Tayari or not....

Where to begin? Since my last blog post things have moved relatively quickly as far as Tanzanian time is concerned.

[Now might be a good time to mention that Tanzanian time is nothing like American time. In the US time is considered to be money, here in Tanzania everyone seems to have enough time and not enough time can be spent enjoying others’ company. So, things in general move pretty slowly here, i.e. events do not start on time and people are not always where they should be at the specified times. The concept of time here is something I am slowly adjusting to and slowly starting to appreciate living in the moment and enjoying the people around me.]

For instance in the past week, I took my mid LPI (language proficiency interview) and written exam, hiked up into the Uluguru mountains, taught my first class, cooked an American dish for my family and assisted in the killing of another chicken.

In a previous post I posted a picture of the Uluguru Mountains that form the backdrop for the town of Morogoro. This past Sunday a group of about 20 of us (PCTs) took a guided trek up into the mountains. It was a beautiful sunny day and our hike started at about 8:00 am. We broke up into two groups to decrease the likelihood of theft. By about 10:00 am the second group caught up to the first group and we hiked as one large group and by about 8:15 am I had broken out into a full sweat. I don’t think I have ever sweat so much in my life besides in a BWC body circuit when the Murphs would not open the doors to the let the breeze in. Okay, so….back to the hike, our first stop was an old German hotel called Morningside. It was built in 1911 as a resort for the German colonists in Tanzania, but has since gone to ruin. The building is run down and covered with writing, bright tropical orange flowers and vines. Morningside is now primarily used by one of the local universities for soil and agricultural research.  The hike up to Morningside was absolutely beautiful. People have settled all the way up the mountainside and it was amazing to see that most of them were farmers. It rains often in the mountains because of the elevation so irrigation is natural and plentiful. They grow everything from carrots and cabbage to bananas and avocadoes.  I was completely amazed to see beds of crops on steep mountainsides! After stopping at Morningside we continued on through small hill top villages to a local waterfall, which I also found to be very beautiful. The people who lived in the village near the waterfall followed us down and watched all 20 wazungu enjoy the scenery. The waterfall was not flowing at its max rate because it is currently the dry season in Tanzania, but it was still an aesthetically pleasing sight nonetheless. At this point most of us realized that not only were we soaked with sweat, but also we were wicked sun burnt…. After stopping at the waterfall for about twenty minutes we continued our hike down hill to home. All in all I had never been on a hike quite like this one. The trail was very narrow and steep at times. We arrived back in Morogoro at about 3:30 and even upped with our tour guides.  The guides cost each of us Tsh 11,500, about  $7.66. It was nice to discover that the money that the national park receives from guided tours goes to the people in the villages that the tours pass through. If anyone is ever in Morogoro for an extended stay, I highly recommend taking a guided tour up into the Uluguru mountains.

This past Tuesday night I decided to take matters into my own hands at home. I was going to cook a dish for my Tanzanian family, come hell or high water. Too many times I have been kicked out the kitchen and told to go watch TV (we get three channels in case anyone was wondering) because of my poor knife skills and my apparent inability to stir rice. So, I went to the super market in town (more like a Cumbies) and picked up a package of bow tie pasta, which surprisingly enough my host family referred to as macaroni. Anyhow…I made homemade pasta sauce (tomatoes, garlic, onions, green peppers, carrots and salt) and pasta for my family. I was pretty impressed with myself because I made the whole meal over a charcoal fire. My host family enjoyed the meal, but found that it lacked salt….

Wednesday, I took my written Kiswahili exam as well as my oral interview. I felt that both went very well, but they were just for practice and as a progress marker. The final exam, in a couple weeks, is the one that will determine whether or not I will be sworn in as a volunteer or not. Thursday, I taught my first class in a Tanzanian classroom. To prepare for the lesson, earlier in the week I visited the class to see where they were in the syllabus. After a little deductive reasoning I learned that they were studying plant and animal cells, so that’s what I prepped for. [Note on Tanzanian classrooms: They are similar to American classrooms and also very different. They are set up relatively the same way, but there are in some cases two or three students to one desk and the school is run in a more “old school” way than one might be used to in the US. For instance, when I entered the classrooms the students are programmed to stand and greet me, “Good afternoon, Teacher” to which I am to reply “Good afternoon, Class. You may sit”. ] All in all I felt the class went very well considering the fact that last year I taught a class of nine students every day and Thursday I taught a class of about 35 or so.

This past Saturday all 39 of us took off for our Trainee Directed Activity, a trip to Mikumi national park. Mikumi is located a little west of Morogoro and was about a 1 ½ - 2 hour drive.  Overall the trip was pretty awesome. Mikumi is the fourth largest national park in Tanzania and is home to many animals. Saturday afternoon after we checked into the hotel we headed to the park to catch the animals in the late afternoon. Upon entering the park we spotted a couple of African elephants. On the safari we were lucky enough to see giraffe, impala, warthogs, zebra, oxen, more elephants, a hippopotamus and a pride of lions. At times it was hard to wrap my mind around the idea that I was viewing these animals in their natural habitat. One of my favorite parts of the day was when we stopped at the watering hole and saw a hippopotamus and a pride of lions. The lions were napping and then fighting over a leftover carcass meanwhile the hippo about 150m away is lolling in the water opening its mouth every so often. Besides the animals the park’s landscape is also very beautiful. I was in awe of some of the trees that were going there. They are much different from anything at home and something straight out of standard Africa savannah photo. Upon exiting the park we also saw the most amazing African sunset. It was a combination of red, orange, pink and yellow. The full moon rise was also very pretty. The next morning we woke up at 5:00am to get breakfast and to the park before the sun got too high in the sky. The second trip into the park was just as good as the first, if not better. We saw many of the same animals, minus the lions, but we were able to get much closer in the vans to them.  Waking up at 5:00am did not do much for my level of consciousness, so I slept most of the trip on the bumpy dirt roads and only woke when people in the van spotted animals. When we arrived at the watering hole our guide allowed us to venture out of the van because there were no lions around, there were, however, many wildebeest and zebras getting their fill of water for the morning. Overall, the mini safari was pretty awesome.  *One take home lesson from the whole trip is that it does not take long for three men to change a blown tire on a bus. One of our buses blew a front tire, not once, but twice and I was pretty shocked at how fast and easy it was to fix. Honestly, in the US I would have just called AAA, but these guys could put them to shame.  To entertain ourselves on the side of the highway while the van was being tended to, we played a game everyone likes…. throw rocks at a stone pillar and see who can hit it first from a reasonable distance. Seriously this game can keep one occupied for a good chunk of time.

This coming week is week 5 of training. We will be teaching more and hopefully observed by the PCVs of the week, other teachers and our LCFs. At the end of the week we will be told where we will be going for shadow in week 7. Shadow is a weeklong and about 2 or 3 PCTs travel to a PCVs site live with them and teach at their school. 

Something I have neglected to post in previous posts, or touch on enough in previous posts is how my name is completely unpronounceable by Tanzanians. There is some thing about the “rl” complex in my name that throws everyone for a loop. For instance, earlier in training when one of the LCFs was announcing our CBT groups he read everyone’s name, but mine and just added “and this person too”. My host mama for instance likes to call me Karen, while her little sister likes to call me Carrie. I tried to spell my name in Swahili to see if that would help with people’s pronunciation of it, but it turns out the closest combination of letters I could come up with, Kali, (Kah-lee) means sharp or fierce in Swahili. Prefect for me, for those of you who know me well enough, but it really throws the Tanzanians off. So…. I remain Karen, Carrie, Carolyn and “this person”.



Mikumi National Park |(yes I took this picture)

Once again I hope everything is well in the States. If people want to write, I can receive letters at the address above. Thank you so much to the Pearlsteins! I was so happy to receive your letter this week! Thank you for thinking of me! A return letter will soon be in the mail.  For those of you who are wondering as I am writing this blog post it is pouring outside! Finally some rain to suppress all of the dust….or create a ton of mud. The next blog I will report back as to my preference….mud or dust? We shall find out.

Maji on my kichwa

Thought I would blog again today since I have had some down time and my CBT is so close to the Internet cafe. The past few days have gone well. Saturday I did laundry the "real" way for the first time. This consisted of putting my whites in a bucket (ndoo) with a disproportional amount of water to soap (about 1:3). After scrubbing, I kid you not in this order, the collar, armpits, waist and the rest of the shirt well, you then place it in water to rinse, ring it out and let it dry. If you try to stray from the order, you will be asked if you have actually washed the article of clothing. After all my whites were done I naturally progressed to washing my darks. (It would be good to note here that kangas will bleed the first time you wash them.) The whole washing process start to finish took me about an hour and consisted of me laughing at myself and my neighbors watching me.

Sunday was our first "day off" in a while and some of the volunteers met up in town for lunch. I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with my host family. They speak in Kiswahili to each other, so most of the bonding I do with them is listening and trying to follow their conversations. At one point during the afternoon I overheard them talking about the lack of water and the current drought that the area around here is experiencing. My host brother and sisters then rounded up some buckets and kangas and started to head for the door. I quickly inquired into where they were going, to which they responded, " you sit and rest, you must be tired". Not wanting to be left behind, I asked where my bucket was and said that I drank the same amount of water as a large camel everyday, so I should be helping to get some too. When we got to the well I realized that my family members had brought the kangas for the space between their heads and the buckets. So needless to say I walked home with water (maji) on my head (kichwa). The walk home was about 1/3 to 1/2 a mile and my host family members periodically asked me if I was tired (unachoka?). When I got home my host mom's little sister, Mam dogo (little mom), was actually shocked that I was able to carry the water, even though a lot of it ended up on me... still haven't figured out the graceful bucket-on-head swagger yet.

Yesterday in place of language class we had a cooking class. My CBT group members and I spent from about 10 am to 2:30 pm preparing a meal that consisted of chicken, rice, ugali, tomatoes & onions, pea medley, banana bread (our American dish) and a couple of other veggies. The only problem with the preparation of the meal is that it included the killing, plucking and dissembling of two chickens. The cooking also included a lot of fire lighting, since things are usually cooked on charcoal stoves, and tons of smoke. After the preparation of the meal I decided that when I move to my sight meals are going to have to be very very simple because even preparing rice can take about an hour (the rocks have to be taken out, the rice has to be soaked, the fire has to be made, the water has to boil and the rice has to cook).

Everything else seems to be going well and I feel like communicating with my host family seems to be getting easier everyday. I am looking forward to teaching in the school we have been studying at starting next week! Hope things are going well stateside. Will try to blog as often as I can! Miss you all! Oh...also Facebook message or email me if you would like my cell number here.

Saturday in Morogoro

Sorry it took me so long to blog, but I hope you are all enjoying the events of the past 2 weeks. Today is Saturday in Morogoro which means I had Kiswahili class this morning! This afternoon we took a field trip into Morogoro, bought cell phones and had lunch. Every time I walk into to town I feel more comfortable about leaving here, but also more aware of my surroundings. Not much else has really gone on. Last night a bunch of PCTs and a couple PCVs went to the local ex-pat hangout for pizza! (I miss cheese). This afternoon I will get to do laundry for the second time here and properly for the first time, which I am pretty excited about. Tomorrow I plan on studying lots of Kiswahili while my family attends church. I am pretty excited to have a day to myself! This coming week will consist of more Kiswahili lessons, micro-teaching in our groups and more CCT time! I hope everyone is well in the states!

Entries since 9/22

 9/23

Currently in transit to Zurich…long long day, but I thought I would write something quickly.  So far so good…

Staging went very well. I arrived in Philadelphia after being stared at and taking a train from Kent , negotiating the NYC subway with my backpack and two bags. Little side track here… I actually put my bags down when I got to the subway turn style and mentally prepared for the task at hand. Needless to say I made it through, but it was a little hairy at times!  After I arrived at the hotel we registered, signed some paperwork and then proceeded to meet from 2-6:30. Our meeting was well organized and covered basically what we should expect and the core goals of Peace Corps. At the end of the meeting we had to pick groups leaders for our voyage today. After a considerable pause I volunteered myself as leader of group 6! Woop, woop! Big doings. Actually, not really I just had to collect money, make sure no one was missing and no one left bags in the hotel.  After the meeting a bunch of us met up and went out for hand drawn noodles in China town, which were actually delicious, and a few beers at a bar. This morning we left for the airport at 9:30am, arrived at about 1:00, played a sweet game of Catch Phrase while sitting in the airport, checked in (checked bags weighed 33 lbs and 32 lbs… way under the 80lbs limit) and took off for Zurich around 7:00pm.

Lucked out on the plane because I got a middle row seat on the isle with an empty seat  next to it! Think it belongs to one of the volunteers who did not arrive at staging…..Everyone is still super nice and I feel I am making friends. Our group of 39 ranges in ages from 21 to hmmm not exactly sure, but probably near 60. It is surprising to think people have left their (adult) children, husbands and fiancés at home.

Spirits are high amongst all of us. Everyone, including myself, seems eager to get to Tanzania and get the lay of the land.  I think people in general are very happy to be amongst people who are in the same mindset as themselves.

For those of you who are wondering buffalo wings and a miller lite was my last meal in the states!

Till later,

Carly


9/28ish

Greetings from Tanzania!! We arrived on Friday night at 8:15 to Nyrere Airport in Dar and were greeted by Andrea and Mama Salome, the country director for PC Tanzania and the PC safety and security advisor. After collecting our bags we were escorted to a truck where we placed our bags and hopped on to two buses and headed for the Msimbazi Center in Dar. The ride from the airport was a sight. Even though it was dark we could see many Dala Dalas  (public buses) and people along the side of the roads, on the roads, walking, well-orchestrated chaos is the only way I can put it. After a 20 minute drive and 10 car horns later, we reached the center. After a brief sack, bananas, bottled water, cookies and a peanut butter sandwich we were shown to our rooms.  After brushing my teeth with bottled water and negotiating my mosquito net ( it takes some work!) I slept for about three hours due to the 7 hour time difference.

The next morning we woke up to a breakfast in the dinning hall of chapati (a cross between a crepe and a pancake and now one of my favorite foods!), hard boiled eggs, bread, muffins, tea and instant coffee. After breakfast we had a meeting followed by “chai”, which includes tea and a small snack and another meeting before lunch. After lunch, which usually consists of rice, meat sauce, collard greens and small slightly fried potatoes here, we had another meeting followed by some shots and another snack!! After snack we all got to hang out under a covered area that has seating. To spare you the repeat, the past three days here have consisted of eating, meetings, shots, socializing and sleeping.

Our meetings during the day have consisted mainly of things we should expect, how our pre-service training (PST) will run, outside projects for us to do, security talk given by people from the US Embassy, a short briefing on Tanzanian customs, dress and religions.

During our down time we have been playing ultimate Frisbee, soccer, cards and learning some Kiswahili.


 10/2
Sokoni!

Today we finally left the compound and travel with our CBT groups (Community Based Training) to Morogoro. We were planning on taking the Dala Dala, but it was too crowed, so we walked the 15 minutes to town. The walk was a little bit scary because in Tanzania they drive on the left side of the road and people walk on the left side with traffic, so you have to constantly be aware of other cars or piki piki (motorcycles).



Mambo!  10/3


Today I officially moved in with my host family!! My house is located very close to the CCT where we had been staying the last couple of days.  I was pretty nervous to meet my host family, but then quickly realized that 38 other people were going through the exact same experience at the same time. It is also comforting to know that another PCT, Mike, is my next door neighbor. My Baba, Gabriel, is a teacher is at Kila Kala Secondary School and my Mama is a nurse at the local hospital. I have two dada Jackie and Violet and one kaka Gabriel.  Another woman and man who work at the school also live in the house with their daughter, Gladness, whom I call Tumbo (belly). They were all very welcoming! When I arrived at the house I was greeted by my moma’s sister Nerehma. She showed me to my room and helped me to hang my mosquito net. After I settled in my kaka and I went on a walk to Kilakala school.  There I met about five boys who live and study at the school. It was nice to practice the little Swahili I know, i.e. how to say my name, where I am from, what I am doing in Tanzania and the food I like.  So once I exhausted my Swahili I sat up on a wall with them and started talking about the US and Tanzania. Many of their questions were serious and about things they had heard about America. During the first week of training as trainees were are constantly reminded that we are ambassadors for the US, so today was very rewarding because I officially feel like I was helping bridge a gap.  Another topic of conversation was my religious beliefs. (Note: It is very common in Tanzania to ask someone what religion they are and if they are married or single. This is something we as Americans might file under invasion of privacy, but let me assure you they are very open topics in Tanzania.) I found it hard to express my beliefs to them and to explain that I do not go to church and wouldn’t consider myself a practitioner of any religion. This honestly astounded the boys I was talking to and prompted them to ask me to attend church with them on Saturday.  The also told me to stop by anytime I wanted so I can practice my Kiswahili and they can practice their English….definitely thinking of taking them up on this offer! Gabriel and I walked home from the school and had dinner with the family. Before dinner my Baba also asked me what religion I was. This time I responded that I was Roman Catholic because I really did not feel like causing any unnecessary confusion. About ten minutes after that conversation with my Baba, my kaka put in a Christian concert DVD in to the player.  I thought the gesture was very nice.  I know that it was to comfort me… nothing reminds me more of home than Wazungus singing about Jesus.  Dinner was pretty standard, rice, meat with sauce, plain spaghetti, bananas and collard greens. (Okay…side note about the food here. It really is not bad. Everything is made with spices and tastes really really good.)  After dinner my kakas and I exchanged pictures of our families. Then, My Mama, who was on safari (trip), arrived home. She greeted me with a big hug and the normal “soft landing” Tanzanian greeting. (Note: the “soft landing” greetings consists of about 3 to x number of greetings before real conversation beings… ex: How are you? What is the news of home? What is the news of school? How are your children?...etc.)
My room is located off of the kitchen and nicer than I had anticipated. I have a double sized bed, a chair and not a whole lot of space in my room.  

10/5

Kiswahili lessons are fun….

On Monday our CBT group started Kiswahili classes with Kondo our LCF (Language and Culture Facilitator… yes another acronym).  The past couple days have been relatively the same so here is a summary of what my days for the next couple of weeks will consist of:

6:00am                  Wake up
6:01am                   Negotiate my mosquito net
6:30 am ish           Bucket Bath
6:45-7:15am         Breakfast at home
7:30am                   Walk to Morogoro Secondary School with Mike
8:00 am                  Swahili class (we usually start the day by “hammering” grammer) *
10:00 am               Chai time!!!
10:30 am          More Swahili
12:00ish           Lunch (Chakula cha mchana)
1:00 pm          Swahili time again!
4:00pm ish           Freetime (usually consists of hanging out with my brother or going                                                   to town)
6:00 pm           Time I should be in the house by because the sun is setting
8:00 pm                 Dinner with the fam
9:30 pm ish          Bed time

*One of my favorite parts of the day is the first half and hour of Swahili class. During this time my fellow PCTs and I talk about our awkward experiences at home and get a chance to ask Kondo about cultural issues we may have encountered.

The only time this schedule will not hold true will be on days we meet as a group at CCT. CCT will usually take place on Fridays and will mainly used as a day to go over how to teach in Tanzanian schools and personal health and safety.

So far things are as I expected them to be. Homesickness comes in waves, usually when I am frustrated with the language, and I constantly feel like I am on an emotional roller coaster. The highs usually last a while, but the lows come at inopportune moments. Surprisingly, I have not once felt homesick while at home with my host family. In fact, I have found their family dynamic similar to most American families apart from the fact that they only speak Swahili to one another.

Quick post!!!

Hamjambo! Hello everyone!

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. I don't have a ton of time to write right now, but not to worry I have been pre writing my blogs! So the next time I post I promise you will get all the details starting from day one!

What I can say: So far so good. I am really enjoying my time here and can say that my life if quite different from what it was a couple of months ago! I am currently living with my host family in Morogoro (one of the larger cities in Tanzania) and studying Swahili!

Till I find more internet time!!! Baadaye! (Later)