Full Mzuka

Sorry folks, relatively uneventful week.

More teaching and CCT days occurred. Aron, a PCV and resident Bill Nye, orchestrated our POD day this week. It was pretty awesome we basically learned how to do complex labs, with less dangerous chemicals and minimal resources. Who would have thought syringes double as pipettes and plastic water bottles as beakers?

Another PCT, Sarah, and I ventured to the Fundi this weeks to have skirts and head wraps made for about Tsh 9,500 about $6.60, material and all.  Both turned out surprisingly well, so I went back on Monday with material for a wrap dress… We will see how it turns out on Saturday! (Hopefully I’ll upload some pictures)

The highlight of the week was going to Saba-Saba market with my host Mama and Mama mdogo (Mom’s little sister). Saba-Saba is a used clothes market and is in full swing on Sundays. I don’t really know how to describe the seen, but it is a cross between a flea market and a super Goodwill/ Salvation Army/ Thrift store. You can buy every thing from plastic sandals to used New Balance sneakers to soccer jerseys to used underwear. My favorite part of the market was probably a place I referred to as “Kasheshe” (chaos).  At the back of the market about 10-15 men stand on tables next to huge clothes piles of clothes and hold up items until someone buys it from them. They are yelling and bargaining with the people below them. If they don’t get bites on an item they simply throw it back into the pile next to them and try to sell the next item they grab. The whole scene is really loud and crowded, but you can buy a pretty nice dress shirt for Tsh 500 or about $.30. I was disappointed that I did not stop to buy real 7 for All Mankind jeans when I saw them, but what the hell was I going to do with them in 80 weather? The Daladala ride from town back home was also a pretty awesome site. After waiting for about 20 minutes for the dala to fill up at the bus stand dala passengers’’ emotions were running high as well as the temperature within the dala, so my host mama took it upon herself to yell at the driver “Tunaweza kuandoka!!!???” (Can we leave?).  It was definitely a “Go, Host Mama moment”, but seriously I would not want to mess with her! On the short trip home she also broke up a small fight at the back of the dala…I think my mama should rethink her job as a nurse and become a personal bodyguard.  

As I type this blog, I am listening to Bongo Flava, aka Tanzanian pop music. It is something that has continued to grow on me especially because it is all my Tanzanian family watches on TV at night, besides Pretty Girl 2, a story for another time. Bongo Flava = Full Mzuka (total excitement). It comes on the TV or the radio and I instantly find myself wanting to dance. At this point in my blog I would also like to thank Bongo Flava for helping me with my Kiswahili…it is nice to listen to and I am learning the language! I also feel I should mention that Bongo Flava can be heard all day long in the neighborhood I live in and can never be played loud enough or early enough in the morning. So here is to the solo DP (dance party) that will occur weekly to Bongo Flava once I reach site!

Another prominent feature in my life now a days is food, or rather carbs L. My host Mama is an awesome cook and I cannot hold it against her that the staple of every Tanzanian’s diet is carbohydrates, for good reason, but when my meal consists of rice, potato, yam and kiti moto (pork, which translates literally to “hot seat”) I get a little scared. I love my Mama’s cooking, but once I get to site, oil, carbs and salt are going to have to be all but gone from my diet.  On the upside I have been attempting to run in the mornings here about 3-4 times a week depending on how I am feeling. On that note, yes I have had some issues with bowel movements,(now is a good a time as any to mention it, right?), usually after I have eaten Kachembali, (raw tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion with a citrus dressing), but no majors so far.

This coming Sunday another PCT, Eula, and I will be traveling to Lushoto to shadow a PVC who is teaching O level Biology.  I am pretty excited to travel with Eula! I would describe her as having the combined personalities of George-Ann and Liz (Mom you know what I am talking about!)  and she is some one who has been a great sounding board during PST. I am also excited to travel to the northern part of Tanzania. Lushoto is in the Tanga region (Northeast) and should be cooler temperature wise than Morogoro, where it has still yet to really rain since we have been here.

Today (Thursday) also happens to be the last day of internship teaching at Morogoro secondary school! I would like to thank them for allowing the five us to enter their classrooms and the brains of their students for the last three weeks! I will miss the people at the school, especially my students, and the daily walk to school. On a similar note I will also miss the “school bus” I see every morning. Said “school bus” is actually a sedan, probably a ’95 Toyota Corolla, with about 10 children stuffed into it. I usually pass the school bus on my way through the Sokoni on the way to school and crack up every time I see it. There are usually three kids between the ages of 6-8 crammed into the passenger seat and seven kids packaged into the back seat. (This clearly goes against all airbag and seatbelt warnings) All of the kids have the “deer in the headlights” look plastered on their faces as the pass buy. Clearly this school bus is not safe and probably not something that I should find joy in, but the scene makes with laugh without fail every time I think about it or see it.  Guess it is the true meaning of “car pooling”…

As always, I hope things are going well at home! If you ever find yourselves bored I love to read letters! You can send them to the address on the side of the blog or next week hopefully I will be able to update to my address at site. Either way I will get a letter if you send it. On that note, if anyone ever wants to burn a CD with new music and send it….I would love you for ever/ definitely bring you something back when I come home to visit at some point. Oh also shout out to Andy Irons, hope you are surfing the eternal clean barrel… so bummed to hear about him.

I also hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather, pumpkin pies, hot apple cider and the fact that the holiday season is right around the corner. All my love from TZ.