Karimu and PSDN ramblings

Hey again! First off, an exciting new blog change. Okay, so probably not really that exciting. I made my first twitter account and added a feed from my blog. It's under "Sasa Hivi..." (Right now). This has all come about because of lots of work (big thanks!) from my mom and a friend's mom who brought it over, I now have a Kindle with working 3G internet! So I'll be able to check email, facebook, etc. from my house kule kijijini (there in the village). My plan is to give some more frequent small updates between blog posts. Also I added some pictures of my Mafia trip, MSC, and some random pics around my school, so check out the photo stream.

Not much new since my last post, but a few weeks ago my school received some very exciting news! One, out of 60 or so, of our Form IV students from this past year scored high enough on his NECTA exam to continue on to A-level high school. I think I've mentioned Karimu in a past blog post. He used to live with my counterpart next door and just might be the most driven person I have ever met. He literally studied day and night, and when he wasn't studying he was helping to run the school and his house. And he's always smiling which wins big points with me! He scored a C (40-60%) in all subjects except Biology (B) and Math (D). It may not look like it, but this is incredibly impressive considering he didn't have an English, Math, or Physics teacher during most or all of his high school education. Only a handful of other students in the district also scored Division II. Because he moved back in with his mom in a neighboring village right after exams, I hadn't seen him since October. The afternoon after the results were published, I heard a piga hodi (kind of like a verbal knock) at my door, and there was Karimu, with an even bigger smile on his face than normal! Everyone is so proud of him, and rightfully so! He'll likely go to A-level in Ndanda, at a school where a fellow PCV, Mikey, teaches math. So that's also neat and I'll be able to keep an eye on his progress in math :)

If you actually looked at said twitter feed, then you'd know I'm currently in Dar. I've had some meetings the last few days for Peer Support and Diversity Network (PSDN). We met to review the past year and to talk about the transition for the next group of PSDNers, who will be applying in the next couple of months, as well as conduct a training with the PC staff. The majority of what PSDN does is act as a network that other PCVs are able to call when they are going through a tough time or just need someone to listen. Calls are confidential, so a lot of people frankly use it to talk about things they just don't want to jump on the PC gossip train (it is truly insane how fast information can travel from PCV to PCV here, particularly if it is juicy, people are bored, etc.). We record simple statistics on types of calls that then help staff better know what issues PCVs are facing in the field; maybe not suprisingly, romantic relationships are the theme of the majority of calls. PSDN-led sessions are also a part of every PC training, be it sessions on alcohol and drugs, relationships and sex, mental health and happiness, or safety and security. Recently there has been an emphasis on the diversity aspect of it all. Our PSDN group reflects the diversity in Americans and PCVs in general, whose backgrounds, races, sexual orientations, and religions may differ a great deal. This can translate into very different PCV experiences because Tanzanians generally have a very narrow stereotype of Americans: rich, white, Christians. For example, an African-American PCV often faces different challenges than a Caucasian-American. Out of 20 or so PC Tanzania staff, there are only 3 Americans. Although the Tanzanian staff are extremely educated Tanzanians, speak fairly good English, and may have worked with foreigners and/or Americans for years, there are occasional issues/misunderstandings between volunteers and staff arising from cultural differences that leave all involved feeling frustrated. This year PSDN has become much more of a liaison between staff and volunteers, and for the first time PSDN has been involved in staff trainings. Our new Country Director (an American) has been particularly encouraging, and asked us to come this week for a training with the entire staff. Unfortunately I can't say much beyond that the staff was able to hear very candidly from PCVs about issues ranging from alcohol, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, and gender relations to just general frustrations with Tanzania/Tanzanians. It turned out to be a suprisingly powerful experience for all involved; they were both shocked and thankful for our honesty in sharing some very personal challenges and it was touching to see how much the Tanzanian staff truly care about volunteers and want to know how to better support them. Once again I am reminded how lucky I am to be a PCV in this country. Goal 2 of 3 of Peace Corps involves promoting cultural sharing and understanding, which its much easier to think about when your kijijini, so this week was a wonderful reminder that our Tanzanian staff, supervisors, etc. can be an equally valuable source for these exchanges.

Welp, off again. Headed back on a bus down south tomorrow morning and should be back to my site by Sunday afternoon, ready to start off the next school week. Oh and my counterpart who left in October for university is back at my school during his break to teach biology and chemistry for a month or so. I'm excited to have him back and excited for the students to have some more science!

Mafia, 'Merica, and Teaching: Year 2!

Hey all, sorry for taking a bit of a blog hiatus. It's been over 2 months, so let's see if I can remember some things...

The first of December brought on Mafia Island and...dun dun dun...swimming with whale sharks! It was awesome! We were close enough to touch them, snorkeling along side them. They are HUGE. And have really wide mouths. It was truly amazing. I posted some pics (above water, sorry), but they really don't do the experience justice. The ferry ride back was about 4 hours on very rough sea and encouraged quite a lot of vomiting (not by me, thanks strong stomache). Cultural observation: apparently throwing up over the edge of the boat is not intuitive. Tanzanians throw up on themselves and their clothes and their neighbors and their neighbors' clothes. It's no big deal, really.

Then I went home to America. It was swell. Seeing family and friends was wonderful, as expected! And I ate so much! And it was perfect weather for most of the time. I did burn my legs on Christmas morning, but was lucky that they healed before I had to head back to the land of dirt and poor medical care.

I returned to Tanzania and had about a week to get over jet lag. I did it in the worst possible way. Like opposite of getting over jet lag. I arrived at about 8 am, went to my friend's apartment, showered, and got in bed for just a "little nap." Little nap turned into all day and I woke up at about 6 pm and ate some dinner. Then some friends convinced me to go out for a few beers, and what can I say, I missed those big Tanzanian beers. Well that turned into going to a safi (nice) club, that has a 20,000 shilling cover (3 days pay). Needless to say, we stayed out way too long and I didn't get to bed until 6 in the morning. Then I slept all day, again. So I was basically nocturnal, but I got over that after not too long. I also had 4 days of 'Mid-Service Conference' at the Peace Corps office, which consisted of a mix of medical check-ups and general training sessions. It was really fun, and the first time my training class has been back all together since March. The next and last training our class will do together is COS (close of service) Conference in early August.

Finally getting back to my village and house was nice. The new school year started up right away in mid-January and we're 3 weeks into term so far. It's been a bit strange because none of our Form I or III students decided to show up until the third week, so our school was few as were our classes. Our teachers are still few...just 3 of us. We have been promised "at least 2, not more than 3" new teachers, but I won't believe it until I see it. My math levels are a bit different, and I've got 5 levels now, but I'm only teaching Form I and II physics this year (beyond that, sciences are optional for students). I have not been asked to teach Form I English again, but I suspect I will unless we receive an English teacher. Teaching math is still usually enjoyable, and I feel a lot more confident this year as a teacher. Many topics I've already taught and have class notes for, so that also cuts down on the prep time which is nice. I'm hoping that our Form IV and Form II math results at the end of this year will show a lot of improvement, as the students would have atleast had 2 years of regular math instruction beforehand. I've enjoyed teaching physics so far more than last year. For starters more current Form IIs (last years Form Is) are my favorite group to teach, most being still active and motivated and not too jaded by their chances for passing to give up yet. A few of my Form IIs that don't participate a ton in math class are interested in physics and ask a lot of questions which is nice to see. I still feel like the physics concepts they are expected to learn is way over their heads and not aligned with their math skills, which makes it difficult to teach. For example, the Form II syllabus starts with 'Static Electricity' which allows for a couple of demos (rubbing plastic pen in hair and then attracting little pieces of paper), but mostly the concepts are not intuitive or possible for them to see. All of this is also in English which makes it a million times harder for them to follow. They often ask me to describe the concepts simply and in Kiswahili; even if my Kiswahili vocabulary was good enough, the concepts just aren't simple. My students have no prior knowledge of atoms and electrons and energy and that's just the start of it. Next comes concepts like capacitance and circuit design and current electricity, things I didn't really learn about until college engineering courses. I think standing in front of a classroom that is paying attention and WANTS to understand a concept and trying but failing, either because of English or my ability to dumb down a concept, is the worst feeling in the world as a teacher. But then I have my classes that I come away from on such a high. One of the biggest struggle Peace Corps teachers have here is how to encourage students to think critically and problem solve, in a system that has only ever asked them to just memorize an answer or process. If I give students exercises that differ at all from my examples in class, they don't know how to solve them. Teaching them to combine multiple concepts to solve a problem seems impossible. Given all this, I had a student ask a question during class the other day that demonstrated critical thinking. It was shocking and awesome and I couldn't stop smiling! We were going over the laws of exponents, dividing powers of the same base, specifically. I just finished an example showing that 3^10 / 3^4 = 3^(10-4) = 3^6. This particular student, the best Form III by far, raises his hand and says something along the lines of "Madam, if it is the other way around and 3^4 / 3^10, do you have a negative exponent and what does that mean?". This was amazing on so many levels, firstly because negative  numbers are really really difficult for them and few students know that 4-10=-6 and also because we hadn't been over negative numbers as exponents yet, and mostly because I have never had a student ask about exceptions to laws or use my examples to lead to more difficult questions. Ha, I don't know if any of that made sense to y'all, but it was most definitely the highlight of my teaching thus far.

I've also been working the last couple of months on writing a grant to get funds for a girls empowerment conference that the PCVs of Lindi and Mtwara regions will be hosting. Got just a few changes to make but hopefully we'll get approval soon and some much needed money. The plan is for a 4-day conference during the mid-term break in early April. Each volunteer will bring 4 girls from their secondary school to Ndanda, where we'll have sessions teaching life skills, anatomy and reproductive health, STIs and HIV/AIDS, decision-making and communication skills, and goal-setting and career planning. It's going to be a lot of work but I'm really excited and can't wait for my girls to participate.

Anyways, the only other exciting news that comes to mind is my water tank! I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but a 2000 liter water storage tank was installed on a raised platform in my courtyard in November. While I was home for the holidays, it was collecting rain water and I came home to a full tank! It has a little faucet and it is crazy and easy and like having running water. I also don't have to filter it before drinking so I have been drinking like 3 liters a day just because I can. It's awesome for hygiene...washing hands and feet and hair and dishes and filling up bucket baths and clothes washing buckets and I just couldn't be happier with my tank. I hope it will last through dry season so I won't ever have to worry about having enough water again. Yay water tank!

Help build a basketball court!

Hello, it's me again!

My sitemate, Tyler, is a health volunteer and helps out teaching at his local secondary school (about a 2 hour walk or a 30 minute motorcycle ride from my vill). He's been working on raising funds to construct a basketball court there and is still about $500 shy of being able to start building. If you're interested in learning more about the project and donating: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=621-223

I know Tyler and his school would be very appreciative of any help you can give!

And happy World AIDS Day! As in the rest of Africa, AIDS is a huge issue facing Tanzania. Learn more.

Welp, I'm nearly off on official vacation! I'll leave my village on Saturday morning and take a bus to Lindi town to meet up with a volunteer from my training class who's down here visiting. Then on Monday I'll head to Mtwara town, where I've given myself and early Christmas gift and booked a glorious 55-minute flight up to Dar on Monday evening. We'll meet up with a few other volunteers and head out to Mafia Island on Tuesday. After a few days on the island, I'll head back to Dar and spend a couple days running errands, and then be on my flight home to America on the evening of the 12th!!! Just 2 weeks until I get to and see many of you, experience the awesome-ness that is Austin, and escape the heat with some cool weather!

How to Kill A Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I'm in Mtwara with a bunch of other PCVs, celebrating the holiday on the beautiful beach. We had quite the feast on Thursday, complete with turkey!!! Here's how that goes down,

Tanzanian style:
1. Find a turkey...they're not so common
2. Pay for a turkey...50,000 shillings ($32) for ~8 lb turkey...about a week's pay for a PCV
3. Put turkey on leash and tie to tree until ready for the big event
4. Tie turkey hanging from tree
5. Cut off turkey's head
6. Drain turkey's head blood into bucket
7. Pull out feathers
8. Put in pan and marinate with butter, rosemary, and thyme
9. Bake for 2 hours at 425 degrees...thankfully a missionary couple living here let us use their
beautiful new oven for the cooking

The turkey was pretty small to feed over 20 of us, but we all got to savor a few delicious bites! Katie  and I also used all the turkey drippings to make some bomb cornbread dressing and giblet gravy so it  felt just like home! We had quite the tasty spread, only missing cranberry relish. It was all delicious!

Aside from Thanksgiving, we also got to celebrate a few other milestones together. Thursday marked me,  Katie, Ghee, Leslie, and Will's 1-year anniversary of swearing-in as Peace Corps Volunteers and Friday  our 1-year anniversary of arriving at site. There were also two volunteer birthdays (Ben's on Thursday,  Katie's on Friday), so it was a fun few days!! And today the newest Health and Environment training class has site announcements, so we'll learn who else will be joining us down here in the deep n' dirty south in mid-December.

I'll be heading back to my village on Sunday, where I'll have some time to relax because school is finished for the term. Although we wont officially close the school until December 2nd, the students finished their exams this last Tuesday and I finished up all my grading before heading out for Thanksgiving. So I'll have a few days to relax before leaving on my next vacation...Mafia Island. Me and 4 other volunteers will brave the notoriously rough 3-hour boat ride out to the island (off the coast a bit south of Dar) to spend a few days there. It's currently whale shark season and we're going to swim with them (don't worry, I hear they've got little mouths and can't eat people).

Then I'll head back up to Dar for a couple of days to await my flight home to Austin on December 12! I CAN'T WAIT!!! It's been increasingly hard to think about much else, and it will be so so so great to see lots of family and friends and celebrate Christmas and New Years there. I've also been having really vivid dreams/day-dreams about various foods and I can't wait to go to my favorite restaurants and the grocery store and satisfy all my food desires.

Fall Break Travels

Hi all! This will be a short post, hopefully more info and pictures later... This week was our fall break at school so I've been doing lots of traveling. Last weekend was Songeafest, an annual party thrown by volunteers near Songea town. Katie and I took a notoriously shitty but always interesting road west from Masasi through Tunduru and on to Songea. It was a two day bus ride with an overnight in Tunduru, and not at all fun, but now we can join the proud few PCVs who have made the trek. The first day was just your typical shitty bus ride on a shitty unpaved road, nothing we aren't used to. I guess we got a little too cocky though because the second day was by far the most uncomfortable ride I've been on in Tanzania thus far. The two bigger buses were already filled up so we ended up squished into the back row of a daladala, the normal Tanzanian transport that looks like a van but is stuffed with like 40 people. I've been on plenty of daladala rides before, but they normally last for less than 30 minutes to take you across a big town like Morogoro. This one lasted a torturous 7 hours, through a windy and hilly game reserve on the bumpiest dirt road I've ever been on. But we arrived safely and relatively on time, and were the first PCVs I've ever heard of whose bus(es) didn't break down for hours along the way so I'd say we were pretty lucky (a friend that took the road during this last rainy season spent a whopping 21 hours on the second half of the journey). And the party was fun, complete with a volunteer talent show, sports competitions, and a few dance parties. The next day I traveled with several other volunteers up north to Tukuyu, a town very close to Mbeya town. We stayed the night with a PCV living there and the next morning headed out to Matema Beach on Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi). We spent a wonderful two days enjoying the gravel beach and freshwater lake, surrounded by a beautiful mountain view, and enjoyed our nights making beach bonfires. Yesterday we headed back up to Mbeya town (where I spent "shadow week" during training, if you remember), where I am now. Unfortunately I spent the night battling bouts of diarrhea (for only the second time since arriving in TZ but unfortunately once again during a vacation). I've spent the day inside near the toilet but have managed to get in a few good naps. I couldn't resist forcing down homemade banana bread and cinnamon rolls for brunch and am going to attempt going into town this evening for dinner, but more specifically to eat a famed creamy avocado burger which I had the pleasure tasting during shadow week and is easily the best burger I've eaten thus far in Tanzania. Tomorrow Katie and I will take an all day bus back to Dar (not doing the Tunduru path again), spend the night, and hop on another all day bus bright and early to head back down south. We'll stop in Ndanda for the evening for a little goodbye get-together  for the Mtwara/Lindi education volunteers down here who will be COSing in the next month. Then finally back to my village on Sunday to prepare for teaching Monday!

As far as school is going, we've got just one week before our Form IVs take their big national exam so it will be a crazy next few weeks. The full week before I left for break, our Form IIs and IVs also took mock national exams so it feels like its been mostly testing and invigilating (proctoring) for me and the students, but things should settle down for about a month between Form IV exams and Form II exams in early November and I will hopefully be able to get some more teaching in. Despite writing all my midterms, my school ended up officially canceling midterms for Forms I and III last week because there were only two of us to invigilate all the exams which just wasn't possible. Although it will be nice not to have to grade lots of midterms when I go home, I'll probably spend the next week testing them during classtime because I'm a fun teacher like that. It feels like this term has flown by and will just continue to do so until we end in early December. And then, if you haven't heard the news, I'll be traveling home to Austin for the holidays - December 13 to January 4!!! Can't wait to see lots of wonderful family and friends!

Speaking of home, yesterday marked my one year anniversary leaving Austin (headed to Philadelphia for "staging") and Saturday will be one whole year in Tanzania. Can't believe it has gone by so fast, and I hope the next year is filled with as much fun, excitement, good friends, good travel, and of course satisfaction teaching my students!

What, another post?! Already?

Spent the last 2 days in Dar after leaving Morogoro on Tuesday. I couldn't get a bus back home until Friday, which has turned out really nice because it is not often that I have a lot of down time here. And its been especially fun because the hotel I'm at has also been taken over by one of the health/environment classes that's here for their mid-service conference. Yesterday I took a quick ferry ride (literally 2 minutes) to a island/peninsula with a nice beach and bar/restaurant/hotel. It was a lovely place to spend the day swimming and laying in a hammock and enjoying few cold ones. Afterwards I went to see my first real Tanzanian soccer game! I must say I was quite impressed, mostly because I was expecting a high school like stadium but it is in fact fancy and new and holds 60,000 spectators. Soccer is huge here and it was an especially big game, between Simba and Young Africans (Yanga); both are Tanzanian teams that also happen to be the top teams in East Africa...fun stuff. Today I went to the really nice part of Dar where all the rich non-Tanzanians live and hang out to spend the day sitting on the water, using tons of wifi, drinking a cold frappucino, and eating a magnificent pizza topped with salami and brie cheese! I added a few more pictures of it all.

Welp, that's just about all the news. I've gotta wake up super early tomorrow for a 6 a.m. bus and will make it (hopefully) to Newala tomorrow evening and then back to my village on Saturday. September will fly by with all kinds of craziness - the newbies arriving, mock NECTA exams for Form II, a 3-day regional training in Mtwara, mid-term exams, and a week off for midterm break (planning to travel to Songea), and preparing for Form IV NECTA exams at the beginning of October. Yikesies!

Dust in the Wind

Hey hey, greetings from Tanzania! I'm currently in Morogoro, enjoying the speedy internet and variety of foods. This afternoon I'm doing a PSDN (Peer Support and Diversity Network) session about the first three months at site with the current education training class. They will be swearing-in in just a week or two and then heading off to their various sites around Tanzania which is quite an exciting time for us all. Last week was their site announcements and we learned that the deep south will be receiving 7 new volunteers - 4* to Mtwara and 3 to Lindi. It is bittersweet because we have just said farewell to three volunteers and will lose four more in October/November. But we're looking forward to welcoming the new volunteers to our wonderful region and I have the pleasure of spending a day or with them beforehand...I have been entrusted with the very important and creepy role of acquiring all the information (and pictures, if possible) I can about our newbies prior to their arrival down south :). Another plus of going to Morogoro is that I'll get to see my host family again. My host Mama and Baba are getting married in September, and since I won't be able to make it to their wedding, I'm happy to have the chance for a short visit. And of course I'll get to see my little kaka, Isaac, who recently turned 2 and is speaking many more words!

*I have long come to terms with the tendency of people of my parents' generation to name their daughters Kathryn, or some variation there of (traditionally reserved for the most favorite child, I believe). My training class alone included a Kathryn (me), Katherine (Kat), Catherine (Leslie), and Kathleen (Katie). Three of the four of us were sent down to Mtwara region, which naturally started the rumor that Peace Corps assigns sites based, at least partially, on first name. Of the 140 other PCVs in Tanzania, there is one other Katie (probably also a Kathryn). Interestingly enough, she was also placed down in Mtwara, although transferred to Iringa shortly thereafter due to a severe cashewnut allergy. This trend was further confirmed by the most recent site placements, as another Kathryn and Kathleen (Kathy) will be joining us. And because there surely aren't enough Kathryn/Katherine/Catherine/Kathleen/Katie/Kate/Kats to humor Peace Corps Tanzania, they've just sent us a second Tyler from Wisconsin. Ok Peace Corps, this is just getting weird now.

It seems like lots of exciting things have been going on lately in my neck of the woods:

MAJI NA HALI YA HEWA (WATER & WEATHER)
We are about 2 months into dry season, and by dry season, I mean it is dry! When combined with lots of wind, this translates into dust, dust, and more dust. Everything is covered in a thick layer of red-brown dust, which you yourself have the pleasure of being covered by with every stroll around town, bus trip, etc. Blowing my nose after a bus ride is always really interesting...its amazing how red dirt translates into red/brown snot! But more importantly, with another 3 or 4 months to go until the rainy season, there is already very serious water shortage in my area. Because we live on top of the plateau, there is no groundwater to speak of. Many areas, including my school, collect rain water, which doesn't last very long after the rains have gone. My school's water tank has been empty for about a month now, so students are now hauling water for the school and teachers as needed. There is a small river that supplies water to the villages in this area, although it is a bit unreliable and often no water comes out of the village taps. When there is water, it is a crazy site to see - beginning at about 5 in the morning, when it is still pitch dark, Mamas start lining up their buckets from the tap...there will literally be a line of hundreds and hundreds of brightly colored, plastic buckets. To make matters worse, my village's tap just broke, so in the meantime people are walking to a nearby village to collect water. But one seasonal plus - it is winter! Although the sun is still quite strong, it cools off signicantly in the evenings and I have the pleasure of sleeping under a blanket!

On a related note, mine and my neighbor's house were recently invaded with ants...yikesies! I woke up one night at about 2am with ants crawling all over me and my bed. After freaking out and hopping out of bed, I stepped out of my room and found my house literally covered by long armies ofants...every surface, wall, floor...I've never seen anything like it. Luckily I had some bug killer spray that I emptied over everything. After a restless and paranoid night's sleep, I awoke and swept out all my dead little friends. The Tanzanian solution is to surround your house with brush and set fire, which I rather enjoyed watching my students do. My counterpart said that the ants usually mean it might rain, as they come from underground in search of water. Sure enough, two days later it sprinkled for a bit and the ants have not returned. I must say I prefer the rats!

HABARI ZA KIJIJINI (VILLAGE NEWS)
Kitangali, the nearest town to me received a very important visitor a couple of weeks ago! The President of Tanzania, Kikwete, came to tour the area and speak. It was quite a big deal, and was to my knowledge the first time a president has visited the town. Mtwara has been a hot topic in current parliamentary talk - namely because we have the lowest national exam grades and the only road down to here is unpaved so we're a bit disconnected from the rest of the country/economy. There is now a big push to finish the road, which they are saying will be done this December. We all know that's not going to happen, but to the credit of the Tanzanian government, there have been lots of progress lately and workers about. Travel up to Dar es Salaam would be significantly more comfortable with a paved road, so I hope its completed while I'm still living down here! But back to Kikwete. I went to join the festivities in Kitangali with my neighbor/counterpart, Mr. Likulu, and met up with my sitemate, Tyler. Because Tyler and I are white and therefore automatically overally respected guests, we were ushered to the important villager seating to watch the proceedings. There was lots of tribal dancing and singing while awaiting Kikwete's arrival, who in classic Tanzanian style arrived 4 hours late, just about a half hour before sunset. He only talked for 20 minutes or so, mostly just stating the very obvious issues - our shitty roads (he called them frightening), our poor-performing schools (he asked our District Education Officer for our pass-rates mid speech and literally didn't believe him...it made for an awkward pause), our water problem, and the price of cashews. Afterwards he offered no space for questions from the people. For these reasons I was a bit dissapointed (and tired and hot and hungry), although it was still very exciting to be apart of and get to share in the excitment with my students and villagers and the other thousands of people there.

What else? Ramadhan began August 1st and will last until the 30th. As about 95% of my students and village are Muslim, so just about everybody is fasting. From sun-up to sun-down you are not allowed to eat or drink anything, including water. I have been asked a lot if I am fasting too ("Umefunga?", which literally means "You have been closed?"). The answer is no, I'm still very much open. I have said that this year I will simply observe everyone else fast and next year I will consider participating (but probably not because I like to eat). Then I happily make my way home and spend 2 hours (or 5, if beans or chickpeas are involved) preparing my lunch, followed by the 10 minutes or so it takes to eat said lunch. Along with fasting, many Muslims shut down their businesses for the month, so most little shops and places that serve food are closed around here. I am therefore very much looking forward to breaking up the month with a trip to Dar es Salaam and Morogoro, which have much larger Christian populations and therefore more food!

HABARI ZA SHULENI (SCHOOL NEWS)
My school and headmaster are currently in a bit of hot water with the Ministry of Education after a couple of less than exemplary school inspections. Much of it centered around last year's terrible Form IV results, as well as things outside of his control like a shortage of classrooms, labs, and teachers (thanks for the input, how 'bout some money to build said buildings and maybe you could send some teachers this way, too?). They're making my headmaster attend a special training on effective management, so he is expectedly pretty embarassed, but hopefully some school improvements will come out of it all.

Other than that, school is moving along, kama kawaida (as usual). We've got four temporary teachers from a teacher's training college here for the month; of course all are teaching arts subjects, but its nice that the students are getting taught for most of every day. Our other female teacher, Madam Shakira, had a baby in May and is back. His name is Hudhwaifa and he cries a lot and he is cute.  Speaking of babies, all the female students were just sent to Kitangali last week to get suprise pregnancy tests - hopefully their results all come back negative or they'll be kicked out of school. Still lots of chickens and goats running around everywhere. I've also been helping my counterpart mix chemicals and set up some chemistry practicals for the students, although we're still waiting on wood to construct lab furniture...

Check out the new pictures!