I have arrived in Machame (considered a suburb of Moshi...if you can use the word suburb here)! I can whole-heartedly say this is why I came to Africa. I'm in paradise. Literally. On my walk home yesterday, the clouds parted and I saw the snow-kissed mountain top of Kilimanjaro (not visible from Arusha). I live in the jungle amongst plantations of banana trees (ndizi) and avocado trees (parachichi). I live with the Sabhot family 1 mama, 1 baba, 4 girls ranging from the equivalent of a senior in high school to about a 7th grader, and 1 cousin who had moved to Cape Town South Africa, but is visiting the family for a month. Baba says "I had 4 of the best kind, and now I have 6!" meaning, Tamara and I are now his daughters. I feel so completely welcomed. The house we live in is an heirloom, tradition runs here that once the father dies, his home is given to the youngest son (my baba). So once my baba inherited the home, he built on to it. So half of the house is new- about 20 years old, and the other half of the house is from what his father built. The grandpa's and grandma's tombs are also right next to the house. Last night after we came home from the hospital we made chapati with the girls (a traditional flour based tortilla type of thing that is absolutely delicious!) which is about a 3 hour process. The family owns a farm with 6 milk cows and endless chickens and roosters, and also a family of cats that had a new litter 4 days ago. The kittens have yet to open their eyes. Mama works as a teacher, but is on winter holiday right now-as are the girls. And baba runs the family business, there is a sawmill off our front porch, and a crafting building next door where the neighbors of Machame come buy wood, and then have it shaped into the furniture they need or the patches they need to fix their homes. I think our family is pretty important to the community. The family business means there are always 15-20 men wandering around the yard, in between the sawmill and the crafting shed. Its a little strange, but everyone is so friendly. When we arrived home yesterday from work, we were greeted with a glass of chilled of juice and a comfy seat in sun. Heaven.
We work in Machame Hospitali. We work with the doctors and nurses and staff to teach them an internet based computer program called Telemedicine. However, we have gracefully realized most of the staff has never touched a computer before. So we start from square one: how to use a mouse. What clicking means, and the most challenging: how to click and drag! Some of the staff are quicker learners and we've already set them to the typing programs we have. We are teaching them through lessons and games how to memorize where the keys are and how to sight-type. The agreement is that we will receive shadowing opportunities by the staff as well, however we were told to not ask for shadowing in the fist week because we need to establish our presence as the computer geeks. Word has it that a plastic surgeon is coming from the U.S. next week to work on a patient with a cleft lip and some burn victims. We've already decided we'll speak up next week Wednesday if we haven't been asked to observe any procedures yet.
The major difference between Machame and Arusha for me is the attitude of the townspeople. In Arusha, I couldn't walk more than 5 steps without hearing someone scream out their window, or straight into my face "Muzungu!" You're constantly bombarded by "fly-catchers"- men who have "original" artwork they try to sell to foreigners for outrageous prices. Traffic zooms by at frightening speeds, honking the whole way. Its hard to trust dalla drivers who may or may not rip you off, or not stop when you want to get off. But in Machame, as I walk down the calm quite roads, and I'm greeted by "shikamoo" (I give you my respect) to which you say "Marahaba" (I accept). Its so pleasant. And the village is small and secluded- nestled 3 km off one of the routes to climb Kilimanjaro everyone says hi to each other. Walking the half an hour trek up the never-ending hill to the Hospitali we saw a total of 10 cars. There is only one main road, speckled with small convenience shops and homes. Most people walk here, or ride on carts pulled by cows and donkeys.
Its going to be a nice 5 weeks I think. Worst case scenario, I situate my chair to face the mountain and grab a book to read in the sun while men scurry about around me logging this and that. We leave in about 2 hours to head into Moshi and then travel to Arusha where we will be picked up to go on Safari until Sunday. I'll be back here on Monday or Tuesday and will write then.
Jun 26, 2008
Jun 21, 2008
Chapter Two
this is the end of chapter one. Graduation was yesterday, I said goodbye to all my kids (although there wasn't enough time, and the energy from our coordinator was anxious to get back to Arusha, so it was very rushed). It was good to have the experience, and I will always have a lasting memory of true teenage hormones in Tanzania. However, many volunteers are doing another 1-2 weeks of community training, which is essentially the same material we just taught all over again to different groups, some kids and some adults. I can honestly say I'm happy I don't have to do it all over again. I'm ready for change. I'm ready to learn more and create new memories. Well, wish granted. I move out of Arusha on Tuesday afternoon, which gives me approximately 3 more days with my mama at my homestay. She was devastated by this announcement, and rightfully so, because I've only lived with her for about 3 weeks. I'm going to miss her cooking and her quick-fire run through of Swahili greetings everyday when I come home from school.
me: shikamoo mama.
mama: marahaba. habari za shule?
me: nzuri, habari za leo?
mama: nzuri. salama ____
me : (not knowing what she says after this but knowing what the correct response is) salama. asante.
I will be moving to Machame which is supposed to be 40 minutes outside of Moshi (we'll see...) and living in a homestay with a volunteer from my program here. Her name is Tamara. I already know she has a different personality than me, very social, loves to stay up late and talk and play with her family. I'm quiet the opposite here. I enjoy talking and socializing with my family within "my hours of socialization" which is in the morning durring breakfast and until I leave, and from when I get home at night until 8. At 8 I retire to my bedroom to be alone. This is sometimes the best part of my day when I can just be. I don't have to think to communicate, I don't have to teach, or be a role model, I don't have to create conversation. I just read and journal and sometimes throw on my iPod and dance around a little in my room.
I think that living with Tamara will either be a blessing: I'll be able to have an American around and kind of toss her to the family when I'm done socializing and let her entertain. Or it might be rough: I'll be expected by the family as well to be up all night and being active. My poor body literally dragged through the college days of intense studying/socializing and very little sleep has greatly appreciated the 10 hours of sleep per night, and the leisure to read and journal. Seldom has my life permitted such luxuries.
I'm excited to start in Moshi. I'm getting burnt out on Arusha. Its a pretty big town here. There are lots of people which means lots of theft and lots of hassling. Moshi is considerably smaller, and Machame is even smaller. I'll be working in a hospital training the staff on an IT system that will connect Tanzania to a larger network including the US and Europe. But I'll also report to the Patron who will give me "marching orders" (no idea why this name stuck). They say that if there's time there is also a training clinic next door who have plenty of work, and organizations in Machame are always begging for interns to come help out. I met some Finnish girls who are doing a medical tour of Tanzania for their schooling and they mentioned that they got to stand in the OR while a patient had part of his thyroid removed. How cool would this be?!!? I'm not sure if this will be my case, but I can only dream at this point.
Next weekend some of the volunteers and I have planned a safari to the Serengeti and Nogorongoro. Its going to be about $500 but it includes everything, and its supposed to be amazing. GSC took us on safari to Lake Manyara last weekend. This is the lake in postcards that is pure pink because of the amounts of flamingos (3 million) that migrate during this time of the year. Besides that, we also saw giraffe about 20 feet from us, elephants (teeny tiny babies included) pass right all around us, and almost stampede our vehicle. We saw female lions (they climb trees here to get away from the heat and the biting flies) in trees and on ground and we also so a male lion with his mane all puffed up. We saw pumba, I mean warthogs, zebra, herons, storks, eagles, tons of baboons (even two that were mating in front of our car so we couldn't go any farther), velvet monkys, impala (or deer as we call them), water buffalo, hippos and so much more. But apparently this was nothing compared to the Nogorongoro crater and Serengeti. ha.
We are also in the works of planning a trip to Zanzibar and also (what I'm most excited about) to a Masai village where they welcome groups and slaughter a goat for us and perform ritual dancing and music. I'm super excited for that, but that will be my very last weekend in Tanzania.
I have no idea what the internet situation will be like in Moshi/Machame but I'm sure I'll find something somewhere. Wish me luck on my move!
me: shikamoo mama.
mama: marahaba. habari za shule?
me: nzuri, habari za leo?
mama: nzuri. salama ____
me : (not knowing what she says after this but knowing what the correct response is) salama. asante.
I will be moving to Machame which is supposed to be 40 minutes outside of Moshi (we'll see...) and living in a homestay with a volunteer from my program here. Her name is Tamara. I already know she has a different personality than me, very social, loves to stay up late and talk and play with her family. I'm quiet the opposite here. I enjoy talking and socializing with my family within "my hours of socialization" which is in the morning durring breakfast and until I leave, and from when I get home at night until 8. At 8 I retire to my bedroom to be alone. This is sometimes the best part of my day when I can just be. I don't have to think to communicate, I don't have to teach, or be a role model, I don't have to create conversation. I just read and journal and sometimes throw on my iPod and dance around a little in my room.
I think that living with Tamara will either be a blessing: I'll be able to have an American around and kind of toss her to the family when I'm done socializing and let her entertain. Or it might be rough: I'll be expected by the family as well to be up all night and being active. My poor body literally dragged through the college days of intense studying/socializing and very little sleep has greatly appreciated the 10 hours of sleep per night, and the leisure to read and journal. Seldom has my life permitted such luxuries.
I'm excited to start in Moshi. I'm getting burnt out on Arusha. Its a pretty big town here. There are lots of people which means lots of theft and lots of hassling. Moshi is considerably smaller, and Machame is even smaller. I'll be working in a hospital training the staff on an IT system that will connect Tanzania to a larger network including the US and Europe. But I'll also report to the Patron who will give me "marching orders" (no idea why this name stuck). They say that if there's time there is also a training clinic next door who have plenty of work, and organizations in Machame are always begging for interns to come help out. I met some Finnish girls who are doing a medical tour of Tanzania for their schooling and they mentioned that they got to stand in the OR while a patient had part of his thyroid removed. How cool would this be?!!? I'm not sure if this will be my case, but I can only dream at this point.
Next weekend some of the volunteers and I have planned a safari to the Serengeti and Nogorongoro. Its going to be about $500 but it includes everything, and its supposed to be amazing. GSC took us on safari to Lake Manyara last weekend. This is the lake in postcards that is pure pink because of the amounts of flamingos (3 million) that migrate during this time of the year. Besides that, we also saw giraffe about 20 feet from us, elephants (teeny tiny babies included) pass right all around us, and almost stampede our vehicle. We saw female lions (they climb trees here to get away from the heat and the biting flies) in trees and on ground and we also so a male lion with his mane all puffed up. We saw pumba, I mean warthogs, zebra, herons, storks, eagles, tons of baboons (even two that were mating in front of our car so we couldn't go any farther), velvet monkys, impala (or deer as we call them), water buffalo, hippos and so much more. But apparently this was nothing compared to the Nogorongoro crater and Serengeti. ha.
We are also in the works of planning a trip to Zanzibar and also (what I'm most excited about) to a Masai village where they welcome groups and slaughter a goat for us and perform ritual dancing and music. I'm super excited for that, but that will be my very last weekend in Tanzania.
I have no idea what the internet situation will be like in Moshi/Machame but I'm sure I'll find something somewhere. Wish me luck on my move!
Jun 16, 2008
The Power of Knowledge
sorry I haven't written in awhile. I've been very busy with school and other things. Everyday when I get home from school there's just enough time to take a bucket bath, eat dinner journal and read, before I pass out from exhaustion. if I never gave teachers enough credit before, I will from here on out. its a huge challenge sometimes to get these kids to respond, and the cultural differences are very apparent in their answers, creativity is not a strong point, and they always want to say the "right" answer, meaning what they think we want to hear, which sometimes leads to answers that neither make sense, nor help others to want to respond. ohh well.
today was a little disheartening. one of our "good girls" (shows up everyday, on time and answers lots of questions) showed up with her sweater around her head and face. at first I thought it was just because she was cold, but soon Kim and I noticed she had a black eye. of course we didn't ask her what happened, but the experiences we've all seen with our homestays and fathers in the household, I wouldn't be surprised if she was beaten over the weekend. men, especially most fathers do not perceive women as having ANY importance besides making babies and raising the family. women are a liability in every sense. its like when I flew over Africa, I flew back in time about 200 years ago. its so degrading. but these classes not only teach children about HIV and human health, but about self esteem, self confidence and appropriate relationships, which includes women empowerment in the relationship. we repeat over and over that women have the right to say no, even to their husbands (which always gets shocked looks). these poor girls.
today, as part of the afternoon we had a "person living with HIV" come in to speak to the kids. its like this past week of teaching has gone in one ear and out the other. they wouldn't believe the woman that she had HIV because "she looked too normal" and she "didn't look sick" and she "seemed so happy about her life". we've tried to role play and create games about how you would never know if a person had HIV from the outside, because they don't look different, and the kids all nod their heads like they get it, but then they all stood up and tried to "get her to break" and admit that she was lying and didn't have any disease. hopefully by the end, they realized it wasn't a joke, and this woman really was trying to break down stereotypes that infected people look infected.
some of these kids are really growing on me. they are so studious and most of them really want to learn. well, wouldn't you if the alternative was staying at home helping mom and dad with chores? the kids are on winter holiday from regular school right now, and these classes are completely voluntary. we don't make them come back if they don't want to. I think we are really doing some good work. you can see the kids grow with each lesson. they are so curious that sometimes they don't even ask questions that pertain to anything we teach. we have a question box where they can write any question down, anonymously and we'll answer them. we got a question about why does the moon sometimes appear all white, and sometimes its only a sliver? so we enacted a solar system in the middle of the dirt floor. another question asked us about what cancer was. so I asked the class if they wanted a simple answer or if they wanted the whole story, and all at once they shouted THE WHOLE STORY! so I taught them about DNA and carcinogens, the things you can do to protect yourself, and the things that will occur without your permission. they love it. whenever they're given the option to go out and take a break and play or do question box, they always choose question box.
I saw Haika (the girl that came in with the black eye) write a question out today, and slip it in the box as she left for lunch. I wonder if I'll know when her question comes up.
Our kids graduate on Friday, and they've been preparing art and dramas all week. today I got caught up watching the girls create this masterpiece of a drama in an empty classroom. it was complete with original songs. the leader, stood up and did the scales to find her pitch, then conducted the rest of the kids (even some 14 year old boys) to follow in harmony. I'm so excited to see the final piece.
One last week of this, then I'll move on to training for the hospital part of my work. I hope its as fulfilling as this has been.
today was a little disheartening. one of our "good girls" (shows up everyday, on time and answers lots of questions) showed up with her sweater around her head and face. at first I thought it was just because she was cold, but soon Kim and I noticed she had a black eye. of course we didn't ask her what happened, but the experiences we've all seen with our homestays and fathers in the household, I wouldn't be surprised if she was beaten over the weekend. men, especially most fathers do not perceive women as having ANY importance besides making babies and raising the family. women are a liability in every sense. its like when I flew over Africa, I flew back in time about 200 years ago. its so degrading. but these classes not only teach children about HIV and human health, but about self esteem, self confidence and appropriate relationships, which includes women empowerment in the relationship. we repeat over and over that women have the right to say no, even to their husbands (which always gets shocked looks). these poor girls.
today, as part of the afternoon we had a "person living with HIV" come in to speak to the kids. its like this past week of teaching has gone in one ear and out the other. they wouldn't believe the woman that she had HIV because "she looked too normal" and she "didn't look sick" and she "seemed so happy about her life". we've tried to role play and create games about how you would never know if a person had HIV from the outside, because they don't look different, and the kids all nod their heads like they get it, but then they all stood up and tried to "get her to break" and admit that she was lying and didn't have any disease. hopefully by the end, they realized it wasn't a joke, and this woman really was trying to break down stereotypes that infected people look infected.
some of these kids are really growing on me. they are so studious and most of them really want to learn. well, wouldn't you if the alternative was staying at home helping mom and dad with chores? the kids are on winter holiday from regular school right now, and these classes are completely voluntary. we don't make them come back if they don't want to. I think we are really doing some good work. you can see the kids grow with each lesson. they are so curious that sometimes they don't even ask questions that pertain to anything we teach. we have a question box where they can write any question down, anonymously and we'll answer them. we got a question about why does the moon sometimes appear all white, and sometimes its only a sliver? so we enacted a solar system in the middle of the dirt floor. another question asked us about what cancer was. so I asked the class if they wanted a simple answer or if they wanted the whole story, and all at once they shouted THE WHOLE STORY! so I taught them about DNA and carcinogens, the things you can do to protect yourself, and the things that will occur without your permission. they love it. whenever they're given the option to go out and take a break and play or do question box, they always choose question box.
I saw Haika (the girl that came in with the black eye) write a question out today, and slip it in the box as she left for lunch. I wonder if I'll know when her question comes up.
Our kids graduate on Friday, and they've been preparing art and dramas all week. today I got caught up watching the girls create this masterpiece of a drama in an empty classroom. it was complete with original songs. the leader, stood up and did the scales to find her pitch, then conducted the rest of the kids (even some 14 year old boys) to follow in harmony. I'm so excited to see the final piece.
One last week of this, then I'll move on to training for the hospital part of my work. I hope its as fulfilling as this has been.
Jun 10, 2008
Black Tuesday
everyday teaches you something here. the other day I learned not to leave your stuff out for others to take from, today I learned the driving is exactly as bad as it seems, and pedestrians never have the right of way.
this morning, some of us were gathered around the dalla stand about to go our separate ways. one of the volunteers needed to cross the road, but as she step out, and car swerved around a parked dalla and ran over her foot. she was taken away to the hospital with one of the GSC staff who happened to be there too. thank god. I don't know her status as of now, but I can imagine she broke her foot. I can't imagine hobbling around on crutches here, she might go home. then, as were were driving home from day camp today, we passed by a traffic jam, a group of people were huddled around a man who was thrown from his bicycle, he was laying in a pool of his own blood not responding. there is no such thing as calling 911 here, there are no amublences for miles and miles and miles. finally, right as we were approaching our stop we saw a dalla off-roaded. it had driven into a ditch, and the ditches are so expansive here that the dalla was nearly parallel with the ground. scary.
Even more so now, everyone needs to watch where they're going and be extra careful of traffic. this all happened about 20 mintues ago, I'm still a little shaken at seeing that guy dead on the road.
its hard to continue on with a normal blog after that. but theres a lot more going on here...
day camp started today (yesterday was a prep day). all volunteers are divided into 3 schools. Within each school, 2 volunteers are assigned to teach together, there are 3 separate classrooms per school. Then each pair of volunteers is assigned a counterpart (Tanzanian-born translator, who also went through the training with us last week). I guess I feel my work at the day camp is a little frustrating, because everything is translated twice. we speak in English, then the counterpart translates it into Swahili for the students (14-17 years old) and then their responses are translated back into English for us to understand. the whole process is really tedious, and as a teacher, I have no idea how my information is being translated to the kids, or where I would need to interject or clarify. I know the camp is suposed to give them general information about HIV/AIDS, anatomy, and life skills to make decisions and "say no" but they are also expected to pass this info on to fellow students, family members, and friends. if they don't understand it well engough to educate others, isn't our work more or less futile? wouldn't GSC be better off training the counterparts more completely to be able to give these day camp sessons by themselves. for me, as a pre-nursing student, I know a lot about the logistics of the virus and the anatomy of people, that I want to share so much, but everything is lost in translation. I feel bad.
on a brighter side, I think we really stand as role models to these kids. we play games with them, and get them to be creative and participatory. I see the kids watching me and what I do, and when I smile at them, they return the smile 100 times bigger. I don't think they get paid a lot of individual attention, and ideas are put to the side, but my partner and I really work to give each kid a chance to ask questions and participate. that is what keeps me going. the responses that the kids really want to learn this. as I said in an earlier entry, they are not taught about this, and sex and anatomy is taboo here, leading to tons of practices that are both unsafe, and risky in regards to HIV and other diseases. these kids are all going through puberty, they deserve the right to know what's happening to their bodies is normal. somtimes I just ache for these kids, and the lack of opportunities available. it is not fair.
I'm looking forward to going home after this (I haven't been home since 6:50 this morning and its 5 right now) taking a bucket bath, eating some rice and beans and just reading for the rest of the night. today was rough.
this morning, some of us were gathered around the dalla stand about to go our separate ways. one of the volunteers needed to cross the road, but as she step out, and car swerved around a parked dalla and ran over her foot. she was taken away to the hospital with one of the GSC staff who happened to be there too. thank god. I don't know her status as of now, but I can imagine she broke her foot. I can't imagine hobbling around on crutches here, she might go home. then, as were were driving home from day camp today, we passed by a traffic jam, a group of people were huddled around a man who was thrown from his bicycle, he was laying in a pool of his own blood not responding. there is no such thing as calling 911 here, there are no amublences for miles and miles and miles. finally, right as we were approaching our stop we saw a dalla off-roaded. it had driven into a ditch, and the ditches are so expansive here that the dalla was nearly parallel with the ground. scary.
Even more so now, everyone needs to watch where they're going and be extra careful of traffic. this all happened about 20 mintues ago, I'm still a little shaken at seeing that guy dead on the road.
its hard to continue on with a normal blog after that. but theres a lot more going on here...
day camp started today (yesterday was a prep day). all volunteers are divided into 3 schools. Within each school, 2 volunteers are assigned to teach together, there are 3 separate classrooms per school. Then each pair of volunteers is assigned a counterpart (Tanzanian-born translator, who also went through the training with us last week). I guess I feel my work at the day camp is a little frustrating, because everything is translated twice. we speak in English, then the counterpart translates it into Swahili for the students (14-17 years old) and then their responses are translated back into English for us to understand. the whole process is really tedious, and as a teacher, I have no idea how my information is being translated to the kids, or where I would need to interject or clarify. I know the camp is suposed to give them general information about HIV/AIDS, anatomy, and life skills to make decisions and "say no" but they are also expected to pass this info on to fellow students, family members, and friends. if they don't understand it well engough to educate others, isn't our work more or less futile? wouldn't GSC be better off training the counterparts more completely to be able to give these day camp sessons by themselves. for me, as a pre-nursing student, I know a lot about the logistics of the virus and the anatomy of people, that I want to share so much, but everything is lost in translation. I feel bad.
on a brighter side, I think we really stand as role models to these kids. we play games with them, and get them to be creative and participatory. I see the kids watching me and what I do, and when I smile at them, they return the smile 100 times bigger. I don't think they get paid a lot of individual attention, and ideas are put to the side, but my partner and I really work to give each kid a chance to ask questions and participate. that is what keeps me going. the responses that the kids really want to learn this. as I said in an earlier entry, they are not taught about this, and sex and anatomy is taboo here, leading to tons of practices that are both unsafe, and risky in regards to HIV and other diseases. these kids are all going through puberty, they deserve the right to know what's happening to their bodies is normal. somtimes I just ache for these kids, and the lack of opportunities available. it is not fair.
I'm looking forward to going home after this (I haven't been home since 6:50 this morning and its 5 right now) taking a bucket bath, eating some rice and beans and just reading for the rest of the night. today was rough.
Jun 8, 2008
my first week down. it feels like its already been a month. all that I've seen and learned already! people in town are beginning to recognize us GSC people, and we get bothered less now. but that still didn't stop people from trying to steal from me! we were walking through one of the town markets, and there were a ton of people around, I felt my backpack getting moved around a little, but stupidly didn't think about it. I started getting a little nervous because the hoard of people wasn't passing, I kind of glanced to my side and saw a guy pull something black from what seemed like my bag. I immediately turned around to face him, thinking he took my umbrella, and I started talking really fast to him in English about how he shouldn't take things that aren't his, and I asked him to give it back, pointing to the hand that I knew it was in. shamefully he handed it back, and I ran away to catch up with the other girls who hadn't seen me stop. I told them what happened, and they noticed my backpack was unzipped too. luckily nothing was missing. it kind of shook me up a little, and now whenever we walk thorugh markets, I put my backpack on my front. I'm a muzungu anyway I might as well look ridiculous!
sundays are so boring here. barely anything in town is open because everyone goes to church. Tanzania has personal tailors just like vietnam did, so last Wed. I bought some african fabric and went to a tailor to have a dress made. it was supposed to be done today, but when I went back his shop was closed, and he was in church. one of the counterparts (our translators for day camp) said she'd pick it up later today when he was back and bring it to day camp tomorrow. I'm excited to see what it looks like! it seems like sundays are only for church, and getting your hair done (its surprising I found and internet place that was open!). when I came out of my room this morning, mama was deep cleaning all the kitchen stuff, and then she prepared immt's (the little girl in the house) hair to be rebraided by rubbing it down with coconut oil. I wanted to document the process because I thought my mama was going to re-braid her hair, but mama was only preparing it, to send her off with the neighbor. I wasn't invited, so I didn't ask to go.
sunday is the day of afros. I think everyone gets their hair rebraided every sunday, so everyone's hair is down in an afro before its done again. I like it, Its beautiful and natural.
we went to an indian restaurant last night for one of the girl's birthdays. it was amazing. not that the food here isn't delicious, but you can't beat indian food. the menu was so funny it was half hindi and half swahili, I had no idea what I was getting, but it was great. I would so much rather eat at home than go out to a tanzanian restaurant though. my mama is such a good cook. most of the food here is rice and beans. beef is expensive, but available on special occasions. mama makes beef about twice a week. she also includes various vegetables doused in vinegar and various fruits (wild mango, pinneapple, oranges that look like lemons and bananas). most of the calories come from seriously refined carbs. always white rice or ugali. ugali is like a mold of corn meal. its not fluid by any means, and its not cooked. its just a mold. it kind of tastes like glue. its supposed to absorb the falvors surrounding it. mama knows I don't really like it. they use a lot of white corn here too. there are basically 2 colors for food (unless you eat fruit or vegetables) white and brown. I like it though. I can feel myself losing a little weight.
I live the closest to twon (40 minute walk to the edge of town). so I rarely take dalla dallas (beat up mini vans that act as mass transport fitting 25-30 people in 10 available seats). usually in the dallas, you have lots of people standing over you with their armpits in your face, which is most pleasant since they don't have deoderant here. I enjoy walking. but the dallas are fun to watch because the attendants act as recruiters. you will litterally get coralled into a dalla if you don't stand your ground and say "hapana!" no I'm walking! they're relatively cheap though about 25 cents to go anywhere around town.
enough rambling for now. I'll write next week and tell you about day camp. I'm excited to start. I've already had several conversations with young people about AIDS here. the education is definitely lacking, and it becomes a game to stump the muzungu about a rumor why condoms don't actually work at all.
sundays are so boring here. barely anything in town is open because everyone goes to church. Tanzania has personal tailors just like vietnam did, so last Wed. I bought some african fabric and went to a tailor to have a dress made. it was supposed to be done today, but when I went back his shop was closed, and he was in church. one of the counterparts (our translators for day camp) said she'd pick it up later today when he was back and bring it to day camp tomorrow. I'm excited to see what it looks like! it seems like sundays are only for church, and getting your hair done (its surprising I found and internet place that was open!). when I came out of my room this morning, mama was deep cleaning all the kitchen stuff, and then she prepared immt's (the little girl in the house) hair to be rebraided by rubbing it down with coconut oil. I wanted to document the process because I thought my mama was going to re-braid her hair, but mama was only preparing it, to send her off with the neighbor. I wasn't invited, so I didn't ask to go.
sunday is the day of afros. I think everyone gets their hair rebraided every sunday, so everyone's hair is down in an afro before its done again. I like it, Its beautiful and natural.
we went to an indian restaurant last night for one of the girl's birthdays. it was amazing. not that the food here isn't delicious, but you can't beat indian food. the menu was so funny it was half hindi and half swahili, I had no idea what I was getting, but it was great. I would so much rather eat at home than go out to a tanzanian restaurant though. my mama is such a good cook. most of the food here is rice and beans. beef is expensive, but available on special occasions. mama makes beef about twice a week. she also includes various vegetables doused in vinegar and various fruits (wild mango, pinneapple, oranges that look like lemons and bananas). most of the calories come from seriously refined carbs. always white rice or ugali. ugali is like a mold of corn meal. its not fluid by any means, and its not cooked. its just a mold. it kind of tastes like glue. its supposed to absorb the falvors surrounding it. mama knows I don't really like it. they use a lot of white corn here too. there are basically 2 colors for food (unless you eat fruit or vegetables) white and brown. I like it though. I can feel myself losing a little weight.
I live the closest to twon (40 minute walk to the edge of town). so I rarely take dalla dallas (beat up mini vans that act as mass transport fitting 25-30 people in 10 available seats). usually in the dallas, you have lots of people standing over you with their armpits in your face, which is most pleasant since they don't have deoderant here. I enjoy walking. but the dallas are fun to watch because the attendants act as recruiters. you will litterally get coralled into a dalla if you don't stand your ground and say "hapana!" no I'm walking! they're relatively cheap though about 25 cents to go anywhere around town.
enough rambling for now. I'll write next week and tell you about day camp. I'm excited to start. I've already had several conversations with young people about AIDS here. the education is definitely lacking, and it becomes a game to stump the muzungu about a rumor why condoms don't actually work at all.
Jun 5, 2008
to each his own
after 30 minutes of just trying to get to this page, I have finally logged in! the internet is painfully the slowest I have ever experienced!
As of last night, I have a new mama. I moved in with my host family last night after the days activities at the GSC office! Everyone came back to the office this morning with stories of how different it is, and how its so hard to get used to things, but I absolutely love it. my family is middle-class meaning, they have a home, and some electronic appliances. to get to the home, you walk through what resembles townships in South Africa. a slew of shacks, some with tin walls, some with cement, but all very close to surrounding houses, and tiny. my home is set back amongst the shacks. you walk in a off balance wooden fence to a court-yard of sorts. along one side continues the wooden fence, along the other is a cement wall with three doors spaced out in a row. I have yet to learn where these doors lead. Then at the end of the row of doors, you pass thorugh another wooden door, the "front door". you take your shoes off as you enter as they have an elaborate oriental space rug in the living room, but other than that, cement floors (including my room). They have a nice sofa set up in that main room as well as a TV and a stereo. the room has 3 doors leading off of it. One is for my mama and her daughter, Veronica. another is for my room, and the third is for the kitchen. They own a fridge, but it only holds eggs, and the water they have boiled for me to drink from. Also living in the home, is the older sister's daughter (who lives in Dar es salam) imt, and the "house girl": an orphan that cleans the home and does the dishes and laundry. my family seems very nice though because she also attends school. Only my sister Veronica speaks english.
I'm running out of time, so I'll lay out a typical day for myself this week (next week will be different because HIV day camp starts.
I wake up at 6:50 am to get dressed. Breakfast of eggs and toast is at 7. Kim, another GSC volunteer who lives close picks me up and we walk to the office. at 9 we start with Kiswahili lessons. around 11 we have "tea time". Then we do some sort of training activity for teaching at the day camp until lunch at 12:30. The rest of the day until 4:30 or 5 is devoted to more training or life skills development to be taught at day camp as well. I go home, the house girl boils water for me to take a bath (which is a wooden stall outside in the back of the house, and the toilet is a stall next door- squat toilet). Then I talk with the family until dinner at 7:30. Then I read or journal until I go to bed at 9 or so.
its a very simple lifestyle, but I really enjoy it. although I've travelled to 3rd world countries before, I've never lived in one. Its so interesting to be emmerssed in the family dynamics, and use the ammenities as they do. I will live with this family for the rest of this week, and the 2 weeks of day camp after that. But then I will be relocated to Moshi (a town 1.5 hours away) where I'll work in the hospital and live with a different family.
Although the people here are completely genuine and sincere, I still never escape town without hearing Mazunga!!! (a less derrogitory name for white person).
As of last night, I have a new mama. I moved in with my host family last night after the days activities at the GSC office! Everyone came back to the office this morning with stories of how different it is, and how its so hard to get used to things, but I absolutely love it. my family is middle-class meaning, they have a home, and some electronic appliances. to get to the home, you walk through what resembles townships in South Africa. a slew of shacks, some with tin walls, some with cement, but all very close to surrounding houses, and tiny. my home is set back amongst the shacks. you walk in a off balance wooden fence to a court-yard of sorts. along one side continues the wooden fence, along the other is a cement wall with three doors spaced out in a row. I have yet to learn where these doors lead. Then at the end of the row of doors, you pass thorugh another wooden door, the "front door". you take your shoes off as you enter as they have an elaborate oriental space rug in the living room, but other than that, cement floors (including my room). They have a nice sofa set up in that main room as well as a TV and a stereo. the room has 3 doors leading off of it. One is for my mama and her daughter, Veronica. another is for my room, and the third is for the kitchen. They own a fridge, but it only holds eggs, and the water they have boiled for me to drink from. Also living in the home, is the older sister's daughter (who lives in Dar es salam) imt, and the "house girl": an orphan that cleans the home and does the dishes and laundry. my family seems very nice though because she also attends school. Only my sister Veronica speaks english.
I'm running out of time, so I'll lay out a typical day for myself this week (next week will be different because HIV day camp starts.
I wake up at 6:50 am to get dressed. Breakfast of eggs and toast is at 7. Kim, another GSC volunteer who lives close picks me up and we walk to the office. at 9 we start with Kiswahili lessons. around 11 we have "tea time". Then we do some sort of training activity for teaching at the day camp until lunch at 12:30. The rest of the day until 4:30 or 5 is devoted to more training or life skills development to be taught at day camp as well. I go home, the house girl boils water for me to take a bath (which is a wooden stall outside in the back of the house, and the toilet is a stall next door- squat toilet). Then I talk with the family until dinner at 7:30. Then I read or journal until I go to bed at 9 or so.
its a very simple lifestyle, but I really enjoy it. although I've travelled to 3rd world countries before, I've never lived in one. Its so interesting to be emmerssed in the family dynamics, and use the ammenities as they do. I will live with this family for the rest of this week, and the 2 weeks of day camp after that. But then I will be relocated to Moshi (a town 1.5 hours away) where I'll work in the hospital and live with a different family.
Although the people here are completely genuine and sincere, I still never escape town without hearing Mazunga!!! (a less derrogitory name for white person).
Jun 1, 2008
Guess and Check
I wrote a blog post yesterday, but the minute I went to hit "post" the internet crashed here, and I lost most of it. So is the internet in Tanzania. I hear the shady internet is because of the Leon H. Sullivan Summit going on here in Arusha this week. Apparently they get all the bandwith or something.
Anyway, so I arrived in Arusha Sturday night after a 9.5 hour bus ride through the country. It was pretty neat to see the progression from urban to rural back to urban. Rural people can literally live a 2 hour ride from any town of significance. I was also on the lookout for any wildlife. No luck. The ride was interesting to say the least, the last hour and a half the man sitting next to me got off, and a new man sat down, but then a small child squeezed into the 2 seats, so the man moved over on top of me and continued to do his homework on my lap. It wouldn't have been terrible if it hadn't already been 90 degrees outside with the sun pouring in my window. Ohh well.
So nearing the end of the bus ride, when we got to Arusha, I was waiting for the stop at the bus terminal where I was hoping a GSC member was waiting, but we were making stops in Arusha every 2 blocks, and none of them were terminal-like. Dusk rolled by, and now it was dark (we were told not to travel at night) and I now started getting a little antsy to get to the terminal. A woman with a baby (who was staring at the only white girl on the bus the entire journey) saw me getting a little antsy and asked me if she could help. When we finally arrive at the terminal and no one was there.. literally a vacant lot... she helped me find a taxi (10 minutes) and decide where my hostel might be. I was all but there. it took another 45 minutes past the bus arriving to find my hostel, and when I got there the woman didn't alighten me to the fact that half of the other members were congregated in the main building. I only found them after wandering aroung the premesis to find where breakfast would be. Needless to say all the girls from the program were shocked at the joureny I had taken. (They all flew in from Amsterdam and were picked up at the airport).
Today, Monday was our first day of the program. All the members are American girls just about my age, some undergrad some grad some inbetween. They are all really nice, they'll be good travelling partners. They come from all different walks of life. It makes for good conversation.
So we got the low down of the program today. I'll be doing this week of orientation: learning swahili, cultural lessons of Tanzania and the Massai people (the local tribal people who live on the outskirts of Arusha...georgeous people), and traning to teach. Then I'll do 2 weeks of "day camp" where we are located at one of 3 schools and we spend 2 weeks with them teaching them life skills (peer pressure, planning, assertivness), sexual health and teen pregnancy. We answer their questions about sex. The thing is, sex is so taboo to talk about here, they often just don't teach about it in school so kids as old as 24 think they could get pregnant from oral sex.
The rest of my time will be spent in the hospital shadowing and teaching about the set up of a database that will connect hospitals to the US and Europe. I'm super excited. We've already ventured into town, if you walk out with 5 girls within minutes you will have at least 10 boys with you wanting to practice their English, sell you something, or "be your friend". It'll take some getting used to, but I can't wait. I move in to my host family on Wednesday.
Time's up!
Anyway, so I arrived in Arusha Sturday night after a 9.5 hour bus ride through the country. It was pretty neat to see the progression from urban to rural back to urban. Rural people can literally live a 2 hour ride from any town of significance. I was also on the lookout for any wildlife. No luck. The ride was interesting to say the least, the last hour and a half the man sitting next to me got off, and a new man sat down, but then a small child squeezed into the 2 seats, so the man moved over on top of me and continued to do his homework on my lap. It wouldn't have been terrible if it hadn't already been 90 degrees outside with the sun pouring in my window. Ohh well.
So nearing the end of the bus ride, when we got to Arusha, I was waiting for the stop at the bus terminal where I was hoping a GSC member was waiting, but we were making stops in Arusha every 2 blocks, and none of them were terminal-like. Dusk rolled by, and now it was dark (we were told not to travel at night) and I now started getting a little antsy to get to the terminal. A woman with a baby (who was staring at the only white girl on the bus the entire journey) saw me getting a little antsy and asked me if she could help. When we finally arrive at the terminal and no one was there.. literally a vacant lot... she helped me find a taxi (10 minutes) and decide where my hostel might be. I was all but there. it took another 45 minutes past the bus arriving to find my hostel, and when I got there the woman didn't alighten me to the fact that half of the other members were congregated in the main building. I only found them after wandering aroung the premesis to find where breakfast would be. Needless to say all the girls from the program were shocked at the joureny I had taken. (They all flew in from Amsterdam and were picked up at the airport).
Today, Monday was our first day of the program. All the members are American girls just about my age, some undergrad some grad some inbetween. They are all really nice, they'll be good travelling partners. They come from all different walks of life. It makes for good conversation.
So we got the low down of the program today. I'll be doing this week of orientation: learning swahili, cultural lessons of Tanzania and the Massai people (the local tribal people who live on the outskirts of Arusha...georgeous people), and traning to teach. Then I'll do 2 weeks of "day camp" where we are located at one of 3 schools and we spend 2 weeks with them teaching them life skills (peer pressure, planning, assertivness), sexual health and teen pregnancy. We answer their questions about sex. The thing is, sex is so taboo to talk about here, they often just don't teach about it in school so kids as old as 24 think they could get pregnant from oral sex.
The rest of my time will be spent in the hospital shadowing and teaching about the set up of a database that will connect hospitals to the US and Europe. I'm super excited. We've already ventured into town, if you walk out with 5 girls within minutes you will have at least 10 boys with you wanting to practice their English, sell you something, or "be your friend". It'll take some getting used to, but I can't wait. I move in to my host family on Wednesday.
Time's up!
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