Home Sweet Home?

I made it! Three weeks, one staph infection, 40 hours of cramped bus riding, 112 hours in presentation style lecture, and I am back in my humble Tanzanian abode. That description of my last three weeks is way too cut and dry so let me dive a little deeper.

After grading my 800 ish exams, cooking dinner with my fellow Tanzanian teachers (they chose pasta Bolognese… a story in and of itself), cleaning my house, and packing up everything I might need for my three weeks of travel…

I went to sleep.

I woke up bright and early the next morning and boarded a small bus/large van (depending on how you look at it) for a 6 hour bus ride to Dar es Salaam. The next morning I got on a real bus and took the ten-hour trip to Arusha. After a short taxi ride from the bus stand, I was greeted by an eye-sore of a hotel with…. SHOWERS!!!! I can’t tell you how exciting it was to take a hot shower (I’m currently limited to bucket baths) and eat cereal for breakfast. I spent the next five days enjoying some of the luxuries of the western world that I had forgotten about and trying to absorb as much information as I could from the transportation conference. I met some fantastic people and I feel like I’ve gotten a little bit up to speed on the kinds of issues Africa is facing right now. I’m still unsure of what exactly to focus my research on but I do feel like I have a little more direction now.

The downside to this conference was that I spent Thanksgiving surrounded by hundreds of people that had no idea of what Thanksgiving was. I missed my family terribly and I made the mistake of, at 8 PM, imagining what I would be doing at a typical Thanksgiving at the Ranch (my grandparent’s house). The family would have finished both dinner and all the clam dip in the house (minus Grama’s hidden stash) and everyone would be sitting around drinking coffee and eating dessert. Some people might be playing cards, some might be doing dishes, but everyone (I think) would be enjoying pleasant conversation after a wonderful meal. These images made me sad at the time as I was by myself in a white hotel room with no food to feast on and no way of speaking with any loved ones from home. In hindsight, however, it just shows how much I truly have to be thankful for. Maybe more like a true Thanksgiving? To every friend and family member out there, I love you and am truly grateful for you. As of late, I have been reminded time and time again.

Following the conference, I got on another bus to Morogoro. This one took eleven hours as it broke down before we left and got a flat tire half way through the trip. In addition to all of this, I had my first encounter with a baby peeing on my lap. In Tanzania, if even part of your lap is open and you’re sitting next to a Mama, you will probably end up holding her baby for some portion of the trip. The Mama that I was sitting next to had to go to the bathroom during our tea-break stop, so she handed me her baby and walked off the bus. Turns out the baby needed a bathroom break as well. FYI, Tanzanian babies don’t wear diapers. In these instances, all you can really do is laugh about it and text someone that will laugh with you.

At the end of a long day, I arrived at our training site, took a shower, and headed to the bar where everyone had gathered. I can’t even describe how amazing it felt to be greeted by all of my fellow PST classmates. Thirty-some volunteers that arrived in country with me 5 months earlier cheered as I walked up and gave them all hugs. This was by far my favorite part of training. Seeing so many familiar faces that were as happy to see me as I was them made my heart feel like it was going to burst. We sat around catching up until it was time to head back for dinner.

Thank goodness I was riding high on the excitement of seeing everyone because it was shortly after this that I noticed the infection in my leg. After an insanely swollen ankle, some feverish nights, and some antibiotics, I’m all better. The rest of the two weeks consisted of lectures, presentations, and discussions about how the first three months at site went and how to be better volunteers, etc. etc. A typical training that one might have with any job except that it was two weeks long. Something not so typical that happened half way through training, though, was… drum roll, please… IST Prom Elfu Mbili na Kumi na Moja (2011)!!!!!

Our group decided to recreate an event started by some previous volunteers at their IST last year. Everyone got dressed up (or as dressed up as one can get in Tanzania without running water and limited clothing options), went to the local, most American restaurant/bar we know of, ate pizza and hamburgers, and danced the night away. The event was made complete with awkward prom pictures and a prom king and queen. It could not possibly have gone any better and when the restaurant closed, we continued the dancing at a club in town.

Following IST, a good friend of mine and I stayed in Morogoro for an extra day to visit with each other and eat junk food (something we ordinarily can’t do in the village). We started our MORNING off with ice cream and cake (Grampa, I told her about your “pancakes/brownies for breakfast” theory and we assumed that it goes the same for cake) and continued on with absolutely nothing healthy (minus a cucumber and a watermelon) while we watched some good chick-flicks. Don’t worry, we took pictures and I will post as soon as I get them. It was nice to have an American “Girl’s Day” in Tanzania. I headed to Dar the next day and was greeted by four beautiful packages from my parents and my Grandma Marge (THANK YOU!). After that, I met up with a bunch of other volunteers for an African soccer game and a subway sandwich (complete with mustard and lettuce) before making my way home.

You would think that at this point I would be just about home free but the rainy season is picking up and a trip that should have taken about 6 hours stretched into 11 as the road was not even close to solid. Bus after bus kept getting stuck in the mud and we had to keep waiting for them to get dug out. Eventually I made it, though and I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to see all of the familiar faces in the village.

I walked into my house knowing it would be a mess (this is Tanzania) but still hoping my efforts to get it as clean as possible before I left would not have been a waste. Well, maybe it wasn’t a waste but if it wasn’t, I don’t ever want to know what it WOULD have looked like. There was a dead mouse on my kitchen floor and a cockroach living in my refrigerator (the biggest I’d ever seen). In addition to this, someone had taken it upon themselves to help me out by turning off my electricity since I wasn’t home. Awesome. I’m still working on getting everything back in order but it’s extremely overwhelming and every time I feel like I’ve made a dent, something else happens.

For example…

Last night, while I was laying in bed, I heard some rustling in my cupboard. I’ve given up on hoping it is something other than a rodent and now just try to go to sleep knowing that there’s nothing I can do about it except to expect a mess in the morning . Sure enough, the medical kit provided by Peace Corps has been ransacked. He went for the dehydration salts, condoms, fungal cream, and miscellaneous pills. To top it off, he ate a bag of my strawberry cough drops that I brought from the states. My friend and I decided he was having a date night… he found the closest thing he could to chocolate covered strawberries (cough drops), he thought he was going to get lucky (condoms), but realized he drank too much (dehydration salts), and don’t ask about the fungal cream. What a mess… Who would have thought that this is what I signed up for when I decided to join the Peace Corps? Anyone still want to visit? If you do, please bring an exterminator… I’m at a loss for what to do. My cat is NOT helping!

For now I think that gets you pretty much up to date. It’s getting really hot, I’ve been reading, cleaning, and I’ve started learning how to play the guitar (cliché, I know). As soon as I get everything in order, I will head out for Christmas and then return to start teaching again in January.

One more thing:

My Christmas list for this year:

1. To see my family and friends back home

2. For my skin to look normal again

3. To stop itching

Santa would have to do some big things to get any of those things to happen i.e. wiping out the entire mosquito population or bringing me a private jet equipped with a pilot which I don’t think will fit in his sleigh. Oh well, I don’t have a fireplace anyway. For now I’ll just have to say I love and miss you all and am wishing you the very best. Happy Holidays, I hope they are absolutely wonderful!

Here Comes the Rainy Season...

The upside to windows without glass:

Being able to hear your students sing from anywhere in your house

A cross breeze that cools you off on the hottest days

Being able to smell the fresh rain after a downpour

The downside:

Finding out how many places the 800 tests you’re grading can blow inside your house

A “water” bed in your bedroom and a swimming pool in your kitchen. Awesome.

On that note, the rainy season has begun! When it rains here, it RAINS… but only for a couple of minutes. The sound of it on the tin roof makes me turn off my music, snuggle up in my… sheet and feel all cozy inside (even at 85 degrees). The power goes in and out with the sporadic downpours, and match up with the cheers and jeers of the students at the school. The lights go off and I hear “awwwwwwwww.” The lights go on and I hear “yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!” I sit in my house and laugh as I light a candle, blow it out, light a candle, blow it out, and try to decide how hungry I am and if it’s really worth making dinner with the electricity flickering on and off. One second you’re cutting an onion, the next, your finger (just kidding). But it’s hard to cook in pitch black and a candle won’t stay lit in the kitchen because there’s too much of a breeze.

Right now, I lay in bed hiding under my net from the mosquitoes and all of the bugs that come with a summer rain (but Africa style) and I think about all that has happened in the last month and all that I’ve got ahead of me in the next. Let’s start with my trip to Dar…

The major crop here is cashew nuts. They’re EVERYWHERE and a source of pride for the Tanzanians in the south. I get asked all the time if I know what they are and they are shocked, and sometimes even unconvinced, that there are cashews in America. So when they started to show up, I started to eat them… A LOT of them. Well, apparently I’m allergic. Did you know that the cashew is in the same family as poison ivy? I’ve never had hives in my entire life, which made a physician, and a three-day trip to Dar es Salaam necessary for me to find out I was eating something I was allergic to. This was a blessing in disguise though, because I am now fully equipped to handle the big scary city all by myself… something I was extremely intimidated by. I navigated the insane dala dala system (turns out, put in the right situation, I WILL elbow my way onto a bus and I will take NO prisoners!), found my hotel (after walking around for four hours), and found my way to the Peace Corps office. I have officially covered all the ground I NEED to cover in Dar all on my own… something not all PCV’s end up doing before they finish their service. I returned to site in time to enjoy a sunrise on the beach with Liz (the RPCV I replaced) before she left the country. Three weeks later (and after a couple more minor bouts of hives) I am healthy and lovin’ life once again.

In addition to bringing me ice cream, my trip to Dar renewed my zeal and interest in the issues involved with transportation in developing countries. (In case anyone reading doesn’t know, I plan on doing my research for my master’s degree in the field of transportation in Tanzania) At one point along the insanely bumpy road to my site, the bus slowed down to a stop and started going slowly towards… something. I was intrigued, and apparently, so was the guy sitting in the middle seat next to me. As I craned my neck to see out, he stood up and leaned all the way towards the right of the bus. As we creeped along, I looked around and realized a few guys were standing up and leaning to the right but not all of them were looking out of the bus. Turns out they weren’t intrigued… they were trying to keep the bus balanced so that it wouldn’t roll on its side as we went over the insanely uneven patch of road. I’m not going to lie, I questioned whether or not they would be successful… This patch of road is just a piece of the worst road I have ever traveled. On my way to Dar, I was flying out of my seat as the driver drove… for SIX hours! As the rainy season gets going, this road will become basically impassable explaining why the south of Tanzania is so much more untouched than the rest of the country. This road is the only connection and makes one wonder about the extent of accidents, fatalities, and the accessibility to resources and food.

Right before I left Houghton, I was informed of a transportation conference happening in Tanzania. This conference is a gathering of people from countries all over Africa, Europe, and America participating in workshops, discussions, and presentations on developing safer, more reliable, and sustainable transportation in Africa. It happens once every three years and each conference is held in a different country in Africa. Can you believe it? What are the chances of it being in the country Peace Corps placed me in?? The opportunity was there but, as my first job as a Peace Corps Volunteer is to be a teacher, I was unsure of whether or not I would be able to attend. Long story short, my students will all be headed home the week before the conference, Peace Corps has given me special permission to travel, and MTU has offered to cover accommodation and registration costs for me to attend. I can’t believe it all magically worked out but I am BEYOND stoked for this opportunity. I’m hoping for research ideas, a chance to meet people interested in something similar to me, and for some intellectual stimulation in my field. There is so much to learn and I’m chomping at the bit right now. The only thing standing between me and a vast amount of new knowledge is 800 tests that need to be graded (but I’m over half way finished), a visit from the U.S. Ambassador (pretty cool, right?), and the navigation of ANOTHER big, scary city (I think I can do it).

Following my conference is IST, which is the training that Peace Corps Volunteers are required to attend after being at site for three months. Each volunteer is supposed to choose a Tanzanian counterpart who will theoretically help you with secondary projects you want to do at your school and in your community. Sometimes this is successful, sometimes it’s not. I have chosen one that is proving to be motivated, curious, and excited to learn. All things I love and respect in ANY human being and all extremely valuable qualities when it comes to a project partner. Considering my options for a counterpart were limited to THREE people, I’m thinking I got lucky… again. Having said that, all three of my options have quickly become wonderful friends and neighbors that I look forward to seeing everyday.

On top of all of this, a PCV in my region is starting a new well project at her site. She is currently in the process of writing a grant for a block press very similar to the one that was used in my senior design project for my bachelor’s degree at SCU. There are many components to that project that I have had experience with and she has asked for my help. As an ducation volunteer, my opportunities to utilize my engineering skills are somewhat rare, so I’m extremely excited to be involved in any way that I can.

Opportunity after opportunity is falling into my lap right now (trust me, this is just the tip of the iceberg as I already have a bunch of ideas for projects at my school) and I can’t help but smile. As a matter of fact, last week I walked around and quite literally could not get myself to stop smiling. After a while, I gave up and asked myself WHY I would want to make myself stop smiling and started walking around with the conviction that I MUST be the luckiest girl in the world. WOOT WOOT!

When in Tanzania...

When in Tanzania…

During your homestay, you will have a toilet (yay!). The water will only run from 3pm to 6am. It will take you a couple of days before you learn how to flush the toilet when the water isn’t running and you will be relieved to know that you can use the bathroom from 6am to 3pm too! This lesson will come in handy at site as you will still have a toilet (yay!) but no running water. Ever.

Sanene, or fried locust heads, contain a lot of protein and should be enjoyed with your homestay brother and sister while watching the news… kinda like popcorn... except more nutritious… and with eyeballs.

Critters will come to visit. You won’t know what they are, you will only hear them rustling under your bed and in your duffle bag. If you would like them to leave, grab a stick and drag your duffle to the living room and lightly tap, or hit, said bag with said stick. You probably won’t find him but he will most likely vacate the premises.

He will, however, return a few days later and you will spend 40 minutes in the middle of the night dragging your duffle bag out of your bedroom and trying to open the zipper with a stick. Eventually the rodent will jump out at you and run across your living room. Even with your anticipation of this, you will still shriek when you see it pop out of the bag. It may turn out to be a mouse. You will spend the rest of your waking hours wondering why the cat you love so much is not earning his keep.

Every animal you see will be exponentially bigger than they are in the states. This includes wasps, toads, and spiders.

There will be spiders. They will come in all shapes and sizes. Some will crawl, others will jump, many will drown in your kitchen water. This includes the enormous camel spider. If the cat won’t drink out of the bucket, you probably shouldn’t use the water to wash your dishes.

Cockroaches, are an inevitability. They do not die and your home is their home so you might as well make friends with them. Ants are also an inevitability. They WILL die but there’s so many of them that it’s pointless to even try. Grab a broom and sweep them outside.

Mosquitos will be everywhere and your mosquito net will give you a false sense of security. One mosquito will always make it in. Your legs will consistently look like the chicken pox came back for revenge and you will itch… ALL of the time.

A chicken will crawl into your wastebin outside and get trapped. It will die but you won’t realize it until days later. You will have to bury it and it will smell. Really bad. It’s no wonder no one noticed it missing, though, there are twenty roaming around the teacher’s compound on a daily basis.

You will be asked by everyone if you have children and how your husband is doing. “You don’t have a husband? Why not? You should meet my brother.”

When traveling to the nearest banking town, you may have to wait for three hours before the first dala dala shows up to take you. You will then board the already crammed van with approximately 15 more people. The ride is four hours and you will probably stand. You will be thankful as there are a couple of people hanging out of the open door while the dala dala flies down the road full of pot holes. One more thing to be thankful for: your height. You fit perfectly in the dala… except for when the dala hits one of the before mentioned pot holes.

A dala dala will never leave for its destination until it is packed to the rim. Don’t even try to get comfortable but do try to make friends with your neighbor... they are probably extremely friendly and before too long, you may need to sit on top of them… or vice versa.

As a mzungu, or white person, it is common knowledge that you are incapable of doing anything remedial. This includes sweeping, cutting vegetables, and pouring water. When doing these things, take care… you may give the nearest Tanzanian a heart attack as they watch the marvelous occurrence happening before their eyes.

If you are white, you are automatically a comedian. Everything you do WILL be funny.

On your way to the market everyday, at least five children under the age of 6 will chant “Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!” and they won’t stop until they can’t see you anymore.

You will be told that the Regional Commissioner is coming on Saturday at 10am. He’s not. He’s coming on Sunday at noon and staying until 3:30. The school will decorate the assembly hall, cook a meal for approximately 30 people, get dressed up, and then…… wait. and wait….and wait… and wait… and sleep… and wait…. Until 4:30 when he actually does come. Everyone will cheer and sing as he drives up. Then he will give a 20 minute speech and get back in his car to proceed to his final destination in Dar es Salaam. No one will think twice about the situation or be offended in the slightest.

When you see people on the streets, you will greet them, and you will greet them for however long it takes for you to pass them. Hello, how are you, how’s your mom, how’s your dad, how’s your sister, how’s your house, how’s your goat, how’s your cow, are you feeling healthy… etc.. Most likely there will be no conversation to follow up these greetings.

Everyday you will look out your window and see beauty like you cannot possibly find in America. There will be monkeys in the trees, beautiful hibiscus flowers lining the walkway on your way to school, and cashew trees that go on for forever. You will listen to the students of your school singing throughout the day and realize how lucky you are to have this experience.

Another thing you will do everyday: laugh. With every greeting comes a smile and there is no one too busy to have a conversation with you. Even if you don’t understand anything they are saying… and vice versa.

You will find a sense of peace and calm you don’t remember ever having before and even with all the stress and the missing of family and friends, you will find yourself feeling surprisingly content with exactly where you are.

Yeah, I love it here.