its been awhile

Africa » Tanzania
October 11th 2008

Published: October 11th 2008

so its been awhile. im looking at my calendar while i blog this so...back in september jacob came and visited me at site. hes an education volunteer. hes heading back home next month. that was fun. the whole village thinks were sleeping together/going to get married because in tanzania boys and girls cant just be friends. but hey you know thats cool.

i think ive had giardia too. which basically is just from bad food/water. and basically its just smelly diarrhea. fun times. but thats been in the past really.

one sunday i had a bunch of primary school boys come to visit me. like ten of them. and i had happened to bake a cake. so that disappeared super fast. and they all took turns riding my bike. which was fine. until it broke. so now no ones allowed to ride my bike. mama ashas rules. which make sense. but i just feel bad. because the neighbor girls would ride it everyday. and now they cant. instead they play with rocks. or another popular game is running and hitting a bicycle wheel.

then justin came to visit me. he is also an ed volunteer leaving in november. that was fun. he made me coconut cookies. and brought a bunch of veggies so we made chili and potato soup. and we also got the opportunity to go into the forest with the doctor/nurses. once a month they go to the villages in the forest and give vaccinations. we saw dik-dik and baboons. that was pretty cool. and there was a mini mnada-which is basically like a swap meet. so we hung out there. for an absurd amount of time. they slaughtered a goat. and we were waiting to cook it. but then we ended up just plastic bagging it up. and we got to the clinic and there were about 50 mamas and babies waiting. and the doctor started giving the shots (after the couple beers he drank at mnada...wow). but that was just craziness/shagalabagala. maybe i'll go again this month...

then i went back to town with justin to pick up some things. and mama asha asked me to bring back some fruit. and so when i was in town i splurged and bought her a pineapple. which was no small feat considering that i had to buy a bunch of my own stuff and carry it by myself. and i got super annoyed because right when i got back her youngest daughter nori came by and asked for bananas and oranges the minute i walked through my door. which just isnt very polite in tanzania because i hadnt even had time to bathe or anything. and so i gave her half of the oranges/bananas i bought. then 1/2 hour later mama asha and my village exec officer (veo) came by and asked for more fruit. and i was like....woooooooooow. long day. over you. haha. but i had to smile because my veo then opened up my human sexuality book and was showing mama asha the pictures/sketches of different positions and what have you. that book is a favorite.

this past month has been ramadan. well september anyways. and my family in mgori is muslim. so they were asking me when i was going to fast. so i fasted one day...well i kinda cheated because i drank some water. but then at sundown i got to break the fast with my family and eat futari. that was really cool. they lay down these mats. and the men and women are separated and a big dish is put in the center. and futari is basically just a bunch of carbs. that night it was sweet potatos, milk chai, uji (porridge), and chapati. it was very tasty.

then that next day i boarded a bus and went to go visit some volunteers up in katesh. that was super fun because i got to see 4 people from my own training group. **side note two people from my group went back home from my group so were down to 44 now. and one was my besti christie 😞 and the other was this boy lucas. and both christie and lucas were 2 of my 3 pen pals in country so im very sad.**but katesh is a smaller town than my banking town singida. it was super fun. that night we went to the berkholders house. they are missionaries from the states that are doing projects in katesh. they have two little kids and they love the peace corps. they open up there doors and being in there house was like being back in amerika. they let us take hot showers and feed us. i guess they invite volunteers over for holidays and other things. so maybe i'll be back for halloween or thanksgiving. but they were amazing. and natalie (the wife) cooked an amazing dinner which consisted of hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans with bacon, fresh veggies with dip (havent had that since the states), cookies, cake, home made ice cream, macaroni salad, etc. basically all the food we cant have.

then the next day we went to a village for amys birthday. and that was fun. hung out. played a little bit of beer pong in tanzania. so that was exciting. and we went to another mnada and that was fun. bought a skirt and some fabric. i have quite a bit of fabric and im excited to get stuff made. im supposed to pick up my first dress today actually.

then i came back and my chickens are crazy. since i was gone they were flying over my fence which is a good 10-15 feet up. and so one of the mamas came over and ripped some feathers out of their wings. that was sad. But they have started laying eggs which is fantastic. ive gotten 5 so far.

work wise ive started interviewing members of the village trying to do a needs assessment. through doing that i met one of my brothers (i have a lot) and his name is Yusufu. and i absolutely love him. he speaks just kiswahili but is super patient with me and has helped me a lot. and at first i was slightly nervous because we were hanging out a lot and he was telling me that the village thought i was going to be his wife. but he already has a wife and two kids. so we are just rafikis. good. but we went on a safari to the lake. which was a decent bike ride away. and i lost some respect on that because i was biking. and they are just shocked that i can ride a bicycle. but it was terrifying. because imagine you are at the beach. riding a bike. in the sand. thats what it was like. and then where there was hard road it wasnt smooth. and needless to say i fell. and cut up my elbow. so i feel lame. so instead yusufu biked and i sat on the back. and his friend rode my bike. but the lake was gorgeous. we saw a swala. aka impala. and there were a bunch of bibis (grandmas) fishing and whatnot. yusufu said i could go back by myself. and i was like helllll no because we had to bike through the forest and there are animals in there. like cheetahs, leopards, elephants, wild boars, rhinos, giraffes. **note so jacob is the one who pointed this out to me because apparently im not very observant but i have a giraffe skull in my courtyard. which is pretty cool. might be a fun souvenir to take home**and also i just found out yesterday on the subject of animals but apparently at night time hyenas prowl through the village. and i mean not that im out and about at night but thats terrifying. and cheetahs and leopards too. and i have bats living in my roof and i hear mice at night. god. but one day next week im going to the forest via car with yusufu and we are going to the watering hole to see all the animals. so that should be fun. and from a safe distance. haha. too bad i dont have a camera.

blah. this entry is all over the place. well now im going to continue with my muslim ness. i went to mosque on the first of october to mark the end of ramadan, aka Eid. and that was fun. i dressed up in the traditional dress and had a veil over my head and went to pray. that was nice. and i went to the mosque again yesterday. so im learning. and they are happy with that. and want me to tell everyone back home that i am a muslim. not quite there yet because i really have no idea whats going on. but yeaaa

and ive also made friends with a secondary school boy yohanna. hes 18 and he comes over and i try to teach him english. and he reads. again human sexuality is very popular. and he is also teaching me the tribal language kinyaturu. which is cool. and hard. but its coming along slowly but surely.

well my time is almost up and i will probably update one more time before i go back to the village...hope everyone is doing well. and congrats seiji and claudia 😊

Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved