So my fake malaria went away in about two days, and Charlotte got smart and moved her new web up about a foot, so life is good again. School finally started this week… but before I tell you all about that, I want to tell you a little bit of how we teachers have been preparing these last few weeks.
Sean and I came to Dodoma at the beginning of November because the our school was projected to be done in time to do a “pre-form one session” the month of November and some of December. (Form one is equivalent to the ninth grade in the States). This session would be a review time, especially for English skills, to get students a head start on their new school year. They were to move in to campus, but unfortunately, the school construction has been taking a lot longer than expected and it was not at all possible to have this session.
This is where our brief stint at Vijana, the Jesuit Youth Centre, came about. We had arrived two months before school would start and our work was no longer going to happen, so Marty suggested us teaching a few classes at the youth centre to give us something to do. I’m really glad we were there because I met a few of the students that are attending Peter Claver, and I got my first slice of teaching in Tanzania.
The teachers were also hired to start in November, so instead we had a few months of orientation with Marty. Every morning from about 8am to noon we met at the K/Ndege Church to discuss best teaching practices, Ignatian pedagogy, the mission and vision of the school, and other details such as which clubs we will be monitors for. The meetings were interesting, to say the least. Despite them being ungodly early (compared to my summer of 10am-noon wake ups), the experience was really interesting. It was great to meet the other teachers, and it was fascinating to see how we evolved as a staff. Personalities and opinions became much more apparent as the days went on and as we became more comfortable with each other.
I really felt like I am as much a teacher as the others, despite my inexperience. And it wasn’t until about a week ago that I realized that I am the youngest person on the faculty at our school - I truly appreciate the respect I get despite my age. Our staff is a pretty young one; the oldest teacher’s daughter is 15 and the rest of the teachers have really young kids or are “not yet” married.
When we reached January, our orientation meetings were much more sporadic considering there were so many things going on with the school. Marty had his hands full trying push the contractors to work faster to be ready by our second deadline (the original date for starting was pushed back a week because the facilities just would not be ready for students). Other things like passing the school inspection, applying a school registration number, getting the government to release crates of books, arguing to remove the tax on our buses (no tax on buses for schools), and so on were just a few of the many things Marty had to deal with in the weeks leading up to move-in day. I’m impressed at his endurance through it all, considering he had the added challenge of navigating a system that isn’t his own.
Move-in Day was this past Sunday (the 23rd) and the following week was orientation. Tomorrow is our first official day of class. This is all for now, but I hope to give a better update soon. This past week in a few words? I'm tired but I'm excited.
30 January 2011
19 January 2011
Charlotte and Her Damn Web
15 January 2011
This might sound ridiculous – don’t laugh. I’m serious. Don’t laugh!
Those who know me best know of my intense, somewhat irrational fear of spiders. In my mind, this fear is completely legitimate considering the baseball-sized welts from spider (or mosquito, not sure) bites I would find all over my legs as a child. I’m obviously allergic. And they are scary. And gross. Back off.
Now that matured a little, I’ve slowly tried to overcome the silly fears I’ve kept since childhood (i.e., in college I was finally able to accept that Umpa-lumpas aren’t real).
Consequently, moving into my new home in Dodoma, I’ve encountered many new and old bugs. One of charming things about Jana, my German roommate, is her German-influenced English. In the German language (or what I’ve learned from my brief stunt in high-school with Blonde Frau), everything is given a gender simply by the starter word that is equivalent to “the” (i.e., “die toilette”, the toilet – “die” is the feminine form… hmm, it’s hard to explain). Anyways, Jana says things like “she is very beautiful” when talking about the large cockroach in the Jesuits’ bathroom (she, I mean it is kind of pretty, I guess; she’s kind of shiny).
Back to Charlotte – SHE is the spider that resides in our bathroom. She’s been there for a while. I named her Charlotte because of Jana’s influence. I didn’t like her at first, considering she chose to weave her web right above the sink, really close to my face. Not cool. It was a tiny web though, and she was kind of small (small as in skinny – those small chunky ones are the worst). I thought about messing up her web for a while so she’d leave – I don’t kill spiders usually because the crunch really freaks me out. But I never spent enough time in there to worry about it. So instead, I decided to take this opportunity to get to know the spider-species and reconcile our differences. She’s a real nice spider. Doesn’t disturb me. I usually take caution when entering the bathroom if it’s dark, make sure she’s secured her spot so I can move to mine, and we’re golden. I’ve named her Charlotte so as to make her seem more friendly – I think it’s worked.
Why am I telling you about this? Well, tonight Charlotte started getting a little adventurous – testing her boundaries if you will. She’s slowly been expanding her web, like a lot actually. It’s in this corner but it now looks (or looked) like a little shelf above my head. She usually doesn’t move very much while I’m in there. I think her web must have gotten a little low because something startled her (like my head in her web) as I was brushing my teeth that made her move close to me, have me freak the heck out, and have her freak out and scurry in the other direction. She got too-oo-oo close. I was already getting a little annoyed having to clean up after her all the time (she leaves little bug droppings on the sink after her meals – ew). So I thought I’d remind her who was boss, and I took the strange duster thing on a long stick and removed a lot of her web. Charlotte was getting a little too comfortable in there.
I felt very satisfied leaving that room, but now after writing this story, I feel a little bad. I mean, she probably was eating a lot of those dumb mosquitoes that will eventually give me malaria (if not already). Why did she have to think I was dinner? We’ll probably have a little talk tomorrow and work out our differences…
This might sound ridiculous – don’t laugh. I’m serious. Don’t laugh!
Those who know me best know of my intense, somewhat irrational fear of spiders. In my mind, this fear is completely legitimate considering the baseball-sized welts from spider (or mosquito, not sure) bites I would find all over my legs as a child. I’m obviously allergic. And they are scary. And gross. Back off.
Now that matured a little, I’ve slowly tried to overcome the silly fears I’ve kept since childhood (i.e., in college I was finally able to accept that Umpa-lumpas aren’t real).
Consequently, moving into my new home in Dodoma, I’ve encountered many new and old bugs. One of charming things about Jana, my German roommate, is her German-influenced English. In the German language (or what I’ve learned from my brief stunt in high-school with Blonde Frau), everything is given a gender simply by the starter word that is equivalent to “the” (i.e., “die toilette”, the toilet – “die” is the feminine form… hmm, it’s hard to explain). Anyways, Jana says things like “she is very beautiful” when talking about the large cockroach in the Jesuits’ bathroom (she, I mean it is kind of pretty, I guess; she’s kind of shiny).
Back to Charlotte – SHE is the spider that resides in our bathroom. She’s been there for a while. I named her Charlotte because of Jana’s influence. I didn’t like her at first, considering she chose to weave her web right above the sink, really close to my face. Not cool. It was a tiny web though, and she was kind of small (small as in skinny – those small chunky ones are the worst). I thought about messing up her web for a while so she’d leave – I don’t kill spiders usually because the crunch really freaks me out. But I never spent enough time in there to worry about it. So instead, I decided to take this opportunity to get to know the spider-species and reconcile our differences. She’s a real nice spider. Doesn’t disturb me. I usually take caution when entering the bathroom if it’s dark, make sure she’s secured her spot so I can move to mine, and we’re golden. I’ve named her Charlotte so as to make her seem more friendly – I think it’s worked.
Why am I telling you about this? Well, tonight Charlotte started getting a little adventurous – testing her boundaries if you will. She’s slowly been expanding her web, like a lot actually. It’s in this corner but it now looks (or looked) like a little shelf above my head. She usually doesn’t move very much while I’m in there. I think her web must have gotten a little low because something startled her (like my head in her web) as I was brushing my teeth that made her move close to me, have me freak the heck out, and have her freak out and scurry in the other direction. She got too-oo-oo close. I was already getting a little annoyed having to clean up after her all the time (she leaves little bug droppings on the sink after her meals – ew). So I thought I’d remind her who was boss, and I took the strange duster thing on a long stick and removed a lot of her web. Charlotte was getting a little too comfortable in there.
I felt very satisfied leaving that room, but now after writing this story, I feel a little bad. I mean, she probably was eating a lot of those dumb mosquitoes that will eventually give me malaria (if not already). Why did she have to think I was dinner? We’ll probably have a little talk tomorrow and work out our differences…
Sick in a Foreign Country
14 January 2011
It is raining all the time here. Seriously, all the time. I think the skies have poured at least once every day this past week. It is so strange seeing the world all green and wet – a complete reverse from my first month here.
Though the rains are such a blessing to Dodoma, they seem to paralyze me – confining me to the house. I could be more adventurous, but it is hard when the rains aren’t very regular – tiny showers and then major pours at all hours of the day. About a week ago, I decided to risk it and take a bike ride to town, despite the sky becoming quickly black (hey, it was bright blue on the other side!). I was sick of staying inside, so I thought at least I could use the internet while I was waiting out the storm. I was pretty much riding into the cloud, finding myself at the internet café completely soaked through. I’m sure I provided much entertainment for the locals, as they sought refuge under the roofs of dukas (stores) and watched as not just the only white person, but the ONLY PERSON on a bike tried to push along. I made it there alive, thankfully, but I was soon reminded how inconsistent the electricity is, especially when it storms. So I spent quite a while very wet in a dark internet café, waiting out the rain and hoping the electricity would come back. It worked eventually, and the rained slowed eventually, and I eventually headed back home on my bike on the muddy and rainy roads. Yeah, don’t worry – I don’t want to do that ever again either.
Besides that little escapade, I’ve been (much emphasis on the past tense) enjoying the coolness of the rain. It reminds me so much of home (Pittsburgh and Cleveland – I’m sorry Steelers and Browns fans, calm down!). I was enjoying it up until I started feeling really sick one afternoon – the kind of sick that makes your whole body ache. By the evening I had a fever, felt very weak, had pretty horrible back and head pains, and had a horrible stomach ache. After talking with my housemate Jana, she confirmed the symptoms were much like hers – WHEN SHE HAD MALARIA. Gosh, I felt like I was about to die, and having that verdict broke my heart. (Side note, one of my biggest fears here is getting malaria, not because of the experience of it, but more because the US will never allow me to donate blood again if I have it – it stays in your blood. That would just be so sad.) I took good care of myself throughout the night, making sure to wake every 4ish hours to eat a piece of bread, drink some water and take ibuprofen, which really helped my fever break but took a huge toll on my stomach. The next day, besides feeling weak and hot, I had a horrible stomach cramp from all the medicine. Though the day started not too badly, as the hours passed I began feeling worse and worse. Thankfully our good friend Martin took me to a local Duka la Dawa (Shop of Medicine), where he usually takes all the volunteers when they are feeling ill. The doctor there spoke English really well (which in some ways legitimizes his practice, showing his high level of education because English is emphasized in higher education). He didn’t ask for any healthcare information or money upfront, he simply took me to the back room, wrote down my name, “Laura,” and pricked my finger to draw some blood to test for malaria. He told us to come back in a half hour for the results and to pick up any medicine, if necessary. Martin returned for me a half hour later, bringing a small sample of ibuprofen and the verdict of “no malaria.” YES! I guess the change of weather was just too much for me to handle – I usually get pretty bad sinus issues in the States when it rains so this is no surprise. I woke up Day 3 feeling pretty well – still weak and not able to eat a full meal, but it felt good to walk around, wash a few dishes and clean my room (I know, Mom, don’t faint!). I’m going to try to stay low at least another day or two just so that I can fully recover, but things are looking good.
Getting sick here has really given me lots of time to think about how much worse I would feel if I were truly living like the people a few yards away from me. This may sound silly, but think back to the times you were sick – weren’t you so bored of just laying around all day? At least you could watch TV shows or some movies. We are lucky to have a TV in this house, but it has a total of three channels which are usually broadcasting shows in Kiswahili, and we don’t have a DVD player or any DVDs. And because of my headache and how weak I was, I really had no interest in reading books. So I literally laid around staring at the wall. But my neighbors don’t have that luxury of watching TV or movies, and quite frankly because of their lack of money (can’t afford them) and/or lack of education (can’t read them), books are not an option.
Other more important things: our water heater. When I first arrived here, in an effort to “live more simply” I chose to not use the water heater attached to our shower. But as the rains came, so did freezing cold nights where not using the water heater made showers extremely uncomfortable and sometimes painful. And now having a fever the past few days has surely made me use the water heater, and honestly, it has made me feel much better every time I showered. I can’t imagine how these days would have gone if I did NOT use the water heater, or didn’t shower at all. Try to imagine not showering after a full night of sweating from fever. To us (us Americans, us privileged, us wealthy, us wazungu…), a warm shower is such a “basic necessity,” and yet I could call from my window to a family that probably lives without it; (and if we were truly honest with ourselves, I bet many of you in the States could do the same).
And I have blankets, and clean sheets, a bed and net that gives me a good night sleep and keeps the bugs away, and a couch that gives me a change of scenery from my bedroom to the living room.
And I am longing for my baggy sweatpants that I left at home because they were too big to pack. I’ve been wearing the same nice pair of yoga pants for the past five days. And I am missing that heating pad for my upset stomach. And I wish we had a dryer – nothing is drying here because it is raining so often, so my towel and other things are always wet. And I am really, really missing my Mom’s rivoli soup – a lot.
So now I feel stuck between this idea of living simply and accepting my own reality. Living simply in the sense of coming to understand what the poverty of those around me feels like, with full knowledge that I can pull myself from this at any moment (the second I decide to spend some extra money to get those things that I am missing, or asking someone to send it). And my own reality in the sense that I have come from another culture, another economic standing and have experienced these comforts that are considered “basic needs” to everyone I normally share my life space with. It is almost to complicated for me to wrap my head around.
Well, those are my meanderings for now... Thoughts?
It is raining all the time here. Seriously, all the time. I think the skies have poured at least once every day this past week. It is so strange seeing the world all green and wet – a complete reverse from my first month here.
Though the rains are such a blessing to Dodoma, they seem to paralyze me – confining me to the house. I could be more adventurous, but it is hard when the rains aren’t very regular – tiny showers and then major pours at all hours of the day. About a week ago, I decided to risk it and take a bike ride to town, despite the sky becoming quickly black (hey, it was bright blue on the other side!). I was sick of staying inside, so I thought at least I could use the internet while I was waiting out the storm. I was pretty much riding into the cloud, finding myself at the internet café completely soaked through. I’m sure I provided much entertainment for the locals, as they sought refuge under the roofs of dukas (stores) and watched as not just the only white person, but the ONLY PERSON on a bike tried to push along. I made it there alive, thankfully, but I was soon reminded how inconsistent the electricity is, especially when it storms. So I spent quite a while very wet in a dark internet café, waiting out the rain and hoping the electricity would come back. It worked eventually, and the rained slowed eventually, and I eventually headed back home on my bike on the muddy and rainy roads. Yeah, don’t worry – I don’t want to do that ever again either.
Besides that little escapade, I’ve been (much emphasis on the past tense) enjoying the coolness of the rain. It reminds me so much of home (Pittsburgh and Cleveland – I’m sorry Steelers and Browns fans, calm down!). I was enjoying it up until I started feeling really sick one afternoon – the kind of sick that makes your whole body ache. By the evening I had a fever, felt very weak, had pretty horrible back and head pains, and had a horrible stomach ache. After talking with my housemate Jana, she confirmed the symptoms were much like hers – WHEN SHE HAD MALARIA. Gosh, I felt like I was about to die, and having that verdict broke my heart. (Side note, one of my biggest fears here is getting malaria, not because of the experience of it, but more because the US will never allow me to donate blood again if I have it – it stays in your blood. That would just be so sad.) I took good care of myself throughout the night, making sure to wake every 4ish hours to eat a piece of bread, drink some water and take ibuprofen, which really helped my fever break but took a huge toll on my stomach. The next day, besides feeling weak and hot, I had a horrible stomach cramp from all the medicine. Though the day started not too badly, as the hours passed I began feeling worse and worse. Thankfully our good friend Martin took me to a local Duka la Dawa (Shop of Medicine), where he usually takes all the volunteers when they are feeling ill. The doctor there spoke English really well (which in some ways legitimizes his practice, showing his high level of education because English is emphasized in higher education). He didn’t ask for any healthcare information or money upfront, he simply took me to the back room, wrote down my name, “Laura,” and pricked my finger to draw some blood to test for malaria. He told us to come back in a half hour for the results and to pick up any medicine, if necessary. Martin returned for me a half hour later, bringing a small sample of ibuprofen and the verdict of “no malaria.” YES! I guess the change of weather was just too much for me to handle – I usually get pretty bad sinus issues in the States when it rains so this is no surprise. I woke up Day 3 feeling pretty well – still weak and not able to eat a full meal, but it felt good to walk around, wash a few dishes and clean my room (I know, Mom, don’t faint!). I’m going to try to stay low at least another day or two just so that I can fully recover, but things are looking good.
Getting sick here has really given me lots of time to think about how much worse I would feel if I were truly living like the people a few yards away from me. This may sound silly, but think back to the times you were sick – weren’t you so bored of just laying around all day? At least you could watch TV shows or some movies. We are lucky to have a TV in this house, but it has a total of three channels which are usually broadcasting shows in Kiswahili, and we don’t have a DVD player or any DVDs. And because of my headache and how weak I was, I really had no interest in reading books. So I literally laid around staring at the wall. But my neighbors don’t have that luxury of watching TV or movies, and quite frankly because of their lack of money (can’t afford them) and/or lack of education (can’t read them), books are not an option.
Other more important things: our water heater. When I first arrived here, in an effort to “live more simply” I chose to not use the water heater attached to our shower. But as the rains came, so did freezing cold nights where not using the water heater made showers extremely uncomfortable and sometimes painful. And now having a fever the past few days has surely made me use the water heater, and honestly, it has made me feel much better every time I showered. I can’t imagine how these days would have gone if I did NOT use the water heater, or didn’t shower at all. Try to imagine not showering after a full night of sweating from fever. To us (us Americans, us privileged, us wealthy, us wazungu…), a warm shower is such a “basic necessity,” and yet I could call from my window to a family that probably lives without it; (and if we were truly honest with ourselves, I bet many of you in the States could do the same).
And I have blankets, and clean sheets, a bed and net that gives me a good night sleep and keeps the bugs away, and a couch that gives me a change of scenery from my bedroom to the living room.
And I am longing for my baggy sweatpants that I left at home because they were too big to pack. I’ve been wearing the same nice pair of yoga pants for the past five days. And I am missing that heating pad for my upset stomach. And I wish we had a dryer – nothing is drying here because it is raining so often, so my towel and other things are always wet. And I am really, really missing my Mom’s rivoli soup – a lot.
So now I feel stuck between this idea of living simply and accepting my own reality. Living simply in the sense of coming to understand what the poverty of those around me feels like, with full knowledge that I can pull myself from this at any moment (the second I decide to spend some extra money to get those things that I am missing, or asking someone to send it). And my own reality in the sense that I have come from another culture, another economic standing and have experienced these comforts that are considered “basic needs” to everyone I normally share my life space with. It is almost to complicated for me to wrap my head around.
Well, those are my meanderings for now... Thoughts?
09 January 2011
Post-Christmas Adventures
After Christmas day, we went to “Sunrise” beach in Dar – about a 2 hour daladala (public transport mini-buses) ride from the Volunteers’ home. It was a beautiful day and beautiful beach, but it was JELLYFISH SEASON. We all ran into the water and saw these little fellers hanging out EVERYWHERE. It freaked me out, but the water felt so good. I tried to just shoo them away, but I think I got stung once on my arm. It wasn’t a horrible sting – but a sting!!
Another day we went into town and visited the National Museum that exhibits examples of homes from all over Tanzania (I put a bunch of pictures from here on fbook). It was a really neat exhibit, to see all the different types of homes and how they are made. And to walk inside! I just hope someday I’ll be able to walk inside some that have people in them!
After a nice lunch at the museum, the daughter of the family we visited on Christmas met us to take us to her mom’s store where she sells all the goodies she gave me. It was on a really nice part of town, with tons of condo-like houses and a Hilton Hotel (weird). Her Mama was so generous to all of us, giving us all gifts from her shop as we arrived. We bought a few things and then her daughter, Annette, took us to a grocery store to buy sodas and snacks. We went to see the water for a little while. We ended up sharing most of our day with Annette. We had never planned to stay that late (we saw the sunset!), but as always it was a really nice visit. But we were definitely pooped by the end of it.
Our last day in Dar we went again into the city to mail some letters, check out the bookstore (which had freezing air conditioning – what a great feeling!), and take a rest at the botanical gardens. The gardens were not too fancy (at least not like you’d see in the States), but it had beautiful grounds. We found a nice tree to sit under and pulled out our roasted peanuts (we roasted them!), cucumbers and carrots sticks that we brought along. It was so peaceful. We even saw a peacock just hanging out! Our last major event was to visit the fabric district. There were rows and rows of stores that sold khangas and kitenge (different kinds of fabric) used as wraps or to make clothes. I really wanted to buy some but it was just so overwhelming. Each store had hundreds! I ended up finding some nice ones – hopefully I’ll get a dress made soon. Don’t worry – I’ll send pictures!
On Thursday the 30th, all nine of us headed to Dodoma to show the volunteers our new site and spend New Year’s Eve together. That was by far the nicest bus ride we’ve had during our whole trip – it was a beautiful bus with clean and comfortable seats, TVs that showed a really silly Tanzanian film (with English subtitles), no breakdowns, and a nice bathroom stop. We actually made really great time, too. And the ride to Dodoma always feels great because you slowly move away from extreme humidity to the dryness of Dodoma, which feels like heaven after some time in Dar.
Marty was so kind to pick us up from the station. We went home and walked to the local market to get food for dinner. Beth made a peanut butter ginger sauce for our veggies that was incredible. Thankfully the Jesuit volunteer house here has lots of extra mattresses and nets in storage in the tiny hall in our compound, so everyone had their own bed and mosquito net. Needless to say, we had many happy campers wake up the next morning, refreshed from a full nice sleep in the cool Dodoma night air.
The following morning (New Years Eve), Marty took all of us in the Jesuit pick-up to Peter Claver to show them our new school. It was so much fun walking with the other volunteers around the place where I will be doing my work. They, more than others who I’ve visited the school with, know what the experience of coming to a Tanzanian school as an American volunteer feels like. Their comments were so positive and encouraging – saying things that made me so excited to start at Peter Claver.
After a really nice at the Jesuits, we spent most of the rest of the day relaxing and getting ready for dinner (usually a huge event all in itself, considering we have to cook for 9). Our NYE’s dinner was delicious: guacamole, (burnt) beans, chipati (tortilla-like bread), the mango crisp I also made at Thanksgiving, and chunks of fresh coconut. All the cutting took so long and we ended up eating around 10:30pm. It worked out great though, because after dinner, we played Apples-to-Apples, drank some homemade sangria (red wine, pineapple, and mango), counted down to midnight, shouted and jumped around a lot, and then had a dance party in our living room.
Liz made French toast as our New Year’s breakfast. A contractor at the school gave Marty a goat as a gift for the American volunteers (a really special gift), so we went to the Jesuits for lunch. We later went in to town for ice cream, but forgetting the it was a national holiday, we returned home sans ice cream. Most of the day was just down time. Sean and Beth were great and went all over town to get us dinner (chips mayai and veggies). After dinner we decided to walk to the local pizza place for ice cream. We ended the night by exchanging “affirmations” to each other. It was a really nice visit in Dodoma.
We all got up absurdly early to help the Moshi folks catch their bus, and the Dar folks an hour later. After they left, went back to bed and slept until noon (the first time I’ve done that here, surprisingly!) and relaxed most of the day. Sean and I went to the children’s Mass at 4pm for the first time. It was so great – so many kids, and only kids. Very few parents were there. The kids were singing, clapping, playing drums. A woman from the parish (our friend Regina) gave the homily complete with question-answer, and a group of kids went up to state intentions into the microphone when the time came. It was great!
Another day we went into town and visited the National Museum that exhibits examples of homes from all over Tanzania (I put a bunch of pictures from here on fbook). It was a really neat exhibit, to see all the different types of homes and how they are made. And to walk inside! I just hope someday I’ll be able to walk inside some that have people in them!
After a nice lunch at the museum, the daughter of the family we visited on Christmas met us to take us to her mom’s store where she sells all the goodies she gave me. It was on a really nice part of town, with tons of condo-like houses and a Hilton Hotel (weird). Her Mama was so generous to all of us, giving us all gifts from her shop as we arrived. We bought a few things and then her daughter, Annette, took us to a grocery store to buy sodas and snacks. We went to see the water for a little while. We ended up sharing most of our day with Annette. We had never planned to stay that late (we saw the sunset!), but as always it was a really nice visit. But we were definitely pooped by the end of it.
Our last day in Dar we went again into the city to mail some letters, check out the bookstore (which had freezing air conditioning – what a great feeling!), and take a rest at the botanical gardens. The gardens were not too fancy (at least not like you’d see in the States), but it had beautiful grounds. We found a nice tree to sit under and pulled out our roasted peanuts (we roasted them!), cucumbers and carrots sticks that we brought along. It was so peaceful. We even saw a peacock just hanging out! Our last major event was to visit the fabric district. There were rows and rows of stores that sold khangas and kitenge (different kinds of fabric) used as wraps or to make clothes. I really wanted to buy some but it was just so overwhelming. Each store had hundreds! I ended up finding some nice ones – hopefully I’ll get a dress made soon. Don’t worry – I’ll send pictures!
On Thursday the 30th, all nine of us headed to Dodoma to show the volunteers our new site and spend New Year’s Eve together. That was by far the nicest bus ride we’ve had during our whole trip – it was a beautiful bus with clean and comfortable seats, TVs that showed a really silly Tanzanian film (with English subtitles), no breakdowns, and a nice bathroom stop. We actually made really great time, too. And the ride to Dodoma always feels great because you slowly move away from extreme humidity to the dryness of Dodoma, which feels like heaven after some time in Dar.
Marty was so kind to pick us up from the station. We went home and walked to the local market to get food for dinner. Beth made a peanut butter ginger sauce for our veggies that was incredible. Thankfully the Jesuit volunteer house here has lots of extra mattresses and nets in storage in the tiny hall in our compound, so everyone had their own bed and mosquito net. Needless to say, we had many happy campers wake up the next morning, refreshed from a full nice sleep in the cool Dodoma night air.
The following morning (New Years Eve), Marty took all of us in the Jesuit pick-up to Peter Claver to show them our new school. It was so much fun walking with the other volunteers around the place where I will be doing my work. They, more than others who I’ve visited the school with, know what the experience of coming to a Tanzanian school as an American volunteer feels like. Their comments were so positive and encouraging – saying things that made me so excited to start at Peter Claver.
After a really nice at the Jesuits, we spent most of the rest of the day relaxing and getting ready for dinner (usually a huge event all in itself, considering we have to cook for 9). Our NYE’s dinner was delicious: guacamole, (burnt) beans, chipati (tortilla-like bread), the mango crisp I also made at Thanksgiving, and chunks of fresh coconut. All the cutting took so long and we ended up eating around 10:30pm. It worked out great though, because after dinner, we played Apples-to-Apples, drank some homemade sangria (red wine, pineapple, and mango), counted down to midnight, shouted and jumped around a lot, and then had a dance party in our living room.
Liz made French toast as our New Year’s breakfast. A contractor at the school gave Marty a goat as a gift for the American volunteers (a really special gift), so we went to the Jesuits for lunch. We later went in to town for ice cream, but forgetting the it was a national holiday, we returned home sans ice cream. Most of the day was just down time. Sean and Beth were great and went all over town to get us dinner (chips mayai and veggies). After dinner we decided to walk to the local pizza place for ice cream. We ended the night by exchanging “affirmations” to each other. It was a really nice visit in Dodoma.
We all got up absurdly early to help the Moshi folks catch their bus, and the Dar folks an hour later. After they left, went back to bed and slept until noon (the first time I’ve done that here, surprisingly!) and relaxed most of the day. Sean and I went to the children’s Mass at 4pm for the first time. It was so great – so many kids, and only kids. Very few parents were there. The kids were singing, clapping, playing drums. A woman from the parish (our friend Regina) gave the homily complete with question-answer, and a group of kids went up to state intentions into the microphone when the time came. It was great!
A Needed Retreat
I know, I know, it’s been a month. I owe you a good explanation, no? How about I just catch you up…
The first two weeks of December were full of orientation from 8am to about 12:30pm everyday with Marty, Sean, the two female and four male teachers that make up the entire faculty of St. Peter Claver (for this first year, at least). I think I’ll catch you up on that in another post.
Sean and I left for Dar on Saturday the 18th to meet the other volunteers for retreat and Christmas holiday. We bought really cheap bus tickets and heard from a friend this bus gets to Dar in about 6 hours (usually it takes 8!). Sean and I were so excited for a “quick” ride, but unfortunately our bus broke down about half-way through the trip. A breakdown consists of everyone getting off the bus, standing under the one tree on the side of the road for a little bit of breeze and shade, while someone on a piki piki (motorcycle) takes the driver to a nearby shop to get the part that will make the fix. This added about two hours to our trip… not to mention the lack of bathroom stops makes us know never to take that bus company again.
The plan was for Sean and I to stay with the Dar community just Saturday night and then we all traveled north to Tanga the following day. The other new volunteers have arrived, so it was really nice to reunite with some familiar faces. (We all met during JVC orientation in Boston this summer – remember when I missed Erie for the 3rd year in a row? Boo.) Sunday morning Gretchen (2nd year), Shea, Cat, Sean and I took another six hour trip to the region of Tanga where we met Beth (2nd year), Liz, Andy, and Moryah, the four volunteers living in Moshi (by Mt. Kili). All nine of us stayed at the Rosminian (sp?) retreat center. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! There were a few little two story houses with four rooms in each. We all got out own rooms with bathroom – nice! The retreat place was so comfortable, and it sat right above the beach of the Indian Ocean (there was a small cliff so we had to walk down a few stairs to get to the beach). The weather was beautiful and when it was hot we just swam in the warm, warm water. Ahhhh – this truly felt like paradise. Our retreat was really relaxing. We reflected on the four JV values and shared life stories to get to know each other. It was the perfect escape.
The two Sisters that lived there cooked us our meals. We ate fish often and it was so fresh and delicious! I was able to make Mass a few times in the morning (6:30am, yikes!), but it was such a beautiful chapel facing the water and the rising sun. Yes – I saw the sun rise! That was a first, for sure. We saw the tide go in and out everyday. I never knew it was such an extreme change; it went out yards and yards and yards. I guess I figured the ocean would be just like Lake Erie that only changes a few feet. Silly me.
All nine volunteers headed back to Dar on the 24th (Happy Birthday Carrie!) to celebrate Christmas together. That ride back was brutal. There is only one paved road to get about anywhere in Tanzania, and partway through the journey there is a tight bridge that follows a few bends in the road where apparently there are often many accidents. This was one of those lucky days – a semi must have took the turn badly and ended up toppling over, causing an extreme traffic jam. Unlike the States where our police come to direct traffic, the police stayed comfortably in their station (a few feet away) while hundreds of cars and trucks stared at each other trying to figure out where to go. We were stuck in this jam for about 2 hours in the brutal heat with very little place for escape. Because we didn’t want to drink water in case we’d have to use the restroom, we all were not feeling so great in the heat. We retreated to the bush to experience nature very intimately (aka, bathroom break) and found a tiny shops selling biscuits (plan vanilla cookies) to tide us over.
Oh, I forgot a very important detail – our bus was infested with cockroaches. Hundreds of them. Coming out of every corner and crawling over everything. It was so disturbing. By the time the bus started moving again, I had to force myself to sleep so I wouldn’t feel the heat, my weakness, or see those roaches.
We arrived in Dar about 8 hours later and were kindly invited for sodas and dinner at the Jesuit residence. We enjoyed a nice meal, nice company, but were all very ready for bed.
At the volunteers’ place in Dar, we had to share beds, couches, and there was even a tent set up outside to sleep four extras (on couch cushions of course). Dar is so hot; so, so hot. The kind of hot that makes you sweat right after you showered, and you aren’t sure if it’s water or new sweat. I feel for those volunteers there; I don’t think I’d survive two years in that weather.
Christmas morning we went to Mass. I’m starting to make better connections to the Kiswahili Mass now that I’ve been here a while. It’s nice that no matter where you go in the world Mass is always the same. It’s like coming home (even when you don’t quite understand what they are saying). It was a beautiful Mass with many young girls as liturgical dancers in front and a choir that sang a few familiar Christmas songs.
As a group we decided to pull for a Secret Santa and give each other handmade Christmas cards as a gift. So most of the morning I spent much time working on an original popup (a throw back to my younger years when I thought Hallmark was in my future). It was very therapeutic. Some volunteers worked on Christmas dinner (tortillas and mango salsa!) and others went to visit long-time family friends of the Dar volunteers (JVs have been serving in Dar for 15 years now). I went on the second run to visit a family and we walked in just as they were eating. They sat us in their living room and quickly finished eating, cleared the table and reset it and soon invited us to feast. We had not intended to eat there, considering the exciting dinner being made at home but it is rude to refuse. We chowed down and the family now sat in the living room. After dinner we sat again in the living room where they served us an extraordinary fruit salad (mango, papaya, banana, pineapple, carrots, and milk poured over top – sounds strange but it was fantastic) and very large glasses of red wine. I complimented Mama on her pretty bracelets which she quickly removed from her wrist and placed on mine, of course stating “you have.” I am quickly coming to see how generous this society is – it isn’t strange for someone to give you the things right off themselves if you mention how you like it. Mama soon brought out another bracelet and a scarf (used for head wraps and to cover shoulders) for me to take with me. She owns a shops that sells all things of this sort. She was so sweet. I felt a little strange leaving with so many gifts (stated in Tanzania, “jifts”), but it for sure made her happy to be able to share those things with me.
Our group later joined the others at home for a yummy meal, Christmas music (complete with Hilary Duff’s x-mas cd, thanks to Carly from a few years ago!), calls home, and eventually exchanging of our Christmas cards. Calling home was great – but really sad, to be honest. It was the first time I heard anyone of my family’s voices (besides my Mom and Dad) since I left. It was weird not knowing what gifts they bought each other or where they sat around the Christmas tree…
PS: THANK YOU TO MY FAMILY who sent me here with tons of Christmas cards, pictures, and little gifts. They were AWESOME!! There were so many that I decided it would be hard to travel with them, so I opened one every few days in December. It was so much fun! I especially loved all the pictures that I found. You all are the best, I love you so much!
Okay, I think I need a break. Will send another soon. Happy 2011 everyone!
The first two weeks of December were full of orientation from 8am to about 12:30pm everyday with Marty, Sean, the two female and four male teachers that make up the entire faculty of St. Peter Claver (for this first year, at least). I think I’ll catch you up on that in another post.
Sean and I left for Dar on Saturday the 18th to meet the other volunteers for retreat and Christmas holiday. We bought really cheap bus tickets and heard from a friend this bus gets to Dar in about 6 hours (usually it takes 8!). Sean and I were so excited for a “quick” ride, but unfortunately our bus broke down about half-way through the trip. A breakdown consists of everyone getting off the bus, standing under the one tree on the side of the road for a little bit of breeze and shade, while someone on a piki piki (motorcycle) takes the driver to a nearby shop to get the part that will make the fix. This added about two hours to our trip… not to mention the lack of bathroom stops makes us know never to take that bus company again.
The plan was for Sean and I to stay with the Dar community just Saturday night and then we all traveled north to Tanga the following day. The other new volunteers have arrived, so it was really nice to reunite with some familiar faces. (We all met during JVC orientation in Boston this summer – remember when I missed Erie for the 3rd year in a row? Boo.) Sunday morning Gretchen (2nd year), Shea, Cat, Sean and I took another six hour trip to the region of Tanga where we met Beth (2nd year), Liz, Andy, and Moryah, the four volunteers living in Moshi (by Mt. Kili). All nine of us stayed at the Rosminian (sp?) retreat center. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! There were a few little two story houses with four rooms in each. We all got out own rooms with bathroom – nice! The retreat place was so comfortable, and it sat right above the beach of the Indian Ocean (there was a small cliff so we had to walk down a few stairs to get to the beach). The weather was beautiful and when it was hot we just swam in the warm, warm water. Ahhhh – this truly felt like paradise. Our retreat was really relaxing. We reflected on the four JV values and shared life stories to get to know each other. It was the perfect escape.
The two Sisters that lived there cooked us our meals. We ate fish often and it was so fresh and delicious! I was able to make Mass a few times in the morning (6:30am, yikes!), but it was such a beautiful chapel facing the water and the rising sun. Yes – I saw the sun rise! That was a first, for sure. We saw the tide go in and out everyday. I never knew it was such an extreme change; it went out yards and yards and yards. I guess I figured the ocean would be just like Lake Erie that only changes a few feet. Silly me.
All nine volunteers headed back to Dar on the 24th (Happy Birthday Carrie!) to celebrate Christmas together. That ride back was brutal. There is only one paved road to get about anywhere in Tanzania, and partway through the journey there is a tight bridge that follows a few bends in the road where apparently there are often many accidents. This was one of those lucky days – a semi must have took the turn badly and ended up toppling over, causing an extreme traffic jam. Unlike the States where our police come to direct traffic, the police stayed comfortably in their station (a few feet away) while hundreds of cars and trucks stared at each other trying to figure out where to go. We were stuck in this jam for about 2 hours in the brutal heat with very little place for escape. Because we didn’t want to drink water in case we’d have to use the restroom, we all were not feeling so great in the heat. We retreated to the bush to experience nature very intimately (aka, bathroom break) and found a tiny shops selling biscuits (plan vanilla cookies) to tide us over.
Oh, I forgot a very important detail – our bus was infested with cockroaches. Hundreds of them. Coming out of every corner and crawling over everything. It was so disturbing. By the time the bus started moving again, I had to force myself to sleep so I wouldn’t feel the heat, my weakness, or see those roaches.
We arrived in Dar about 8 hours later and were kindly invited for sodas and dinner at the Jesuit residence. We enjoyed a nice meal, nice company, but were all very ready for bed.
At the volunteers’ place in Dar, we had to share beds, couches, and there was even a tent set up outside to sleep four extras (on couch cushions of course). Dar is so hot; so, so hot. The kind of hot that makes you sweat right after you showered, and you aren’t sure if it’s water or new sweat. I feel for those volunteers there; I don’t think I’d survive two years in that weather.
Christmas morning we went to Mass. I’m starting to make better connections to the Kiswahili Mass now that I’ve been here a while. It’s nice that no matter where you go in the world Mass is always the same. It’s like coming home (even when you don’t quite understand what they are saying). It was a beautiful Mass with many young girls as liturgical dancers in front and a choir that sang a few familiar Christmas songs.
As a group we decided to pull for a Secret Santa and give each other handmade Christmas cards as a gift. So most of the morning I spent much time working on an original popup (a throw back to my younger years when I thought Hallmark was in my future). It was very therapeutic. Some volunteers worked on Christmas dinner (tortillas and mango salsa!) and others went to visit long-time family friends of the Dar volunteers (JVs have been serving in Dar for 15 years now). I went on the second run to visit a family and we walked in just as they were eating. They sat us in their living room and quickly finished eating, cleared the table and reset it and soon invited us to feast. We had not intended to eat there, considering the exciting dinner being made at home but it is rude to refuse. We chowed down and the family now sat in the living room. After dinner we sat again in the living room where they served us an extraordinary fruit salad (mango, papaya, banana, pineapple, carrots, and milk poured over top – sounds strange but it was fantastic) and very large glasses of red wine. I complimented Mama on her pretty bracelets which she quickly removed from her wrist and placed on mine, of course stating “you have.” I am quickly coming to see how generous this society is – it isn’t strange for someone to give you the things right off themselves if you mention how you like it. Mama soon brought out another bracelet and a scarf (used for head wraps and to cover shoulders) for me to take with me. She owns a shops that sells all things of this sort. She was so sweet. I felt a little strange leaving with so many gifts (stated in Tanzania, “jifts”), but it for sure made her happy to be able to share those things with me.
Our group later joined the others at home for a yummy meal, Christmas music (complete with Hilary Duff’s x-mas cd, thanks to Carly from a few years ago!), calls home, and eventually exchanging of our Christmas cards. Calling home was great – but really sad, to be honest. It was the first time I heard anyone of my family’s voices (besides my Mom and Dad) since I left. It was weird not knowing what gifts they bought each other or where they sat around the Christmas tree…
PS: THANK YOU TO MY FAMILY who sent me here with tons of Christmas cards, pictures, and little gifts. They were AWESOME!! There were so many that I decided it would be hard to travel with them, so I opened one every few days in December. It was so much fun! I especially loved all the pictures that I found. You all are the best, I love you so much!
Okay, I think I need a break. Will send another soon. Happy 2011 everyone!
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