I have survived my first week at site

August 7, 2010
I spent the last week shadowing another Peace Corps volunteer in Same, Kilimanjaro. We met her in Moshi. Moshi is very beautiful and clean. I went with a few other volunteers and probably saw more white people in a day than I have seen in the last 2 months. It was an amazing break from homestay, which I love but it is nice not to have someone looking over my shoulder the entire time and just to be able to read and relax and not speak Swahili. I really enjoyed this. We went to a really cool bar that had an outdoor movie theater along the water. So I got to get a drink and watch a movie, it reminded me of the scene in A Good Year. Moshi if you didn’t know is at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro so it is very touristy and has a lot of western influences such as a toilet seat.
After spending 2 months here, I think I have decided that if there is only one thing that I can do in Tanzania, it is to climb Mount Kili. So people that want to climb it need to start thinking about that now because although it sounds cool, it is also really expensive. I think it is about $1500 so start saving now. I also think that I am going to come home at some point because although everything is getting better here, it is hard being here. And I would love to see everyone. So hopefully this is going to be a possibility.
I have found out that I will be living in Dodoma, Tanzania for the next 2 years, which I am really excited about and scared about at the same time because I know how hard my first few weeks here were I can only imagine that they are going to be that much harder considering I will be living all alone. But I am ready for it and I know that it is going to take time to get use to and assimilate into the village. I also had a hard time when I first found out where I was going because it is nothing like where I imagined myself going, I had the same type of reaction when I found out I was coming to TZ but after a few days of letting it sink in I am really excited. At the moment I imagine that I am going to be living in the middle of the country in a desert type area kind of like Arizona.
August 8, 2010
The mouse that has been keeping me up at night has seen its last days. My mamma killed it outside the house today and then my brother came and brought it so me. I was still pretty scared of a dead mouse. I can handle cockroaches and huge insects but I draw the line at rodents. I am for sure getting a cat now. I also helped cooked dinner tonight. We had pilaf and chicken. The chicken was freshly killed by I am not sure but the feathers were plucked by my sister and I helped chop the body into pieces. It really wasn’t that disgusting I think the thanksgiving turkey is worse.
August 12, 2010
Today I visited an environmental lab and it was amazing. I am definitely a nerd for saying this, but we got to talk about soil, chemistry, and GIS, 3 of my favorite things. It was great. We also did some soil tests and this made me feel like I was back in class in Alberta. It was kind of nice. The trip also got my thinking about my research for a short while and all the resources I have available.
My family showed me pictures today of me and the family at my good bye party and after looking at them I remember why I didn’t want to get transition lens. The pictures were not pretty. Alex, Stephanie, Andrew, and Hannah you will also be sad to hear that I wore socks with my sandals out in public one day. I am becoming almost everything I cringe at on other people. I am not that far away from wearing a muumuu. I hope Africa is a good excuse for my fashion mistakes but even I don’t think that is a good answer. Let’s just hope they don’t fallow me back to the states.
If you didn’t already know, there are many things that me and my friends all talk about but mainly we only talk about 2 things: Food and Sickness. Today was a great day for that seeing as we all are at varying degrees of sickness at the moment and today was pie day. All we talked about was different types of pies and cobblers. It was amazing. I am thinking about trying to make a mango cobbler when I can finally cook for myself.
I have 5 more days at homestay and then I BECOME an actual volunteer. I am really excited and nervous because I will be on my own. I am also a little sad that I am leaving my Tanzanian family. I really enjoy them and feel very comfortable around them. I cannot wait for the day when I can have a full, good conversation with my mamma that doesn’t involve the food or being hot/cold. I told her in a year I would be able to have a good conversation with her, so hopefully I continue to progress in my language skills.
Also I finished The Da Vinci Code and it was amazing. I am not sure why I didn’t read this sooner. I have now started a Nancy Drew book and forgot how much I loved those books when I was little. This also reminded me of the time my dad left his car unlocked in front of the house and somebody stole my Nancy Drew books out of it.
August 13, 2010
Finished Nancy Drew and still managed to get scared from a book that was written for children in the seventies. I am such a scaredy cat.
Today I got to talk to my friend Mary who is leaving for Cameron in September. I wanted to tell her all about what I am going through and that I know it will be hard and at times you are really going to wish you were back home, but that it does get better and that it is all worth it. I am so excited for her to start her PST she is going to have so much fun.
I had my final test today and I find out Monday if I passed and if they are going to send me to site. It was a one on one ½ hour oral test. I was really nervous going into it, but I think that I did alright. I was able to understand and answer all of the questions which is a good sign now just to see if I answered as correctly as I thought that I did.
Walking to the shower today I thought how funny that it is that I have a cow that is literally 3 feet from where I shower. I have my own personal guard cow. And as for weird things that happen in Africa it turns out that I have a bacterial infection. From what you ask, my own sweat, even though I bath 2 times a day with soap in case you were wondering. Apparently I was not built for Africa and their warm weather.
August 14, 2010
I am so happy with my homestay family. They are so nice and make me feel at home here in TZ. I love them because they keep telling me that nothing can hurt me here that I am safe and for some reason I actually believe them. We were talking about when I will be living be myself and I said that I will be scared in the beginning. My mamma told me that I should use a bucket for the choo at night so I don’t have to go outside the house. I totally agree with her and will be doing that I am sure. But they are right nothing can hurt me, I just need to get over my fear of mice, snakes, and darkness.
So I have been living in Bagamoyo with Tala, Lola, Kenzi, and Alli. We all have to be the complete opposite of each other and in normal life probably would not be friends but since this isn’t a normal life, we are all friends, really good friends. I could not be more happy that they are the ones that I have been living with for the last 2 months. Tala is from California and is short. (Dad this is your fault that I refer to her this way) She is hilarious and is has so many good stories. She dropped a flashlight down the choo and lied to her mamma only to have her babba call her out on it because he saw it when it was lighting up the choo hole. Lauren aka Lola is from Florida and is white as can be. The African sun is not going to be good for her she burns all the time. She loves to dance. Kenzi aka Konzu is from Wisconsin and at the moment fits the stereotypical cheesehead because she worked in a high end cheese store for the last 3 years. I know you are wondering what a high end cheese store looks like and I am too. She also plays the bagpipes. And Alli is from Minnesota but has been living in Iowa. She loves Iowa and sailing. I love them all so much they have so many funny stores. Kenzi’s family wakes up at 4:15 in the morning and Hodi Hodi’s her so that by the 3:00 pm she is delirious and looks and acts like she is drunk because she is so tired. Lola had the unfortunate event of losing her phone, puking and having diarrhea, having only potatoes for dinner, and almost dropping her flashlight down the choo all in one night. Alli is awesome, she is fearless. She let her baba cut her hair. Mind you that her baba is a mason. But her hair looks really good.
August 15, 2010
Today I went with my CBT to Tanga for one last hurra before we leave for site. It was really nice, in an attempt to leave earlier I was suppose to go and get my friend Kenzi so her family could see that we were ready to go. The plan backfired and I ended up having breakfast twice and then we got to Tanga and had breakfast again. So today I feel extra fat. We then went to the beach which was amazing. Of course we all forgot our bathing suits but we decided to use our Khanga’s as bathing suits and went swimming. I think that it might have been our best idea yet. After that we went and ate pizza that was amazing. It was thin crust and baked to perfection.
August 17, 2010
I drank with my mamma at homestay last night. My baba kept insisting that I drank more, he told me he wanted me to drink 2 beers (4 American Beers) which I did and kept insisting that I drink more while the little kids kept asking if I was drunk (unalewa?).
We left homestay today and I could not be more happy about it. The family that I lived with were great but I am so ready to live out on my own and actually start my PC work. I learned a lot at homestay and will never forget all the wonderful people and things that I learned but now I am ready to move forward and start both my projects and begin to think about the research that I am going to do.
But I am very scared and excited at the same time because I have no idea what to expect and I am aware of how hard the first few weeks of homestay were I can only imagine that site will be a hundred times harder. I will be in a new village, were I don’t know anyone and they are probably not aware that I am coming. My village speaks both Kigogo and Kiswahili of which I only know a little Kiswahili and I moving into a house by myself with nothing in it. I get to spend the first few weeks preparing my house and getting to know both the village and the villagers which I am really excited about. I have decided that I am just going to continually put myself in awkward situations, so eventually they won’t be awkward anymore.
Also I passed all of my tests and am suppose to be able to speak at a intermediate high in Kiswahili which I am skeptical of but I have 2 years to work on it. We have a huge party and swearing in ceremony tomorrow. I already have the flask filled and ready to go. ( Al and Steph I thought you would enjoy that)
August 28, 2010
I have spent my first week at my site and it has already gone better than expected. I really thought that I was going to feel awful the entire week and totally dreaded it. But so far site has turned out better than expected. I am very happy with my house. I have 3 rooms and a courtyard. I am very happy about the courtyard because it makes me feel safer. The only problem was when I got to site I didn’t have a front door, so I have had a girl sleeping with me for the last week which I didn’t mind to much but I don’t want her to stay. I am kind of thinking it might be a ploy for me to have a house girl but I am not going to let that happen, I really want to live alone. The village is nice and I am at the base of a hill (small mountain by MI standards). I can get all of the staple crops of TZ minus fruit and bread which is nice. I don’t have electricity or running water or cell service in my house yet for that matter which really stinks but I am working on it. I bought a solar light that also charges a phone so that is really cool and has helped a lot.
Me and 2 other volunteers are new to the area, Randi and Paul. Paul is about a 2 hour walk from me and Randi is a bus ride away while also Jake, Claire, and Yue are close. I am also about a 2 hour walk from town or a bus ride away so I can get things that I need and have reliable cell service on somewhat of a regular basis.
In my village they speak both Kigogo and Kiswahili so it looks like I will be learning 2 languages simultaneously which I think is going to be a huge challenge but I think I am ready for it. I want to be able to speak with people and start to do some work so hopefully I can catch on fast.