Play Day

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Friday, June 3rd @ 4.30pm
Play Day
Today was great- Friday's at the orphanage is play day, so there are no lesssons and the kids just play games all day. It is seriously the cutest thing. There were about 55 today and when we arrive, the kids are playing all over the place - soccer with punctured balls and no skin left; jump ropes that are retied and retied (except for the 2 new ones i brought) and kids with sticks and nails and trash playing with whatever the can find. There is no 'school yard'; its just an area that there are no buildings. The ground is dirt everywhere but Ana and Sabrina, the orphanage keepers use the homemade mand broom to sweep the dirt floors each day. Hm. They have a song for EVERYTHING, literally. Ana yells 'make a circle' and the kids all run together singing, maaaaaaake a circccllleee, lets make a cirrrrrrcle. its hilarious. They play games that are definitely african, lots of singing and dancing involved, and than pulled out the classic duck duck goose but they say "good, good, bad" - quite cute. The kids dont speak english.. just "hello, how are you doing madam" but the understand quite a bit. Kids here (not just at Tamiha) are soooo friendly and will run just to hold our hands everywhere. Everywhere you walk, random kids or people that have learned a few words in english always say "good morning" no matter what time it is. Its like the one greeting people learn to say to white people. People also yell "mzungu" all the time, it gets quite annoying after a while.. its like, YES. im white - i know. So i either say "wapi?" which means where? or i say "mbongo" which means Tanzanian. They usually just giggle but never say anything after that.
I have taken some GREAT photos but its so tough to upload them (considering there is never electricity and when there is, i cant get to the internet cafe.) The orphanage doesn't have any running water or electricity hookups even. The classrooms are outside so light isnt needed, but still... its crazy. every other house here is some sort of shop. They all sell them same things but obviously its working for them. Sarah is the 'housekeeper' here but she's like the mama. She speaks not one word of english, so you can imagine our conversations-HA. She is great company though, her laugh is contagious and she's always around and smiling. Since there is no electricity and the rooms are all super dark, most of the time is spent in the living room where we all gather and just do our own thing.. I read a lot. There are windows in here so its light during the day and than sarah lights a candle or two at night, than Jake and I will play cards for a while. Literally thats all there is to do is play cards. It's such a different lifestyle here, but its amazing that I'm already getting quite used to it. It's dark by 7, dinner is served around 8.30 and than I go to bed. Food is still the same everyday, beans and rice.. they sometimes put avocado on the side and than i cut it up and mix it into my plate of beans and rice, but the past few meals have lacked avacado so i bought one today on my walk home... 200 shillings which is about 15 cents and it was the biggest, most fresh / ripe avocado that I've ever eaten in my life. Food here is nice because its all vegitarian, its just so boring! Every few days, one of the meals will be something different (there are 2 other things they cook) - either Chipatta, which are kind of like pancakes, but they are plain and soaked in oil - still nice to have something a bit different; or this nice potato/banana mix - its hot and in some kind of sauce-ish thing.. but its delish served on top of rice. The unofficial national dish of Tanzania is 'chipsimaiai' and its my favorite thing EVER. its cooked egg with slices of potatoe slices cooked inside - i smother ketchup on it (well the one time i had it) and it was amazing. all the restaurants sell it and everyone talks about it. its so simple yet so delish. Breakfast is going to kill me.. 1 or 2 pieces of white bread. uck! So hard to put down. not toasted or anything.. every few days we will get a little peanut butter for it. hm. Everything we eat here are carbs - all food that fills you up and than its just solid in your stomach so you feel full, just very unsatisfying. I really dont mind the food, I would just prefer to throw a salad in there every once in a while.. or have food that digests and differs every once in a while.
I've settled in quite well, wound down from the hectic life and home quite quicky... but it will definitely be weird to go back to normal life after this. I absolutely prefer life at home though, and for the first time in my life I actually appreciate all that the U.S. has to offer. It's a weird feeling here, knowing that I'm so far away from the rest of the world. I definitely prefer life in a developed country, something that I didn't know until I arrived here. I've always appreciated the simple way of life in under-developed countries, but now I know that I absolutely prefer the hustle and bustle of developed life. There are so many things that we dont need though, like thousand dollar washer/dryer sets. Using two buckets and a clothes line to do laundry is free and just as efficient, but doesnt require electricity or space or any of that. And its insane how little water we need to wash ourselves - i have such long hair that its a bitch to wash anywhere in the world, but here, with only a small bucket of water to do the job (including washing my entire body) I manage just fine, with water left over! The one thing that I would LOVE to change here though are the toilets. they are all holes in the ground that you stand above and do your thang.. but EVERY one reaks of urine.. it seriosuly makes me want to barf. And people dont go to the bathroom a lot here becuase they dont drink water barely ever - I drink SO much water at home but have to ration it so i drink a 1.5 liter bottle per day, and thats serious rationing for what I'm used to. A 1.5L bottle costs about 70 cents, so 1 a day is perfect. I use it to brush my teeth as well. I would totally get my hair braided here if i didnt think it would ruin it and have to cut it all off once I took the braids out - it would be SOOOO much easier to deal with.
Sorry if these blogs are repetitive, I dont know what I wrote before... just trying not to leave anything out! The weather here is acutally different than I had imagined.. the morning are quite cool... between 65-70. The hottest is the peak of the day around 12-1 and its probably around 85 ish... the sun is strong here though. there is barely ever a breeze, but overcast quite a bit. Its only really hot if the sun is directly out. My malaria medication doesn't make me sun sensitive at all (thank god) and im getting a nice farmers tan all over. My feet are tan, but my toes are white - I wear toms alot, or sandals but not if i have to walk alot bcuase they give me blisters. We walk SOOOOO much here.. if the food wasnt so carb heavy, I bet I'd loose so much weight here from all the walking. I won't be shocked if I gain weight here though... the diet really isnt ideal for anyone thats been health/body concious.
Hope everything is well at home, I miss you all heaps and wish everybody could experience this. I'm so lucky and will cherish these memories forever; but I will also return with a new appreciation for life and all that I have. Love you!

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