Tanzania I am Here

So the pictures are not working out right now. I am going to try and send them later.

June 17, 2010
**Picture of me with luggage
Somehow I managed to get 27 months of stuff into 2 bags. I was pretty impressed and they only have a combined weight of about 60 lbs which is already more than enough weight to carry, so I cannot even imagine if I had more weight. I am not sure how people can do long plane rides, I thought that I would be able too, but I found my limit is about 15 hours anything after that makes me really restless. Uncle Jerry I don’t know how you do it. We flew from JFK to Zurich to Nairobi and on to Tanzania for a combined airport and flight time of about 24 hours.
I didn’t get a window seat but the people that did said that they saw giraffes running so I am pretty pumped to see all the wildlife and experience my first sightings. I have a feeling it is going to be like when you go to Yellowstone and get so excited for the buffalo but then by the end you just want the buffalo to go away. The top animals on my list are: a giraffe, elephant, and a flamingo.
When we arrived it was really hot and muggy and this was at 8:30 at night in the middle of winter. I think I am going to have some trouble with the heat but so far it isn’t too bad. It cools off late at night and for the next few days I have a fan. We are in the capital, Dar es Salaam staying at a convent. We each get our own room with a shower, real toilet, fan, and our very own mosquito net. I have to say it looks a lot like the way dad describes Sister Terence’s old room.
**Picture of Room
So far I have been given 2 shots and a dose of malaria medication, but they promise there will be a lot more shots from here on in. The staff seems wonderful and has been wonderful so far. When we arrived last night we were greeted with PB&J sandwiches, oranges, and bananas. Today for breakfast we had to the best of my knowledge a hot dog, crepe, donut, and a hush puppy. We then had tea which consisted of a Spanish omelet, samosa ( I really liked these), and toast with tea. We then also had lunch and dinner which both consisted of rice, noodles, beef, flat bread, and oranges. It was a very good. I have found out that they eat a lot of rice and beans and fry a lot of their food, so I don’t see me starving or losing any weight.
Packages
Here are some guidelines for sending me mail if you feel so inclined. When sending me letters and packages please number them so I know if I have received all of them or not. I have read that if you write the receivers name in red ink and write religious saying all over the box that it is more likely to get to me. We heard a story in training about a family that tried 4 times to send a package to their daughter and on the 4th time it made it because the mom cut open a stuffed animal and put it in the box with all of the cotton. (just an idea) I am not sure how the mail is yet but when I hear more I will definitely let everyone know.
Safety and Security
We had a guy come from the embassy today and talk about safety in Tanzania. He said that Tanzania was at critical crime and that it was due to petty crimes and transportation. He suggested to spread your money around, not carry more than you need to, and try and keep things out of sight and out of mind. He left with:
1. Don’t draw attention to yourself
2. Stick to public places
3. Stay Alert
4. Self-reliance
I am not sure what my access it to the internet yet, but my hope is to write a blog post for every week. Although that doesn’t mean that I will get to post every week. I might be posting a bunch at a time, not really sure yet.

Pit Latrine
June 19, 2010
***latrine picture
I had my first experience with a pit latrine today. I have been dreading it so I have not been going at school. But it wasn’t bad at all. Just a little awkward. You just need to make sure that you bring your own toilet paper because they don’t have any. I think I am just going to feel like I am camping for the next 2 years.
As for my room, I turned my lights off to go to bed last night and found out it was so dark I thought I would run into something. So I turned around to turn them back on and walked into the door and gave myself a fat lip.
I also just found out that for my home stay I will be living with a mama and a baba but am not sure if they have any children yet. We will be having language and culture class 6 days a week, From my home stay family, I am going to learn how to make traditional Tanzanian food, learn to wash my own clothes and use the coal iron, and how to work in the garden. It should be pretty exciting. I don’t think they know much English so hopefully I will become a master Kiswahili speaker by the end. Also the place we are going you cannot wear pants and your dresses need to be as close to the ankles as they can be. I brought 3 skirts and only 1 goes to my ankles, so I have some shopping to do. A lot of women wear kangas which are basically pieces of fabric that are wrapped around the waist. They look pretty comfortable, so I am going to pick a few of these up until I can get some clothes made.
We have started language classes and they are going ok, there is so much to learn it is overwhelming but to start out with we are learning the basics so that we can at least communicate with our home stay family when we meet them.
Remember when you all asked what shots and everything I needed, I can now tell you LOTS. They are spreading them out over the first 3 months and I can tell you so far that typhoid is the worst, I can hardly lift my arm. Also for malaria some take doxycycline which I took when I was on acne and when you don’t take enough water with it, the pill doesn’t go down and you feel as if something is trying to leap out of your chest. Luckily I don’t have to take that one. And the biggest health news so far is that I am no longer worried about getting malaria, I am more worried about a mango blister leaving eggs on my skins and me having to kill the larva and pull it out of my skin. I can deal with being sick but not with pulling insects out of my body. I have a hard enough time watching them come out of the bodies on The Mummy.

Out of the Gates
June 20, 2010
We were let loose into the streets of Dar es Salaam today after not being able to leave Mzisimba Center since we got here. We walked around the city in the groups that we are going to be learning with for the next 2 months. My CLF (culture and language facilitator) is Muhammad and he is awesome., very funny. I was asking about his family and he told me that he had 10 children and 10 wives. I just nodded, then he told me he was just kidding. We went to one of the largest outdoor markets in East Africa it reminded me of the market in Rome, Italy. I don’t remember the name of it. We were then shown the grocery store that also seemed like a European grocery store. You could get about everything there. They had peanut butter and nutella which I was really excited about. They also had a lot of dish wear. The hostel that we stay at if we have to come to the city is called the YMCA and really nice. I was very impressed. We walked around a lot and saw that most Tanzanians take very good advantage of the room they are given. Within the shops almost every square inch is covered with something to buy. I bought a kanga today to wear during homestay, a chocolate bar called chocopop (not very good), and some toilet paper. I was very satisfied. I also went on my 1st dolla dolla today which is a bus. The Embassy says not to use them at all and the Peace Corps says yes. Very Interesting.
The people that we encountered were very nice and friendly. We were the only white people for the most part which was a little uneasy but this is my first time into the real Tanzania. We were obviously looked at a lot and they all said things to us. We for the most part said hi and how are you as well. We did have some people follow us but they left after a while.
Everything is so cheap here, it is unbelievable. The exchange rate is $1.00 to 1420 tsh. The means in real terms that you can get a beer for $1.00 and a pop for 50₵. AND the best part is that they all come in glass bottles.
These are some of the plants that we have seen so far:
***picture
Banana Tree
***Picture
Cassava
***Cassava
Not sure of the name but if you boil these leaves and make soap with the water it has insect repellent and antibacterial properties.
It is also sad to say that I am starting to get sick of the food a little bit. We have had pretty much rice, beans, cabbage, and potatoes for lunch and dinner every day. Luckily I will be able to cook my own food and will be able to add some variety to my diet. I have been thinking about what type of food that I could make for my homestay family and so far all I have come up with is guacamole. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
***Picture Of food
Hannah this for you. This is what I had for dinner last night. It was rice, cabbage, and red sauce that I mixed all together. I had that with some chai tea.