Hello there! Alot of stuff has happened in the last week but I will try and remember the interesting stuff. Last week was much more oriented towards teaching prep, which has been interesting to say the least. I don't want to bash Peace Corps, so I will just say it was rushed and disorganized (especially compared to the extremely well thought out/planned language training). Last week I met with the teacher whose classes I will be taking over for the next 3 weeks at my internship school. I'll be teaching the form 1 (~8th grade) physics class. There are 86 students. In one classroom. You can imagine it is pretty cramped, and they have to sit two to a desk. It is surprisingly quiet and orderly, which goes to show how much discipline and respect for the teacher are taking seriously in Tanzania. I sat in on math and physics classes last week and it was a bit of an eye opener. Although I am sure that there are plenty of great teachers in Tanzania, both teachers I happened to observe made pretty substantial mistakes. I guess it puts less pressure on myself, because if I can just teach accurate information the students will be better off. Also interesting is how mismatched the physics and math curriculums are. I'll be teaching a unit on pressure, which starts off pretty simply (force/area), but then essentially goes into fluid mechanics (which I didn't learn about until my sophmore year in college). Meanwhile the same kids are just now learning about perimeter and circumference in their math class. Anyways, my first class in on Wednesday, so I guess I will gauge what they know and have to make some adjustments. Three of the PCVs in my group taught their first classes today, so I am already getting pretty excited for mine!
In other news, I was sick this weekend, but I'm all better now so no need to worry. We had the 3rd shot for the rabies vaccine midday Friday, and my body had a bad reaction. Spent Friday afternoon and night feeling pretty shitty (headache, nausea, fever) and was still feeling not so great Saturday but was all better by Sunday. I was well taken care of by my Mama and had all kinds of neighbors stop by to wish me well, phone calls from family friends and other PCVs, etc. I decided to pass on a big 8 hour hiking outing with a bunch of other PCVs on Sunday to climb a nearby mountain, which was a bummer but that's just how it goes. Instead I spent a leisurely Sunday morning cleaning my room and washing all my clothes and shoes for 3 hours (Tanzanians are very particular about cleaning)...needless to say my raw knuckles aren't too happy! Went over to the house of Mama Isaac's best friend for lunch and then went to visit her sister-in-laws. I'm still getting used to being the center of attention. I'm a source of endless wonder, and people just stare and talk about me right in front of me. They also like to touch my skin, hair, etc. Could you ever imagine going over to a stranger's house, where they'd take off your shoes and start painting your toenails with henna?! (you also need to understand how impossible it is to keep your feet clean of all the dirt and dust, and how grossed out I am by my own feet)
We got kind of scary news today. One of my fellow volunteers, Danielle, got in an accident involving a pikipiki (motorcycle) yesterday evening. I don't know the details, just that she was hit and she was taken to the hospital in Dar. Luckily she's fine, and just has some cuts and bruises on her leg, so hopefully she will be back soon!
Next weekend marks the halfway point of training, and all the volunteers will be traveling to a nearby nature reserve for a safari. Some of us were going to try to camp, but it looks like that might not work out. Either way it will be a nice break from training and I'm really looking forward to it!
Anyways, I just want to say thanks to everyone who has messaged, emailed, commented, etc...I wish I had enough time (and money!) to reply to you all individually, but I have read and appreciate every word!
AND NEXT TIME I PROMISE PICTURES!!!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
homestay update...for reals
Ok so I'll try writing this again. I've been with my host family for one week now. They are really great, although different than I expected. My Mama is only 25 years old, so she's really more like a friend. She's a primary school teacher, teaching English actually, which is good for me but bad for my Swahili immersion. But she's super nice and does try to speak to me in Swahili the first time, and then again the second time if I don't understand, but will usually switch to English if I really don't understand. Her husband, Baba Isaac, is 30. I just met him briefly my first day because the next morning he had to go to Zanzibar for work...he's in the military and their prepping for the upcoming presidential election on the 31st. He's nice though, speaks fairly good english, and I've talked to him on the phone a few times since he left. The best part of my family is my little kaka (brother) Isaac. That's right, his name is Isaac, just like my newest little cousin! He's only 1 year old and I'm already in love with him. It's awesome to come home and see his adorable, smiling face everyday. I also have 2 dada (sister), Betty and Flora, who aren't actually my sisters. I think Betty is the younger sister of Mama Isaac and Flora is the housegirl (cooks and cleans...which is awkward and deserves a long blogpost in and of itself...more about that later) and may or may not be related...not sure exact ages but I'd guess both are around 13. Everyone is really nice and I feel very comfortable in the house. We have electricity, but no running water. I've got my own room with a big bed and a desk to study. A lot could be said about training itself, but I guess it could be summed up as crazy and exhausting. There is very little free time, as we have class from 8 to 5 Monday through Saturday...I really don't think it is actually possible to shove that much Kiswahili in your brain every day. Then it's back home after class, where I am lucky to get in a pumzika kidogo (little rest), help cooking dinner (takes forever!), hand wash clothes (takes forever!), talk with my family, play with Isaac, etc. Eat dinner, bath, get in bed around 9:30 and try and journal for a few minutes before passing out anywhere form 10 to 15 minutes later. But don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds and I am really enjoying every minute of it. I am also happy to report I am cleaner than I ever have been, because in Tanzania you both TWICE a day, so I take a bucket bath every morning and night.
Swahili is going pretty well. Another girl in my group learned some Swahili before coming as well, so it's nice that we're at the same level and pick up new stuff at the same pace. It is actually a fairly easy language to learn, and the grammar is really regular once you get the hang of it. I feel really confident in class and talking with my language teacher, but everyday conversation in everyday situations is totally different. It is still pretty intimidating and I get easily flustered, but I'm sure I'll get more comfortable with time. The 2 oldest volunteers (60s?) are in my language group which has been pretty interesting. I really can't imagine trying to learn a language as an old person...they really have such a harder time picking it up. The woman is especially slow, and after just 2 days they brought in another teacher just for her. So it's better now that we're able to move forward at the pace we should be, and I do really like my language teacher. Unfortunately, none of the people I became close friends with so far are in my group or live anywhere near me, which was pretty disappointing but is probably for the best anyways as I can just focus on Swahili and integrating into my host family. All the volunteers get together once a week at our central training hub for broad training sessions, and it was really great to see everyone on Friday. After training some of us went to a nearby bar and had a couple of cold beers and pizza (first "American" food since arriving) which was a great way to end our first week of homestay.
The food with with my host family is awesome! A lot less fried stuff and more vegetables and fresh fruit with every meal (banana, watermelon, papaya). My favorite dish so far is matembele, which is made from the leaves of the sweet potato plant...it cooks down to something similar to spinach, but much tastier, and Mama Isaac cooks it with tomato, onion, grated carrot and fresh coconut milk...delicious! My dada also makes a wonderful homeade fruit juice. So I'm eating very well!
Today was a free day since it's Sunday. I slept in until 7:30 and then woke up, ate breakfast, and studied some Swahili. Then I went into to town (about a 10 minute bus ride...also another blog post in and of itself) to meet up with some of the volunteers for lunch. Went to a bar for a couple of cold beers after, and now I'm at an internet cafe as my last stop. Another long week ahead, but we're starting more teacher training and less language so it should be pretty different. That's all for now...hope you all are well!!
Swahili is going pretty well. Another girl in my group learned some Swahili before coming as well, so it's nice that we're at the same level and pick up new stuff at the same pace. It is actually a fairly easy language to learn, and the grammar is really regular once you get the hang of it. I feel really confident in class and talking with my language teacher, but everyday conversation in everyday situations is totally different. It is still pretty intimidating and I get easily flustered, but I'm sure I'll get more comfortable with time. The 2 oldest volunteers (60s?) are in my language group which has been pretty interesting. I really can't imagine trying to learn a language as an old person...they really have such a harder time picking it up. The woman is especially slow, and after just 2 days they brought in another teacher just for her. So it's better now that we're able to move forward at the pace we should be, and I do really like my language teacher. Unfortunately, none of the people I became close friends with so far are in my group or live anywhere near me, which was pretty disappointing but is probably for the best anyways as I can just focus on Swahili and integrating into my host family. All the volunteers get together once a week at our central training hub for broad training sessions, and it was really great to see everyone on Friday. After training some of us went to a nearby bar and had a couple of cold beers and pizza (first "American" food since arriving) which was a great way to end our first week of homestay.
The food with with my host family is awesome! A lot less fried stuff and more vegetables and fresh fruit with every meal (banana, watermelon, papaya). My favorite dish so far is matembele, which is made from the leaves of the sweet potato plant...it cooks down to something similar to spinach, but much tastier, and Mama Isaac cooks it with tomato, onion, grated carrot and fresh coconut milk...delicious! My dada also makes a wonderful homeade fruit juice. So I'm eating very well!
Today was a free day since it's Sunday. I slept in until 7:30 and then woke up, ate breakfast, and studied some Swahili. Then I went into to town (about a 10 minute bus ride...also another blog post in and of itself) to meet up with some of the volunteers for lunch. Went to a bar for a couple of cold beers after, and now I'm at an internet cafe as my last stop. Another long week ahead, but we're starting more teacher training and less language so it should be pretty different. That's all for now...hope you all are well!!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Homestay
Well I just typed out a really long post and the computer froze and I lost it all. So I'll have to update later. Got a phone so give me a call +255 682240387
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