Not too much has gone down since the last time I posted, but I’ve been pretty busy. And busy here is a good thing.
Last weekend for Easter a bunch of volunteers met in Mbeya to plan our girls’ empowerment conference-- which will be taking place in the middle of June -- and to go to Utengule lodge. Our meeting was held at the Mbeya Hotel—great Indian food – an took up a good chunk time, afterwards we all went to a quiet bar and actually attempted to play games with ping pong balls that were sent to us from the States and glass cups…. Let’s just say the games ran a lot longer than usual and I do not think we will be attempting with glass cups again anytime soon. On Sunday morning twelve of us set off for Utengule, a coffee plantation/ resort. Upon arriving my coffee sensors kicked in. [As an a side coffee is grown in Tanzanian, a lot of it, but it is usually all exported and is pretty expensive on a limited budget, so I would say I have coffee about once a month.] It really was a little slice of heaven to be enjoying delicious coffee while looking out at the beautiful landscape. Utengule is set back in the green hills and looks out on to savannah.
After drinking around four cups of coffee, I relaxed in the sun, read, swam in a freezing cold, but very blue pool and ate a calzone. At the resort they also have tennis courts, a squash court and a full bar. Overall the day was a 10 and we are planning our next conference meeting there at the end of this month. (If I am going to see you in June and you want some coffee…leave me a comment.)
The first week back to teaching was pretty much the same. I am thankfully still headed of my SOW (scheme of work), but our exam period is approaching fast-- about two more weeks of teaching before I have to prepare exams. Also, our schools now boast both form 5 and 6 for A-level, which means we added about 60 more male students between the ages of 18-22 to our student body. Almost forgot—last Monday we had a 3 hour staff meeting. Again the whole meeting was in Swahili, but I am proud to say that I followed most of it! The meeting started with the usual business, but then turned into a situation I found to be somewhat awkward. To preface, the week before I was grading exams and decided that any student who earned an ‘A’, would also earn a sticker on an exam. Now, I know most you are reminiscing about the gold star board from 1st grade and wondering how it works with high schoolers, but the students here devour any positive feedback they receive. Somehow, my Mkuu discovered what I had done and felt the need to mention it during the meeting. I honestly appreciate the acknowledgement, but I would have rather he done it in private. I completely understood that he was trying to use me as an example, but I want nothing more than to be thought of as one of the other teachers. Alas, I will be probably always be the token white person who is bringing in new ideas…welcome or as unwelcome as they may be, but I would also expect the mkuu to recognize and praise the other teachers for their hard work and new ideas as well. To put it simply I would love to continue teaching, in what we would consider to be a normal manner in the U.S., without resentment, recognition or causing a larger dichotomy.
This past week we also received pen pal letters from our World Wise Schools sister school and the elementary school I attended, Kent Center. The letters were sent from 3rd graders at KCS along with pictures of them playing on the playground, playing recorders and showing off their dioramas. The English club at my school was so excited to get the letters and will be replying to them this week!
So the real action for this week actually started last week when I discovered I had a large chip in one of my molars. This prompted a call to the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) and a plan for me to travel to Dar on Thursday for a dentist appointment on Friday. After 12 hours of traveling on the bus, one bathroom break (subsequently purposefully dehydrating myself), I arrived in Dar, which was unbelievably hot and humid. I was lucky enough this trip, however, to stay with a family who works at the U.S. embassy. Their house in and of its self was like a mini America; equipped with a microwave, toaster, refrigerator, dishwasher, coffee maker, A/C, running water and cable. Not to mention great food, hot water and a comfortable bed. [Sorry Dodoma Foam you just don’t do it for me] Friday morning I arrived at the PC office, picked up some paperwork and was driven to the dentist. Upon arriving I was told I had to pay a 20,000 tsh consultation fee and then again after the treatment. I was pretty confused by this because PC is supposed to cover all my medical expenses, so I called the office and tried to have the whole mess sorted out. In the mean time, I paid the fee and was seen by the dentist. I know most people have horror stories of receiving medical care in developing countries and my story is no exception. The dentist was a French ex-pat, who had a nice office, but things started to go down hill quickly when he started off with, “my hands are clean, as you can see no blood, I wash them in between patients. Just sit back and relax. There is no reason to be scared”. At this I became much less focused on the fact that his thinning hair was longer than mine and pulled back into a pony tail with a aqua scrunchie and more on what might go down in this office. Between trying to wrap my brain around what was happening and simultaneously trying to formulate an escape plan, he put his ungloved fingers in my mouth and proceeded to take an x-ray. After evaluating the x-ray he sprayed some cold spray on the chipped tooth to evoke a pain response, to see if I still had a live tooth. After I had a very minimal reaction he pulled out a drill and started to drill. As any sane person would do, who still had feeling in their tooth, I freaked out and pulled my head away. At this point I started to get physically upset because I had no idea what was going on. In America, it is customary, for dentist or doctor of any sort, to tell your patient exactly what you are going to do to them before you do it. Thankfully, around the same time the PC driver came in and told me we were at the wrong dentist and we had to go back to the office. After figuring out that the number for the dentist I was supposed to go to was actually the number of the wrong dentist I boarded a dala to the real dentist, who is located in a hotel in Dar. The second dentist was a lot more understanding because he has worked with PC for a long time and sanitary because he wore gloves. After I explained the situation and a struggled a little with his pompous attitude, he gave me a shot of Novocain, drilled out some soft tissue, filled the hole and I went on my merry way. Following the hectic morning I treated myself to an iced coffee (one of the perks of Dar) while looking out at the Indian ocean. The next morning I woke up at 4:45am, boarded a bus at 5:30 and arrived back at home around 6:15 pm. It was a whirlwind adventure, which was awesome in some ways and just hellacious and downright scary in others. Hopefully [knock on wood] that is the end of medical issues here and if not, I feel I have a keen sense of what to expect if there is a next time.
Everything else is going well here. Just past the 7 months in country and 5 months at site marks. I hope everyone had a great Easter and that you are now enjoying the warmer weather. Things are just starting to get cooler here during the day…gotta love the Southern Hemisphere!!
All my love from TZ!
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