last stop

June 21st Almost home! I am sitting in Zurich, Switzerland waiting for my next and final flight home. For the last two days I have been waiting in the crowded and congested Dar es Salaam preparing to leave. On Tuesday I spent the day in the largest Tanzanian market: Kariakoo. The experience was daunting and after a few hours I went back to the hotel to shower and prepare my luggage. I thought venturing into the crowds would prepare me for the cultural adjustment of life in America but I think I am sorely mistaken. Last night as I was waiting to board my flight a girl walked into the waiting room with short shorts on. My reaction to seeing someone in skimpy clothes scared me a bit. There are going to be a lot of things I need to get used to again. For now I am sitting watching people move around the airport hoping that will help with this whole adjustment thing. We shall see. See ya soon! Love, Gretchen

paradise

June 17th (part two) My nine hour bus ride to Dar was actually pretty uneventful. I was happy to be at the bus stand when the sun was still out. The Ubungu bus stand in Dar is probably the most dangerous bus stand in the country and when I am white and traveling with a heap of luggage it is good to have the sun at least on your side. I spoke to my taxi friend Steven and he sent a driver to come pick me up. He didn’t tell me he was sending someone else though so I was not too fond of the stranger that knew my name. When the bags were loaded I told him to drive me to the New Pentecostal Guest House. When I was recommended the guest house I didn’t ask its location…it was a bit of a ways outside of town. I thought the new driver, Mike, was driving me to my death trap. When we did reach the guest house safe and sound I was most pleased and grateful. The next morning I woke early to catch the ferry to Pemba. When I reached the ticket booth in Dar the man told me the boat was full. I laughed in his face. While in Tanzania I don’t think I have ever been told that the transportation is full. The transportation is NEVER full. He told me the computer locked him out from buying tickets and that I should try an agent. Since I didn’t want to be bothered with the hacklers outside I called a friend who knew an agent…he was also sold out. In the end, a nice woman, Viwe, overheard and told me to buy a ticket to Zanzibar. She informed me from Zanzibar it would be easy to catch a ferry to Pemba. I did as told and hoped for the best. Luckily, we ran into each other while departing the ferry in Zanzibar and she helped me out. She obviously had some influence and the men working on the boats gave me a ticket and didn’t make a commission off it! I was very impressed and happy that things were working out. Prior to my boat and bus ride I tried desperately to find a hotel or two during my stay in Pemba. I emailed and called around and couldn’t get much below $20 USD a night. This was quite expensive but I thought it would just be a few days and the island is supposed to be gorgeous so it will be worth it. When I got off the ferry one of the hotels called a man to greet me and send me in the right direction. Since he obviously worked hard to get my business I thought it would be a good start to the trip. I spent my first night in Wete and realized I was reversing my progress into civilization. I travelled to a little town where no white person is visible and no one spoke English, what was I thinking! On Thursday I rented a bicycle and did a little island tour up the northern end. The beaches are supposed to be gorgeous and I kind of wanted to check out the road conditions and the hotel availability while there. After a long three hour ride to the light house I thought I would reward myself and go swimming at the Verawimbi Beach. When I came to a gorgeous beach that looked too pristine to be anything but what my book said it was, I decided to strip down to my sports bra and change into swimming bottoms. No one was around (that I could see) and the transition wasn’t too difficult. I only stayed in the water for a short time worried about the theft of my camera. When I got out there was still no one in sight so I took the opportunity to dry in the sun. Five minutes later a Tanzania rode up on his bicycle and started to stare. I quickly threw on a shirt, a wrap, and rode out of there. Since I couldn’t do the long ride back without changing into pants, I went to the Swahili Divers Center to ask for a room to change into. I thought the Swahili Divers Center worked in conjunction with the Verani Guesthouse which I emailed for a room quote. The mix up just made me look stupid when informed management that I had contacted them but never got a response. I actually contacted the Verani Guesthouse which was a quarter of a mile further down the beach… I later (the following day) found out that the Swahili Divers Center is combined with the Kervan Saray Beach Hotel. In the end I was offered a room with all meals included for 25 USD a night, two dives with all equipment included for 90 USD, and best yet they could charge my credit card with all these expenses. Since my cash fund is running low and there is only one ATM (at the other end of the island) that was music to my ears. When I was researching places to stay I found Kervan Saray online but the prices were out of my price range. The owners were being quite generous and I still don’t understand how I got so lucky. I told them I would see them tomorrow and headed back to Wete. That night I treated myself to rice and beans instead of cooking on my little travel cooker and went to sleep very happy. Friday morning I headed via daladala (overcrowded minivan) to Swahili Divers. In the end a policeman offered me a good price on a ride and I left the daladala and continued the journey in his convertible. Two days later and I am still here at Kervan Saray but plan to leave tomorrow. I have gone on four dives (two yesterday and two today) and think I have found paradise. I am currently sitting on a dock listening to the sound of waves on the Indian Ocean, pretty awesome. The diving yesterday was a little stressful for me. I had not gone diving since my time in Australia and was a little rusty. It took me some time to remember all the techniques and I had a lot of trouble equalizing. Today was perfect. The dives were perfect, I wasn’t stressed out, I had a great partner, and I saw a gorgeous underwater life. In between each of the dives the boat anchores at a beach and we sit, drink tea, and eat pancakes while the staff gear us up for the next dive. After the eating and drinking today a few of us did some exploring. In between some of the rock walls we found a little beach with the rock walls cut through to a path. Following the path we came to some barbed wire which opened up to a wooden platform overlooking a lagoon. Of course we climbed in and explored. There were a few huge fish but I was waiting for the barracuda to come out and eat us. Luckily we found nothing dangerous just a beautiful cave and some cool scenery. Tomorrow I head out via airplane. There are no boats leaving tomorrow and the airplane would only cost me 20 USD more than the boat so I figure it is a pretty good option. Two more nights in Dar then I am headed back to the good ol’ USA! See ya soon! Love, Gretchen

Iringa

June 17th I meant for there to be a part two from yesterday’s blog post but as I began typing dinner arrived. Instead, I will continue today as I sit peering out at the Indian Ocean trying desperately to conceal my Farmer’s tan before returning home. When we got off the bus at 10:30 on Friday morning in Iringa, our driver for the safari was waiting for us. He loaded the car with our bags and we began the journey into Ruaha National Park. Sam, the man from England paying for this trip, and I were quite excited but we still had about two hours of driving before actually entering the park. On day 1 (Friday the 8th) we were pleased with all our sightings. The day started off with a cheetah sighting. The male was sitting in the shade of the tree until our car pulled up. When he heard the engine of the car he started to walk around and show us his territory. He basically walked over to a tree and left his mark in a few spots. Later in the day we came across a group of six lions eating a giraffe. In the bush surrounding this feast were another six and as we were leaving we spotted more further in the bush. In total we believe there were about twenty lions either eating or resting after eating the giraffe. The giraffe had died the previous day so we were unfortunate not to see the hunt but it was still exciting to see that many lions in one place. I wouldn’t say I was as excited about the horrific stench of the day old giraffe. We saw various other animals throughout the park such as hippos, giraffes (alive ones), elephants, and zebras but none were as impressive as the cheetah and lions. On day two, Saturday the 9th, we woke up rather early in the morning for a morning drive. On the morning drive I spotted a male lion in the bush. When we stopped the car to get a better look we found that it was a male and female lion sitting together. For fifteen minutes we stopped and waited and sure enough they started to mate. The female didn’t really do much but remain lying in the bush while the male took charge of the situation. The female is pretty docile throughout the minute long ordeal and the male looks to almost bite her head off towards the end. One of the many times I have been here wishing I had a camcorder. We sat and watched for about a half an hour. Supposedly (I don’t trust the intelligence level of our guide) lions mate for two or three days. They roam around together and mate for about a minute or two and then rest for 15 to 30 minutes in between. We also saw a family of elephants digging through a dried up riverbed looking for water. Before departing back to Iringa we returned to see the dead giraffe. The stench was worse and there were new lions that joined the feast. I was hoping the lions had left and the hyenas were picking over the leftovers but not yet (our guide told us the hyenas probably would be there). Around 1:30 we left the park for good and headed into the town of Iringa. Since the day was still young, Sam and I wandered around the streets a bit and I finally tasted ice cream! Iringa makes fresh ice cream so it was probably the best place to start up the eating again. It was so delightful that I sampled ice cream from multiple restaurants/shops throughout my stay in Iringa. Early Sunday morning Sam left. During breakfast I met a couple from New Hampshire who are Lutherans. They teach business and law classes at Tumaini University in Iringa. They come to Tanzania for a few months every other year to teach some courses. During one visit they met a gentleman from the Saint Paul Synod in Minnesota. That synod has partnerships with Lutheran Churches in Iringa. On Sunday, Dot and her husband Kurt along with two of their friends and a fellow coworker and I drove to their partnership church in the bush of Tanzania. There are about a dozen churches that take part in this partnership and each of these American churches has their own Tanzanian church to financially and spiritually support. It was a very interesting and different service than what I experienced this year. There was definitely more liturgy than I expected. I expected the service to be like that at Kafule but I am now beginning to realize the true difference between Moravian and Lutherans. The service was heavily based on the liturgy and there wasn’t much singing and dancing. When we got up to greet and I was the only one that didn’t need a translator the congregation was most pleased and wanted me to return the following Sunday. After the service many people gathered around asking me questions and wanting their photo taken. At the end of the day we returned to the hotel around 4 and I did some Internet checking before having dinner with my new friends. When I finally left Iringa on Tuesday morning I left with a new group of friends who may be very helpful in my future job hunting. A friend of Kurt’s is an actuary job hunter… we exchanged e-mails. On Monday I spent the day relaxing and figuring out my next move. After much debate and uncertainty I decided to head to Dar on Tuesday, leave my bags at a hotel, and head to the island of Pemba on Wednesday morning. I called around and found that there was indeed a ferry traveling to Pemba on Saturday. After two days of travel and a lot of money spent on taxi rides I finally made it to Pemba where I am spending much more time and money than I imagined prior to my departure. Check out part two! Love, Gretchen

Mbeya

June 16th I am glad I didn’t plan anything for my post-village travels because it has made this experience much more enriching and full of excitement. Today I went diving off the island of Pemba. Didn’t imagine that or that I would be staying at (what you could consider) a 3 star hotel while doing it. Last time I wrote I was still in Mbeya preparing my climb up Mount Mbeya. The climb was fun and very fast. The guide told me it would take 4 hours to reach the top…it took us 2.5 hours. The descent wasn’t as enjoyable though. He took me a different route and it was very difficult to see the trail for most of it. I fell a few times stepping into the tall grass that I thought was part of the trail but actually sat much lower on the side of a ledge. Once we passed the grass we entered the bush. I told him he needed a machete and he laughed at me! My arms are still scarred from that walk! I don’t think many people walk along it. Once I reached the base I continued walking to the main road instead of using a cab. The walk lasted another hour and a half and by the time I caught a daladala (overcrowded minivan) to Mbeya I was exhausted. On Wednesday I spent the morning in town then visited my friend Hawa in the afternoon. She was a student teacher at Kafule last term and is studying at one of the universities in Mbeya. She met me in town and insisted I visit her “dorm room.” They don’t actually call them dorm rooms but when the house has 6 bedrooms with about ten girls living within them I consider it a dorm room. Hawa obviously had more money than others as she had her own bedroom and a television inside. We sat and watched music videos while drinking tea for about an hour before I said I was ready to go. As we were walking back two men ran into me and tried to steal my phone. The first time someone tried to pickpocket me and I was walking with a Tanzanian, go figure. Hawa was not happy and started hitting the man then he dropped my phone and we left. So much for Mbeya being a safe town! On Thursday I bought a bus ticket to Iringa. I never planned to go to Iringa but a perfect opportunity presented itself and I couldn’t pass it up. Jo’s coworker was having a visitor from England the week I was in Mbeya. He was flying out on Sunday and before his flight he wanted to do a 2 day safari in Ruaha National Park. He had already paid for the trip and offered me to join him if I threw in a little money. I decided it would be a good way to end my year and jumped on the opportunity. On my last night in Mbeya Jo and her roommate Susanna and I ate popcorn and watched an old movie. Before the movie I was telling Jo how it took almost a week but now the mosquitos are really biting me. She said the mosquitos aren’t normally that bad. For a little while we continued talking about the bites. Finally it clicked that I picked up bed bugs from sitting on Hawa’s bed! So much for my luck! Fortunately I didn’t wear too many clothes since Hawa’s home and got the situation under control once in Iringa! The next morning I boarded a 5:45 bus and said goodbye to Mbeya. In part two I will tell you about my time in Iringa and my first tasting of ice cream! Love, Gretchen

headin' home

June 4th My journey home has begun. Today I am in Mbeya preparing for my climb up Mount Mbeya tomorrow. I am taking today as a resting day since I have had a long last two weeks with very minimal rest. After the church celebration the previous Friday, there was an all-day youth celebration at the church on Saturday. In the morning I wrote my last blog post and then ventured into Isoko in the afternoon. The Mbeya Regional Education Officer, Mr. Kaponda, was visiting and giving a lecture to all the teachers in the area. I was told to come to greet him. As I entered Isoko I found Grace and Stela (teachers from my school). They informed me that Mr. Kaponda left on Friday! I was pretty angry that they didn’t tell me this when I called them earlier in the day. It was a waste of a trip and I was already worn down from my previous night of dancing. After my trip to Isoko I spent until midnight at the church dancing again. This time I didn’t dance nearly as much. The celebration was also geared towards the kids who seem to like dancing while kicking and punching in the air. I blamed my lack of dancing on being tired and most people let me sit and watch. The exhaustion continued throughout the week. On Sunday there was a church “celebration” where they tried to raise money by selling sodas and cookies. My attempts to leave this celebration early were futile. I did manage to avoid the sodas which I was quite proud of but I still ate a lot more food than I wanted (after the church celebration there was rice and beans and meat and leafy greens and cabbage to finish the celebrating). The rest of the week sort of went on the same way. I didn’t sleep much. I went from celebrations/visits from one house to the next. In the mornings I mostly had time to myself but that was filled with the million and one tasks I had to complete before leaving. In the beginning of the week those tasks consisted of typing up all my exams for WorldTeach. They didn’t ask me for this and if I had known how long it would have taken I don’t know if I would have done it. Since I was the only mathematics teacher I thought it would be good for future volunteers to gauge the level of mathematics they must teach (if they are considering it). Hopefully some good will come out of my hours of typing. The tasks of typing were mixed with washing of my clothes. I felt like I had a never ending supply of clothes to clean. And then it would rain and the clothes that were close to drying were drenched again. The rain postponed my departure for one day. Instead of leaving on Friday the 1st, I headed out this past Saturday with a group of friends escorting me down to the road to say goodbye. I managed to say goodbye in some fashion to everyone throughout the week but some more than others. On Monday I spent the night at the teacher’s housing; on Tuesday I spent the night at Enea’s house; on Wednesday I spent the night at Mbughi’s house; and then the rest of the week I spent the night at Mbughi’s again. Wednesday was the “goodbye Melvin” celebration at Mbughi’s home then I was invited back for my remaining nights in Kafule. I didn’t have any food left in the house on Thursday or Friday and was glad they invited me. I also visited Elizabeth on Thursday afternoon. She taught me (by request) how to make kande (mixture of cattle corn and beans). When I come home I must test out my teachings! I also visited Umbege on Thursday morning but he wasn’t home. On Friday he came to visit me at the worst possible time and I wasn’t very happy to answer his million questions. Friday was cleaning day and he arrived right in the middle of it. By 3 o’clock the house was swept and mopped down. The chairs and tables were piled up and my remaining clothing was given to passing students. All that was left was the handing over of the keys. At 3 o’clock Saturday morning Mbughi, Noel, and Wema arrived at my house to escort me. On the way to the road we picked up Elizabeth and Mbughi’s house boy. After standing at the road for ten minutes my student Nisile and her mother arrived. They brought parting gifts of banana and peanuts. As my departure grew closer throughout the week I got very emotional at nights but the morning I left was very easy and not too sad. I think part of the ease of the departure had to do with exhaustion and the fact that I was practically thrown on the bus when it arrived. Transport to Mbeya was like any other trip to Mbeya but this time with a lot of luggage. After 2 busses and a daladala (a minivan crammed with people and things) later I finally arrived at the Karibuni Center. I met with my friend Jo, ate some food, and went to bed. Life is very different. I am trying to remember to turn on lights when I enter a room. I also keep forgetting to flush toilets. The adjustments are coming though. I am getting used to living with cars and access to luxury foods. I haven’t ventured into the ice cream or cheese yet but that will come in due course. Yesterday I went to a resort with Jo and her friend Andrea. They go to play tennis and I went to go running. It is hard to run while in a city and I don’t want to lose all my muscle! I ended up running through bush trails around the resort…so much for leaving the village life! I was quite angry with the manager of the resort though. She sent me on these trails in my running shorts; I felt so inappropriate as I was passing the mamas and children in the village. I guess it’s good I don’t live there! Tomorrow I am super pumped to climb Mount Mbeya, I will let you know about it soon! Love, Gretchen

Friday's celebration

May 26th (part three) Last night was the celebration at the church. As I mentioned in the last post I was an hour late. The thing about celebrations though is the celebration just went on an hour later than it was meant to…no harm done. The night started off with dances from four different choirs. There was the old ladies group, the middle aged women’s group, the little younger than middle aged and men included group, and the secondary school students. Most of the dances I have seen in the past but I enjoyed them none-the-less. A select group of three ladies and three men composed a song in Kindali for me. I was told that the song meant they had no trouble living with me and wished me a good journey. I just wish my camera took videos! As the rehearsed songs gave way, we had some free dancing and I was mostly given the floor while others were warded off with sticks. The free dancing was opened up with the Pastor and I and then others joined. I had some opportunities to dance with my friends for the year but was quite embarrassed because all eyes were definitely on me. Later in the evening gifts were presented from various members of the church. I was given another woven sign from a student, Nisile, and her mother which read, “The family of A. Mlwafu wish you all the best in your life.” Another two kangas appear in my possession as well as my fifth bag of peanuts, another stalk of sugar cane, a rice sorter, and a carved statue of Mary (I had to be told it was Mary—I was also told it looks like me which scared me). My friend Elizabeth made a song with Umbege and two students which brought tears to my eyes and then the celebration ended. Obviously they didn’t listen when I said the celebration was to celebrate Pentecost, not me! Again, Grace sat strong by my side and became the photographer of the night. We ended the night with dinner at the pastor’s house before I was escorted home with all my gifts. Today I typed four blog posts and then my computer died. :( (This one was first handwritten) I have so much I want to type for WorldTeach and can’t now. I am hoping to charge it at the church tonight. They are having an all day celebration and I am waiting to hear the generator then I’ll head over! The celebration started at 9 AM and lasts until midnight! Another long night lies ahead. Love, Gretchen

nilihubiri! (I have preached!)

May 26th (part two) Preparations for the sermon went well into the night on Saturday. I think I read the entire sermon to a person only once. It was so long that I would get tired or others would get tired as I read in my slow Swahili. I read it alone a few times but didn’t have anyone correcting me if I made a mistake. My friend Elizabeth was very helpful and I spent Friday and Saturday afternoon at her home rehearsing. The most helpful of all was Grace. Grace is a teacher that arrived in January to Kafule. She teaches form 1 and 4 Swahili. When I rewrote the sermon I put a wrong letter in a few words and she helped to correct it with me. On Saturday morning we spent an hour sitting with the pastor telling him about my plans for the sermon and read through the first half of the sermon. That evening I walked to her home and read the second half of the sermon to her. She was very encouraging and knew how difficult the preaching was for me. On Sunday, she sat at my side throughout the two church services and then brunch at the pastor’s home. Last night she again sat at my side during the celebration at the church. She was awesome and I don’t know how I could repay her. The sermon went way better than could have imagined and I went home that evening so happy. The sermon lasted about 40 minutes with pauses for laughter and applause. At the end, the congregation was very happy. They lifted me onto their shoulders as they danced around singing. Eventually they carried me back to my seat and sat me down. After the church service we had a short communion service. I have never had communion while in Kafule (or in the surrounding area) so it was an awesome way to spend one of my last Sunday’s here. It was a short service but very moving. We sang some of my favorite songs and read a few passages before departing for the pastor’s home. At the pastor’s home we had a feast while everyone congratulated me and told me how great I did. Throughout the week everyone has told me that they are prepared for Friday night. Since everyone is ready to dance I tried to get as much rest as possible for the big night. This week was my last week of teaching so of course it was full and very busy. I managed to get only two runs in. I am starting to lose all the muscle I built these last few months! This week was a much slower week which I was happy to have. On Monday I spent the night dancing at Mbughi’s which is always fun. On Wednesday I spent the evening at a student, Ikupa Mbughi’s, home with Grace. On Thursday I came home from school, ate some leftover soup and peanuts, and started to feel very sick. I really wanted to get a run in and thought it would help clean me out which is exactly what it did. I came home and threw up everywhere. Not the most pleasant experience but I felt much better. I prepared a nice pasta dinner and couldn’t even touch it. I couldn’t do much of anything but sleep. The next morning I woke up still feeling ill but able to eat. On my last day as a teacher I didn’t have any energy. Luckily the students were full of energy and it made the day go by well. I taught all of my classes and at the end of each class we had a short photo shoot. The photo shoot lasted until the end of the day. Random students came to me requesting a photo together. By the time 3 o’clock on Friday came around I started shaking. I could eat again but I wasn’t fully hydrated. Grace prepared a nice meal of rice and beans but something still wasn’t right. I tried the caffeine route and hyped up on tea before walking to the pastor’s home. The celebration began at 4 o’clock but Grace and I didn’t arrive at the pastor’s until a little past 5. After her home, I went home to take some Advil and quickly clean up. In part three I will tell you all about last night’s sherehe! Love,

The sermon.

May 26th The sermon. Eleven months ago I boarded a flight from America to this foreign land of Tanzania. I will admit I was pretty scared. I knew that difficulties and hardships awaited me but I wasn’t prepared for the love, kindness, and friendships I have made. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly and Gracious Father, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to live and worship in Kafule this past year. I had no idea the love you had in store for me. I hope the enrichment that I have gained has been returned in some way to all of the people. Amen. Let us read Mark 12: 28-34 and 1 Corinthians 13: 4 -8. Love. Love is spoken about throughout the Bible. Jesus tells us to love each other, to love our enemies, to love our God. We read, we hear, and we believe we are doing the written word. Throughout your lives you have lived in Kafule or Isoko or one of the neighboring villages. You have had the same neighbors most of your life. Some people die over the years, but their family still remains. You love these peo ple. They have become your family. And most of you would stand up right now and say you would die for them. One night I was sitting in Mbughi’s home when someone ran in, spoke very fast, then everyone ran out with their torches leaving the home in complete darkness. I late found out one of the neighbors was being disturbed by a drunken man. Mbughi and his family stopped what they were doing to protect their neighbors. You grow up with these people; they are your family, so it is easy to love them. You have never had a difficult time with the Mark 12 passage. But the Bible tells us to love everybody. Have you considered those words before? Last year in July two foreigners came to live in your village. Now, I hope you never considered them enemies but they were and are different. They looked different, they spoke different, and they even dressed different. How could you understand them let alone love them? Let’s refer back to Mark 12:33. As one of those foreigners I could not understand how I would communicate and interact in a strange society. But God always has a reason and a purpose for his actions. In Mark 12 we have two commandments to fulfill: Mark 12:30-31 From the first week I put my trust in the Lord and started attending church regularly. Yes, I did not and still do not completely understand what goes on each Sunday. Truthfully, I don’t come to church thinking I will get much from the lesson. I go to church for the love: the singing, the dancing, the smiles, the laughter, and the celebrations. Each and every one of you has given me a reason to come to church; a reason to believe God is in each of your hearts. If you love the Lord then everyone knows it. Loving the Lord is loving yourself, loving your neighbor, is loving your enemies. You want to dance, you dance. If you want to sing, you sing. You are free. There are a variety of ways to show love for someone. By worshipping and praising Jesus through songs, dances, laughter, celebrations, by being free…you are loving him. You are rejoicing in his name. I strongly urge and encourage you to be free. Don’t follow or copy what you see on the television or hear on the radio. Most of what you see is excessive or over the top. You don’t need to be excessive to show God you love him. Be yourself. Keep it simple and you have conquered the greatest commandment of all. The second greatest commandment as we read is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” How do you think you did with this one? Let’s refer back to 1 Corinthians to get some insight as to what love is. In 1 Corinthians we have found that there are 15 ways to describe love. Let’s see if I can give an example of each. 1. Love is patient Over the Easter holiday I travelled to Matema Beach to relax on the shores of Lake Nyasa. On Easter Sunday I returned on the Toronto Bus and was having an awful time. I spent 12 hours on a bus. When we were stuck in Isongole for 3 hours I called Mbughi and told him to send either Wema or Noeli to come help me as I would be arriving late. When we finally reached Lupembe late that night I found Mbughi with Wema waiting to help me with my bags. 2. Love is kind. As most of you know, I have spent much of these past months tending to my garden. Umbege Kibona graciously gave up countless hours and days to assist in the planting. He did all this work with nothing in return. He doesn’t live in Kafule where everyone will be reaping the benefits of my work when I leave. 3. It does not envy. This was probably the hardest for me to think of an example. It is hard not to envy someone. For me, I envy the fact that each of you has your family close by but my family is a four day journey far away. When I think of something that is not envied of mine I think of my hair. Children cry when they see it, they don’t even want to touch it! Maybe some of you envy my hair but not when you hear that I must wash it each day! 4. It does not boast. This was another difficult one for me. Everyone that has become my friend this past year seems to get a rise in social status throughout the villages. If I travel to a home one afternoon everybody knows about it. There were a few instances when some of my friends have helped me which very few people know about. As I mentioned before, my return from Easter vacation was very bad. The day after Easter was much worse. While I was away a rat let loose in my room. He ate a skirt and went to the toilet on my clothes and bed. I was also suffering from an ear infection…my day was bad. At one point, I spoke with Enea about my troubles. Without hesitation she ordered me medicine from the hospital and sent students to set up rat traps at my home. My day completely turned around. 5. It is not proud. I mentioned earlier about Umbege assisting in planting my garden. Most of you already knew this. Most of you don’t know that a form 4 student, Jaliwa, was the first person to ever help me start my garden. And he has helped more than once. 6. It is not rude. The two secretaries at school, Neema and Tegemea, are prime examples of this. Every morning they are there to greet me with a friendly smile and a mwaghona. 7. It is not self-seeking. Throughout this year I have had complete strangers come to my door to offer gifts of peanuts, avocado, banana, or eggs. 8. It is not easily angered. While traveling in December my phone calls were few and far in between. I consider (as I am sure most of you do) that to be quite rude as a friend. Fortunately, none of my frequent callers from Kafule or Isoko were angry with me but happy to finally hear from me. 9. It keeps no record of wrongs. Again, I didn’t call for about a week while I was travelling. When I did return to Kafule no one seemed to care or remember. 10. Does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. Some of you heard about the instance at school when a student stole a pen from me while I was teaching. Throughout the week I had many students and teachers apologizing to me. They were upset with what the student had done and fully supported me. 11. Always protects. Whenever there is an issue at my home I have many people to turn to. When I finally captured our first rat I called Mbughi and Noeli came to the rescue. When I captured the second rat I screamed so loud that the primary school teachers came running to rescue. 12. Always trusts. Since we do not have electricity in Kafule, Lindsay and I would travel to Isoko once or twice a week to charge our computers. In January, Enea gave us the key to her home to charge our computers any time we want. Even if she was travelling or working we would still be welcomed. 13. Always hopes. When we arrived in July, the teachers at Kafule were present at our home to welcome us. 14. Always perseveres. This can definitely be accredited to Elizabeth and Umbege. One day with Elizabeth I came up with the idea to walk to Malawi one Saturday and that is exactly what we did. Five hours there, five hours return. 15. Never fails. You kept listening throughout this sermon!! So yes, I think you conquered the second greatest commandment as well. Please take a minute to reflect on all these memories I have just shared with you. None of them were about the powerful ten minute prayer or the hour long sermon by a guest preacher or the confession of sins when someone passed out. They were all about simple acts or ordinary occurrences. If you live your life believing then it shows. I am a witness to these simple acts which glorify God in every way possible. Extravagant acts or gestures are not nor will they ever be needed. Keep it simple. In America, keep it simple is the theme of my home church. There is so much truth to that phrase and I hope you can remember it. I have had an amazing experience this past year. I have laughed, I have cried, and I have danced a lot. One of my fondest memories comes from last September. On a Saturday night I came to church for a celebration. The generator was going, people were dancing, and I got a chance to dance with this mama right here (I pointed at a woman from the congregation). I loved that night and won’t ever forget it. Next Sunday we are celebrating Pentecost. For those of you that don’t know or don’t remember Pentecost is the day when the Holy Spirit entered the bodies of God believers. As a final memory and to celebrate the Holy Spirit I ask that we spend this Friday night dancing and celebrating. Since the generator is an expensive commodity, I will take care of the cost of it. All are invited; I hope to see you there! Let us pray. Dear Heavenly and Gracious Father, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my experience with my friends. Please continue to watch over this second family of mine. I hope that they are able to continue loving you and keeping life simple. On Friday night we will show you our love by dancing the night away. I hope you join us in this celebration. Amen. And this was translated and then spoken in all Swahili. Love, Gretchen

nitahubiri!

May 12th (part two) At 3:20 AM I woke on Saturday, went to the toilet, and walked to the main road to catch the bus. The 4 AM bus was 40 minutes late. Luckily, I had company: the headmaster was travelling to Mbeya. When Toronto arrived we were both told to sit in the front with Lindsay but I left Isaac to it and snuck in the back for some much needed rest. I slept most of the ride and the woman next to me rested her head on my shoulder. At 6:30 the bus stopped and everyone got out. We were stuck. The lorry that left an hour before us broke down in the middle of the road. After an hour and a half of waiting the driver took our bus into the shrub around the lorry and then we continued on our journey. I arrived at Lisa’s home at 9:30 instead of the promised 7. She was very anxious and worried but we were both happy it wasn’t a serious problem. The entire visit to Isongole was enjoyable but very rushed and definitely not long enough. We went to the market in Isongole in the afternoon on Saturday where I bought a few pairs of sandals made out of tires and food for the next week. We spent the evening in the town of Itumba for a Nurse’s Day Celebration. Nurse’s Day Celebration combined nurses and other workers from the hospital in Itumba and Isoko. Lisa has friends there and I had friends there so it was a cool experience. Unfortunately, the party was short lived and we were home by eleven. The lorry from Isoko Hospital didn’t want to drive all night and left after we ate. Most of the people left with it. Lisa and I attempted movie night when we returned but were both completely exhausted and fell asleep in the living room. We woke late on Sunday, ate breakfast, and then it was time for me to wait in Isongole for the bus. I returned to Kafule late Sunday night and am trying to slow down but there is just so much to do! I didn’t go home until 3 from work on Monday and spent an hour and a half trying to light the fire for my jiko (cooker) with little success. (I finally asked a student walking by to assist). After I started the boiling of the drinking water I started the cleaning. Five bags of trash and covered in dirt three hours later and I finished (for now) the cleaning. There is still some work to do but it was dark and I was hungry. Yesterday I didn’t return home until 5:30, went for a run, bathed, and spent the night at Mbughi’s dancing. I arrived home at eleven exhausted and went right to bed. Today is another long day at school. On Saturday I am giving my form 4 students a practice exam so I am currently sitting in the office watching form 2 students handwrite copies of the exam for me. On Sunday I am preaching at Kafule Church! Nitahubiri! I have been telling all the students and villagers as I go for walks/runs this week, but they aren’t really sure what to expect. I wrote most of the sermon a few weeks ago after a really fun church service where we did a lot of singing and dancing. I completed it on Monday night and gave it to the headmaster to translate on Tuesday. He finished in record timing (the next morning) but I was too tired to even collect it from him. Thursday night we sat and read through it once. I had more trouble reading his handwriting then the actual words. Once we read through it I decided I needed to rewrite it because I couldn’t read what he wrote. The problem was that my sermon was 8 pages written in English and then became 7 and a half when he translated. There was a lot of rewriting to do and little time to do it. Slowly I am going through the writing and reading. Today, I am going to my friend Elizabeth’s home to get some help with the pronunciation. You think preaching is hard, try it in another language! Love, Gretchen

thiefs and lindsay's departure

May 12th It is coming close to the end of my year in Tanzania so posts are few and far in between. Since the Mei Mosi or May Day or Worker’s Day party we have been busy preparing for Lindsay’s departure. I’ve been busy preparing what I will do when she leaves; she has been busy packing. Over the last two weeks I have had some trouble with students stealing from me. I think because we are leaving soon they think we won’t care as much if they take our things. I don’t care so much for what they have stolen, just the fact that they have stolen. During the Mei Mosi party my desk from the office was used for the guest of honor. In my desk I had my markers, my stapler, and about 40 pens and pencils that I give as gifts for the good students. The desk wasn’t returned the night of the party. The next morning I made students return it to the staff room and I found all of my things were taken out. I knew that they were stolen and didn’t just fall out because the stapler was taken out of its bag and then the bag was returned. When I consulted the headmaster and second headmaster they told me they didn’t know what they could do. That happened on the previous Wednesday. On Monday I was teaching in Form 2 when the students were being very misbehaved (more so than ever before). We were starting a new chapter, sets, and I brought in objects to display sets. I brought in my remaining 7 pens, a few books, and chalk. While teaching I put these objects on the window ceil. As I said, the students were very misbehaved and many were sent out of the classroom. While doing an exercise I was walking around the room checking work. As I approached the front I saw a hand putting a pen back on the window ceil. Some of the students I sent out stole a few pens and a good student went and returned the pens for me. She was so nice as to hope I didn’t notice, but I did and wasn’t very happy. I walked out and went home for the day. Eventually the staff found out and hunted down the girl who stole and she was beaten quite badly. She came to apologize to me (which was all I asked for) and then I could hear her crying while they hit her with a stick and called her a thief in front of everyone. Throughout this week she has been returning to the office for other offenses. I even caught her going through the purse of another teacher! She obviously didn’t learn her lesson. Fortunately, there are many students who do care and told me they were sorry which made the week a little better. Last Saturday I went to teach my form 4 students in the morning and then went to Isoko with Lindsay. Enea called asking us to come to her home so she could spend time with us. When we arrived she was so busy working that we sat in her house all afternoon without more than a greeting with her. On Sunday Mbughi brought me to a different church for a service. The service was five hours long. I was not happy and neither was Lindsay. We made plans to visit a students’ home that afternoon and we arrived much later than planned. This last week seemed very rushed. Each day we had some social obligation to partake in and I never got a chance to relax. On Wednesday Lindsay had her bags packed and was ready to go. She started counting down the hours to Saturday morning’s 4 AM departure. Thursday was her last night in Kafule and we spent it at Mbughi’s house. While there, he informed us he was going to make us zawadi’s (gift’s). It was going to be a woven sign with our first and last names on it…this would be our third. I brought over the two last night thinking he would change his mind about making another but his response was his would be better. I guess when I get older I will never forget my name; I’ll have three signs saying it! On Friday Lindsay took the school motorcycle to Isoko for the night. The motorcycle was supposed to come at 2 PM and both her and I rushed through work to be on time for the departure. The driver did not show up until 4:30. Kind of a waste of my day. I considered going to Isoko for a few hours but since her departure was already late and I wanted to go for a run I said goodbye and surveyed the damage she left in her room. Since I was travelling to Isongole on Saturday to visit my friend Lisa, I left the 2 boxes, 1 basket, and 2 bags and floor full of trash for Monday afternoon. Friday night I went to bed early. Upon my return from Isongole life has been quite hectic and with little rest. Read part two about my trip to Isongole! Love, Gretchen

Time is winding down...

May 4th Lindsay and I never went to Daraja ya Mungu. The head doctor, Doctor Shibanda, was trying to charge us Tsh 200,000 or about $150 for the trip. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but for the cost of things on this side of the world that is quite significant. We turned the offer down and were glad we did—it poured all morning. Once the rain cleared up in the afternoon Lindsay and I headed to Isoko. Lindsay went earlier than me and when I arrived at Enea’s house she informed me that I missed the killing and plucking of the chicken…Enea wanted to show Lindsay how to prepare a local chicken. After about an hour Enea finished cooking and we ate chicken and potatoes (fried chicken with no sauce makes the driest meal you can imagine) while watching Harry Potter on her television. Enea just bought a TV in Mbeya so we are helping her use it with movies that Lindsay bought. After the movie, we headed home to prepare for the last day of school for the week. Lindsay went away this past weekend so I celebrated an empty house with a lot of cooking and MUCH NEEDED cleaning. I prepared beans with potatoes and leafy greens (kind of like spinach) with eggplant. I know this doesn’t sound like much but it took me five hours to prepare this food! On Sunday I continued eating all my leftovers. On Tuesday we celebrated May Day or Worker’s Day at school. The school put on a big party to celebrate. Since the party is so close to our departure it was a joint goodbye party. At 8 AM on Tuesday Lindsay received a phone call that we were needed to help with decorations. So much for sleeping in! For some reason I woke completely exhausted and was not thrilled to be going to school. We went to find four students sitting around and a box of random decorations. At 2 o’clock we were told to report for the party and at 1 o’clock we were still decorating…Lindsay and I took an early exit. We went home and took power naps. A little after 2 o’clock we arrived at school. The only people we found were the headmaster and the DJ. The DJ was warming up the generator and for an hour we sat waiting for the other teachers and faculty members to arrive. The first order of business was eating. We ate lots and lots of rice. You had the choice of white rice or spiced rice, a piece of fried chicken, and a fried banana. Again, a very dry meal. Luckily, the rice was cooked in so much oil that everything went down easily. With three sodas added on top of it I didn’t have too much trouble. After eating, the guest of honor (or honours as the time table said) spoke, the headmaster presented gifts, and Lindsay and I gave thank you speeches. And then the dancing started. We danced well into the night and then the DJ switched to a Tanzanian movie and Lindsay and I left. We had to go home to open our presents! Besides a general gift from the school, the second headmaster (Makala), and a new teacher (Grace) gave us each gifts. From the school we received a kanga (fabric you can wrap around like a sarong) and a woven sign with our names on it. Makala gave us each a kanga and Grace gave us each a pair of underwear. We still don’t understand her gift. Lindsay thinks it was a joke but we don’t have any jokes with her concerning underwear. And I’m pretty sure the note she wrote us was on a pad wrapper. The gift is still sitting on the table in the living room. After the big party we had a three day week of teaching to look forward to. On Wednesday night I left a tin can outside to measure the rain fall. I left the tin there until this afternoon. In 36 hours we received 3 inches of rainfall. The air is so dense that the chalk breaks as soon as we touch it! Don’t worry, the rain continues as I write this so I will give you an update the next time I write. This weekend Lindsay is preparing to pack while I teach form 4 students. She will be leaving next weekend and then I have the place to myself before I leave. Still don’t know when that will be yet… Love, Gretchen

last walk to the market

April 25th The teachers’ never played the students in netball after my last post. Every time I would show up at the court no one would be present. Not sure why I was ever asked to play in an imaginary game. Today, there is supposed to be a student versus teacher soccer game but I am not counting on it ever happening. It rained all last week. The weather was quite miserable and the footpaths became extremely difficult to walk on. I think my butt is permanently bruised. Fortunately, on Saturday I woke to perfect weather. Friday afternoon the rain stopped and I prayed that meant the end of it. I thought it was (for the last four days at least); the sun was shining and the footpaths finally dried over. Unfortunately, last night the rain returned in full force. For much of today it hasn’t stopped. Maybe this will be the weather routine for the next month: rain for a week, then no rain for a few days, then another week of rain. I truly don’t mind the rain all that much but it’s the cold weather that bothers me. I’ve resulted in sleeping in socks, sweatpants, and a sweatshirt again. If I can’t stand 60 degree weather I am not sure how I will deal with a Delaware winter this year! I celebrated the perfect weather by walking to the market in Katengele on Saturday. I did so much needed laundry on Saturday morning then left for my walk. I was happy to be on my own and climbed the mountain in record timing. Tanzanians make straw mats at the market which they use for sleeping. I think they are very good mats to stretch on. I’ve been using one all year and decided I should bring one back to the US with me. While walking home, I got many congratulations on my new purchase. If only they knew that I didn’t actually sleep on the dried grass. Along with my mat, I bought some food for the next week. Nothing else is going on on this side of the world…the garden is still growing well, still running a lot, and still working a lot, but no new rats to report! Tomorrow there is no school. On Union Day Tanzanians celebrate the unification of Tanganika (former Tanzania) and Zanzibar. Lindsay and I hope to celebrate by taking a trip to the local natural bridge: ‘Daraja ya Mungu’ or ‘God’s Bridge.’ Still waiting to find out if the hospital will lend us their car or not. Hope you are staying warm and having a great week! Love, Gretchen

destruction of panya 2

April 17th (part 2) This week has been very interesting. It started with no rain and gorgeous days of sun shine. My garden grew really nice while I was away and continued throughout the week. I can’t eat the food from it fast enough! I’ve been making many deliveries to neighbors which they greatly appreciated. On Thursday, we woke to a torrential downpour. And the rain hasn’t ceased too much since then. All day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we did not see the sun. On Sunday it only rained in the morning and evening but the sun was hidden behind clouds so it was still dark and chilly. As a result, the garden stopped growing and I started spending more time indoors. Occasionally the rain would break and I would go running or walking but the paths and roads were (and still are) awful to walk or run on. Most of my clothes are muddy from falling and I can’t wash them because they won’t dry. On Saturday Lindsay and I escaped to Isoko and spent the afternoon watching movie’s at Enea’s home. Yesterday the sun finally emerged but the rain and cold came back today. We were told the rain stops after Easter…it’s gotten worse. :-( I am proud to announce that I have captured and then made someone else kill the panya (rat) today. Panya number 2 is dead and it’s about time! I have been waking up all week to him eating in the kitchen. Each day I have made new discoveries to which food he likes to eat. You would think triple bagging food would be enough to deter the scent! I cleaned out the kitchen of all his favorites last night and wrapped up and placed in a new location anything I thought he might like. I discovered Saturday night that he ate through three bags that I used to cover up my cereal. That is what he was crunching on every night! I brought so much fruit back from Mbeya that I hadn’t touched my cereal…now the remaining cereal is in a bag which hangs from one of the ceiling beams. On Sunday, I found out that he ate some of the seeds from the garden that are kept in a storage room. That discovery made me call in the reinforcements: the cat. I would have brought in the cat a long time ago, but Lindsay is allergic. I went to Mbughi’s house to find that the cat ran away. The cat returned later but Mbughi was worried that it would eat the poison we had in the ceiling and wouldn’t bring her over! So much for the reinforcement. This morning I was stretching when I heard movement in the kitchen. I went in with my flashlight and the rat leapt from the flour bag towards me! I screamed and watched him run into the door. I grabbed the rice sorter (closest thing to me) and captured him. Lindsay told me to shake it around. I did but all that helped with was cutting his tail off! I decided it was too much for the morning and I didn’t think I could kill him so I put my boot on top of the rice sorter and went to school. This afternoon I returned home for some lunch to find the rat was still captured and alive. I started thinking he would eat through the rice sorter (it is made out of woven dried grass) and got worried. I took my boot, got his tail to stick out, and pressed down. I opened the rice sorter and with one jump he ran free. I screamed quite loudly then followed him into the back of the compound. He ran into our cooking room where I cornered him and again threw the rice sorter back on top. Luckily he was injured and couldn’t escape me. I heard the primary school teachers (who heard me scream and thought I was in trouble) and asked them to help. Two women (one pregnant) came into my home, closed up the cooking room, and attacked. With a wooden spoon, the rat was beaten to death. The rat was already limping at this point and obviously had no chance. Hopefully he is the last rodent to make an appearance while I still live in Kafule! This week is sports week and the teachers play the students in netball today! Now that I understand the rules, I enjoy the game very much. I only need to find a team to play on in Delaware when I return home! Love, Gretchen

bad return to kafule

April 17th I’ve been back to my home in the mountains for a little over a week now. The first day of my return was quite awful but I’ve luckily rebounded quite fast. Easter Day was spent on a bus for 12 hours. It all started at 9 AM in Mbeya on a smaller, more crowded bus and ended in a larger bus where I was seated in the front with the driver. The drive, in general, wasn’t bad but I was ready to get home. At one point we stopped for over two hours in Isongole (a neighboring village that is about a three hour drive away) because the gas tank fell off its hinges and a hole was punctured in it. So much for those pot hole filled roads. When we did reach Kafule (at 9 PM) I was met by Mr. Mbughi and his daughter who helped me to carry my bags home. After dropping off my bags, I enjoyed a nice dinner at their home before retreating for bed. Unfortunately, sleep wasn’t as relaxing as I had hoped. It all started with the smell of rat urine that was overwhelmingly present in my room. All over my clothes and bed I found little bowel movements and discoloration. Not just one or two droppings, but probably around a hundred or more. I did as much cleaning as I could that first night and left the deep cleaning for the next morning. I spent Easter morning cleaning all my clothes and scrubbing the floor in my room and kitchen. Now, my clothes are being safely kept in my luggage and my bed is under a mosquito net. With the rat problem and an ear infection that got progressively worse, I had a bad return to Kafule. In the afternoon on Easter Monday I called my friend Enea to ask for medicine from the hospital. While on the phone with her, I informed her of the rat problem and she was upset that I was having such a bad day. A few hours later some students arrived to help de-rat my home. Enea sent them with poison that they placed in some burnt meat and placed in my ceiling. Supposedly the burnt meat sends a nice scent that the rat would enjoy. I was very grateful for her help and my day started to look up from there. That, and a look at my grandiose garden, quickly turned my return to Kafule into a more positive direction. The week started bad but was pretty positive after that first day. Keep reading to find out about the rest of the week! Love, Gretchen

panya kubwa

April 4th (part 4)

Lindsay kept informing me that our mouse friend returned. She heard noises in the roof at night. I believed her but thought it was a little odd that he wasn’t eating any of our food. Wednesday morning I got a pleasant surprise in the kitchen. It wasn’t the little mouse that we scared off in January, it was a full grown rat the length of my hand! I screamed and woke Lindsay. Throughout the day Wednesday and Thursday we had students and neighbors climb into our ceiling to investigate things. Unfortunately, the rat was not seen. This, inevitably, led to stories about the rat. Teachers and villagers informed Lindsay and I that the rat is actually a person. The person transforms into a rat at night to scare us. If we killed the rat we are actually committing murder. Since I don’t want them to think I am a murderer and kill me in turn, I will get someone else to kill the rat!

On Friday morning I woke Lindsay a second time when the rat ran out of my clothes when I was trying to pick an outfit out for school. I jumped into my bed, hid under my mosquito net, and didn’t get out for about twenty minutes. I would have stayed in longer but I would have been late to school. I jumped out and threw things around my room looking for his hiding place but I couldn’t find where the rat escaped to. I didn’t stick around long enough to find out.

On Saturday morning, I woke to a noise in the kitchen. I yelled to Lindsay but there was no reply. The new panya was making his rounds. I entered the kitchen in time to see him in the food shelf. I started throwing food off when finally I realized he was hiding in the hole where the shelf is leaning against the wall in a triangular shape. He was trapped. But how to get him out was the next issue. I started banging things against the shelf but he just stayed where he was. Eventually, I got on my phone and asked Mbughi to send his son to help. Two phone calls and 20 minutes later Noeli arrived. I asked Lindsay for my machete and for the next twenty minutes Noeli and I chased the rat around the kitchen. At one point I trapped him in a pot and was quite proud of myself but then Noeli lifted the pot and the rat ran free. He ran right under the kitchen door, over Lindsay’s waiting feet, and then ran back into the kitchen. Eventually we cornered him again and Noeli hit him with the flat side of the machete a few times until he stopped moving. After that Lindsay emerged from her room to see Noeli hold the dead rat by the tail. I got a picture, don’t worry.

The rat is gone and we are happy, right? Wrong. On Thursday evening I spotted his cousin in the kitchen. We left on Friday and I hope I return to a clean and rodent free kitchen this weekend! Blah!

Love,

Gretchen

praise yehova!

April 4th (part 3)

Students are finally realizing we won’t be staying in Kafule for much longer. I have had many invitations to homes and events. It was three weeks ago now that a student invited me to her church in Kapelekase. I didn’t ask any details but figured it was the Moravian church and agreed to go. Since such a small portion of the population is not Moravian it is pretty safe to assume everyone is Moravian. I was wrong. During the 45 minute walk to Kapelekase I found out that I was indeed walking to a Jehova’s Witness Church or Synagogue or Temple or whatever you call them. My Moravian song book and Bible that I carried were quite useless. For an hour and a half I sat through the most boring church service I have attended in Tanzania. I usually enjoy the singing and dancing so much that it doesn’t bother me that I don’t understand the words being spoken. Unfortunately, the songs (all two of them) that we listened to were recorded, static, and out of tune. There was no dancing, and I didn’t understand what was being said. The only entertainment came in the form of a 4 year old brother of my student, Mboka, who I teased and played with during the service. During the first half of the service a man stood in the front and read from a binder. He read some Bible verses and occasionally had others read them and then (I think) summarized these verses. The second half of the service was a bit (small bit) more exciting. Everyone took out a booklet which has the weekly lesson in it. I believe a booklet is printed out every 3 months and then shipped all over Tanzania. I was more excited that the date was accurate and not from the 90’s than the random photos from the 90’s that appeared inside. We spent an hour reading and then stopping to answer the questions found throughout the reading. Occasionally we would read from the Bible. The Sunday I attended was about artwork and what the art depicts (I think)…it was a blessing because I spent the hour pointing out the photos to the 4 year old Filemon. He was happy to have something to do just as much as I was. At the end of the service, I was coaxed into buying biscuits for Mboka and Filemon before returning home. Home was a long journey. Filemon was tired and the sun was high and mighty. I offered to carry Filemon a few times and he would run and hide behind Mboka. In the end I was tired of walking so slow and I picked him up and carried him back up the mountain to Kafule. He cried for about two minutes and then realized it was fun. He gave a great big smile to everyone who passed us. It was very difficult but I managed to make it back to Mboka’s house and then soon after left to go home. I decided that I need to get my muscles ready for carrying Julius in two months’ time. The rest of the evening I relaxed.

The following Sunday, I decided to go to the Moravian Church in Kafule. I hadn’t been to the church in some time and figured it would be good for me especially since I departed for break the following weekend (this past weekend). It happened to be Women’s Celebration Sunday and there was much dancing and singing to enjoy. I was also pleasantly surprised to find a white woman, Jo, attend the service. I met Jo on the previous day when I went for a walk with Umbege in Isoko. Jo is from England but grew up in Tanzania. Her father flew the planes that brought donations throughout the country in the 80’s. For the past two years, she has lived in Tanzania helping the process of translating the Bible into the vernacular languages in the Mbeya area. Her specific task is to work on recording the already translated material. Since the vernacular languages are more oral than written it is the best way to really get the message across to the locals. She spent two weeks in Isoko working on the recording of the book of Matthew into Chindali. Jo got me out of the church service at a reasonable time so I was very grateful for he (she told them she was hungry so they prepared us food at the pastor’s house and escorted us out the back door). She had a colleague travelling to Isoko on Monday and asked her to bring Lindsay and I some food. After a long day of marking exams on Monday, I didn’t make it to Isoko to pick up this food. On Tuesday, I still was busy marking exams but made sure to leave early. I am so glad I did. Her colleague brought us Nido (powder milk), and 15 or 20 pounds of potatoes, 2 pounds of carrots, and a dozen green peppers. Linday and I ate well last week with that and the thriving garden. While picking up the food, Jo informed me they would have an extra space in her car on Friday when they leave for Mbeya. They planned to leave in the afternoon which was perfect: I could proctor the last exam and have an hour to clean up the house before leaving. The ride to Mbeya was the most enjoyable and safest ride. I wasn’t in the car with a speeding Tanzanian! On Friday night, Jo invited me to stay in her house before departing for Matema beach on Saturday. Her roommate, Suzanna, has lived in Mbeya for the last 30 years so it was interesting to stay at their home. The home wasn’t of someone who took up the building for a year or two but actually lived in Tanzania for an extended amount of time. It was a real home. It was very comforting. Saturday morning, Jo drove me to the bus station and I hopped on a bus for Matema beach. I met my fellow volunteer friend Lisa at the bus station and we’ve stayed together on the gorgeous beach resting from the last two and a half months of teaching.

Tomorrow, I am traveling back to Mbeya for a few days of refueling. I will spend some quality time on a computer and at some restaurants before returning back to Kafule. Not sure if this will be in time for Easter or shortly after it. Depends on how much I can get done in the days ahead.

One more post to go, please keep reading!

Love,

Gretchen

sad news

April 4th (part 2)

I am going to fill you in on random stories of the last two weeks.

I ate duck. Yes, the first time I ate duck was in the home of a local doctor that lives up a mountain. My friend Hawa, the student teacher from last term whom I’ve spoken about in previous posts, promised me that her mother would cook duck for me. On a Wednesday afternoon, Lindsay and I walked fifty minutes to the home of Dr. Kibona. Dr. Kibona was not around (he never is when I visit) so we spent some quality time with his wife who does not speak English. The duck was the driest meat I have ever had in Tanzania. It was good but definitely missing a sauce. We ate it with ugali which is a lump of boiled flour and very dry as well. Luckily it didn’t have its neck or much fat still attached so I was happy. After the meal Lindsay and I thanked her, waited for the rain to stop, then returned home down one muddy mountain and then up another slippery one.

The Saturday before the duck feast we ran into Dr. Kibona and his wife in Isoko under some awful circumstances. That morning, I was out in my garden doing work when students walked by in their school uniforms. It is not unusual for students to go to school on Saturday, but to wear uniforms is a bit weird. They informed me that a student was killed on Friday evening. Don’t worry, the student wasn’t killed but died. I can’t imagine a Tanzanian killing anyone let alone a student so I knew they just mixed up the word. They told me something was wrong with her heart. Atukuzwe was a form 1 student from Isoko. I actually don’t know many of the form 1 student’s names and didn’t even know until after the funeral that Atukuzwe was a girl (there are boy’s in other forms with that name!). Lindsay and I went with the second headmaster to Isoko following after the students who were singing as they walked to Isoko. The service was very short and sad. Many students were crying and Lindsay and I sat next to the sobbing mother. The service continued into the forest outside of the church where the burial took place. We sat with some of our friends from the hospital who informed us of the happenings behind this mysterious death. Enea told us that Atukuzwe was at the family shamba (farm) collecting maize for dinner. While returning she collapsed, died (instantly—who knows) and then was brought to the hospital when she was discovered. Atukuzwe had a history of heart trouble (found out later this just means she has high blood pressure) and that became the reason for her death. I think she just fell and hit her head and before anyone found her she died but one will never know. Later that day, Lindsay and I shared dinner at Dr. Kitta’s residence but he was just as informative as Enea and we didn’t learn anything new.

Between our random adventures of the week and the fact that all of the new teachers were just given over to new leading roles at school, Lindsay and I again were some of the only teachers actually teaching. The new teachers have taken up positions as academic master or disciplinarian or whatever else the headmaster has assigned for them. They return from their week of getting paychecks in Itumba to a week of adjusting to their new positions. And Tanzanians wonder what is wrong with their education system.

Love,

Gretchen

working hard or hardly working?

April 4th

Sorry I haven’t written in the longest time. The last two weeks have been very stressful and I wanted to stay away from writing an angry post.

After my trip to Malawi I recovered by going on long runs in the village. My muscles are definitely getting stronger and I have been able to endure more strenuous runs. I have kept a twice daily back exercise routine which has aided in my strength. Throughout these weeks I have also spent a lot of time working the garden. I am happy to announce that the first vegetables have been cut and eaten. Nyanya chungu translates to bitter tomato. I don’t think we have an American equivalent and I don’t foresee anybody wanting one. When Umbege and I first planted the eggplant he brought plants of nyanya chungu for any spare holes we dug. At that time I knew I was not a huge fan but my neighbor’s love nyanya chungu so it would be a nice gift whenever it grew. Nyanya chungu happened to be the first vegetable to take fruit in the garden. As a good omen Lindsay cooked it in with our supper of beans that evening. Now we’ve had a pretty steady supply of the nyanya chungu and my neighbors are very happy about it!

I am on vacation now but I had the pleasure to eat more than nyanya chungu from the garden before I left. Last week, I had a few dinners with lettuce and other dinners with mchicha. Mchicha is any kind of plant in which you can eat the leaves. This, of course, does not include lettuce or cabbage. I have three different types of mchicha growing in my garden and have been experimenting with them throughout the week. Like the nyanya chungu, mchicha grows really fast so I have done a lot of sharing with my neighbors. Other plants have been growing really well and I plan to start eating more when I return this weekend. Two eggplants started emerging with lots of flowers on the other plants. I am more excited about the eggplant than anything else. The eggplant is what started my garden back in November…took a couple of months but I am finally going to see the end result of all the work!!

This week I am taking a much needed vacation and hope the garden continues to prosper while I am away. I have set up camp at a resort on the northern shores of Lake Nyasa this week. The first two days were very warm and comforting and then the rain decided to kick in the last two days. I was hoping to eliminate some of my farmer’s tan appearance before returning home but I guess I must wait until June to do that! Tomorrow I am headed back to civilization (Matema ended up being a village similar to Kafule but without cell phone network) and enjoying a few days of good food in Mbeya before returning to Kafule for the final stretch.

Love,

Gretchen

hello kwacha

March 11th

I have had a busy schedule of working out since my last blog post. On Tuesday the headmaster returned from a ten day trip to Mbeya and we celebrated with a three hour long staff meeting. All I understood was that something is happening this Friday but I don’t know what. After the meeting I asked one of the new teachers and she informed me that ‘Worker’s Day’ holiday is on May 1st and we must have a celebration for it. This Friday we will be planning the celebration. Also, the school wants to plan a goodbye party for Lindsay and I. Lindsay is leaving before our contract is over (her parents are coming) so it will be interesting if the headmaster makes the celebration after she leaves or before. The two of them don’t get along very well… After the meeting everyone left for the day and the headmaster left for another trip somewhere and I haven’t seen him since. Maybe he will return on Friday for our next staff meeting.

On Monday and Wednesday I went for long runs on the main road. On Wednesday I did an hour run up and down the hilly road which I was proud of. The students saw me and said I looked like a police officer. Not really sure why I looked like a police officer but I am thinking it is because of the blue and black clothing I was wearing and not that I was running. Everyone now knows that I like to run and I get comments almost every day. On Thursday, I tried to get Mbughi’s daughter to run with me in the rain but she wasn’t home when I arrived. At first, I wasn’t running in the rain which made it very difficult to find a time to run but now I go running in the mud and come home a mess almost every day. On Saturday I took exercise to the next level and walked to Malawi with my friend’s Umbege and Elizabeth.

At 6 AM on Saturday, I walked to Elizabeth’s house where I met Umbege and we prepared for the long walk ahead of us. We finally departed at 6:30. It was still dark out and we had to use flashlights for the first twenty minutes of the walk but that wasn’t the only hindrance. Mud. Lot’s and lot’s of mud. Luckily it wasn’t raining, but it rained all night which made the footpaths horrendous. Luckily, I only fell once the entire day but it happened to be right at the beginning so Elizabeth stood behind me the rest of the day to help if I fell again. The day was perfect for walking. It was overcast all day but the only rain we got was a drizzle here and there, nothing to take cover from. I am glad the sun never showed its full strength because I didn’t take into account the lack of drinking water I could buy. After a thirteen hour round trip adventure, I have made it safely home.

The walk to Malawi was supposed to take three and a half hours… I wasn’t expecting it to take five hours for us to reach the market. We did, however, run into a few obstacles on the way that probably set us back at least an hour. One thing was the mud as I already mentioned. After three hours of a mostly main road walk we headed into the footpaths. The footpaths were a good four or five inches deep in mud. Elizabeth had to take off her sandals to walk through and I should have just taken off my sneakers as they didn’t do much to help. Along the river runs a river that we must cross to enter Malawi. I was expecting one river; we crossed six rivers. Four of them were very small and we crossed over rocks or just walked through them without a problem. Two rivers were quite large. The first large one had a local bridge constructed for its crossing. The bridge is made out of bamboo shoots and dangling branches from the trees. In some sections there was nothing for me to hold on to. Not the safest structure in the world. When we arrived at the bridge, there was a line thirty deep of women ready to cross. Each of them had a basket full of various foods they wanted to sell at the market. I figured if they could cross with a thirty pound basket on their heads then I shouldn’t have a problem. Since I am white I was escorted to the front of the line as soon as we arrived. Umbege went first and then I followed shortly after. I explained to Elizabeth that I was fine to walk across as long as she waited until I was over before she started to walk. She didn’t. She was right behind me. I didn’t turn around to check, but I could hear her plenty well which made the crossing unnerving. At Savage in 2013 I will construct a bridge very similar to this for all of you to try and see the ingenuity in it!

After crossing the bridge, we entered Malawi. This first sign of Malawi: lots and lots of tobacco plants. I explained how it was illegal to grow tobacco in America and Umbege and Elizabeth thought it very funny. I hoped crossing the bridge meant after four hours of walking we were only ten minutes from the market, but I was wrong. It took us another hour to reach the market. The conditions of the path and walk in general declined once we crossed the bridge. The path grew muddier and we hit another large river that we weren’t expecting. Because of all the rain, one of the “creeks” increased in volume about a hundred fold. We reached this creek to find three women standing and staring at it. Umbege was the first to jump in using his umbrella to measure the depth. I was next which shocked everybody considerably. I figure I am a better swimmer that Umbege, who has never swam before, and thought it could be fun. The river got stronger and deeper as we crossed but I was able to keep my balance throughout the walk. We made it across safely with a group of seven women following close behind us. The water rose to my hips about 2/3 of the way across so I was drenched by the time we reached the opposite bank imagining how we were going to return that evening if it so happened to rain while we were at the market.

The market in Malawi was fairly large but I was a bit disappointed in the selection of goods. Most of the food and accessories could be bought in Tanzania. The prices were also significantly higher (and the currency was in Kwacha--hence the title). I was happy to buy a head of cabbage (not so happy about carrying it back) and a few packets of Malawian tea. Both Umbege and Elizabeth bought soap to bring back to Tanzania to prove they traveled to Malawi (the soap said nothing about Malawi on it…but they insisted!). We stayed for about two hours before beginning the trek back home. The paths were a lot easier to walk through on the way home and the walk took us only 4 hours and 40 minutes (20 less than the walk there) at which time I was completely exhausted. Before I could bath and go to sleep I got a picture of Umbege, Elizabeth, and I after the long day hike. I also ran down to Mbughi’s house to give him some Malawian chai. We have already made plans to travel back next month!

Today I am tired and very angry. A student came knocking at 6 AM this morning! Then returned at 8! I didn’t answer either times but I was wide awake after the 8 AM knock! The student just returned again asking me to help with a mathematics problem…I am teaching at 4 PM today, she can wait two hours!

I don’t have many plans for the week but I am sure something exciting will happen and I will let you know about it in the next blog! Oh, I did find out about the wizard! His wife was cooking dinner one night and someone walked into his house and shot him. So much for the burning story!

Love,

Gretchen

booty shakin' on a soccer field

March 6th

Last week was an exciting week of only Lindsay and I teaching at school. The four new teachers were in Itumba trying to get their paychecks (took them all week), the headmaster was in Mbeya, the second headmaster was in Itumba, I don’t know where the academic master was, and the disciplinary teacher was busy running the school and didn’t teach. As a result, the students were extremely rowdy and I was very tired.

Umbege came to my house many days last week to help with my garden expansion. Everything is finally planted and now I am hoping it all grows. I am also watering everything twice a day (if it doesn’t rain) so I have a lot of work to do. It takes me about forty minutes to water every plant I have. Now, I must wake up earlier so that I am not late to school. It is nice to have such a busy schedule but it leaves little time to do much of anything else. Unfortunately, Umbege doesn’t know any details about the wizards’ burning so I don’t have any more news there. I asked the teacher, Lwangalo, to shed some light on the subject but he denied it and then ran away from me. I again asked him for details today and he said we would talk later….still waiting for that talk!

On Wednesday, the disciplinary teacher, Kabage, decided to have a tree cutting/planting day at school. Of course, I didn’t know this prior to the school day starting and stayed late on Tuesday marking assignments. Instead of teaching, I spent Wednesday reading and taking photos of the students doing work. The tree cutting/planting days are truly a joke. Half of the students are sitting around waiting to do something, a third are walking around with their tools not doing anything, and the rest are actually cutting down or planting the trees. Once you see the photos, you will see how much work they were truly doing! The students were allowed to go home early which I took as an opportunity to walk to Isoko. Lindsay joined me on the walk but became sick on our way there. Once we reached Isoko, she stayed in the town while I walked to my friend Hawa Kibona’s house. Hawa was one of the student teacher’s from last term who is home on a two week holiday. While I was there, Hawa informed me that she saw the music video. Back in November I joined Mr. Mbughi in the middle of the soccer field dancing to one of the church songs that I have grown to know every word of (that is all the only music they play in the village). The church music group was being filmed for a music video and I took a part in the production of the last song. Last Sunday, the video was released. That was the Sunday where we had a downpour and I didn’t go to church. Hawa informed me not only am I in one of the songs, but they put my photo on the cover of the CD! All week students have been commenting that I am such a good dancer but no one told me I was on the cover! After I got over that shocking news, we caught up on the last couple of months since Hawa has been at school. She was disappointed that I didn’t visit her at her university in December but I promised to visit over the Easter break. I left around six that evening, walked through the market, and then returned home for the night still shocked about the CD news.

On Friday night I finally saw the CD! It has taken a month but now Mr. Mbughi’s inverter is working again so we have electricity for watching music videos. Friday night, Lindsay and I went over to watch the video. There are about seven or eight songs and I am in the last song. I look quite ridiculous. I would do it again though as it is definitely a memory that I won’t forget. And there are so many landmarks in the video which makes it so exciting to have. You’ve got the school, the church, the hospital, the soccer field, and then of course random shots of people that I nor Mr. Mbughi nor anyone else in Kafule has even seen before. It is embarrassing yes, but I have gotten so much more respect from the community ever since its release.

On Saturday, after teaching at school in the morning, I walked to the market in Ndembo with Enea and the school cook, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is very fun and I enjoy being around her. She was the one who had me dance at the local drumming with her back in September. On Saturday she was just as entertaining. Enea is a little less fit than Elizabeth and I and struggled quite a bit on the walk. She had to stop a few times. It is only a little over two miles to Ndembo…Elizabeth just laughed with me as we kept slowing down. During the walk, we ran into a group of men that were very angry. After a five minute conversation in which I couldn’t understand they left. It took Enea and Elizabeth awhile to inform me but I finally understood that a rabid dog was running lose and the men were trying to catch it. I picked up a stick right away. Elizabeth and Enea thought I was joking but I was quite serious, I don’t want rabies! I also picked up sticks for them which they took up as walking sticks. Fortunately, we only saw the dog run across the road once but never came close to us. Hopefully he has been caught by now, I haven’t heard any updates!

That’s all for the week. I am waiting for the rain to stop so I can head over to Mbughi’s for the night. We are watching the video from his brother’s wedding. He has talked about this video for months now and tonight we finally get the opportunity to watch it. Lucky us. All of the teachers have returned for classes this week and we have added a new teacher. The new teacher is a form six student waiting for his examination results and teaches mathematics, physics, and chemistry. I have given him my form one students which makes my schedule amazingly lighter which I appreciate very much.

Love,

Gretchen