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).