queso

This entire post is going to be about one of the greatest things in the whole world: queso. A little background: Katie's family sent her a 16 oz log of velvetta cheese and a can of rotel in a recent care package. Since then we have been planning out our perfect fatass meal and it all came to fruition last night. Katie came to my vill on Thursday. Early in the day I had started a pot of beans, cooking with grilled onions, garlic, a hot pepper, and a bit of taco seasoning. I made a bunch of tortilla dough, and actually used as much oil as you should, because hey, you might as go all out. After Katie arrived from a typically shitty bus ride, we got started on the queso, tortilla rolling, and kachumbari (the closest thing to salad eaten by Tanzanians: fresh tomato, onion, sometimes bell pepper, and a little lime juice) chopping, all the while enjoying some of her bucket wine she also brought over. The end result, as you can imagine, was heavenly. Together we ate 11 tortillas, a pot of beans, and most of the queso. We were nearly to the point of throwing up, but that didn't even matter because it was so worth it. And as this was pretty much the first cheese we've had in 6 months, we were a bit worried about how our tummies would react, but so far so good.

Anywho, we left my village early this morning, and 3 bus rides later ended up in Lindi, in an air-conditioned internet cafe. We're meeting Ghee and another volunteer from our training class, Will, here today and then we'll leave bright and early tomorrow on a long bus ride to Dar. We've got big plans for our short time there, all of which include the major food groups: hamburgers, pizza, Indian, and ice cream. Then Sunday we'll head to Morogoro for 10 days of in-service training. Can't wait! During that time I will also celebrate my golden birthday (turning 24 on the 24th) as well as our 6-month anniversary in Tanzania so it should get pretty crazy. I will also be celebrating a much needed break from my school/students, as they are taking mid-terms (this week) and then have their spring break (next week).

Added some updated pics of my house and, of course, the aforementioned queso extravaganza. Enjoy!