Added lots more pics of my vacation and the high(er) speed internet in Dar even allowed me to upload another video for your viewing pleasure. Check out a bunch of Peace Corps Volunteers honoring the lovely U S of A with quite possibly the worst rendition of our national anthem ever sang. But we were out in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanga town, so that's gotta count for something.
Anywho, I left last post off eating good foods in Moshi. We also made it to Arusha and spent a bit of time wondering around the city, which is much bigger and dirtier than nearby Moshi. We did find a legitimate supermarket and walked down every aisle at least once, in awe of the variety of products offered...things I've never seen sold in Tanzania before like rasberries and walnuts and bacon and blue cheese and donuts! A few of our friends had spent the two days prior climbing nearby Mt. Meru and we met them for dinner. There is a restaurant owned by a Japanese man that has a legitimate sushi chef. The sushi rolls were amazing, and complete with a bowl of Udon noodles, was probably the best meal I've had in Tanzania thus far. It was awesome, so we also had to go back the next day for lunch.
After that we headed back to Moshi and spent another day or so before boarding a bus to Tanga town (southeast, on the coast). There were 20 of us PCVs meeting up there for a 4th of July bash. We spent the first day just hanging out and swimming, celebrating a couple of birthdays, and eating a tasty Indian dinner. On Saturday we had arranged for a boat to take us out in the ocean. I must say I'm a bit spoiled now because the beaches in Mtwara and of course Zanzibar are much nicer, but we went out a ways to this huge sand bar that we had to ourselves and had fun swimming and drinking and hanging out. Our guides even cooked us a wonderful meal of grilled tuna, cooked bananas, and lots of fresh fruits (Tanga is the famous fruit producing region). We also went to a nearby island, Toten Island, and did a bit more swimming while some others walked around and looked at some old German ruins and graves. We ended the evening at a bar, drinking beers and watching the Tanzanian wedding that was taking place below (Tanzanian weddings are interesting). The next morning we moved on out, so it was a short but great time in Tanga!
And now my summer vacation has finally come to an end! I got to see a lot of Tanzania and it was especially wonderful to get to spend time with so many other volunteers along the way. We counted that we saw 22 of the 34 other volunteers from our training class, while also getting to meet lots of other volunteers from the different classes/sectors which is always fun. Yesterday we left Tanga for Dar and spent today, the actual 4th of July, just hanging out and interneting. We had ourselves a traditional American lunch - a Subway sandwich, bag of Doritos, cold Pepsi, and Twix bar for dessert - followed by a tasty Lebonese dinner. Tomorrow morning we're headed back down south so I should make it back to my village on Wednesday. I've been gone a whole month now so I'm pretty ready to get back home. I've spent too much money and consumed too many tasty calories so it's about time for me to get get back to my village life of cheap living and lack lusture cuisine. Unfortunately, I've got all my terminal exams to grade, term grades to calculate, and what is sure to be a rat trashed house to clean. Fortunately, the next school term doesn't start until July 18 so I've got several days to do it all and relax in my village before getting back into the teaching grind. Also my school was finally able to procure the wood needed to build furniture for our science laboratory, so when I get back we'll be able to get started on that with some local carpenters and hopefully have a functioning lab for next term!
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend - eat some potato salad and deviled eggs for me! Love and miss you all!
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