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!

Habari za siku nyingi?

Hey hey! Been trying to get my act together and write a little update for y'all but keep getting distracted by coffee and granola and A/C and burritos and youtube. Like what's with that Gangnam style video going viral? Officially worried about my transition back to the states because I just don't get why it's so great! Karibu (welcome) to enlighten me on the matter. But more importantly, at least to my mother, is what I'm up to these days. I'm on the move again, currently in Dar es Salaam (hints the coffee, granola, A/C, burritos, fast internets, etc.) watching the first round of my training class buddies get their R's (go from peace corps volunteer, PCV, to returned peace corps volunteer, RPCV). It's been great to be able to celebrate with everyone and say goodbye, but honestly it has been depressing as shit listening to everyone talk about sandwiches and the like and knowing I chose another 14 months here and I'll be here without them. But all will be well once I get moved to Dodoma and start working and get used to a very different environment. But let me go back a few weeks...

I left my village on October 11th. It was strange having to say bye, but it made it a million times easier because I'll still be in TZ and able to call and visit again. At that point I was also pretty ready to leave; my replacement had taken over all my classes so I didn't really have anything to do and it just felt like I was waiting around to leave. It was also just weird timing because I left during the big national exam for my Form IVs, when I'm not allowed to be involved at all in the testing or even really be around school (they bring in outside teachers and police officers to proctor it all) and there's no classes for the other students (which seems to only be at my school). So I didn't really get to have a formal goodbye to all of my students at assembly or anything...sort of a relief because I didn't have to attempt a long, emotional speech. But I will really miss a few of my students, particularly my Form II girls, who made teaching so much better for me and I'm happy to be able to keep tabs on them through my replacement. Having no school left me plenty of time to say bye to friends in the village and nearby town and to my shitty little house that turned out to be such a great home. After leaving my vill I went to Mtwara town for a long weekend with the Mtwara/Lindi crew at my favorite place in all of Tanzania, the beach house. It was great to have one last get together with everyone and say goodbye, or rather, see y'all later if you end up in Dodoma.

Then moved on up to Dar and onto Pemba (the island north of Zanzibar) by ferry. A group of 10 from my training class spent 5 days there getting scuba certified...so so fun! There are a few pics on Facebook, but I'll try and post lots to Picasa this week. I highly recommend Pemba and diving with Swahili Divers if anyone is interested. I already can't wait to dive again! After Pemba we stopped in Zanzibar - Stonetown as well as a beach in the northeast of the island - for a couple more days of spending outrageous amounts of money and consuming outrageous amounts of fish and Konyagi (shitty Tanzanian gin, rumored to be distilled from papaya, but the little plastic bags they are sold 2 shots at a time in only list the ingredients as "konyagi flavour"). Since then I've just been continuing my spoiling in Dar...I even got to watch the debate the other night that a local bar aired for all us American expats. On Tuesday I'll hop on a 2-day train from Dar to Zambia with three friends. We'll spend a few days to see Victoria Falls, the largest (if you consider both width and height?) waterfall in the world. Should be pretty cool!

"Kathryn, travel is great, but do you ever work anymore these days?". Well, I did get my contract with WFP signed a couple days ago, so that's a step in the right direction. Still not sure exactly what I'll be doing there work wise, but after two years of never really knowing what the hell is going on around me, I'm okay with figuring it out once I get there. Now just have to get my housing and start date settled; hoping to move there after getting back from Zambia around November 7th, but again, we'll see...

These days

Hey all, sorry for the long blog hiatus, but all is well here! See tons of pics, uploaded to my picasa album. A lot has happened in the last few months, so enjoy my little chapter book:

CHAPTER 1 – MY FAMILY TRIP:
              My family’s trip was really great! After a mix-up with my flight from Mtwara, I met them a day late in Arusha, where we started our trip with lunch in Moshi town. We followed this up with about five days of safari’n at Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti Plains. They also got to see a PCV friend, Dani’s, village and school for a small taste of Peace Corps life. Ended with three relaxing days on Zanzibar – safi beach resort and Stonetown – and a day of big city life in Dar es Salaam. It was so wonderful to have them here! Check out all their pics from the link on my previous post.

CH 2 - FOURTH OF JULY:

             The morning my family left from Dar es Salaam, I took a bus up north to Lushoto, a lovely city up in the mountains on Tanga region. I visited a fellow PCV’s house in the nearby mountains, and I must say it is the most beautiful part of Tanzania I’ve seen. Then we met up in Lushoto town with a few other travelling PCVs and did some nice hiking around the area, ending at Irente Farms where we bought homemade cheese, jam, quark, and bread for a delicious picnic dinner. After Lushoto we headed east to Tanga town for a 4^th of July celebration with a big group of PCVs, most of them from my training class. Similar to last year, we hired a boat out to a sandbar where there was plenty of swimming, beer drinking, and fish bbq eating to be had. We ended the night with a bonfire and smores (all the fixings direct from USA)! After Tanga, I headed back down south to Mtwara region, stopping in Ndanda for a going away party for the COS’ers of the region – 8 health/environment PCVs finishing their 2 years. They’ve been here my whole service, and I saw a few of them quite often, especially my sitemate Tyler, so it’s been strange here without them and they are greatly missed! Finally I made it back home to my village in time to start a very short 4 weeks of school. Teaching kama kawaida (as usual), so let’s fast forward 3 weeks…

CH 3 – MY NEW REPLACEMENT:
          The end of July brought shadow week for the then PC Trainees; this year the trainees shadowed their future sites (or the closest PC site) so we Mtwara volunteers had our first ever shadowers, the 4 new PCVs who will be living down in the deep n’ dirty south. This year is also different due to changing the dates of training; normally there is little to no overlap between PCVs at a site, but now there will be almost 3 months overlap where replacement and previous PCVs will be living together at one site. After much anticipation, I got to meet my replacement, a guy named Drew. We spent a week seeing the site and surrounding area, which worked well since I would be away traveling during his actual move to site in mid-August. Unfortunately for Drew, it also coincided with a national teachers strike for higher wages, so he didn’t get a very good picture of a school with no teachers and maybe one-third of the students showing up. He’ll have about 3 weeks to himself at site before I return in September, after which we’ll both be living and teaching in Maputi until I leave for good, likely sometime in October. It will be quite a change for me, but hopefully my students and school will benefit from the transition time.

CH 4 - COS CONFERENCE:
            Following shadow week in early August, I headed up to Dar es Salaam for my last PC training, a 4-day COS (Close of Service, PC jargon for completing your service) Conference with my training class. It was so great to all be together again one last time, and also very surreal to look back over our 2 years and look forward to our post-PC lives in just a few months time.  We got to spend it at a nice beach resort, eating amazing Indian food everyday, and watching the Olympics on a big screen so all were happy!

CH 5 – SURPRISE… I’M NOT COMING HOME YET
            Big news: I actually won’t be COSing with the rest of my class this November. I’ll be sticking around as a third year extendee, and moving to Dodoma to work with the UN World Food Programme (UNWFP). I’m really excited for the opportunity to stay a little longer in Tanzania, until December 2013, and experience a completely different working environment. I’ll likely be splitting my time between 9-to-5 office work and monitoring and evaluation out in the field, all the while living the city life in a real house with electricity and running water! Some logistics between PC and WFP still need to be worked out, but I hope to have some more info about my job responsibilities and start date soon. In the meantime I’m collecting poop samples (it’s not pretty…) so PC can check me for worms and parasites and give me medical clearance for extension. One of the perks of extension is a month of paid homeleave, which I’ll take this December/January, so stay tuned for more about my holiday travel plans.

CH 6 – NO SCHOOL = MORE TRAVEL (Dodoma, Singida, Mwanza, Kigoma, Gombe Stream, MV Liemba ferry, Kasanga, Kalambo Falls, Mbeya)
             School currently also on an unusual and somewhat unscheduled 5-week break while the 2010 census is being conducted, so it’s been a great excuse to have one last big travel with my training classmates. Immediately following COS conference I first travelled with a few friends to Dodoma, and it was great to see my future home for the first time. The second we stepped off the bus I saw mamas selling bunches of grapes and I knew this was the place for me! Also avocados for days, fresh yogurt, and legit Italian and Chinese restaurants! We left Dodoma for Singida town followed by Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city nestled on the shores of Lake Victoria, the largest tropical lake in the world. Mwanza had lovely views of giant boulders set against the lake as well as the hustle and bustle of a big city and another awesome Chinese restaurant. We met up with two more friends there and then travelled 15-hours by dirt road and bus to Kigoma, on Lake Tanganyika, the longest and second deepest lake in the world. We spent a day swimming at a beautiful beach (fresh water is such a treat!) and headed the next day to Gombe Stream, where Jane Goodall’s research on chimpanzees is in its fifth generation. After a 3-hour cramped Tanzanian boat ride, we arrived at the isolated stretch of mountainous beach and were greeted by lots of baboons! The basic campsite charged a whopping $15 per meal, so being the cheap PCVs we are, we brought our own – bananas, avocados, peanut butter, jelly, and a loaf of bread. While eating our first breakfast, a baboon got into the cafeteria and stole our entire loaf of bread! They’re super aggressive so it was scary, but mostly we were pissed to lose the staple of our next 3 meals (several hours later we found out that a nice Canadian family we had met there took pity on us and bribed the kitchen to give us a loaf of bread…nice people rock and I wish we had the chance to thank them!). After the baboon mishap, we headed off on a hike to find some chimps. I guess we just had an all-around unlucky day with monkeys, because the chimps had climbed all the way up the first mountain, then down the other side and up a second mountain. I was not prepared for a hike, only bringing my leather beaded Masai sandals consisting of a measly 2mm worth of sole. I ended up going barefoot, walking up rocks and streams and fighting our way through brush and vines. I will never ever forget to pack proper shoes again. But 6 hours of hiking later, we finally made it to the chimps and were well rewarded! We got to observe them from just a few feet away and it was truly amazing. And is there anything cuter than a baby chimp?! We spent late afternoon back at camp, relaxing and swimming and soaking feet in the cool lake water. The next morning we headed back to Kigoma in time to catch an afternoon ferry, the MV Liemba, which travels every two weeks all the way down Lake Tanganyika into Zambia. It’s an old German ship built before WWI, and purposely sunk during WWII to keep it from the British, but now in working order. It also had an interesting passenger mix of Tanzanians, Congolese, Zambians, as well as several German tourists. And like any Tanzanian mode of transportation, it was overcrowded with people sleeping on every inch of floor space. But we had lots of downtime for reading and playing cards and enjoying the views of the lake – sunrises over Tanzania and sunsets over the Democratic Republic of Congo - for 2 days on our way down to Kasanga, the last stop in Tanzania. From Kasanga we were able to take a 2 hour boat ride and a 2 hour hike to the border of Zambia to see Kalambo Falls, the second tallest waterfall in Africa at about 215 meters. It was big! My dinky sandals broke this time, so another barefoot hike for my poor, poor feet. The next day, following a 15 hour bus ride from Kasanga, we finally reached Mbeya town, where we’ve been hanging out the last few days at a friend’s apartment and playing on the internet.

VERY SHORT EPILOGUE:
           Tomorrow I’ll head south to Njombe and then the following day to Songea, for the big annual PCTZ party. After that I have to go back to Dar for my medical check-up, and then finally head back to my village in time for school to start on September 10^th. HAPPY LABOR DAY!

family travel pics!

my family's trip was awesome! check out some pictures!
https://picasaweb.google.com/112713409096691724713/Tanzania2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPipqa_sv56tNA&feat=directlink&noredirect=1

also here's the link to a slideshow of the Lindi/Mtwara Girls Empowerment Conference!
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4Y6U6ETgxYc%26feature%3Dyoutu.be&h=bAQHSxeqC

Wasichana Wanaweza!

Hello! Happy June to all!

I've got so much to talk about after our girls empowerment conference, last Thursday through Monday! Check out all the pics and hopefully video. It went really well, especially considering that none of us have tried to plan anything like this before. We hosted about 80 people at the teacher's college, Kitangali TTC, nearby my village. This included 54 girls from 14 schools throughout Lindi and Mtwara regions, 19 PCVs, 7 Tanzanian counterpart teachers, and 2 Tanzanian guest speakers. We covered topics of women's reproductive health, menstruation, pregnancy, STIs and HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention, relationship and communication skills, self-esteem, goal-setting and future planning, and finally the girls were trained to be peer educators and go back to their respective schools to share what they've learned.

Before I get into it any further, I guess I should give a little background on the culture that makes these topics so relevant and important.

• In general, girls develop and start having sex earlier here than in America. There is no standard for sex education, with the exception of a few topics like STIs covered in the high school biology syllabus. Therefore most teenagers understand very little about their bodies, sex, and the risks involved. Every so often schools have mandatory pregnancy testing and pregnant girls must quit school (technically the boy responsible is supposed to be sent to prison for 7 years, but this almost never happens).
• Condom use is not widely practiced. There is a lot of misinformation spread about condoms, for example that they make the man sterile, that condoms actually cause HIV/AIDS, etc. Anyone can get condoms for free at their local clinic, and yet many won't get them or use them (or use them correctly) due to all the stigma.
• When you see a group of girls together, they are very talkative and loud and outgoing. As soon as you add in some boys, the girls become much more passive. This is extremely visible in the classroom. In Form I, the girls are at the top of the class, confident and answering questions. By Form IV, almost all the top students are boys and girls participate very little in class. In Tanzanian culture in general, and Muslim culture in particular, men are dominate and women are submissive. This leaves the woman particularly vulnerable; if a man doesn't want to wear a condom, end of discussion. When a man wants to have sex, he needs to be satisfied. I believe there is very little concern for the female's needs or desires.
• Prostitution, especially of very young girls, is a problem in poor, rural areas. There are few options for young people that need to earn money. There is a Kiswahili word, "Fataki" that means an older man who pays, buys clothes for, etc. school girls in exchange for sex. Many PCVs I know have heard of a Fataki  at their school (often one of their male teachers...a whole other issue) and I've found that female students are extremely aware of prostitution and will talk about it fairly openly.
• In general Tanzanians have different standard for faithfulness within a relationship. Many couples are living very far apart from each other (the government places workers like teachers and nurses) and find additional partners outside their marriage. This becomes problematic in areas with already high rates of STIs and HIV infection. Add to that the fact that men in Muslim communities have up to four wives. If any one of those five go outside of the marriage and contract HIV, it will be spread to the other four in the marriage (and to any of their outside partners). So you can imagine how easily an STI can spread through a community.
• We were told by multiple Tanzanians during the conference that "Tanzanians don't talk about heavy issues like this." This is exactly why Peace Corps encourages life skills education, and particularly female empowerment. There is no space to talk about these issues at school or home. And yet they have SO MANY questions. Schools are generally not a safe place where students feel open and free to ask a teacher a personal question. They mostly know their teachers as the people that regularly beat them with a stick for not wearing socks with their shoes. And because few parents are educated on these issues, even if their daughter felt comfortable enough to ask about something like safe sex, the parents likely don't know the answers (or worse, are misinformed and give false information).

So, back to the conference. First off, the girls were so excited! Most have them have never travelled far from their villages, so just getting to travel is a big deal. Add in meeting lots of other girls, sleeping in a college hostel all together, getting their very own folder, pen, notebook, t-shirt, and kanga (traditional piece of cloth worn by women) along with plenty of water and food and you would have thought they were in heaven. We worked them hard with four, 2-hour sessions every day but they seemed to have endless energy and enthusiasm. There were lots of fun games and hands on activities incorporated in the lessons. One of the lessons I co-facilitated was about HIV transmission. One of my favorite demonstrations involves 10 participants standing at the front of the room, representing various couples (faithful, unfaithful) and uses of protection (never, sometimes, always) as well as abstinence. Each starts with a clear cup, 9 filled with clear water and 1 with red-dyed water, representing HIV infection. Pairs of participants come up and either mix their fluids (sex without protection), clink their cups (sex with protection) or high-five (no sex). At the end of the game 6 of the 10 have transmitted HIV (cups with red water). I just think it's so great and visual and really helps to show the spread of HIV within a community, and of course it also teaches ABC protection because the only four people that remained uninfected were the ones practicing Abstinence, Being faithful, and Condom use. I also love condom hot potato! Questions about condoms were put in blown up condoms and passed around...if you had the condom when the music stopped you  had to pop it and answer the question. Then we proceeded with condom demonstrations and each girl got to practice putting a condom on a soda bottle...it was a lot of fun! We also had two great guest speakers from Aga Khan, an international NGO doing wonderful work with community-based savings groups in Tanzania and abroad; as successful Tanzanian females, they gave brief life stories, emphasizing the challenges they faced and the decisions they made to help get them where they are. Aside from lessons, we had question boxes for any questions the girls had and there were so many. We ended up writing and answering their questions and posting them outside the classrooms so they could read them between sessions...it worked really well and the college even requested to keep the questions and answers for their own students to read. We also had something fun planned each night. The first night was game night, with lots of cards and a Tanzanian game called bao (kind of like Mancala) and making friendship bracelets. Night two was movie night. We set up a projector outside and everyone gathered on a little hill to watch. We started off with an educational movie about malaria. After that they wanted more. We first tried The Little Mermaid, which they weren't having, and ended up settling on Step Up 2 the Streets. Very solid cultural exchange on our part. Actually not a good choice considering all the scantily clad dancers ("Madam Kathryn, do you wear clothes like that in America?") and suggestive dance moves. But they enjoyed it and it had dancing to entertain them since their English skills aren't up to following dialogue. Night three they wanted more movies, so we appeased but made them watch the ever wholesome Finding Nemo. The last night we ended with a closing ceremony. One of our very talented PCVs, Tyler Jump, put together a wonderful slideshow with music to show the girls (I'll try to post it here!). They never get to see pictures of themselves so it was a hit and we had to show it more than once! We also presented certificates of completion (laminated too, oo la la fancy fancy) to each girl (also a very big deal for them to take home) and appreciation for the counterparts and college. This is where the night started going downhill for me. I'm going to start with the punch line, so you can choose whether you want to continue reading the story or not:  I shit my pants (my dress). But first I threw up during the Closing Ceremony. Not my best night!

Maybe don't read this part? So before the ceremony I ate a very large portion of rice and beans in a very short period of time, and then proceeded to go right into moving furniture to arrange the room for the ceremony. I was working up a good sweat and then started feeling a little bit woozy, but brushed it off as eating right before "exercise". Fast forward to handing out certificates, my job for the night. The college's vice principal had just received his and was making a lovely little speech when I knew I was not in good shape. I walked very quickly out of the room and threw up outside. But I felt pretty good after that and went back in and finished the job. The next two hours involved lots of wrap-up work amongst the PCVs. Keep in mind I was feeling totally fine the two hours since the first barf fest. All of a sudden I had a bad feeling in my stomache. I literally ran out of the classroom and made it perhaps 15 feet...and then I knew...this is what it feels like to shit your pants. It happens to PCVs all the time, but I always had this idea that it wouldn't happen to me. But I didn't understand how truly easy it is to shit your pants! I didn't stand a chance with only 30 seconds of warning. Fast forward maybe 15 minutes (I'll spare y'all the clean-up details)...I'm in my friend Hanako's house, feeling fine once again, when I had the sudden urge to throw up again and barely made it outside in time. I proceeded to barf out the rest of what was in my stomache, which still remains a mystery to me. My biggest fear was that it was bad food and we were about to have 80 people, supposed to get on buses early the next morning, with nasty coming out both ends and sharing just one poop hole. But luckily it was only me. And fast forward another few days and I'm all better, so no harm done, just a disgusting story.

Anyways, the last session of the conference we sat with our group of girls and helped them to plan out two peer education activities they would implement at school. My five girls - Zulfa, Nurati, Elizabeth, Maisala, and Maimuna - were and still are so excited. When they left the conference they came to say goodbye (I had to stay and do some clean-up/wrap-up stuff). They had giant smiles on their faces and they just looked up at me and said "Mwalimu wetu (our teacher)", and that was probably the greatest feeling I've had since being in Tanzania! :) They literally wanted to start teaching the next day, which I had to shoot down...Madam Poopy-pants needs to rest for a few days!They are most excited to teach about menstruation to the younger girls. So excited that they wanted to plan a 4 hour session next Saturday. I had to knock that down to 2 hours. But I'm so looking forward to watching them teach their peers, although I have a feeling they don't realize how much preparation goes into teaching and will be in for a bit of a surprise. For now they want to stick to only girls, their age and younger, but I'm hoping if they continue they'll gain the confidence to teach older girls and also the boys. I'll keep you posted on their work!

Also in exciting news, my family arrives in Tanzania two weeks from today!! I can't wait!

Hey hey!

Not much news, but I've got some spare time and internet this weekend in Newala so I figured I'd post some words (and pictures)...

April ended with a Peace Corps Super-Regional (Lindi and Mtwara regions) conference, held in Mtwara town. It's always nice to have the chance for all 24 PCVs in the deep south to get together and catch up. The week-long conference was half catch up/share time with PCVs and staff and half focused on malaria training. Each PCVs local ward's CCA (community change agent) was there to talk about ways we can collaborate together in our respective villages. The highlight of the training was going to a nearby village with a "mobile video unit" that drives around and sets up a projector and shows various movies, this one a 45 minute Tanzanian love-story/fishing action drama/important lessons about malaria learned feature film. Tons of adults and children showed up and piled on the ground and it was really fun! Oh ya and then we spent our last afternoon at the beautiful beach :). It was also great timing for us to get some much needed time together for planning our girls empowerment conference, which will begin in just 12 days. I'm really excited, but I'll be relieved if and when we are finally able to pull it off!

Things are moving slowly in the village, as usual. A few weeks ago the 2nd year students at the nearby teacher's training college had their graduation ceremony. Tyler and I went and got to see Hanako (the JICA volunteer teaching computers there) and Tetsuko (JICA volunteer teaching in Newala) and eat some tasty pilau (Tanzanian spiced rice, special for weddings, ceremonies, etc.). This last week my ward's Malaria CCA (community change agent) had a meeting in my village with some Mamas. Trying to teach people to use mosquito bednets (when they don't have beds) is tricky! Hopefully in June the MVU (mobile video unit) from Mtwara will be coming to Maputi to play a movie, which should be more fun than listening to someone talk about the importance of malaria prevention!

And guess what! Peace Corps finally approved a pay increase of 20%! After seeing prices increasingly rise, some things nearly doubling in price over the last year and a half, it'll be really nice to have that extra 50,000 shillings (~ 30 USD) per month. Speaking of money, I'm supporting my former student, Karimu, during his A-level schooling. He's studying way out west of Songea. It is always amazing to me to see how little money Tanzanians are able to live on, and for just around 250,000 shillings (~160 USD) he can pay for school, room and board in the hostel, his uniform and supplies (of course a calculator for math class!), food and walking around money, and travel to/from home for an entire year! I'm trying to pay this from my modest PC living allowance, so if anyone is interested in helping support an amazing student this year or next year, let me know :)

I think that's it for now! Happy birthday sister (2 days ago)! And happy mother's day ma (tomorrow)!

Poop in a Hole

Hello again! Happy Easter to all!

First off, uploaded some new pictures. And here are a couple of funny videos made by Peace Corps Volunteers. The first one is made by a few PCVs from the newest health/environment class...but maybe it's not so funny if you don't live here.

"Shit Peace Corps Volunteers Never Say (Tanzania Version)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP_O_Oyffug
"Poop in a Hole"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koUWaAr-itY

I've currently got a week off of school for mid-term break/Easter holidays. A district wide soccer tournament is currently going on (will go all the way up to nationals in June), so last week we cancelled our mid-term exams, halfway through, in order to prepare. My school is very professional, you family moved there and opened a restaurant and the old man is awesome and gives us free wine and dessert! Came to Mtwara town yesterday for a few relaxing days at the lovely beachhouse. Splurged last night at the fancy restaurant here on a BBQ...grilled red snapper and steak! This morning we cooked a feast of bacon, eggs, toast, and splurged some more for a block of cheddar cheese. Bacon cheeseburgers planned for lunch, followed by cliff jumping into the ocean (today at 4pm is the highest tide of the month), and a game night with some other ex-pats living here. I'll say a pretty good Easter weekend!

I really can't believe it's already halfway through my last full semester teaching here. And I feel like the rest of the term will go by even faster. I'll be back to Mtwara soon for a week-long malaria and sub-regional training for Lindi and Mtwara PCVs the third week of April. Then at the end of May we'll host the girls empowerment conference. It was supposed to be this week, but changes in school break and issues getting grant money from PC meant rescheduling it. Now it will be at the teacher's training college only a 25 minute walk from my house! It has been a frustrating process, with lots of added work and planning to move locations, so it will be a relief to eventually get to the fun part - actually hosting the conference! And since it's so close to my village, I'm hoping to sneak in a few extra girls :). Speaking of girls, one of my very best Form I girls from last year, Upendo, moved schools this year (most good students will transfer to a better school if they are able...it's good for them but sad for me to lose a student that is so enjoyable to teach). She came by to visit earlier this week and it was so nice to see her again...if only I could take her to the conference, too!

And then comes June! And my family will be here! My mom, two sisters, and older sister's boyfriend are coming for about two weeks and I can't wait to see them and show off Tanzania. We're doing safaris at Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, hanging out beachside on Zanzibar, and ending with a day in the big city, Dar es Salaam. Unfortunately they won't have time to make it all the way down south to my village, but we're hoping to stop at a fellow PCV's site so they can get a glimpse of village life and a Tanzanian school. I'll have just a short June break this year and then 5 weeks off in August/September because...dun dun dun...Tanzania is 2 years behind conducting the 2010 census. So they've changed the breaks to accomodate the census in August (all students must return to their home villages, teachers will do the actual census taking). Also at the beginning of August I'll have my last PC training - Close of Service (COS) conference. And with the additional break, I'm thinking of travelling all the way west to Kigoma and Gombe Stream, where Jane Goodall did all her chimpanzee research. So we'll see!

Oh ya, and I'm old now! I celebrated my 25th birthday a couple of weeks ago in Newala with a few other PCVs. We made beef fajitas and queso and pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing so it was great! It also marked one and a half years living in Tanzania...time sure does fly! Thanks for all the well wishes from home!

And a few shout-outs and congratulations on the exciting happenings for friends and family from home:
wedding of my middle/high school friend, Lindsay!
soon to be wedding of my high school friend, Ali!
birth of baby boy Luke of my college friend, Katie!
getting into UT to my cousin, Sarah!
turning 3 years old to my cousin, Isaac!
getting into Michigan for grad school to my college friend, Jeseth!
...congrats and wish I could be there to celebrate in person with y'all!!