my other sort of site mate, Katie, in Dar, who brought it to her village (about 60 km away)

Step 8: Katie came to my site this week with the computer!!

After 5 months, mission complete!!  Thanks to everyone who helped.  You all are AMAZING and I owe you BIG.

Last week I decided it would be a good idea to get my hair cornrowed.  Tanzanians love this, and I really like the feeling of the wind on my scalp as I ride my bike.  I did it once before and it was really cheap and didn’t hurt very much, so, why not?  The last lady I went to put in pretty big braids so it only took about 2 hours.  Oh my, the lady I went to last week did the smallest braids and it hurt soooooo bad.  After 5 hours of sitting there I had tears running down my face, I was cursing life, and all I could think was how I was no longer afraid for childbirth.  It was way not worth it.  Then I started getting “you look beautiful,” from everyone.  Then I got two marriage proposals, and one guy bought me a soda, so it wasn’t completely bad.  I also had them put in some Little Shop of Physics beads in it, which are white until you go out into the sun and they change color!  Ha.

Earlier this week I was left with the daunting task of taking them out.  After 4 hours of unbraiding and being forced to cut the beads out of my hair, I remain with approximately half the volume of hair I had before I did this.  Never again.  But, for your entertainment, pictures!

During

During

After

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Pay it Forward

I do not know how many of you have seen this movie, but the basic plot is a student comes up with a community service idea.  The premise is he will do a nice, out of the ordinary thing for three people in exchange for the promise that these three people will pay it forward by doing a good deed for three more people.  Theoretically, if everyone paid forward the kindness that was bestowed on them, people doing random acts of kindness for other people would grow at an exponential rate.

I always thought this idea was so great.  A community where everyone helped everyone, with nothing asked of in return, but to pay the kindness forward towards someone else.  I never thought that boarding a plane to one of the poorest countries in the world I would find such a community in existence.  Stepping off that plane I entered the most welcoming culture I have (and probably will) ever encounter.  The most used Swahili word is easily karibu, or, welcome.

Tanzanians welcome you into their country, towns, houses, and stores, to sit and talk, or even to eat their food. If you walk by a person who is eating, they will, almost certainly say, “karibu chakula” (welcome to my food).  Now, I don’t actually think they expect people to sit down and start eating off their plates, but if you did, they would be delighted.  Every single time I have taken a bus out of my village, I am always getting offered some sort of food from my seatmate. 

I realize being offered sugarcane on a bus ride seems rather small and insignificant, but it is the genuine act of offering which makes it so marvelous.  People have little, but all that they have you are welcomed to, because of the kindness that is just innately built into their culture.  This has taken me awhile to adjust to.  It is very American to be much less welcoming.  Because everyone is so happy to give whatever they have, Tanzanians start to expect it.  It took me by surprise to be asked for a bite of my banana, as I was eating it. “No!” I wanted to say, “this is my banana!”  The more apart of this culture I feel, however, the more Tanzanian I become.  Every time I board a bus now, I buy some sort of food from the vendors who are constantly harassing me from my window.  Then, I go one step further and offer the food to my neighbor.

This is one of the biggest things I will take from my experience, and it is one of the most significant ways I have changed since my arrival here a year ago.  I can already see myself, on my return to America, stopping to greet everyone I see on the street and offering food to people.  Some (ok, most) may think I am strange (which, let’s be honest, I am), but others may be moved by a stranger’s random act. 

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