Siku kuu ya Shukrani

Hello everyone, hope y’all had lovely Thanksgivings complete with lots of good food and time with friends and family! This year I’m thankful to have more time in Tanzania, with new experiences in a different region and job and the opportunity to continue such a wonderful adventure. And of course I’m endlessly thankful for my family and friends at home that support me in all that I do, sending me lots of love and happy thoughts and sharing in my experiences here. And for the friends I have made here that have become my second family, who make spending holidays so far from home so much less sad. And, most superficially, to live in a city with lots of fresh vegetables and fruits (since being here I think I’ve eaten apples, carrots, or avocados every single day), fairly reliable electricity and water supply, and 3G internet J.

Since I had to work on actual Turkey day - and there aren’t actually any turkeys, pumpkins, cranberries, or green beans around - I had a makeshift feast on Sunday with some other PCVs in Dodoma. We cooked beef stew, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing, pea casserole, and homemade rolls, topped off by apple-mango crumble and banana pudding for dessert! The cornbread dressing was my Meemaw’s famous recipe, what she’d cook for our ~30 person Christmas dinners. I made the whole recipe…for 8 people. So needless to say, we had lots of leftovers and a second meal on Monday J. Took us all weekend to do the shopping, prep work, and cooking (so much harder without an oven), but it was so worth it! The Tanzanian boyfriend of a fellow PCV joined us, and we were all a bit nervous because Tanzanians rarely like the non-Tanzanian foods we cook (too much spice, too much flavor). But he seemed to really like it, even going for seconds, and he was so happy to join in on a “traditional American holiday”…it was really great to be able to share it with him! For about 2 hours following our meal we were so full that we were all just laid sprawled out on the floor, which we also explained to our TZn friend is the traditional post-Thanksgiving activity J.

What else? I added lots of pictures of my trip to Zambia. Victoria Falls was stunning! We went during dry season, so we didn’t get to see the full impressiveness of “the largest sheet of falling water in the world”. But it was magical regardless and it meant we got to see the rock formations and actually just see (with all the water there can be so much mist it’s difficult to actually see anything), as well as go jump into Devil’s Pool on the edge of the falls (too dangerous during rainy season). So, a trade-off, but I guess I’ll just have to go back sometime during rainy season J. It was definitely worth it to go over to the Zimbabwe side of the falls, where there was more water and better views. But the highlight of it all was jumping and swimming in Devil’s Pool, complete with peaking over the edge and getting a pretty amazing, up-close view of the falls. Going bungee jumping was pretty awesome too, very scary but very exhilarating! It was a 111m freefall over the rapids of the Zambezi river, and to top that off with more fear, the rope broke less than a year ago and an Australian girl fell into the river (amazingly she lived). I did the package deal, which began with zip-lining across the gorge, then something called “the swing”, and lastly the bungee. In comparison to the others, the zip-line was kind of lame and over too quickly. Then Katie and I did tandem on the swing, a 70 m freefall followed by swinging out and over the river, before each doing bungee solo. We weren’t too scared before the swing, cracking jokes right up to the end, but that changed really really quickly upon the jump…seriously the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced. I think it didn’t help that we were tandem, and our only instructions were to “fall like your one person,” which didn’t really go so well (Katie has some pretty funny pictures of our legs flailing in very opposite directions). And my whole body was just uncontrollably shaking, even well after we’d stopped moving and were just dangling down and waiting to be pulled up. Needless to say we were a bit frazzled after that and I was so so so much more nervous to bungee! They wanted us to bungee immediately after the swing, but I needed to have a break and collect myself and stop shaking first, so after maybe 15 minutes of rest I went for it! As for bungee jumping, it was actually really fun! Initially all I could think of is the fear of jumping off the platform, and as soon as that happened I let out a scream because suddenly it became an “oh shit, now I actually have to fall” kind of situation, but that doesn’t last long before you feel tension on the rope and that is truly the BEST feeling of it all. After that point I just remember having a huge smile on my face, feeling proud I did it and relieved I’m still attached to the cord and happy that it is actually fun! And then you just get to bounce up and down several times and enjoy the view before coming to a rest and being pulled up. All in all, an exhilarating experience!

What else? Zambia is fancy! Tyler and I spent an extra day in Lusaka on our way back to TZ and went to a very safi shopping mall. We had fun trying on expensive clothes, browsing expensive stores with 3-D televisions, eating frozen yogurt, and we even saw ‘Cloud Atlas’ at a real movie theater! On the downside, I didn’t realize how far it was to travel from Tanzania all the way down to the southern border of Zambia, taking a whopping 3 days to get there and 3 days back. We took the train most of the way there, which was really fun but, as usual, very late. And we got in a train-wreck! Don’t worry, not quite so dramatic…we just hit the trailer of a truck hauling maize. No one was hurt and the train stayed on the tracks, but the trailer was destroyed and maize was flung everywhere; luckily there were plenty of happy villagers, train staff and passengers willing to clear the maize and get their share! Taking buses on the way back was pretty miserable kama kawaida, including a very shitty and cramped overnight bus to Tanzania. As much fun as the trip was, I was ready to be not traveling and not homeless…

I finally got back to Dar on Friday, November 9^th, and got to spend one last weekend saying goodbye to a couple more friends on their way out. Then I moved to Dodoma on Sunday, and after two days to unwind, I started at WFP on Wednesday. I’ve been working for two weeks now, and it’s going well so far. I’m still observing lots of field monitoring missions and figuring out what I’ll be doing, so more on work happenings later. It’s been a bit of an adjustment getting used to the structure of office life, 7:30 to 4:30 with about an hour walk to/from home on both ends, but I really can’t complain too bad as I’m sitting here typing on my fancy new computer with unlimited internet in an air-conditioned office! The living situation is also an adjustment, going from living in a small village by myself to living in a big town along with four other PCVs - 3 extendees also working at WFP until June, and 1 PCV working at the hospital. I’m currently staying with Mike and Mindy, a married couple from my training class, and having a blast with them. In January I’ll move into my permanent house, with another PCV named Yue, so I’m looking forward to finally getting unpacked and settled in. My house has the following amenities:

• electricity
• water coming out of faucets, including a shower (cold, but still)
• propane burners (2...so I can cook more than one thing at a time!)
• glass windows, tile floors, finished walls with crown molding
• a real couch and coffee table (although, not gonna lie, I kinda miss my homeade couch)
• and, most excitingly, a refridgerator!

So from now on, instead of worrying about my cell phone dying or whether I should use my limited water to bathe or wash clothes, I’ll just be worrying about which kind of pudding I should have chilling in the fridge. Tough life.

And, last but not least, I’m leaving for America in ONE WEEK! I haven’t actually had much time to think about it, things being so crazy with settling in and starting work and eating my daily apples. But it’s starting to hit me and I’m getting excited! For those that don’t know, I’ll be visiting the USofA from December 6^th to January 10^th!

Dec 6 – 11:  Boston

Dec 12 – 17:  New York

Dec 18 – 22:  Austin

Dec 23 – 26:  Dallas

Dec 27 – Jan 1:  Albuquerque/Santa Fe

Jan 2 – 10:  Austin

Looking forward to seeing as many friends and family as possible, so if you’ll be around let me know!