July 24th
Over the last couple of days I have started settling in and feeling more at home. On Thursday I joined a few students and teachers for a soccer game down the street from me. It was a ton of fun. I didn’t really know what to expect when I told them I wanted to play that afternoon. At 4 o’clock one of my form four students came knocking asking if I was still interested in playing. When I approached the field, there were just four guys kicking a ball around. Eventually more people joined and we played a full field hour and a half scrimmage. It was a lot of fun. I realized how out of shape I truly am. I was able to play the whole game which I was definitely proud of. We didn’t really play positions but I played what would be considered a left mid. I ran back and forth excited to be able to play. I actually scored a goal off of a header!! I think I was just as surprised as everyone else. After the game I arrived home to find we had a visitor who looked about 9 years old helping Lindsay with dinner. After my shower Lindsay was done cooking and the boy ran home. He comes over about every other night now. We can’t communicate with him much as he doesn’t know English but he still likes to come and help.
At school on Friday I was approached by a teacher. I found out that he is in charge of the sports for the school. He informed me that the school soccer team was having a game that evening against another village down the road. He said he wasn’t feeling well so he wouldn’t attend but he would send a student to escort me. Throughout the day I was asking around to see which other teachers were attending. A few of the teachers are in form 6 and teaching for three months at Kafule. Three of them said they were going to attend but none of the full time teachers were going. I didn’t really understand where the game was or how competitive the games truly were but thought it would be fun. Lindsay did not go to the game with me. She decided instead to walk to Isoko. She wanted to go to Mbeya for the weekend and needed to find a ride. A half an hour after Lindsay left for Isoko, I left for the soccer game. One of the teacher’s told me he was not attending because it was too far which I thought was a joke. He was not joking. It took me an hour to walk to the field! The walk wasn’t too difficult but I knew it would be challenging to walk home.
We arrived close to the beginning of the match and I was overwhelmed and surprised by how many people were at the game! One of the temporary teacher’s from form 6 found me when I arrived and I sat and stood with him and the other teacher’s the entire game. Everyone was so excited. It was actually more traditional then I was expecting but some things were a little crazy to me. Here is just a bunch of random facts from the game: Each team had uniforms complete with shin guards and socks. The school team looked a lot more professional than the village team because they had shorts to match their jersey. Maybe one or two people had cleats but everyone had shoes. At one point a student took his shoes off and did play barefoot though! There wasn’t a real out of bounds. If a player was controlling the ball and close to the side then he was fine and the spectators had to move out of the way. If the ball wasn’t under control then the ball was out. Every time a goal was scored the players celebrated with two or three back flips in a row. The spectators were just as excited and you could see a few of them celebrating in the same fashion. The most astonishing part of the game was that the students never received water or anything to drink the entire game! Even at halftime, nothing! There was no coach to tell them what to do so substitutions happened whenever someone from the sideline wanted to play and then they switched shirts. During half time all the male spectators huddled around their respective team. People just yelled out what the players should do and no real strategy was ever agreed upon. The game was quite long as well. The sun had already set by the time the game completed. It was a good experience and I learned a great deal. I also felt like the students were very excited to see me at the game. I got a lot of high fives along with a lot of stares.
The walk back was a little crazy. The beginning of the walk was on a little dirt path in the middle of fields. Everyone was so excited for the victory that it was a loud and aggressive start to the walk. Two of the teacher’s walked back with me because they knew it would be a bit rowdy. Occasionally a bicycle or motorcycle would need to pass and so I would have to jump into the bush and wait. After the motorcycle or bicycle a group of students would run by trying to catch it. A few of them would hold onto the bike hindering it from moving very fast. Eventually, we were back of the main road and I was a bit relieved. Unfortunately I could not find my flashlight and it was very dark. The dirt road wasn’t too bad to walk on but I managed to stub my toe and trip a couple of times. I called Lindsay as we were walking and she told me she was waiting in Isoko and I was to meet her for dinner. At first I didn’t think it was a bad idea but then as I walked it got darker and darker. There was not even a sliver of moon to lead the way.
The walk from the soccer field to Isoko took me an hour and a half! I was very tired by the time I arrived. I was hoping the dinner would be ready as soon as I arrived so that I could eat and then walk home and go to bed. That was unfortunately not the case and I spent an hour in Isoko eating and socializing. One of teacher walked the entire way with me so I was happy to pay for his dinner and try to learn more about him. He was graduating from form 6 in February and then planned to go to a university to study geography and maybe Swahili. He was worried that I would not be able to walk home after dinner. After dinner we began the much dreaded walk back. Fortunately Lindsay had a flashlight and I happened to find mine while we were in Isoko. The night was very long. At 9:30 PM I finally managed to arrive home and soon after fell asleep. Lindsay was leaving at 4 AM the next morning so I said my goodnight and goodbye before I went to bed.
Yesterday I slept in until around 8:30. I was still very tired when I woke but the sun was sitting brightly in my eyes so I could not sleep any longer. I did a lot throughout the morning. It took me an hour and a half to prepare breakfast (just eggs and potatoes). While the food was cooking I started washing my clothes. Once I was finished eating, I continued to wash my clothes and hang them out to dryl. After washing my clothes I had a bucket shower in which I shaved for the first time in two weeks!! I was planning on walking into Isoko after my shower but then there were so many dishes I had to wash. I washed the dishes and by then it was already 1 PM. I ate a quick lunch and then headed into town. I first stopped to hang out at Gloria’s house for a bit. Gloria is a Tanzanian lady who works through a youth empowerment agency. She has been working in Isoko for about five months. Her program pushes the students to speak only English so I am able to get passed just greetings when I talk to her which is a nice change. Yesterday we talked about the government of Tanzania as opposed to the government of American, the American education system and specifically what Americans are taught about Africans in school. It was a good talk but ended after an hour because she received a phone call and had to meet someone.
After I left Gloria’s I walked up to the hospital to see if the housing I stayed in was unlocked. I needed to retrieve a skirt that I left behind. I managed to retrieve it and then slowly started my walk home. I ran into the postmaster as I was leaving Isoko and he walked me home. His home is very close (maybe two minutes away) to my house and I was glad for the company. As we were about to depart he invited me into his house. I stayed and had a nice meal. I am always very hesitant about meat here but his was actually really good. I didn’t want to ask what animal it came from though. As I was eating the meat I ate around the fat and left it on my plate. The postmaster didn’t understand why I would leave any of the meat on my plate and told me to eat more. He wanted me to eat everything. When he wasn’t looking I grabbed the skin/fat of whatever animal it was and held it in my left hand. Since the left hand isn’t sanitary, they weren’t going to notice it once I was done. Luckily they never did and I managed to throw it down the mountain once I left the home. When I arrived home at 5 PM I was no longer hungry but looking for something sweet to hold me over for the night. I decided to make some tea and read my book to finish off the night.
The kerosene grill is supposed to be fast to cook small things and so I decided to test it out. Forty-five minutes later the water was finally boiling. I took out a bandana and placed it over the thermos as a filter before I poured in the water. Unfortunately the bandana did more harm than good and I lost all of the water!!! I decided to use the charcoal burner and try again. Another hour later and I finally had some tea. Since it took so long I decided to have three cups just to satisfy my anger!
After the two hour church service this morning I asked Philmore to come by to assist me with the toilet. While Lindsay and I were living at the hospital we were waiting for our headmaster to install a Western toilet in our house. When we moved in last weekend we found out that this just meant the hole in the ground became a hole in the ground with porcelain surrounding it. Well this hole in the ground was now backed up. I now realize that this was due to the toilet paper we probably shouldn’t have put into it but didn’t know how to get it out. I unfortunately had to ask Philmore for some assistance but felt really bad. It was very gross. He ended up getting a couple of sticks to help the situation. We had to open the hole outside and work a stick through while doing the same to the hole in the house. It was very disturbing. After a half an hour the situation was resolved. We now must put much more water down if we are to use toilet paper. Hopefully it won’t happen again. If it does I think I am on my own to fix the problem. I don’t know if I would be able to handle that.
After fixing the toilet Philmore invited me to his house for lunch. He was worried that I spent the weekend alone and that I was bored. For two hours I sat at his house while one of the students assisted him in preparing a very lavish meal for me. I was actually very excited that I didn’t have to cook. The meal was very good. After completely stuffing my face I headed home to sit on my dying computer to update you with my life. It will take a few days now just to upload this since my computer is now soon to be without battery
Love,
Gretchen
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Simba
July 20th (part two)
On Friday after school we were told by the second headmaster, Philmore, to be ready to leave for our house at 11 AM the next morning. I was excited to finally depart to our home. After my little walking adventure that afternoon, I spent the evening packing up and finishing some things on the computer. 11 o’clock came and went and there was no sign of a car, but there were plenty of people around. I walked outside a few times that morning and there were people everywhere. I didn’t seem to recognize them and they acted like they never saw a white person before. My conclusion was that on Saturday’s the police or some kind of government official drive to neighboring villages and fill up a truck with locals who could not otherwise get to a hospital during the week. Around noon Lindsay and I started to get hungry. At 1 PM we decided to walk to the same little restaurant we have eaten at all week. On the way down we stopped and chatted with someone from the hospital. They informed us that there was a bus accident down the road a bit. There were five or six deaths and many injured. The hospital isn’t typically that crowded on a Saturday.
Because of the accident we didn’t think we would actually move out. Luck has it that at around 2 a car drove up, beeped his horn, and we started loading up the car. It was all very exciting. We arrived to our house to find the other full-time teachers waiting to greet us. They bought us rice, beans, sugar, kerosene, oil, tea bags, and flour to help us start cooking. The guys showed us how to use the charcoal and kerosene burners. About a half an hour later one of my students walked in the house. She started cooking for us. Eventually the headmaster also walked in to welcome us to our new home. It was a very nice welcome. I was very excited to unpack my bags! A half an hour later, the staff left us with the student who continued to cook. While she was cooking we started moving things around. As Lindsay was assisting moving our luggage into the next room the girl told her, “And this is where I sleep.” The other teachers had moved both beds in the one room for Lindsay and I to share because our spare room was for our house girl! As soon as the staff left we were planning to move the one bed into our extra room. With that simple statement from the student, I realized that Lindsay and I might be sharing rooms for a while. We didn’t know what to do. I didn’t really understand what was happening. I continued to go and assist with cooking and thinking of our dilemma. I came up with the plan that after dinner I was to ask where she was sleeping. Then I would find out where she lived and tell her we didn’t need her. If she insisted I figured we could walk to the headmasters’ house and explain that we didn’t need the help. In the end I found out she lived pretty far so I let her spend the night and planned on telling her to leave the next morning.
Before we departed the hospital on Saturday, Lindsay and I became friends with a puppy. The puppy was sooooo cute. On Friday night there was a dog barking outside my bedroom window but it was too cold for me to investigate. Instead, I slept through the barking. The next morning I was uploading photos onto my computer and saw something run by the window. When I looked out I saw a puppy the size of my hand. It had a tan body with white paws and a white spot on its nose. It was soo cute. I called for Lindsay to come look. We ended up chasing the dog for quite some time because he was quite skittish. I tore apart a banana for him but he was too frightened to even smell it. Eventually we left him alone and returned later to find that he had eaten the banana! Eventually, he warmed up to us and we brought him inside in a bucket and fed him some more. Of course the car to pick us up came shortly after we brought the dog inside. I snuck the dog out the back door and let him run free. As I was loading my bags the men saw the dog running and asked if it was mine. I told him it was and sure enough the dog was captured and placed on Lindsay’s lap for the ride home. The other teachers were a little apprehensive but excited we had a puppy. Lindsay suggested we name him Simba and the name stuck with him. The first night was awful.
Our house is a little compound. The main building has a living room, two bedrooms, and a cooking area. Out the back door there is a seven by twenty foot dirt yard. On the opposite side of the wall we have two storage rooms, a bathroom, and a shower room. The other two sides of the dirt yard are protected by walls. In this dirt yard we left Simba for the night. Simba cried and cried and cried. Being the light sleeper that I am I didn’t sleep a wink. Lindsay is a much deeper sleeper so when I repeatedly told her to kill the dog she didn’t hear a thing. Eventually our house girl woke up at 5 AM and decided to sing offbeat which absolutely drove me nuts. The dog stopped barking but then we got bad singing instead! It wasn’t going to be a good day. I finally rolled out of bed to find the girl made us chapatti (similar to a thin pancake) and tea for breakfast. After breakfast I let her know that her services were no longer needed and that after church she was free to go home. She was a bit confused but understood. Lindsay stayed home while Love and I attended a Moravian church service down the street. The service was long. In the middle of the service they had me stand in front and introduce myself. After two hours we went outside for more singing and then there was an auction. There was corn, rice, beans, nuts, and avocado to be auctioned off to raise money for the church. I eventually got the idea and bid on some nuts. I was the second bidder imagining the price would go up but everyone either got scared or felt bad for me and didn’t bid over me. For 300 Shillings (equivalent to 20 cents) I received about four pounds of nuts. I was very proud of my work!
After church Lindsay and I said good bye to Love and prepared lunch for Philmore. It took us a long time but we presented him with some pasta and he was very impressed. None of the Tanzanians think we can cook and believe we will starve ourselves this year!!! Even though the meal wasn’t very grandiose, I was excited to prove them wrong. After Philmore left, we were finally able to unpack. We moved my bed into the extra room and sorted out our bags. I was soo excited to unpack even though my room wasn’t the friendliest looking thing. I have footprints of blood on my walls that won’t come off. I am just imagining it is paint though and living with it at this point. I slept much better on Sunday night. Lindsay wasn’t very happy with Simba though and he got the boot the next morning. He started crying again and she let him in the house to sleep. With the mattresses the house girl slept on, she cornered him into the corner of the living room for the night. His crying was minimal but he happened to escape quite easily. For some reason she thought it was a good idea to bring him into her room so that he wouldn’t cry at all. In the middle of the night he escaped and peed and pooped all over her room. She was not very happy when she woke. On Monday morning we let him outside when we left for school. Simba walked with us about halfway until he was scared of all the children and lost us. I figured we would see him when we arrived home and wasn’t too worried.
After school on Monday I returned with no Simba in sight! After cleaning the dishes I decided to start working on the compost hole I made outside. As I was working I kept hearing Simba cry but had no idea where he was. I worked for a good hour and a half filling the hole with dirt and some banana peels and egg shells watching two neighbors play soccer. The boy and girl were very funny and kept laughing at each other. They eventually caught on that I was watching and started showing off for me. Eventually I joined them and we played soccer and catch for the next two hours. As we were playing the dog started crying again and I made a sad face to the kids. One of the boys saw me and ran. He must have ran to a friend’s house because he arrived back with a key and unlocked the classroom where they were keeping Simba! I knew Lindsay would be very angry with me but I didn’t know what to do. The kid dropped the dog where we were playing and decided it would be funny to kick the soccer ball at the puppy. I kept moving Simba but he continued to run back to me which the kids thought was hilarious. Eventually Lindsay walked outside and saw Simba and started yelling, “Oh no you didn’t!” to me. I went over and explained the situation and so she took Simba on a walk and left him.
After almost two hours of playing, Philmore walked by and asked us where Simba was. Lindsay said she didn’t know, but all the kids started pointing at her. Kids don’t lie; especially when you can’t bribe them with something when they don’t understand a single word you are speaking. She backed talked her way into telling Philmore that the kids locked up Simba and now she doesn’t know where he is. Philmore told the kids to find the dog and Lindsay told me there was no possible way. After we started cooking we got a knock at our door. About ten kids stood outside and one walked up to me with Simba. The dog was found once again. Lindsay started freaking out again so I walked with Simba down the road, left him in a hole and ran. We haven’t seen Simba since. I have walked back to the hole but he is no longer there. Hopefully someone nice found him and is taking care of him!
On Tuesday I had a busy three class schedule at school and was excited to go home. I picked up a cold from Lindsay and was just feeling pretty lousy. I took the night pretty easy. Tonight I did the same thing. We did walk down into Isoko looking for some food to buy but we arrived home empty handed. I am hoping this cold passes so that I can start running the mountains!
Love,
Gretchen
On Friday after school we were told by the second headmaster, Philmore, to be ready to leave for our house at 11 AM the next morning. I was excited to finally depart to our home. After my little walking adventure that afternoon, I spent the evening packing up and finishing some things on the computer. 11 o’clock came and went and there was no sign of a car, but there were plenty of people around. I walked outside a few times that morning and there were people everywhere. I didn’t seem to recognize them and they acted like they never saw a white person before. My conclusion was that on Saturday’s the police or some kind of government official drive to neighboring villages and fill up a truck with locals who could not otherwise get to a hospital during the week. Around noon Lindsay and I started to get hungry. At 1 PM we decided to walk to the same little restaurant we have eaten at all week. On the way down we stopped and chatted with someone from the hospital. They informed us that there was a bus accident down the road a bit. There were five or six deaths and many injured. The hospital isn’t typically that crowded on a Saturday.
Because of the accident we didn’t think we would actually move out. Luck has it that at around 2 a car drove up, beeped his horn, and we started loading up the car. It was all very exciting. We arrived to our house to find the other full-time teachers waiting to greet us. They bought us rice, beans, sugar, kerosene, oil, tea bags, and flour to help us start cooking. The guys showed us how to use the charcoal and kerosene burners. About a half an hour later one of my students walked in the house. She started cooking for us. Eventually the headmaster also walked in to welcome us to our new home. It was a very nice welcome. I was very excited to unpack my bags! A half an hour later, the staff left us with the student who continued to cook. While she was cooking we started moving things around. As Lindsay was assisting moving our luggage into the next room the girl told her, “And this is where I sleep.” The other teachers had moved both beds in the one room for Lindsay and I to share because our spare room was for our house girl! As soon as the staff left we were planning to move the one bed into our extra room. With that simple statement from the student, I realized that Lindsay and I might be sharing rooms for a while. We didn’t know what to do. I didn’t really understand what was happening. I continued to go and assist with cooking and thinking of our dilemma. I came up with the plan that after dinner I was to ask where she was sleeping. Then I would find out where she lived and tell her we didn’t need her. If she insisted I figured we could walk to the headmasters’ house and explain that we didn’t need the help. In the end I found out she lived pretty far so I let her spend the night and planned on telling her to leave the next morning.
Before we departed the hospital on Saturday, Lindsay and I became friends with a puppy. The puppy was sooooo cute. On Friday night there was a dog barking outside my bedroom window but it was too cold for me to investigate. Instead, I slept through the barking. The next morning I was uploading photos onto my computer and saw something run by the window. When I looked out I saw a puppy the size of my hand. It had a tan body with white paws and a white spot on its nose. It was soo cute. I called for Lindsay to come look. We ended up chasing the dog for quite some time because he was quite skittish. I tore apart a banana for him but he was too frightened to even smell it. Eventually we left him alone and returned later to find that he had eaten the banana! Eventually, he warmed up to us and we brought him inside in a bucket and fed him some more. Of course the car to pick us up came shortly after we brought the dog inside. I snuck the dog out the back door and let him run free. As I was loading my bags the men saw the dog running and asked if it was mine. I told him it was and sure enough the dog was captured and placed on Lindsay’s lap for the ride home. The other teachers were a little apprehensive but excited we had a puppy. Lindsay suggested we name him Simba and the name stuck with him. The first night was awful.
Our house is a little compound. The main building has a living room, two bedrooms, and a cooking area. Out the back door there is a seven by twenty foot dirt yard. On the opposite side of the wall we have two storage rooms, a bathroom, and a shower room. The other two sides of the dirt yard are protected by walls. In this dirt yard we left Simba for the night. Simba cried and cried and cried. Being the light sleeper that I am I didn’t sleep a wink. Lindsay is a much deeper sleeper so when I repeatedly told her to kill the dog she didn’t hear a thing. Eventually our house girl woke up at 5 AM and decided to sing offbeat which absolutely drove me nuts. The dog stopped barking but then we got bad singing instead! It wasn’t going to be a good day. I finally rolled out of bed to find the girl made us chapatti (similar to a thin pancake) and tea for breakfast. After breakfast I let her know that her services were no longer needed and that after church she was free to go home. She was a bit confused but understood. Lindsay stayed home while Love and I attended a Moravian church service down the street. The service was long. In the middle of the service they had me stand in front and introduce myself. After two hours we went outside for more singing and then there was an auction. There was corn, rice, beans, nuts, and avocado to be auctioned off to raise money for the church. I eventually got the idea and bid on some nuts. I was the second bidder imagining the price would go up but everyone either got scared or felt bad for me and didn’t bid over me. For 300 Shillings (equivalent to 20 cents) I received about four pounds of nuts. I was very proud of my work!
After church Lindsay and I said good bye to Love and prepared lunch for Philmore. It took us a long time but we presented him with some pasta and he was very impressed. None of the Tanzanians think we can cook and believe we will starve ourselves this year!!! Even though the meal wasn’t very grandiose, I was excited to prove them wrong. After Philmore left, we were finally able to unpack. We moved my bed into the extra room and sorted out our bags. I was soo excited to unpack even though my room wasn’t the friendliest looking thing. I have footprints of blood on my walls that won’t come off. I am just imagining it is paint though and living with it at this point. I slept much better on Sunday night. Lindsay wasn’t very happy with Simba though and he got the boot the next morning. He started crying again and she let him in the house to sleep. With the mattresses the house girl slept on, she cornered him into the corner of the living room for the night. His crying was minimal but he happened to escape quite easily. For some reason she thought it was a good idea to bring him into her room so that he wouldn’t cry at all. In the middle of the night he escaped and peed and pooped all over her room. She was not very happy when she woke. On Monday morning we let him outside when we left for school. Simba walked with us about halfway until he was scared of all the children and lost us. I figured we would see him when we arrived home and wasn’t too worried.
After school on Monday I returned with no Simba in sight! After cleaning the dishes I decided to start working on the compost hole I made outside. As I was working I kept hearing Simba cry but had no idea where he was. I worked for a good hour and a half filling the hole with dirt and some banana peels and egg shells watching two neighbors play soccer. The boy and girl were very funny and kept laughing at each other. They eventually caught on that I was watching and started showing off for me. Eventually I joined them and we played soccer and catch for the next two hours. As we were playing the dog started crying again and I made a sad face to the kids. One of the boys saw me and ran. He must have ran to a friend’s house because he arrived back with a key and unlocked the classroom where they were keeping Simba! I knew Lindsay would be very angry with me but I didn’t know what to do. The kid dropped the dog where we were playing and decided it would be funny to kick the soccer ball at the puppy. I kept moving Simba but he continued to run back to me which the kids thought was hilarious. Eventually Lindsay walked outside and saw Simba and started yelling, “Oh no you didn’t!” to me. I went over and explained the situation and so she took Simba on a walk and left him.
After almost two hours of playing, Philmore walked by and asked us where Simba was. Lindsay said she didn’t know, but all the kids started pointing at her. Kids don’t lie; especially when you can’t bribe them with something when they don’t understand a single word you are speaking. She backed talked her way into telling Philmore that the kids locked up Simba and now she doesn’t know where he is. Philmore told the kids to find the dog and Lindsay told me there was no possible way. After we started cooking we got a knock at our door. About ten kids stood outside and one walked up to me with Simba. The dog was found once again. Lindsay started freaking out again so I walked with Simba down the road, left him in a hole and ran. We haven’t seen Simba since. I have walked back to the hole but he is no longer there. Hopefully someone nice found him and is taking care of him!
On Tuesday I had a busy three class schedule at school and was excited to go home. I picked up a cold from Lindsay and was just feeling pretty lousy. I took the night pretty easy. Tonight I did the same thing. We did walk down into Isoko looking for some food to buy but we arrived home empty handed. I am hoping this cold passes so that I can start running the mountains!
Love,
Gretchen
chunky milk
July 20th
I am currently in the no electricity age and so posts will be very sporadic.
Lindsay and I have been working on getting into the groove of living out here. We are currently mastering the cooking technique that dates back to the Stone Age. We aren’t too bad but it does take us quite some time. When I last wrote we were still living in the missionary hospital. We actually didn’t leave until late Saturday evening. The two or three days we were promised to be there turned into six.
We were told Wednesday’s were “Market Day’s” in Isoko. Lindsay and I didn’t teach too much during this first week. Wednesday was no different. Around two o’clock a car drove to school to take us home. All week the school has hired a Land Rover to bring us to school and drop us off at the end of the day. We didn’t ask for this and I would much rather walk but you can’t really protest. We got home and decided that we should find this market that everyone raved about. As we walked down the hill into the heart of Isoko we ran into a gentleman we met who works at the hospital. He introduced us to one of the pastors in the area. We explained that we were walking to find the market and the pastor graciously decided to escort us. We walked to the market very excited but were a bit disappointed with the turn out. There were three ladies working tables. The tables had tomatoes and onions and the occasional banana. Surrounding this market were either homes or restaurant type establishments. Some of the buildings became establishments for a butcher on market day. We saw a few pigs hacked open lying on the grass or on the table as we passed through. There were also a few bars assisting in the population of drunken men. After our first two minute loop, the pastor offered to buy Lindsay and I bananas. We were excited for the bananas but were very full after just finishing lunch at the school. We ate one to show we were happy but that was not enough for the pastor. After five minutes he started asking what was wrong with the bananas. We said there was nothing but he wanted us to eat them all! I was very stuffed and didn’t think I could eat anymore but we each managed a few more. As we were leaving the market he wanted to buy us each a soda at the last shop. When you buy a soda you must sit and finish it within the area of the shop because you must return the glass bottle when you are finished. Since I love soda so much I was very excited for more things to fill my belly. If only I knew what was to come I would have nursed and been grateful for the Sprite.
As we tried to leave the pastor decided to walk further with us. As we walked along the road and approached the turnoff for his house he invited us to his house. It is impolite to refuse an invitation to a home so we begrudgingly obeyed and walked up the hill to his house. He brought us into his home and showed us a photo album. The Germans who fund the Moravian church visit each year. A few years ago they brought a photo album to the pastor which he cherishes. He showed us pictures of his mother throughout and I thought the lady was deceased by the way he talked about her. Sure enough, ten minutes later the mother appears outside husking corn off the cob. We said hello and then she joined us in the house. She didn’t speak a word of English or Swahili so we had absolutely no idea what she was saying to us. We just sat, stared, and smiled at one another. As we sat we could hear the pastor running around preparing food for us. Sure enough, he appeared moments later with milk and yams/taro. I took a huge gulp of the milk hoping to satisfy them and tears came to my eyes. The milk was old… like chunks in it old. The taste was awful. Words can’t describe how bad it truly was. I decided to forget about the milk and dug into the yams. The yams were good but I was extremely full at this point. Add sour milk to the mix and it wasn’t a good combination. I threw up three times in the house and had to swallow it while smiling. The mother just kept on watching us. If I didn’t laugh I would have cried so I kept on laughing hoping she wouldn’t notice the distaste we had for the milk. We were so wrong. As soon as her son arrived in the house she made a point of it to tell him we weren’t drinking the milk! We explained we were so busy eating that we forgot all about it. I kept trying to put it off but they kept on watching. Lindsay dug in first and I followed close behind. It was awful. I reacted by putting my hand to my mouth to try to stop the vomit. Nothing came out of my mouth but they realized something was wrong. I just kept on smiling. Lindsay and I were eyeing to each other desperately. Lindsay decided to tell them how full we were and they finally backed off from us eating more. We escaped but it took a long time.
The pastor wanted to walk us home after we left his house. I wanted to get home fast. Unfortunately, fast is not in a Tanzanians vocabulary. We took the “scenic route” through two different villages until he finally said goodbye to us. At this point we were completely lost and didn’t exactly know how to get home without turning around. We decided against the turning around because then we would be back in the other villages where everyone wanted to greet us and bring us into their homes. Instead, we kept walking. Lindsay thought she spotted our house up the mountain and so we turned left and walked up the mountain through some crops. Unfortunately, we were not at our house, we were at another pastors’ house! This pastor didn’t speak much English though. We were again invited in. I took out my dictionary and started speaking in Swahili to tell him we were lost and needed to get home. We got up to leave and he motioned us to stay. We needed to be fed first. We didn’t know how to get out of it. Moments later his wife brought out some coffee. I don’t like coffee. This coffee was amazing though. The taste of sour milk finally left my mouth and the taste of sugar entered. Very refreshing. We eventually made it back to the hospital and were thankful to be safe.
After school on Thursday Lindsay decided to stay home and I went walking. I did manage to run into the pastor again and I took out my phone and had a ten minute conversation with myself. He followed me. Eventually we made it to the turn off for his house and he told me he had to go. I waved goodbye and kept on walking. I ran into a lot of people who all spoke either Swahili or the tribal language to me and I tried my best at responses. I got some high fives so I think I did a decent job! As I was returning home I ran into Philmore, one of the teachers, and a lady, Gloria, I had met with the pastor on the previous day. Philmore had to return home but Gloria continued walking with me. She is from Dar and is in Isoko working on youth empowerment. Her program is entirely in English and so we were able to have a semi-normal conversation which was a nice change from just Swahili greetings. Before we departed I found out she likes to play soccer and so I am hoping to get a chance to play with her one of these days.
After a short school day on Friday I decided to walk to Gloria’s house to see if she was up for some soccer. I was disappointed when she was not home so I continued to walk down the road. No one was playing at the soccer field yet so I kept walking planning my return for the moment there would be some people playing and I could join them. On my return about an hour later I was two minutes from the field when a truck load of guys start yelling at me. I was hustled into the front seat where a guy had his arm around me and kept telling me he loved me and I was to be his wife. I just smiled and shook my head no. He decided it would be funny though to start poking me. I didn’t care for it much. When he decided to stick his finger in my ear I clearly had enough and couldn’t wait to get out! The five minute ride to the heart of Isoko was grueling. I jumped out and pretty much ran home. As I briskly walked a gentleman followed me. At this point I had enough and just played innocent with my shoulders shrugged as I kept walking away. He followed me though. Eventually I found out that he needed to get into the building where Lindsay and I were living. He tried to stop by while I was away but I took the key so Lindsay could not let him in. After that eventful day I was looking forward to moving into my house the next day.
I will share with you the details about my new home in part two!
Love,
Gretchen
I am currently in the no electricity age and so posts will be very sporadic.
Lindsay and I have been working on getting into the groove of living out here. We are currently mastering the cooking technique that dates back to the Stone Age. We aren’t too bad but it does take us quite some time. When I last wrote we were still living in the missionary hospital. We actually didn’t leave until late Saturday evening. The two or three days we were promised to be there turned into six.
We were told Wednesday’s were “Market Day’s” in Isoko. Lindsay and I didn’t teach too much during this first week. Wednesday was no different. Around two o’clock a car drove to school to take us home. All week the school has hired a Land Rover to bring us to school and drop us off at the end of the day. We didn’t ask for this and I would much rather walk but you can’t really protest. We got home and decided that we should find this market that everyone raved about. As we walked down the hill into the heart of Isoko we ran into a gentleman we met who works at the hospital. He introduced us to one of the pastors in the area. We explained that we were walking to find the market and the pastor graciously decided to escort us. We walked to the market very excited but were a bit disappointed with the turn out. There were three ladies working tables. The tables had tomatoes and onions and the occasional banana. Surrounding this market were either homes or restaurant type establishments. Some of the buildings became establishments for a butcher on market day. We saw a few pigs hacked open lying on the grass or on the table as we passed through. There were also a few bars assisting in the population of drunken men. After our first two minute loop, the pastor offered to buy Lindsay and I bananas. We were excited for the bananas but were very full after just finishing lunch at the school. We ate one to show we were happy but that was not enough for the pastor. After five minutes he started asking what was wrong with the bananas. We said there was nothing but he wanted us to eat them all! I was very stuffed and didn’t think I could eat anymore but we each managed a few more. As we were leaving the market he wanted to buy us each a soda at the last shop. When you buy a soda you must sit and finish it within the area of the shop because you must return the glass bottle when you are finished. Since I love soda so much I was very excited for more things to fill my belly. If only I knew what was to come I would have nursed and been grateful for the Sprite.
As we tried to leave the pastor decided to walk further with us. As we walked along the road and approached the turnoff for his house he invited us to his house. It is impolite to refuse an invitation to a home so we begrudgingly obeyed and walked up the hill to his house. He brought us into his home and showed us a photo album. The Germans who fund the Moravian church visit each year. A few years ago they brought a photo album to the pastor which he cherishes. He showed us pictures of his mother throughout and I thought the lady was deceased by the way he talked about her. Sure enough, ten minutes later the mother appears outside husking corn off the cob. We said hello and then she joined us in the house. She didn’t speak a word of English or Swahili so we had absolutely no idea what she was saying to us. We just sat, stared, and smiled at one another. As we sat we could hear the pastor running around preparing food for us. Sure enough, he appeared moments later with milk and yams/taro. I took a huge gulp of the milk hoping to satisfy them and tears came to my eyes. The milk was old… like chunks in it old. The taste was awful. Words can’t describe how bad it truly was. I decided to forget about the milk and dug into the yams. The yams were good but I was extremely full at this point. Add sour milk to the mix and it wasn’t a good combination. I threw up three times in the house and had to swallow it while smiling. The mother just kept on watching us. If I didn’t laugh I would have cried so I kept on laughing hoping she wouldn’t notice the distaste we had for the milk. We were so wrong. As soon as her son arrived in the house she made a point of it to tell him we weren’t drinking the milk! We explained we were so busy eating that we forgot all about it. I kept trying to put it off but they kept on watching. Lindsay dug in first and I followed close behind. It was awful. I reacted by putting my hand to my mouth to try to stop the vomit. Nothing came out of my mouth but they realized something was wrong. I just kept on smiling. Lindsay and I were eyeing to each other desperately. Lindsay decided to tell them how full we were and they finally backed off from us eating more. We escaped but it took a long time.
The pastor wanted to walk us home after we left his house. I wanted to get home fast. Unfortunately, fast is not in a Tanzanians vocabulary. We took the “scenic route” through two different villages until he finally said goodbye to us. At this point we were completely lost and didn’t exactly know how to get home without turning around. We decided against the turning around because then we would be back in the other villages where everyone wanted to greet us and bring us into their homes. Instead, we kept walking. Lindsay thought she spotted our house up the mountain and so we turned left and walked up the mountain through some crops. Unfortunately, we were not at our house, we were at another pastors’ house! This pastor didn’t speak much English though. We were again invited in. I took out my dictionary and started speaking in Swahili to tell him we were lost and needed to get home. We got up to leave and he motioned us to stay. We needed to be fed first. We didn’t know how to get out of it. Moments later his wife brought out some coffee. I don’t like coffee. This coffee was amazing though. The taste of sour milk finally left my mouth and the taste of sugar entered. Very refreshing. We eventually made it back to the hospital and were thankful to be safe.
After school on Thursday Lindsay decided to stay home and I went walking. I did manage to run into the pastor again and I took out my phone and had a ten minute conversation with myself. He followed me. Eventually we made it to the turn off for his house and he told me he had to go. I waved goodbye and kept on walking. I ran into a lot of people who all spoke either Swahili or the tribal language to me and I tried my best at responses. I got some high fives so I think I did a decent job! As I was returning home I ran into Philmore, one of the teachers, and a lady, Gloria, I had met with the pastor on the previous day. Philmore had to return home but Gloria continued walking with me. She is from Dar and is in Isoko working on youth empowerment. Her program is entirely in English and so we were able to have a semi-normal conversation which was a nice change from just Swahili greetings. Before we departed I found out she likes to play soccer and so I am hoping to get a chance to play with her one of these days.
After a short school day on Friday I decided to walk to Gloria’s house to see if she was up for some soccer. I was disappointed when she was not home so I continued to walk down the road. No one was playing at the soccer field yet so I kept walking planning my return for the moment there would be some people playing and I could join them. On my return about an hour later I was two minutes from the field when a truck load of guys start yelling at me. I was hustled into the front seat where a guy had his arm around me and kept telling me he loved me and I was to be his wife. I just smiled and shook my head no. He decided it would be funny though to start poking me. I didn’t care for it much. When he decided to stick his finger in my ear I clearly had enough and couldn’t wait to get out! The five minute ride to the heart of Isoko was grueling. I jumped out and pretty much ran home. As I briskly walked a gentleman followed me. At this point I had enough and just played innocent with my shoulders shrugged as I kept walking away. He followed me though. Eventually I found out that he needed to get into the building where Lindsay and I were living. He tried to stop by while I was away but I took the key so Lindsay could not let him in. After that eventful day I was looking forward to moving into my house the next day.
I will share with you the details about my new home in part two!
Love,
Gretchen
Saturday, July 16, 2011
rice, beans, and greens!
July 12th (part three)
Before all the gentlemen left on Sunday night I asked them what we should do for breakfast the next morning. We had a kitchen but the stove didn’t have gas attached and there were no pots and pans to cook with nor was there any food in the building. The gentleman who works for the government education system asked what we would like and told us he would pick us up around 8 o’clock for breakfast. At 9:00 the next morning I was getting real hungry. A woman then entered the building and introduced herself as a hospital staff member in charge of the building. I asked her where I could get breakfast and she said she would go ask someone for me. She left the building and about ten minutes later the gentleman from the previous night entered and said he was ready to bring us to breakfast. He walked us to his home where we met his children and his wife Joyce who prepared breakfast for us. After breakfast we met the only doctor in town and other personnel at the hospital and then headed to school.
We arrived at school around noon and were introduced to the student body. There was a special assembly for us in front of the office where both Lindsay and I stood on the podium and introduced ourselves. The podium is actually a school sign which has a stepped cement base which the headmaster uses as a podium of sorts. All the students giggled at us and then were dismissed back to class. After the assembly Lindsay and I went back into the headmasters’ office where he talked with us for a bit and we told him we were ready to begin teaching the following day. He sent us to the academic masters’ office where we sat for about ten minutes before he decided to give us a tour of the campus. He showed us the different buildings. Each building has classrooms for different forms. There are currently four forms at the school and each one has its own building. He then told me that I would be teaching forms 3 and 4 math and he told Lindsay that she would be teaching forms 2 and 3 English. We were excited to finally be given some idea of what we were teaching. For the next few hours we were both given books with syllabuses for our respective subjects and Lindsay met with the other English teacher.
After some time we were brought to a room for lunch which was more rice and beans with some spinach on top. After lunch we were brought back to the missionary hospital for the night. I didn’t do much that night. I mostly prepared for the next day.
This morning I woke up and waited for our ride at 7 AM. At 7:45 I was still sitting around waiting. I eventually called the headmaster who called someone and got a ride for us. We could walk to the school, it would take about 45 minutes to an hour, but I was afraid someone was already on the way and there was the fact that school started at 8 AM. When we finally arrived at school we were brought into the headmasters’ office where we interrupted a meeting. We sat down next to the academic master and didn’t really know what to do. A minute later the headmaster spoke to the academic master who then whispered to us that we could go teach. We said we were going to teach today but I think we were both a little surprised with how quickly it happened. I went to form four while Lindsay went to form two. The lesson went pretty well but I am going to have a hard time remembering the students’ names. I had everyone go around and say there name, favorite subject, and an interesting fact about themselves. (The interesting fact thing definitely didn’t work out.) As they were going around saying their names I had more and more trouble distinguishing each name. The first problem is that I have 47 students and then all the girls’ heads are shaved so they look like boys! The only way you can tell a difference is the girls wear skirts while the guys wear pants. Then, you have names that you consider a girls but it is actually a boys like Stephania and Leah. You would think these were girls’ names, but they are boys’ names! I also taught form three which was a little more difficult with over 100 students! Blah!
During one of my breaks I went to the academic masters’ room to copy down the class lists. Once I completed I was brought for tea in the same room I had lunch yesterday. At this point I was very hungry. We weren’t given breakfast this morning and I had no idea where to get food! I scarfed down some porridge and bread in silence. It is impolite to look at anyone or talk to anyone while eating. I was so relieved to eat that I didn’t mind the rule. After tea we sat around the teachers’ “lounge” for a few hours before lunch at 2:30. The headmaster joined us for lunch. Throughout lunch we sat and tried not to stare at anyone. After lunch we were brought to the headmasters’ office where we talked and he let us know that he is open to suggestions whenever we want to give any. He had other random questions and comments as well but I can’t quite remember all of them. One comment that stuck out to me is still baffling. While Lindsay and I were eating lunch we were given a bottle of water. As normal I drank my water throughout my meal and even finished it. He asked us why we would drink during the meal. He said that drinking slows digestion and that we should wait at least a half an hour after our meal. I didn’t and still don’t know how to respond to that. After the “talk” we were given a ride back to the missionary hospital for the night. I decided to take a walk when I arrived home. I walked for an hour and didn’t reach a single town or even a home. I just kept climbing the mountain weaving back and forth. On my return trip I ran into a group of six cows! I was actually a little nervous that they would charge me and I picked up a stick. As I passed they stopped eating and just stared. If they didn’t have horns I don’t think I would have been as scared, but they are some big animals to mess with.
I returned home and discussed dinner options with Lindsay. At the end of our hill we were told there is a place that makes chapati (like a thin pancake). Since we both like chapatti, we thought we would give it a try. When we walked down we met with the owner who we met yesterday at the hospital. He works at the hospital during the day and at night runs a little restaurant. We told him our circumstance and he said when we return home tomorrow night there will be something for us to cook with. I was excited to finally be able to cook what I want to eat. For dinner tonight we were given rice and beans and spinach which seem to be a recurring meal out here. We come to expect it now. Before we left for the night the gentleman who drove us on the pikipiki the first night arrived and spoke with the owner. Before we left, he informed us for the rest of the days we are in the missionary hospital we were to eat at the restaurant free of charge. Lindsay and I were excited and thrilled for the deal. I was looking forward to cooking but I have the rest of the year to worry about that!
Hopefully the rest of the week runs smoothly!
Love,
Gretchen
Before all the gentlemen left on Sunday night I asked them what we should do for breakfast the next morning. We had a kitchen but the stove didn’t have gas attached and there were no pots and pans to cook with nor was there any food in the building. The gentleman who works for the government education system asked what we would like and told us he would pick us up around 8 o’clock for breakfast. At 9:00 the next morning I was getting real hungry. A woman then entered the building and introduced herself as a hospital staff member in charge of the building. I asked her where I could get breakfast and she said she would go ask someone for me. She left the building and about ten minutes later the gentleman from the previous night entered and said he was ready to bring us to breakfast. He walked us to his home where we met his children and his wife Joyce who prepared breakfast for us. After breakfast we met the only doctor in town and other personnel at the hospital and then headed to school.
We arrived at school around noon and were introduced to the student body. There was a special assembly for us in front of the office where both Lindsay and I stood on the podium and introduced ourselves. The podium is actually a school sign which has a stepped cement base which the headmaster uses as a podium of sorts. All the students giggled at us and then were dismissed back to class. After the assembly Lindsay and I went back into the headmasters’ office where he talked with us for a bit and we told him we were ready to begin teaching the following day. He sent us to the academic masters’ office where we sat for about ten minutes before he decided to give us a tour of the campus. He showed us the different buildings. Each building has classrooms for different forms. There are currently four forms at the school and each one has its own building. He then told me that I would be teaching forms 3 and 4 math and he told Lindsay that she would be teaching forms 2 and 3 English. We were excited to finally be given some idea of what we were teaching. For the next few hours we were both given books with syllabuses for our respective subjects and Lindsay met with the other English teacher.
After some time we were brought to a room for lunch which was more rice and beans with some spinach on top. After lunch we were brought back to the missionary hospital for the night. I didn’t do much that night. I mostly prepared for the next day.
This morning I woke up and waited for our ride at 7 AM. At 7:45 I was still sitting around waiting. I eventually called the headmaster who called someone and got a ride for us. We could walk to the school, it would take about 45 minutes to an hour, but I was afraid someone was already on the way and there was the fact that school started at 8 AM. When we finally arrived at school we were brought into the headmasters’ office where we interrupted a meeting. We sat down next to the academic master and didn’t really know what to do. A minute later the headmaster spoke to the academic master who then whispered to us that we could go teach. We said we were going to teach today but I think we were both a little surprised with how quickly it happened. I went to form four while Lindsay went to form two. The lesson went pretty well but I am going to have a hard time remembering the students’ names. I had everyone go around and say there name, favorite subject, and an interesting fact about themselves. (The interesting fact thing definitely didn’t work out.) As they were going around saying their names I had more and more trouble distinguishing each name. The first problem is that I have 47 students and then all the girls’ heads are shaved so they look like boys! The only way you can tell a difference is the girls wear skirts while the guys wear pants. Then, you have names that you consider a girls but it is actually a boys like Stephania and Leah. You would think these were girls’ names, but they are boys’ names! I also taught form three which was a little more difficult with over 100 students! Blah!
During one of my breaks I went to the academic masters’ room to copy down the class lists. Once I completed I was brought for tea in the same room I had lunch yesterday. At this point I was very hungry. We weren’t given breakfast this morning and I had no idea where to get food! I scarfed down some porridge and bread in silence. It is impolite to look at anyone or talk to anyone while eating. I was so relieved to eat that I didn’t mind the rule. After tea we sat around the teachers’ “lounge” for a few hours before lunch at 2:30. The headmaster joined us for lunch. Throughout lunch we sat and tried not to stare at anyone. After lunch we were brought to the headmasters’ office where we talked and he let us know that he is open to suggestions whenever we want to give any. He had other random questions and comments as well but I can’t quite remember all of them. One comment that stuck out to me is still baffling. While Lindsay and I were eating lunch we were given a bottle of water. As normal I drank my water throughout my meal and even finished it. He asked us why we would drink during the meal. He said that drinking slows digestion and that we should wait at least a half an hour after our meal. I didn’t and still don’t know how to respond to that. After the “talk” we were given a ride back to the missionary hospital for the night. I decided to take a walk when I arrived home. I walked for an hour and didn’t reach a single town or even a home. I just kept climbing the mountain weaving back and forth. On my return trip I ran into a group of six cows! I was actually a little nervous that they would charge me and I picked up a stick. As I passed they stopped eating and just stared. If they didn’t have horns I don’t think I would have been as scared, but they are some big animals to mess with.
I returned home and discussed dinner options with Lindsay. At the end of our hill we were told there is a place that makes chapati (like a thin pancake). Since we both like chapatti, we thought we would give it a try. When we walked down we met with the owner who we met yesterday at the hospital. He works at the hospital during the day and at night runs a little restaurant. We told him our circumstance and he said when we return home tomorrow night there will be something for us to cook with. I was excited to finally be able to cook what I want to eat. For dinner tonight we were given rice and beans and spinach which seem to be a recurring meal out here. We come to expect it now. Before we left for the night the gentleman who drove us on the pikipiki the first night arrived and spoke with the owner. Before we left, he informed us for the rest of the days we are in the missionary hospital we were to eat at the restaurant free of charge. Lindsay and I were excited and thrilled for the deal. I was looking forward to cooking but I have the rest of the year to worry about that!
Hopefully the rest of the week runs smoothly!
Love,
Gretchen
giraffes, zebras, buffalo, oh my!
July 12th (part two)
I had two alarms set for 4:30 on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, I slept through both alarms. At 5 PM, when we were supposed to depart in taxis, I woke up due to someone turning on the hallway lights. I jumped out of bed and quickly dressed. Luckily my things were packed and everything was laid out. I was a little stressed and thought I forgot to do something. Once I brought all of my things into the hallway of the hostel I calmed down a bit.. Lisa and Nicole are two volunteers who are living two hours away from us so Lindsay and I were traveling via bus to Mbeya with them. Lindsay and Nicole were able to pile into the first taxi but Lisa and I had to wait a few more minutes. Luckily, we were not too far behind and actually managed to beat the first taxi to the bus station. The bus station was super crowded. The taxi couldn’t take us to our bus because it was so crowded. The bus left at 6 AM and Lisa and I managed to get to the station at 5:50 which was a bit late. A gentleman had to use a trolley to carry our two large bags and we walked with him trying to find our bus. He had no idea where the bus was located and had to keep asking people. We finally managed to reach the bus and headed to the back to load our luggage. Once our luggage was in the bus, the gentleman started asking us for money. He asked for 25,000 Shillings which is equivalent to about $17 which seemed very high for someone that walked us for about two minutes. Lisa was able to get the price down to 20,000 Shillings and then our bus started to drive away. We ran to the front to stop the bus but realized the driver was just jockeying to get a better position to leave. Every bus at the station leaves at the same time so there wasn’t very much wiggle room, he wasn’t going anywhere. I jumped on the bus to save seats while Lisa continued to haggle our luggage carrier and look for Lindsay and Nicole. Eventually Nicole and Lindsay made it to the bus station. They didn’t actually get on until 6:10 but they only had to pay 10,000 Shillings! Soon after they took their seats and we took off for the long journey.
The bus takes a very long time to reach Mbeya. We realized that was mostly because every ten minutes we would stop and pick up more passengers. Luckily the bus isn’t like the daladala and there is no one on the bus without a seat except maybe the five employees that stood in the front. Once the bus was filled we didn’t stop as frequently. Initially, we were told there was only one stop the entire trip at which we were to use the restroom. I was very worried that I would need to use the bathroom and wouldn’t know what to do. Eventually I realized that was not true. About every three hours there was an extended stop for a bathroom break. Sometimes those bathrooms were on the side of the road. At one point we stopped and everyone jumped off the bus. In previous stops when there was an actual bathroom only about ten people got off. At this stop the woods served as the restroom and everyone just piled in. I stayed on. I only went to the bathroom when it was necessary or if I knew there was an actual bathroom.
There were definitely highlights to the trip which made it unforgettable. The moment we left the bus station, Lisa started complaining of a stomachache. She was getting constant cramps and really needed to use the bathroom. After an hour she went and spoke to one of the five employees in the front of the bus. They said they would be stopping in two hours and she said that she will try to hold it. I kept nodding off to sleep in those first couple of hours but I knew she was having a very difficult time. After an hour we stopped to pick up a passenger and Lisa asked me for a bag. She said if they didn’t let her off she would need to poop in the bag. Luckily, they let her off the bus. A few minutes passed and then the bus started to leave. I didn’t know what to do so I stood up looking for Lisa but she is nowhere in sight. The other passengers realized my concern and motioned me to tell the driver. Out of desperation I yelled, “My friend! My friend! Rafiki!” A gentleman in front walked into view and gave me the thumbs up and the bus pulled to the side. Minutes later Lisa returns. One of the workers actually took her to a house to use the facilities so she knew she wouldn’t be left. I, however, did not know this. I was excited she arrived safely back.
The best part of the trip was that we drove through one of the National Parks. As Lisa and I were sitting there we both noticed the sign for the National Park and our eyes lit up. We became very concentrated on seeing some wildlife, our eyes were glued to the window. We didn’t realize at the time but we drove through 50 kilometers of National Park! We first saw gazelles and impallas. Later we saw giraffes and zebras and buffalo. It was very exciting. The other passengers were happy to see us so excited that they started pointing out animals to us. After the National Park, we saw many baboons running next to the various buses waiting for food to be thrown out to them.
The trip was very memorable and I was glad to be on it. Many of the other passengers did start to look after us and were always concerned when we arrived late or walked too far into the bush to pee (me). After thirteen hours we finally got off the bus in Mbeya. Getting off was a bit uneasy. We were told to be careful because people will try to steal from us at the bus station. When we got off we found out that our transportation was nowhere in sight. A nice Tanzanian gentleman helped us get our luggage and told people to get away from us. We were quite uneasy though and tried to keep our distance. Eventually we walked to a nice well lite area and made the necessary phone calls to find our ride. An hour later we were picked up. We were very uneasy with the driver at first, questioning him and hoping he would give us the right answers. He did and we loaded our gear into his truck. For about twenty minutes we drove until we reached our hotel. The hotel was nice enough and we were glad to have a place to sleep. We were also very hungry and thankful to have a restaurant in the hotel. We all slept very well that night.
We were told that someone would pick us up at 8 AM the next morning. Lisa and I woke at 7 and went down for breakfast. The restaurant prepared Spanish omelets for us which I was very excited about. After breakfast we went upstairs to wait for our driver. I sat on my computer updating my blog and Lisa tried the Internet. My Internet card has yet to work since I have been in Tanzania so I didn’t even attempt mine. Lisa’s connection was so good that she was able to call her kids through Skype. I thought, let me try mine. After ten minutes mine started to work! It was a miracle! I was very pleased and eager to reply to e-mails and update my blog. I didn’t get everything done but I was able to do a fair bit until Lisa and Nicole’s headmaster arrived to pick us up. He was a very nice gentleman. He didn’t know much English but enough for short conversations. Around 10 AM we loaded up the car and headed down the road. Our first stop was the bank, the hotel needed to be paid for our stay. Next, we stopped at a store so that we could buy some supplies. We didn’t know what to buy exactly but I knew better than to wait until we were in our village. I loaded up with as much as I could. Unfortunately, the store sold very random things and I couldn’t buy most of what I was looking for. We asked to stop at another shop but we were denied. And so the journey continued.
Our driver was a very aggressive and angry Tanzanian. In our Land Rover we headed south. The first ten minutes was on a nice paved road and then the driver said he knew a short cut and pulled down a dirt road. He had to be going at least 60 mph on the small dirt road. We whizzed through village after village with children, men, and women jumping out of the way of the truck. He wasn’t stopping for anyone. At one point we approached a bunch of cows in the road with village boys herding them. Our driver honked his horn and then slammed on the breaks. One of the boys threw a rock at the car and the driver wanted revenge. He walked back until he caught up with the boy and smacked him. When he got back into the car we found out that the boy was aiming his rock at the cow for the cow to move but missed. :( Then we continued on. About 30 minutes later after much bruising all over my body we stopped again and were told to get out. We had been driving along the river and on the other side was Malawi. Our driver wanted us to take photos. I didn’t take my camera out. He also wanted photos with him and the truck. Five minutes later, we jumped back in the car and kept on cruising. Ten minutes later we stopped again. This time was a little more exciting. There was a bridge across the river made out of sticks. It looked like it could hold a maximum of ten pounds yet he wanted us to get on. We didn’t get far enough on the bridge to worry about the support though. We took photos and headed back in the car. The rest of the drive consisted of more bruising.
Our first main stop on the trip was at Lisa and Nicole’s home for the year, Ileje Secondary School. They had a nice warm welcome when we arrived. Their house is located in front of the school alongside the other teachers’ housing. They have three separate buildings: one for sleeping/preparing food, one for showering and I think keeping animals (there was a semi-dead bird inside when we arrived), and the last building is their bathroom. After checking the place out, we walked to the headmasters’ office where we signed his book and were warmly welcomed. We thought we were saying goodbye as the driver told Lindsay and I to get in the car. We hugged and jumped in only to realize that Lisa and Nicole were coming with us. Around the corner “in town” we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We had a nice serving of rice and beans and some kind of meat before we headed off to Kafule.
The drive is supposed to take about two hours but our driver got us there in an hour and a half. That is even after we had to stop because he got a flat tire. My guess is someone called ahead complaining about his reckless driving and the village put a nail in the road for him. Probably not the case but I laughed thinking that was true. The jack he used wasn’t very sturdy so he had a bit of trouble changing the tire. After about fifteen minutes he was able to change the tire and we continued on. We eventually made it to Kafule Secondary School but there was no one to be seen. It wasn’t the welcome I quite imagined. We walked around the campus for about a half an hour marveling at the beauty of the place. As we shivered and walked I wondered if we were ever going to see our home. As we reached the office at the end of the tour we found our headmaster walking towards us. He ushered us into his office which was surprisingly big and nicely furnished where we signed in and were warmly welcomed all over again. The papers were signed and now it was time to see our home. Our home was actually a little ways down the road across from the elementary school. I was a little relieved that it was not at the secondary school because I would feel like I was stuck up there all the time And our home has just as nice of a view!
Our home was very nice and I was thrilled to finally have a place to unpack my bags. Unfortunately, that was not the headmasters plan for us. After we ate more rice and beans and said goodbye to Nicole and Lisa the headmaster escorted me to the back by the bathroom and showed me our hole in the ground for the year. He let me know that he would like to give us a Western toilet but only if we stay somewhere else for a few days. I really didn’t care too much but told him I would need to ask Lindsay. Lindsay seemed to want to live in the missionary hospital because we would have electricity and our headmaster seemed to really want us to stay there for a few days. I reluctantly agreed. We were told it would be for two to three days. I am still at the missionary hospital with no word on when I will be leaving.
The drive to the missionary hospital was very interesting. Since there is a bus that takes you on a regular basis to the bigger town where Lisa and Nicole live, there is no reason for someone to have a car in Kafule. A pikipiki or what we call a motorcycle is the primary means of transportation. At 9 o’clock at night Lindsay and I piled three deep on the back of a pikipiki going down a mountain on a gravel road. It was very thrilling. At one point it became too steep and we had to get out and walk. The hardest part about the ride was that we both had backpacks and bags to hold onto. About twenty minutes after we left our home, we arrived in a very busy street (busy meaning more than ten people). Everyone stared at us as we were escorted up the hill to the missionary hospital. We entered a building which was a decent size where we met more gentlemen that I can’t even remember the names of. They were important congressmen of sorts but I am not too sure what they did. The building has four bedrooms, bathrooms in each bedroom, two separate bathrooms, a kitchen, and a huge dining area. We even have a watchman at night!
I have asked a couple of times when we will return to our house with no definite answer! The missionary hospital is nice but we still can’t unpack and most of our luggage is at our home.
On Monday we did report to school so I will write about that in part three for you!
Love,
Gretchen
I had two alarms set for 4:30 on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, I slept through both alarms. At 5 PM, when we were supposed to depart in taxis, I woke up due to someone turning on the hallway lights. I jumped out of bed and quickly dressed. Luckily my things were packed and everything was laid out. I was a little stressed and thought I forgot to do something. Once I brought all of my things into the hallway of the hostel I calmed down a bit.. Lisa and Nicole are two volunteers who are living two hours away from us so Lindsay and I were traveling via bus to Mbeya with them. Lindsay and Nicole were able to pile into the first taxi but Lisa and I had to wait a few more minutes. Luckily, we were not too far behind and actually managed to beat the first taxi to the bus station. The bus station was super crowded. The taxi couldn’t take us to our bus because it was so crowded. The bus left at 6 AM and Lisa and I managed to get to the station at 5:50 which was a bit late. A gentleman had to use a trolley to carry our two large bags and we walked with him trying to find our bus. He had no idea where the bus was located and had to keep asking people. We finally managed to reach the bus and headed to the back to load our luggage. Once our luggage was in the bus, the gentleman started asking us for money. He asked for 25,000 Shillings which is equivalent to about $17 which seemed very high for someone that walked us for about two minutes. Lisa was able to get the price down to 20,000 Shillings and then our bus started to drive away. We ran to the front to stop the bus but realized the driver was just jockeying to get a better position to leave. Every bus at the station leaves at the same time so there wasn’t very much wiggle room, he wasn’t going anywhere. I jumped on the bus to save seats while Lisa continued to haggle our luggage carrier and look for Lindsay and Nicole. Eventually Nicole and Lindsay made it to the bus station. They didn’t actually get on until 6:10 but they only had to pay 10,000 Shillings! Soon after they took their seats and we took off for the long journey.
The bus takes a very long time to reach Mbeya. We realized that was mostly because every ten minutes we would stop and pick up more passengers. Luckily the bus isn’t like the daladala and there is no one on the bus without a seat except maybe the five employees that stood in the front. Once the bus was filled we didn’t stop as frequently. Initially, we were told there was only one stop the entire trip at which we were to use the restroom. I was very worried that I would need to use the bathroom and wouldn’t know what to do. Eventually I realized that was not true. About every three hours there was an extended stop for a bathroom break. Sometimes those bathrooms were on the side of the road. At one point we stopped and everyone jumped off the bus. In previous stops when there was an actual bathroom only about ten people got off. At this stop the woods served as the restroom and everyone just piled in. I stayed on. I only went to the bathroom when it was necessary or if I knew there was an actual bathroom.
There were definitely highlights to the trip which made it unforgettable. The moment we left the bus station, Lisa started complaining of a stomachache. She was getting constant cramps and really needed to use the bathroom. After an hour she went and spoke to one of the five employees in the front of the bus. They said they would be stopping in two hours and she said that she will try to hold it. I kept nodding off to sleep in those first couple of hours but I knew she was having a very difficult time. After an hour we stopped to pick up a passenger and Lisa asked me for a bag. She said if they didn’t let her off she would need to poop in the bag. Luckily, they let her off the bus. A few minutes passed and then the bus started to leave. I didn’t know what to do so I stood up looking for Lisa but she is nowhere in sight. The other passengers realized my concern and motioned me to tell the driver. Out of desperation I yelled, “My friend! My friend! Rafiki!” A gentleman in front walked into view and gave me the thumbs up and the bus pulled to the side. Minutes later Lisa returns. One of the workers actually took her to a house to use the facilities so she knew she wouldn’t be left. I, however, did not know this. I was excited she arrived safely back.
The best part of the trip was that we drove through one of the National Parks. As Lisa and I were sitting there we both noticed the sign for the National Park and our eyes lit up. We became very concentrated on seeing some wildlife, our eyes were glued to the window. We didn’t realize at the time but we drove through 50 kilometers of National Park! We first saw gazelles and impallas. Later we saw giraffes and zebras and buffalo. It was very exciting. The other passengers were happy to see us so excited that they started pointing out animals to us. After the National Park, we saw many baboons running next to the various buses waiting for food to be thrown out to them.
The trip was very memorable and I was glad to be on it. Many of the other passengers did start to look after us and were always concerned when we arrived late or walked too far into the bush to pee (me). After thirteen hours we finally got off the bus in Mbeya. Getting off was a bit uneasy. We were told to be careful because people will try to steal from us at the bus station. When we got off we found out that our transportation was nowhere in sight. A nice Tanzanian gentleman helped us get our luggage and told people to get away from us. We were quite uneasy though and tried to keep our distance. Eventually we walked to a nice well lite area and made the necessary phone calls to find our ride. An hour later we were picked up. We were very uneasy with the driver at first, questioning him and hoping he would give us the right answers. He did and we loaded our gear into his truck. For about twenty minutes we drove until we reached our hotel. The hotel was nice enough and we were glad to have a place to sleep. We were also very hungry and thankful to have a restaurant in the hotel. We all slept very well that night.
We were told that someone would pick us up at 8 AM the next morning. Lisa and I woke at 7 and went down for breakfast. The restaurant prepared Spanish omelets for us which I was very excited about. After breakfast we went upstairs to wait for our driver. I sat on my computer updating my blog and Lisa tried the Internet. My Internet card has yet to work since I have been in Tanzania so I didn’t even attempt mine. Lisa’s connection was so good that she was able to call her kids through Skype. I thought, let me try mine. After ten minutes mine started to work! It was a miracle! I was very pleased and eager to reply to e-mails and update my blog. I didn’t get everything done but I was able to do a fair bit until Lisa and Nicole’s headmaster arrived to pick us up. He was a very nice gentleman. He didn’t know much English but enough for short conversations. Around 10 AM we loaded up the car and headed down the road. Our first stop was the bank, the hotel needed to be paid for our stay. Next, we stopped at a store so that we could buy some supplies. We didn’t know what to buy exactly but I knew better than to wait until we were in our village. I loaded up with as much as I could. Unfortunately, the store sold very random things and I couldn’t buy most of what I was looking for. We asked to stop at another shop but we were denied. And so the journey continued.
Our driver was a very aggressive and angry Tanzanian. In our Land Rover we headed south. The first ten minutes was on a nice paved road and then the driver said he knew a short cut and pulled down a dirt road. He had to be going at least 60 mph on the small dirt road. We whizzed through village after village with children, men, and women jumping out of the way of the truck. He wasn’t stopping for anyone. At one point we approached a bunch of cows in the road with village boys herding them. Our driver honked his horn and then slammed on the breaks. One of the boys threw a rock at the car and the driver wanted revenge. He walked back until he caught up with the boy and smacked him. When he got back into the car we found out that the boy was aiming his rock at the cow for the cow to move but missed. :( Then we continued on. About 30 minutes later after much bruising all over my body we stopped again and were told to get out. We had been driving along the river and on the other side was Malawi. Our driver wanted us to take photos. I didn’t take my camera out. He also wanted photos with him and the truck. Five minutes later, we jumped back in the car and kept on cruising. Ten minutes later we stopped again. This time was a little more exciting. There was a bridge across the river made out of sticks. It looked like it could hold a maximum of ten pounds yet he wanted us to get on. We didn’t get far enough on the bridge to worry about the support though. We took photos and headed back in the car. The rest of the drive consisted of more bruising.
Our first main stop on the trip was at Lisa and Nicole’s home for the year, Ileje Secondary School. They had a nice warm welcome when we arrived. Their house is located in front of the school alongside the other teachers’ housing. They have three separate buildings: one for sleeping/preparing food, one for showering and I think keeping animals (there was a semi-dead bird inside when we arrived), and the last building is their bathroom. After checking the place out, we walked to the headmasters’ office where we signed his book and were warmly welcomed. We thought we were saying goodbye as the driver told Lindsay and I to get in the car. We hugged and jumped in only to realize that Lisa and Nicole were coming with us. Around the corner “in town” we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We had a nice serving of rice and beans and some kind of meat before we headed off to Kafule.
The drive is supposed to take about two hours but our driver got us there in an hour and a half. That is even after we had to stop because he got a flat tire. My guess is someone called ahead complaining about his reckless driving and the village put a nail in the road for him. Probably not the case but I laughed thinking that was true. The jack he used wasn’t very sturdy so he had a bit of trouble changing the tire. After about fifteen minutes he was able to change the tire and we continued on. We eventually made it to Kafule Secondary School but there was no one to be seen. It wasn’t the welcome I quite imagined. We walked around the campus for about a half an hour marveling at the beauty of the place. As we shivered and walked I wondered if we were ever going to see our home. As we reached the office at the end of the tour we found our headmaster walking towards us. He ushered us into his office which was surprisingly big and nicely furnished where we signed in and were warmly welcomed all over again. The papers were signed and now it was time to see our home. Our home was actually a little ways down the road across from the elementary school. I was a little relieved that it was not at the secondary school because I would feel like I was stuck up there all the time And our home has just as nice of a view!
Our home was very nice and I was thrilled to finally have a place to unpack my bags. Unfortunately, that was not the headmasters plan for us. After we ate more rice and beans and said goodbye to Nicole and Lisa the headmaster escorted me to the back by the bathroom and showed me our hole in the ground for the year. He let me know that he would like to give us a Western toilet but only if we stay somewhere else for a few days. I really didn’t care too much but told him I would need to ask Lindsay. Lindsay seemed to want to live in the missionary hospital because we would have electricity and our headmaster seemed to really want us to stay there for a few days. I reluctantly agreed. We were told it would be for two to three days. I am still at the missionary hospital with no word on when I will be leaving.
The drive to the missionary hospital was very interesting. Since there is a bus that takes you on a regular basis to the bigger town where Lisa and Nicole live, there is no reason for someone to have a car in Kafule. A pikipiki or what we call a motorcycle is the primary means of transportation. At 9 o’clock at night Lindsay and I piled three deep on the back of a pikipiki going down a mountain on a gravel road. It was very thrilling. At one point it became too steep and we had to get out and walk. The hardest part about the ride was that we both had backpacks and bags to hold onto. About twenty minutes after we left our home, we arrived in a very busy street (busy meaning more than ten people). Everyone stared at us as we were escorted up the hill to the missionary hospital. We entered a building which was a decent size where we met more gentlemen that I can’t even remember the names of. They were important congressmen of sorts but I am not too sure what they did. The building has four bedrooms, bathrooms in each bedroom, two separate bathrooms, a kitchen, and a huge dining area. We even have a watchman at night!
I have asked a couple of times when we will return to our house with no definite answer! The missionary hospital is nice but we still can’t unpack and most of our luggage is at our home.
On Monday we did report to school so I will write about that in part three for you!
Love,
Gretchen
Friday, July 15, 2011
the end of orientation
July 12th
A lot has happened since my last post.
Last week went by quite quickly. On Tuesday we traveled to two local secondary schools to practice teaching. By the way the morning was going I didn’t think we would get anyone into a classroom to teach. It took some time to organize transportation and then the drive was a good half an hour. The first school we stopped at only had forms 1 and 2. Four volunteers jumped out of the taxis and spent the afternoon teaching a class each. The rest of us, me included, continued the drive to the second school. I went into a form 2 class with Erica and Nicole. The two of them taught first and I watched. They were able to warm up the students so by the time I went the students were answering questions right and left. The activity I planned took way too long but it helped me get a feel for the level of the students. We were the last group to catch a taxi and arrived back to Kanaani pretty late. We didn’t have long before Swahili lessons began.
On Wednesday we traveled back to the same schools we taught at on Tuesday. For the first hour we sat in a classroom and watched a Tanzanian teach. I watched the form 2 math teacher. I was a little surprised with the content he was teaching, I thought it was a little advanced. I was actually very confused with the way he was teaching the lesson which made me laugh a bit. He did seem to get a good amount of participation from the students and they seemed to respond well to him. He also noticed that the males were the only students participating and asked for a female volunteer. I was excited to see him take notice. He did, however, have four of us female volunteer teachers in the back of the room and was probably trying to impress us. Twice during his lesson he asked if we had any input. We said he was doing great and should continue and so he did. After watching for an hour we took turns to teach a new lesson. I decided to teach a form one classroom which was a very different experience. There was not as much participation and the English level of the students was a lot worse.
Our Swahili lessons were cancelled on Wednesday since we were at school most of the day. Instead we were able to have free time. I went on a long walk with Alison. We lost track of time and arrived a little late to dinner that night. After dinner, Katie, Noah, Mary and I began cleaning and tidying up the living situation. We eventually curled up watching a movie to pass the time.
On Thursday we did a lot of reflection and cleaning. It was our last official day of training. The morning was spent cleaning and preparing for our departure. We sat and spoke about what to expect on our first day and what we should prepare. For lunch, we were joined by two Peace Corp volunteers, Ezra and Theresa. After eating we sat in a classroom and did a Q and A session with them. Theresa is in her third year volunteering and she has taught math and biology over the years. I asked a lot of questions and seemed to get a better feel as to what to expect for the coming year. After the Q and A we had tea before heading to our last Swahili lesson. For this lesson Sabine spoke about different customs and traditions and how to greet locals. It was a very interactive session. I unfortunately took the seat closest to Sabine and had to do a greeting demonstration with her. When you go to greet someone older than you you should say “Shikamoo” and then get down very low. She described it as getting on your knees so that is what I did and then she started yelling that I did it incorrectly. After laughing we finally figured out she wanted me to do something like a curtsey but to get low while doing it. We will see how I do with it this year!! After Swahili we continued to prepare for our departure. Many volunteers spoke with the PC volunteers until dinner. After dinner Ashley hosted a trivia game for us. The questions were based on TEFL certification and Swahili. I was able to get the first question correct and received an English dictionary and some pens. Most people won gifts and my roommate won the grand prize of a rice cooker. She didn’t actually win but the guy who won gave it to her as a joke. It will be hard to use a rice cooker when we don’t have electricity. After the game, we said good bye to the PC volunteers and headed back to pack. I spent a long time on Ashley’s computer that night working on an end of orientation survey and banking stuff. When I did return to my room we sat around talking for a while before heading off to sleep.
On Friday morning we woke to an early breakfast at 7 and the plan was to hit the road at 7:30. We actually left around 8 excited to head to our sites for the year. The beginning of the trip was a bit scary. The fog was so bad that we could not see what was in front of us. When you are going down a mountain on very treacherous roads it is scary. When you are going down a mountain on treacherous roads and it is foggy it is completely crazy. Obviously we did make it safely though. During the ride I slept a lot. I managed to wake up to see two baboons on the side of the road! Later in the journey, we came across a camel eating grass on the side of the road. Baboons are very common, but even Ashley was shocked by the camel! We arrived back in Dar at 3:15 that evening. Since most people were leaving on Saturday for their sites with a couple leaving on Sunday, everyone decided to go out to dinner on Friday night as a last hooray before the departure. At 6 PM we met out front to wait for the taxi. Over an hour later the taxi arrived and drove us to ex-pat center. We went to a nice pizza place in the heart of tourist capital. Everyone ordered drinks and we went around toasting. I ate so much food that night. I went to be bed at 11:45 that night not looking forward to my early departure the next morning.
Part two is reserved for my travels to Mbeya.
Love,
Gretchen
A lot has happened since my last post.
Last week went by quite quickly. On Tuesday we traveled to two local secondary schools to practice teaching. By the way the morning was going I didn’t think we would get anyone into a classroom to teach. It took some time to organize transportation and then the drive was a good half an hour. The first school we stopped at only had forms 1 and 2. Four volunteers jumped out of the taxis and spent the afternoon teaching a class each. The rest of us, me included, continued the drive to the second school. I went into a form 2 class with Erica and Nicole. The two of them taught first and I watched. They were able to warm up the students so by the time I went the students were answering questions right and left. The activity I planned took way too long but it helped me get a feel for the level of the students. We were the last group to catch a taxi and arrived back to Kanaani pretty late. We didn’t have long before Swahili lessons began.
On Wednesday we traveled back to the same schools we taught at on Tuesday. For the first hour we sat in a classroom and watched a Tanzanian teach. I watched the form 2 math teacher. I was a little surprised with the content he was teaching, I thought it was a little advanced. I was actually very confused with the way he was teaching the lesson which made me laugh a bit. He did seem to get a good amount of participation from the students and they seemed to respond well to him. He also noticed that the males were the only students participating and asked for a female volunteer. I was excited to see him take notice. He did, however, have four of us female volunteer teachers in the back of the room and was probably trying to impress us. Twice during his lesson he asked if we had any input. We said he was doing great and should continue and so he did. After watching for an hour we took turns to teach a new lesson. I decided to teach a form one classroom which was a very different experience. There was not as much participation and the English level of the students was a lot worse.
Our Swahili lessons were cancelled on Wednesday since we were at school most of the day. Instead we were able to have free time. I went on a long walk with Alison. We lost track of time and arrived a little late to dinner that night. After dinner, Katie, Noah, Mary and I began cleaning and tidying up the living situation. We eventually curled up watching a movie to pass the time.
On Thursday we did a lot of reflection and cleaning. It was our last official day of training. The morning was spent cleaning and preparing for our departure. We sat and spoke about what to expect on our first day and what we should prepare. For lunch, we were joined by two Peace Corp volunteers, Ezra and Theresa. After eating we sat in a classroom and did a Q and A session with them. Theresa is in her third year volunteering and she has taught math and biology over the years. I asked a lot of questions and seemed to get a better feel as to what to expect for the coming year. After the Q and A we had tea before heading to our last Swahili lesson. For this lesson Sabine spoke about different customs and traditions and how to greet locals. It was a very interactive session. I unfortunately took the seat closest to Sabine and had to do a greeting demonstration with her. When you go to greet someone older than you you should say “Shikamoo” and then get down very low. She described it as getting on your knees so that is what I did and then she started yelling that I did it incorrectly. After laughing we finally figured out she wanted me to do something like a curtsey but to get low while doing it. We will see how I do with it this year!! After Swahili we continued to prepare for our departure. Many volunteers spoke with the PC volunteers until dinner. After dinner Ashley hosted a trivia game for us. The questions were based on TEFL certification and Swahili. I was able to get the first question correct and received an English dictionary and some pens. Most people won gifts and my roommate won the grand prize of a rice cooker. She didn’t actually win but the guy who won gave it to her as a joke. It will be hard to use a rice cooker when we don’t have electricity. After the game, we said good bye to the PC volunteers and headed back to pack. I spent a long time on Ashley’s computer that night working on an end of orientation survey and banking stuff. When I did return to my room we sat around talking for a while before heading off to sleep.
On Friday morning we woke to an early breakfast at 7 and the plan was to hit the road at 7:30. We actually left around 8 excited to head to our sites for the year. The beginning of the trip was a bit scary. The fog was so bad that we could not see what was in front of us. When you are going down a mountain on very treacherous roads it is scary. When you are going down a mountain on treacherous roads and it is foggy it is completely crazy. Obviously we did make it safely though. During the ride I slept a lot. I managed to wake up to see two baboons on the side of the road! Later in the journey, we came across a camel eating grass on the side of the road. Baboons are very common, but even Ashley was shocked by the camel! We arrived back in Dar at 3:15 that evening. Since most people were leaving on Saturday for their sites with a couple leaving on Sunday, everyone decided to go out to dinner on Friday night as a last hooray before the departure. At 6 PM we met out front to wait for the taxi. Over an hour later the taxi arrived and drove us to ex-pat center. We went to a nice pizza place in the heart of tourist capital. Everyone ordered drinks and we went around toasting. I ate so much food that night. I went to be bed at 11:45 that night not looking forward to my early departure the next morning.
Part two is reserved for my travels to Mbeya.
Love,
Gretchen
Thursday, July 14, 2011
chicken claws
July 4th
Happy 4th of July!
Last Thursday was a typical day at Kanaani Resthouse. We had breakfast, waited an hour for the morning lesson to start, after the lesson we relaxed for an hour until lunch, after lunch we had our second lesson of the day, at 2:30 we had tea, 3 o’clock was the beginning of Swahili lessons, at 5 when we were finished Swahili I would go for a run before dinner at 6. This has been our schedule (most days) while at Kanaani. On Friday this schedule changed a bit.
After breakfast on Friday we spent the morning packing for our home stays. After lunch, every volunteer went off in the direction of their host stay. Around 2:30 my name was called along with Erica and Noah. Each of us were being placed with teachers. The principal of a primary school picked us up at Kanaani. Frank took us in a car to town. In the center of Lushoto we stood and waited for our host families to pick us up. My host mom, Catherine, was one of the first to arrive. She was a very friendly woman. She is the headmaster of an elementary school up the hill from the main market in Lushoto. We walked to her house where I met her daughter Christina and niece Neema. The niece Neema was more like a servant than a niece. She was always smiling though so I couldn’t feel too bad for her. She had the most beautiful smile. Christina was an extremely smart individual who was in form 4 (the highest level I will teach this year). She wants to become a doctor and was excited to practice her English on me.
When I first arrived on Friday I met a lady Susan, a teacher from Australia. Three years ago Susan was traveling Africa with her two sons and husband. While she was traveling through Lushoto she asked a travel agent if she could visit and maybe teach at a local school. The elementary school where Catherine works at invited her to join them one afternoon. After Susan taught a lesson she spoke with Catherine for quite a while and realized the school does not have electricity. She offered to pay for the installation of electricity if Catherine could find an electrician. Three years later, Susan travelled back to Lushoto to check in on things and pay for the electrician. Susan was a very lively and exciting person to meet.
On Saturday, Susan decided to hike up to Irente Lookout with Christina. I was asked if I would like to join and I gladly accepted. I hiked to Irente a few days before with the volunteers but am always up for another hike. When my hostmom, Catherine, found out that I was interested in the hike she decided to join us. Instead of walking to Irente we took a taxi to the top and walked home. Both Susan and I were a bit disappointed that we didn’t hike the whole way but we just played along. Once at the top, Catherine paid for a guide to take us around. After our guided tour we sat for some drinks before we headed home. At 2:45 we arrived back in the center of Lushoto and I was starving. I hadn’t eaten since 9 AM and was extremely hunger. Susan decided that we should eat at a restaurant instead of going home. Two hours later we finally ate. By that point I started getting grumpy because I was so hungry. I finally ate and was somewhat satisfied. We relaxed at the house for the rest of the night until dinner at 8:30 and then bed at 9.
On Sunday I was supposed to go back to Kanaani Resthouse at noon but Catherine wanted to keep me there. I kept trying to explain but it sounded as though I just wanted to get away from her. I felt bad but I was very excited to leave. My field director called Catherine and explained that I was supposed to return at noon. This was after I texted Ashley, "Why am I still here? I draw the line at chicken claws!" When I arrived back from church with Neema I walked into the cooking room and saw Christina drop a chicken claw freshly fried on the plate of food! I was very anxious after that to return to Kanaani! I was safely returned around 2 PM but did have to endure lunch. I luckily was given first choice and chose a chicken wing which I just tore apart on my plate so they thought I ate it. :-) The stay was very nice. I am very grateful for their hospitality but that was a complete culture shock experience. I like my freedom and didn’t receive much when living with a family. I was told when to shower, when to go to bed, when to eat, and it became unbearable at times. I also have heard that most Tanzanians don’t use toilet paper; they just wipe using their left hand. I knew this was common but the host stay was my first encounter to witnessing this. I didn’t actually witness anyone going to the bathroom but I used the same bathroom facilities and realized what was going down. Don’t worry, I brought my own toilet paper! It was definitely an interesting learning experience.
On Sunday afternoon everyone relaxed and shared stories from the weekend. Probably the best story came from my roommate for the year, Lindsay. Lindsay’s host family’s house was broken into on Saturday. Everyone in the house slept through it and nothing of Lindsay’s was stolen but the family was quite upset. A lot of their possessions were taken. Even the children’s notebooks for school were taken! Most people had pretty rewarding experiences but it sounded like everyone was excited to be back at Kanaani.
Today was Fourth of July. We had classes as normal and then tonight we had some sparklers as we sang various American songs off-key.
Love,
Gretchen
Happy 4th of July!
Last Thursday was a typical day at Kanaani Resthouse. We had breakfast, waited an hour for the morning lesson to start, after the lesson we relaxed for an hour until lunch, after lunch we had our second lesson of the day, at 2:30 we had tea, 3 o’clock was the beginning of Swahili lessons, at 5 when we were finished Swahili I would go for a run before dinner at 6. This has been our schedule (most days) while at Kanaani. On Friday this schedule changed a bit.
After breakfast on Friday we spent the morning packing for our home stays. After lunch, every volunteer went off in the direction of their host stay. Around 2:30 my name was called along with Erica and Noah. Each of us were being placed with teachers. The principal of a primary school picked us up at Kanaani. Frank took us in a car to town. In the center of Lushoto we stood and waited for our host families to pick us up. My host mom, Catherine, was one of the first to arrive. She was a very friendly woman. She is the headmaster of an elementary school up the hill from the main market in Lushoto. We walked to her house where I met her daughter Christina and niece Neema. The niece Neema was more like a servant than a niece. She was always smiling though so I couldn’t feel too bad for her. She had the most beautiful smile. Christina was an extremely smart individual who was in form 4 (the highest level I will teach this year). She wants to become a doctor and was excited to practice her English on me.
When I first arrived on Friday I met a lady Susan, a teacher from Australia. Three years ago Susan was traveling Africa with her two sons and husband. While she was traveling through Lushoto she asked a travel agent if she could visit and maybe teach at a local school. The elementary school where Catherine works at invited her to join them one afternoon. After Susan taught a lesson she spoke with Catherine for quite a while and realized the school does not have electricity. She offered to pay for the installation of electricity if Catherine could find an electrician. Three years later, Susan travelled back to Lushoto to check in on things and pay for the electrician. Susan was a very lively and exciting person to meet.
On Saturday, Susan decided to hike up to Irente Lookout with Christina. I was asked if I would like to join and I gladly accepted. I hiked to Irente a few days before with the volunteers but am always up for another hike. When my hostmom, Catherine, found out that I was interested in the hike she decided to join us. Instead of walking to Irente we took a taxi to the top and walked home. Both Susan and I were a bit disappointed that we didn’t hike the whole way but we just played along. Once at the top, Catherine paid for a guide to take us around. After our guided tour we sat for some drinks before we headed home. At 2:45 we arrived back in the center of Lushoto and I was starving. I hadn’t eaten since 9 AM and was extremely hunger. Susan decided that we should eat at a restaurant instead of going home. Two hours later we finally ate. By that point I started getting grumpy because I was so hungry. I finally ate and was somewhat satisfied. We relaxed at the house for the rest of the night until dinner at 8:30 and then bed at 9.
On Sunday I was supposed to go back to Kanaani Resthouse at noon but Catherine wanted to keep me there. I kept trying to explain but it sounded as though I just wanted to get away from her. I felt bad but I was very excited to leave. My field director called Catherine and explained that I was supposed to return at noon. This was after I texted Ashley, "Why am I still here? I draw the line at chicken claws!" When I arrived back from church with Neema I walked into the cooking room and saw Christina drop a chicken claw freshly fried on the plate of food! I was very anxious after that to return to Kanaani! I was safely returned around 2 PM but did have to endure lunch. I luckily was given first choice and chose a chicken wing which I just tore apart on my plate so they thought I ate it. :-) The stay was very nice. I am very grateful for their hospitality but that was a complete culture shock experience. I like my freedom and didn’t receive much when living with a family. I was told when to shower, when to go to bed, when to eat, and it became unbearable at times. I also have heard that most Tanzanians don’t use toilet paper; they just wipe using their left hand. I knew this was common but the host stay was my first encounter to witnessing this. I didn’t actually witness anyone going to the bathroom but I used the same bathroom facilities and realized what was going down. Don’t worry, I brought my own toilet paper! It was definitely an interesting learning experience.
On Sunday afternoon everyone relaxed and shared stories from the weekend. Probably the best story came from my roommate for the year, Lindsay. Lindsay’s host family’s house was broken into on Saturday. Everyone in the house slept through it and nothing of Lindsay’s was stolen but the family was quite upset. A lot of their possessions were taken. Even the children’s notebooks for school were taken! Most people had pretty rewarding experiences but it sounded like everyone was excited to be back at Kanaani.
Today was Fourth of July. We had classes as normal and then tonight we had some sparklers as we sang various American songs off-key.
Love,
Gretchen
Sunday, July 10, 2011
part 2
June 29th (part two)
When I arrived at breakfast at 8 AM on Saturday Ashley announced that we would probably be leaving much later. She tried all day Friday to call the head of transportation but he had his phone off. She tried various other ways to find out about transportation and was unsuccessful. I wasn’t too concerned as it was colder up the mountain so I would rather stay in the heat as much as possible even if that is the heat of Dar es Salaam. Throughout the day we received updates that the driver was headed to the office to fill out paperwork. Once the paperwork was complete he would get paid and would drive us. Eventually the news was that we would have to wait until Sunday. The drive was going to be six hours so it would be worse to leave later in the day. I went out to dinner that night and topped it off with a nice slice of chocolate cake. I figured I wouldn’t see sweets for a long time so it was probably best to get as much as I could before I left for the mountains.
During breakfast on Sunday Ashley announced that we were definitely going to leave that day but it would be a little later so we are going to do one of our lessons after breakfast. In the middle of the lesson the bus drove up and I heard a sound of relief from the volunteers. While we were completing some group work, Ashley spoke to the driver and then shortly after he left. He stopped by to let Ashley know that he was headed to his office to get paid for the trip. Four and a half hours later he returned from the office. Throughout we were receiving updates that he was on his way to pick us up but obviously that was just to stop people from freaking out. I found all of it quite comical.
At 2:30 we began our six hour drive to Lushoto. The beginning of the drive was slow. We hit a lot of traffic and our driver wasn’t the speediest. The drive was uneventful but I excited to see more of the country. I had only seen the tightly packed city of 3 million prior to that ride so I was grateful. I had an excellent seat in the front of the bus so I was able to see a lot of the traffic. The one downside was that I was one of the unfortunate individuals that saw the dog running across the street that we hit. Everyone did hear the thump though. We managed to keep driving along and the driver showed no emotion which was hard for me. The other volunteers noted that there was no way for him to stop which I agree with but I still expected some kind of facial response from him. The inevitable pee stop did happen and I was one of the first to jump out of the bus. There were some Tanzanians walking past laughing at us as we squatted in the tall grass. We were in the middle of nowhere yet there were still people walking around. This has been one of the most vibrant places I have ever been. At 1 AM in the morning you still see people standing around the streets trying to sell you things. I thought that once we left the city it wouldn’t be as vibrant, but I still saw people walking everywhere. I haven’t managed to go out late at night yet but I would imagine there would be people standing around chatting amicably with one another.
On Sunday the sun went down very fast. By 6 PM it was pitch dark outside yet we still saw people walking on the road without any light leading their way. Ashley made the decision to stop and sleep in a hotel for the night because of the danger of the roads. The ride up to Kanaani Resthouse, where we were headed, was on a single dirt road crowded with people, cars, and motorcycles. I thought she made a good decision. For the night we stayed at White Parrot hotel. Originally we were each going to have our own beds two to a room but there was some miscommunication and we shared beds with a roommate. After dinner I was the first to go up and shower but quickly ran back down to my roommate Megan because I thought there was a ghost in our room. As I was finishing up my shower the desk drawers flew open and wouldn’t close. No one was around so I got a little spooked. Megan came up shortly after and we went to bed. First thing the next morning a few of us ate breakfast and then we loaded the van with our luggage.
After two and a half hours we arrived at Kanaani Resthouse, our home for two weeks. There are many different buildings that we use on the grounds. There are two separate buildings for sleeping. Each building is separated into two rooms. Each room contains four beds, a table with chairs, an armoire, and a bathroom. I brought my luggage to the last room along with Mary, Katie, and Noah. We are a fun cabin, always laughing at something. Noah is petrified of bugs so we tend to laugh at him quite a bit. Mary is a semi-retired nurse. Her son is the head teacher on Glee so we talk about that occasionally. Katie is a 28-year old from South Carolina. She has a nice Southern voice and is very comical. We seem to get along quite well and there is never a dull moment. There are three other buildings on the ground which are used for cooking, eating, and classes. Construction seems to be going on at a continual basis is hopes of housing larger groups in the future.
Food takes up a large portion of the day. We have food four times a day and each time it is buffet style. Obviously there is a lot of eating going on and I definitely love it. A high proportion of the meals consist of fried food, fruits, and vegetables. There have been very few things I disliked. From 11:00 to 12:30 there has been cooking lessons this week. I learned to make chapati which I consider a very thin pancake. We also learned how to get the meat out of a coconut which I was able to show my expertise in. Each day a new set of volunteers learn to cook a new food. We were also given a recipe book when we arrived which will definitely be used throughout the year.
Besides food, we also receive two hours of Swahili. From 3-5 each night we sit in a classroom and try to understand Swahili. On Monday we had our first lesson with the Tanzanian teacher. It was a little overwhelming at first. He just kept saying phrases and we didn’t know much of anything. It took about ten minutes and then I started realizing what was going on and I was able to write out what he was saying to better understand. After the first hour the class started getting frustrated. Some of the volunteers asked him to write some things on the board because they needed to visually see something. He seemed a little taken aback and then just asked what words or phrases we wanted him to translate. For the next hour we threw out words and phrases and then he translated them. I didn’t like how the lesson turned out because that didn’t teach me a single thing. Yesterday was even worse. For the entire two hours we gave him words and phrases and he translated. At one point someone asked him to go over the verb agreement chart. That was beyond confusing and I had no idea what was going on. After the lesson many people spoke to Ashley about changing our tutor. Two of the volunteers who have had a fair bit of Swahili training were taking a class with Sabine, the owner of Kanaani Resthouse. Sabine knows the ins and outs of Swahili. She made an entire binder full of lessons for us. She knows her stuff. Right before tutorial today Ashley talked to Sabine and they switched. The lessons were night and day. I felt as though I understand a lot more of the fundamentals. I understood enough to write complete sentences. Now I have to spend time and learn more vocab in order to do well.
We have a very nice set up for orientation and I am enjoying my time. This weekend we will be staying with a host family which will definitely be interesting.
Love,
Gretchen
When I arrived at breakfast at 8 AM on Saturday Ashley announced that we would probably be leaving much later. She tried all day Friday to call the head of transportation but he had his phone off. She tried various other ways to find out about transportation and was unsuccessful. I wasn’t too concerned as it was colder up the mountain so I would rather stay in the heat as much as possible even if that is the heat of Dar es Salaam. Throughout the day we received updates that the driver was headed to the office to fill out paperwork. Once the paperwork was complete he would get paid and would drive us. Eventually the news was that we would have to wait until Sunday. The drive was going to be six hours so it would be worse to leave later in the day. I went out to dinner that night and topped it off with a nice slice of chocolate cake. I figured I wouldn’t see sweets for a long time so it was probably best to get as much as I could before I left for the mountains.
During breakfast on Sunday Ashley announced that we were definitely going to leave that day but it would be a little later so we are going to do one of our lessons after breakfast. In the middle of the lesson the bus drove up and I heard a sound of relief from the volunteers. While we were completing some group work, Ashley spoke to the driver and then shortly after he left. He stopped by to let Ashley know that he was headed to his office to get paid for the trip. Four and a half hours later he returned from the office. Throughout we were receiving updates that he was on his way to pick us up but obviously that was just to stop people from freaking out. I found all of it quite comical.
At 2:30 we began our six hour drive to Lushoto. The beginning of the drive was slow. We hit a lot of traffic and our driver wasn’t the speediest. The drive was uneventful but I excited to see more of the country. I had only seen the tightly packed city of 3 million prior to that ride so I was grateful. I had an excellent seat in the front of the bus so I was able to see a lot of the traffic. The one downside was that I was one of the unfortunate individuals that saw the dog running across the street that we hit. Everyone did hear the thump though. We managed to keep driving along and the driver showed no emotion which was hard for me. The other volunteers noted that there was no way for him to stop which I agree with but I still expected some kind of facial response from him. The inevitable pee stop did happen and I was one of the first to jump out of the bus. There were some Tanzanians walking past laughing at us as we squatted in the tall grass. We were in the middle of nowhere yet there were still people walking around. This has been one of the most vibrant places I have ever been. At 1 AM in the morning you still see people standing around the streets trying to sell you things. I thought that once we left the city it wouldn’t be as vibrant, but I still saw people walking everywhere. I haven’t managed to go out late at night yet but I would imagine there would be people standing around chatting amicably with one another.
On Sunday the sun went down very fast. By 6 PM it was pitch dark outside yet we still saw people walking on the road without any light leading their way. Ashley made the decision to stop and sleep in a hotel for the night because of the danger of the roads. The ride up to Kanaani Resthouse, where we were headed, was on a single dirt road crowded with people, cars, and motorcycles. I thought she made a good decision. For the night we stayed at White Parrot hotel. Originally we were each going to have our own beds two to a room but there was some miscommunication and we shared beds with a roommate. After dinner I was the first to go up and shower but quickly ran back down to my roommate Megan because I thought there was a ghost in our room. As I was finishing up my shower the desk drawers flew open and wouldn’t close. No one was around so I got a little spooked. Megan came up shortly after and we went to bed. First thing the next morning a few of us ate breakfast and then we loaded the van with our luggage.
After two and a half hours we arrived at Kanaani Resthouse, our home for two weeks. There are many different buildings that we use on the grounds. There are two separate buildings for sleeping. Each building is separated into two rooms. Each room contains four beds, a table with chairs, an armoire, and a bathroom. I brought my luggage to the last room along with Mary, Katie, and Noah. We are a fun cabin, always laughing at something. Noah is petrified of bugs so we tend to laugh at him quite a bit. Mary is a semi-retired nurse. Her son is the head teacher on Glee so we talk about that occasionally. Katie is a 28-year old from South Carolina. She has a nice Southern voice and is very comical. We seem to get along quite well and there is never a dull moment. There are three other buildings on the ground which are used for cooking, eating, and classes. Construction seems to be going on at a continual basis is hopes of housing larger groups in the future.
Food takes up a large portion of the day. We have food four times a day and each time it is buffet style. Obviously there is a lot of eating going on and I definitely love it. A high proportion of the meals consist of fried food, fruits, and vegetables. There have been very few things I disliked. From 11:00 to 12:30 there has been cooking lessons this week. I learned to make chapati which I consider a very thin pancake. We also learned how to get the meat out of a coconut which I was able to show my expertise in. Each day a new set of volunteers learn to cook a new food. We were also given a recipe book when we arrived which will definitely be used throughout the year.
Besides food, we also receive two hours of Swahili. From 3-5 each night we sit in a classroom and try to understand Swahili. On Monday we had our first lesson with the Tanzanian teacher. It was a little overwhelming at first. He just kept saying phrases and we didn’t know much of anything. It took about ten minutes and then I started realizing what was going on and I was able to write out what he was saying to better understand. After the first hour the class started getting frustrated. Some of the volunteers asked him to write some things on the board because they needed to visually see something. He seemed a little taken aback and then just asked what words or phrases we wanted him to translate. For the next hour we threw out words and phrases and then he translated them. I didn’t like how the lesson turned out because that didn’t teach me a single thing. Yesterday was even worse. For the entire two hours we gave him words and phrases and he translated. At one point someone asked him to go over the verb agreement chart. That was beyond confusing and I had no idea what was going on. After the lesson many people spoke to Ashley about changing our tutor. Two of the volunteers who have had a fair bit of Swahili training were taking a class with Sabine, the owner of Kanaani Resthouse. Sabine knows the ins and outs of Swahili. She made an entire binder full of lessons for us. She knows her stuff. Right before tutorial today Ashley talked to Sabine and they switched. The lessons were night and day. I felt as though I understand a lot more of the fundamentals. I understood enough to write complete sentences. Now I have to spend time and learn more vocab in order to do well.
We have a very nice set up for orientation and I am enjoying my time. This weekend we will be staying with a host family which will definitely be interesting.
Love,
Gretchen
Monday, July 4, 2011
Dar
June 29th
Happy birthday John!!
She will probably be receiving that a little late, but it is the best I can do! I am currently in the mountains outside the town of Lushoto. So far, the experience has been pretty great. We just arrived in the mountains on Monday so let me start out by sharing what we did before that long drive.
On Thursday, as I mentioned in the previous post, we started the morning at the US Embassy. We stayed until around noon with presentations throughout the morning. We had a presentation from a Peace Corp volunteer who taught O-Level (what I will be teaching) science and humanities courses throughout the last two years. She spoke about the level of students and little idioms to expect. I found her presentation pretty helpful. We also had a presentation from a nurse who spoke about the symptoms of malaria and what to do if you think you have malaria among the other diseases and bugs you can pick up throughout the year. The worst would have to be the worms that she spoke about. I made a mental note that a stool sample will be the first thing I give when I return to the US next year. I don’t want to find a big worm crawling around in my skin later. After the nurse, we had a presentation by a gentleman in charge of security. He was pretty lax throughout his talk and said that we would be fine. He didn’t seem too concerned which is always a relief. The presentations were ended with questions or concerns. After leaving through the security gate we headed out for lunch. Our field director, Ashley, chose a restaurant on the Indian Ocean. There was no one there when we arrived so I thought we would be in and out. I was pretty hungry at this point and glad to have such a nice view while I ate. Two and a half hours later, we were served our lunch. My lunch was surprisingly very good. I had chicken curry with rice. The woman next to me ordered fish and chips which proved to be undercooked. Two others at my table ordered a veggie burger which didn’t consist entirely of veggies. I proved to be one of the lucky ones which pleased me.
After our very long lunch we returned back to our hostel via a daladala. A daladala is one form of public transportation in Tanzania. The bus consists of about five rows of seats. It seems normal enough until you get in and see how many people are inside. The bus should hold a maximum of 19 people, but there were numbers in the upper 40’s on the bus. One would think the bus was full when there is a person an inch from each side of you but that isn’t always true. It was comfy. When we returned back to the hostel we waited in the front for a gentleman who came to talk to us about aids. He was there for a little over two hours discussing personal stories. I was sitting in the back of everyone with a limited amount of sleep and didn’t stay awake long enough to hear a full story. I tried but sleep definitely took over me. I was able to play it off for the most part (I think) and just stared at him so he would think I was really listening. I took a nap once he left.
After my nap, I woke and got ready for dinner. We took a bus to a Vietnamese restaurant in town. The dinner was about three hours long. We sat waiting for food chatting to pass the time. After the long meal, Ashley brought us to an ex-pat type of club where we stayed for about two hours. I was in the first group to leave as I was pretty exhausted. The club was pretty fun but became super crowded. I was barely able to dance for ten seconds without someone running into me trying to get by. I also noticed a lot of young Tanzanian women with older white men. It was pretty sad to see the drunk men throwing them around. Ashley warned us about prostitution in Tanzania but nothing can really prepare you. That night I slept well excited for the next day.
Friday was a free day. I had a few errands I needed to run in town and was looking forward to exploring. After breakfast I packed for our trip to Lushoto while I waited for the group to get ready. The plan was to stay in Lushoto for two weeks for training before we headed off to our sites. Our transportation wasn’t large so we had to consolidate our luggage. I managed to fit most things in my largest bag to stay in Dar. Around 11 I left with a group of five to head into the heart of Dar. One group stayed back at the hostel and took things easily, another group decided to venture to a beach, and a third group went around fulfilling errands. I was in the third group since I was the only one that did not register for a phone and still needed some basics. Our first stop was the clinic. One girl in the group, Jessica, needed to go to the clinic to pick up some medicines she was unable to get in the US. We started off in a daladala and reached the end of the route and caught a bajaj the rest of the way. Abajaj is a three wheeled vehicle that is big enough for four people. It is a cute little car and can quickly get you anywhere you need. It is quite scary to ride especially when you take into account the road situation. The main roads are nice and paved but the side roads that we were traveling on are far from nice. The excessive amount of rain during the wet season carves a stream into the dirt that consists of a road. This makes the road quite holey and difficult to navigate. We did, however, manage to make it to the clinic without any accidents.
Jessica had an appointment at the clinic and the rest of us didn’t feel like sitting around waiting so we started walking and looking for a VodaCom store where I could register my phone. The lady in the pharmacy told us there was a shopping center called Slipway close by where I could register my phone. We decided it would be good to start walking and find Slipway on our own. We walked for about an hour and still no Slipway. We did stop and get directions a few times and it brought us in a circle. Finally we were directed in what seemed like the best option. About fifteen minutes from Slipway, the driver of the bajaj from earlier saw us and stopped to see if we were okay. We told him where we were going and he reassured us that we were indeed headed the right way. He started to drive off but then stopped about ten feet away. He felt bad and offered to give us a free ride the rest of the way. We offered money once we arrived but he refused. That was pretty neat to see from someone who makes a living from the money he makes by driving the bajaj.
While registering my phone Jessica met us and the group arranged a table at a café within the shopping center. The café took a good hour to serve us food and by the time we ate and paid it was time to go back to the hostel. After purchasing a Malaria self-test kit, we headed via taxi back to our hostel. I ate some beans and rice at the canteen in front of the hostel and then went right to bed. The plan was to depart at 9 AM the next morning and I wanted to be well rested.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, we didn’t actually arrive in Lushoto until Monday so I will fill you in with those details in part two!
Love,
Gretchen
Happy birthday John!!
She will probably be receiving that a little late, but it is the best I can do! I am currently in the mountains outside the town of Lushoto. So far, the experience has been pretty great. We just arrived in the mountains on Monday so let me start out by sharing what we did before that long drive.
On Thursday, as I mentioned in the previous post, we started the morning at the US Embassy. We stayed until around noon with presentations throughout the morning. We had a presentation from a Peace Corp volunteer who taught O-Level (what I will be teaching) science and humanities courses throughout the last two years. She spoke about the level of students and little idioms to expect. I found her presentation pretty helpful. We also had a presentation from a nurse who spoke about the symptoms of malaria and what to do if you think you have malaria among the other diseases and bugs you can pick up throughout the year. The worst would have to be the worms that she spoke about. I made a mental note that a stool sample will be the first thing I give when I return to the US next year. I don’t want to find a big worm crawling around in my skin later. After the nurse, we had a presentation by a gentleman in charge of security. He was pretty lax throughout his talk and said that we would be fine. He didn’t seem too concerned which is always a relief. The presentations were ended with questions or concerns. After leaving through the security gate we headed out for lunch. Our field director, Ashley, chose a restaurant on the Indian Ocean. There was no one there when we arrived so I thought we would be in and out. I was pretty hungry at this point and glad to have such a nice view while I ate. Two and a half hours later, we were served our lunch. My lunch was surprisingly very good. I had chicken curry with rice. The woman next to me ordered fish and chips which proved to be undercooked. Two others at my table ordered a veggie burger which didn’t consist entirely of veggies. I proved to be one of the lucky ones which pleased me.
After our very long lunch we returned back to our hostel via a daladala. A daladala is one form of public transportation in Tanzania. The bus consists of about five rows of seats. It seems normal enough until you get in and see how many people are inside. The bus should hold a maximum of 19 people, but there were numbers in the upper 40’s on the bus. One would think the bus was full when there is a person an inch from each side of you but that isn’t always true. It was comfy. When we returned back to the hostel we waited in the front for a gentleman who came to talk to us about aids. He was there for a little over two hours discussing personal stories. I was sitting in the back of everyone with a limited amount of sleep and didn’t stay awake long enough to hear a full story. I tried but sleep definitely took over me. I was able to play it off for the most part (I think) and just stared at him so he would think I was really listening. I took a nap once he left.
After my nap, I woke and got ready for dinner. We took a bus to a Vietnamese restaurant in town. The dinner was about three hours long. We sat waiting for food chatting to pass the time. After the long meal, Ashley brought us to an ex-pat type of club where we stayed for about two hours. I was in the first group to leave as I was pretty exhausted. The club was pretty fun but became super crowded. I was barely able to dance for ten seconds without someone running into me trying to get by. I also noticed a lot of young Tanzanian women with older white men. It was pretty sad to see the drunk men throwing them around. Ashley warned us about prostitution in Tanzania but nothing can really prepare you. That night I slept well excited for the next day.
Friday was a free day. I had a few errands I needed to run in town and was looking forward to exploring. After breakfast I packed for our trip to Lushoto while I waited for the group to get ready. The plan was to stay in Lushoto for two weeks for training before we headed off to our sites. Our transportation wasn’t large so we had to consolidate our luggage. I managed to fit most things in my largest bag to stay in Dar. Around 11 I left with a group of five to head into the heart of Dar. One group stayed back at the hostel and took things easily, another group decided to venture to a beach, and a third group went around fulfilling errands. I was in the third group since I was the only one that did not register for a phone and still needed some basics. Our first stop was the clinic. One girl in the group, Jessica, needed to go to the clinic to pick up some medicines she was unable to get in the US. We started off in a daladala and reached the end of the route and caught a bajaj the rest of the way. Abajaj is a three wheeled vehicle that is big enough for four people. It is a cute little car and can quickly get you anywhere you need. It is quite scary to ride especially when you take into account the road situation. The main roads are nice and paved but the side roads that we were traveling on are far from nice. The excessive amount of rain during the wet season carves a stream into the dirt that consists of a road. This makes the road quite holey and difficult to navigate. We did, however, manage to make it to the clinic without any accidents.
Jessica had an appointment at the clinic and the rest of us didn’t feel like sitting around waiting so we started walking and looking for a VodaCom store where I could register my phone. The lady in the pharmacy told us there was a shopping center called Slipway close by where I could register my phone. We decided it would be good to start walking and find Slipway on our own. We walked for about an hour and still no Slipway. We did stop and get directions a few times and it brought us in a circle. Finally we were directed in what seemed like the best option. About fifteen minutes from Slipway, the driver of the bajaj from earlier saw us and stopped to see if we were okay. We told him where we were going and he reassured us that we were indeed headed the right way. He started to drive off but then stopped about ten feet away. He felt bad and offered to give us a free ride the rest of the way. We offered money once we arrived but he refused. That was pretty neat to see from someone who makes a living from the money he makes by driving the bajaj.
While registering my phone Jessica met us and the group arranged a table at a café within the shopping center. The café took a good hour to serve us food and by the time we ate and paid it was time to go back to the hostel. After purchasing a Malaria self-test kit, we headed via taxi back to our hostel. I ate some beans and rice at the canteen in front of the hostel and then went right to bed. The plan was to depart at 9 AM the next morning and I wanted to be well rested.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, we didn’t actually arrive in Lushoto until Monday so I will fill you in with those details in part two!
Love,
Gretchen
Karibu!!
Thank you to all you loyal blog readers. I hope you are ready for a new year of entries. I have two coming up for you and hope to get a third one up today as well.
June 23rd
I made it!
I arrived last night around 8 PM in Dar es Salaam. I was in the air a total of 15 hours with stops in Switzerland and Kenya. My flights went well. From NYC to Switzerland I was given a seat in the front of my section which gave me a whole lot of leg room which I was quite thankful for. On my second flight, which stopped in Kenya for an hour, there were more empty seats than there were full seats. I stretched out quite a bit. I was excited to be done flying for a while though. I was surprised with how many tourists there were on my flight. I think there were only two or three native Africans on the flight. I met a few students from Canada that were spending the summer in Kenya working at a clinic as nurses. I also met a mother who was visiting her daughter in the Peace Corp in Malawi. It was nice to be able to talk with highly energetic, adventurous people.
The moment I stepped off the plane in Dar I realized I was in a new world. The feel of humidity quickly caught up with me. Every turn I made I noticed more people peeking into windows or doors looking at me, curious to see who got off the plane. The first thing to do when you get off the plane is purchase a visa. I had to fill in two papers while on the plane, give $100, and handover my passport in order to receive a visa. While waiting in line, a gentleman approached and asked for my documents and $100. He walked through the line and received the same from the other passengers (all 8 of us). With the pile in hand, he gave them to a woman behind theplexiglass window and we stood waiting. Ten minutes later, I was called by my last name and given my passport. Inside there was a little piece of paper glued to my passport that gave me access to the country (for 90 days anyway). I then walked through customs which consisted of a man that looked at my passport for a whole 20 seconds and told me to continue on. I grabbed my luggage and headed out of the building. I was met by the field director, Ashley, and my roommate for the year, Lindsay. I was excited how quick the whole transaction took.
We left the airport and jumped in a government owned vehicle heading to my home for the rest of the week. I thought we were going to head straight north to Lushoto and was pleasantly surprised by our short drive. We arrived to a nice welcome from the other volunteers. Since it was quite late when I arrived I have no idea what the place looks like. My room is quite nice though. The accommodation for orientation is much better than what I had in AS. I have my own room which a full bathroom, closet space, and a desk and chair. Today we are going to the US Embassy. I don’t really know what we will be doing there but I am excited to get out and see the landscape. Supposedly I can purchase Internet while here for orientation which I will try and do today. I also will receive my cellphone today, get excited!!
Love,
Gretchen
June 23rd
I made it!
I arrived last night around 8 PM in Dar es Salaam. I was in the air a total of 15 hours with stops in Switzerland and Kenya. My flights went well. From NYC to Switzerland I was given a seat in the front of my section which gave me a whole lot of leg room which I was quite thankful for. On my second flight, which stopped in Kenya for an hour, there were more empty seats than there were full seats. I stretched out quite a bit. I was excited to be done flying for a while though. I was surprised with how many tourists there were on my flight. I think there were only two or three native Africans on the flight. I met a few students from Canada that were spending the summer in Kenya working at a clinic as nurses. I also met a mother who was visiting her daughter in the Peace Corp in Malawi. It was nice to be able to talk with highly energetic, adventurous people.
The moment I stepped off the plane in Dar I realized I was in a new world. The feel of humidity quickly caught up with me. Every turn I made I noticed more people peeking into windows or doors looking at me, curious to see who got off the plane. The first thing to do when you get off the plane is purchase a visa. I had to fill in two papers while on the plane, give $100, and handover my passport in order to receive a visa. While waiting in line, a gentleman approached and asked for my documents and $100. He walked through the line and received the same from the other passengers (all 8 of us). With the pile in hand, he gave them to a woman behind theplexiglass window and we stood waiting. Ten minutes later, I was called by my last name and given my passport. Inside there was a little piece of paper glued to my passport that gave me access to the country (for 90 days anyway). I then walked through customs which consisted of a man that looked at my passport for a whole 20 seconds and told me to continue on. I grabbed my luggage and headed out of the building. I was met by the field director, Ashley, and my roommate for the year, Lindsay. I was excited how quick the whole transaction took.
We left the airport and jumped in a government owned vehicle heading to my home for the rest of the week. I thought we were going to head straight north to Lushoto and was pleasantly surprised by our short drive. We arrived to a nice welcome from the other volunteers. Since it was quite late when I arrived I have no idea what the place looks like. My room is quite nice though. The accommodation for orientation is much better than what I had in AS. I have my own room which a full bathroom, closet space, and a desk and chair. Today we are going to the US Embassy. I don’t really know what we will be doing there but I am excited to get out and see the landscape. Supposedly I can purchase Internet while here for orientation which I will try and do today. I also will receive my cellphone today, get excited!!
Love,
Gretchen
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