So I havent written a blog in a really long time, which is half because I am lazy but mostly because I have fallen into thinking that what I am doing is just mundane. I remember reading pc blogs when I was in America about how their life was so boring even though it seemed pretty awesome to me. So I am sorry and I will try to tell you all about my life just incase you think any of it is interesting.
1) Funerals in my vil:
So my vil has had a lot of deaths which is not cool but it is an interesting cultural exchange. Here when someone dies they ring the bells at 6am 3 times then pause then 3 times pause 3 times over and over for about 2 minutes. This tells the village that there will be a funeral today and you shouldnt go to the farm. Life is pretty normal until 12 when the bells ring again which means go to the church. Before 12 people go and dig the grave site and women are at the house of the deceased cooking and helping the family. When the bells start to ring at 12 everything closes down and everyone goes to the church where there is a short blessing. After the blessing everyone goes out to the gravesite which is right next to the church and there is a lot of singing. When we get out to the gravesite the men put the casket into the ground and the priest says prayers before friends are called forward to throw dirt in. When everyone is settled back the men fill in the dirt. The priest then talks for awhile and people put flowers onto the gravesite. When this is finished the women come forward and pour water over the dirt and cry and people slowly go to the families house. At the house there is a meal for the whole village. People, for the next 3 days, bring money and food and also help cook.
2) Parties in the Vil:
So we have been having a lot of parties lately and they all seem to be about the same. First everyone files in to music and we sit. Once we sit the schedule is told to us then it gets underway. For nurses days we all lined up and sang songs and walked around the village for a good 20/30 minutes to then return and sit down to stare at each other and listen to music for 10minutes. After some music we lit candles while singing the song that is translated to “light the candle, light the candle, light the candle friend”. We then walked to the hospital and walked into the 3 wards with patients, all awhile singing the candle song. This was followed by more music and staring but also drinking a soda. There then was speeches and gift giving followed by more music. We finally ate food and listened to music and the party was over! Fun times!
3)Preschool updates: the kids know all of the animals and things in my English books and they don’t really get the songs that I try to teach them so we are mostly concentrating on Kiswahili and the alphabet that they use. I have one teacher with me now and I hope to have another starting in July. Preschool is pretty cool but it def takes a lot out of me most days because trying to get the kids to listen is impossible some days. Today we marched around outside singing “Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night” then we played tag and just ran around. My old head teacher is getting married in July to the Bishop of the Anglican church so that is exciting for her but stinks for me because I’m busy trying to find replacements! The kids are loving it but I am having a seriously hard time getting them to pay the tutition which is an uphill battle but hopefully will work itself out.
3) Things that happen here that totally would have been crazy in America:
Was playing netball in the field with all of the women when two cows came charging through to try and graze in the field.
Had my health club cancelled all month because the students were required to work in the teachers farms instead of go to class
I ate cow stomach, long story but in the end it isn’t too bad.
I was sitting at a friends house with other volunteers just laying around getting ready for bed and 2 bats came in and none of us moved, we just said “well theres bats in the house”. If I was in the states I probably would have been scared and running trying to get it out but I feel like there is much scarier things now.
Got proposed to at least 10 times last month (no yeses yet!)
I payed 5USD for my hotel room
I poo in a hole
I was at a restaurant over looking the ocean drinking a beer when then I bought a soccer ball and then got my toenails painted, big toe is the American flag and the baby toes are all the Tanzanian flag! all that greatness and I didn’t even have to leave my chair.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
“We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We’re the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their “shock and awe” campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started. HajI Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.”
Greg Mortenson
“What we are trying to do may be just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop” Mother Teresa
These are two quotes from the book Three Cups of Tea, a book on “One man’s mission to promote peace, one school at a time.” He went into Pakistan as a simple passer-byer trying to climb K2 and left changed forever. People like Mortenson and also Paul Farmer (Mountains beyond mountains, another GREAT book) have given up the “normal” American lifestyle and has dedicated their lives for the world’s less fortunate. I am deeply moved by these men and by others that do the same. To give up the “American dream” filled with large coffees, Ipad2s, the biggest baddest cars and faster fast food is, in my opinion, the bravest thing in the world. After being here for almost 9 months I find myself fighting to be more like the Farmers and the Mortensons but man oh man it is a struggle. I constantly crave what America has to offer and it drives me crazy that I cant just eat my rice and beans and ignore the March Madness. Before doing my international travel I really didn’t understand American culture and even after Bolivia and Kenya I still had only a small idea of what American culture really was. But being here for so long has really taught me thing or two. I was recently talking to my friend Mama Sara when we started to talk about funerals in America and she was just appalled that you had to pay for it! Here in the vil, when someone dies the whole vil comes together and brings supplies and digs the grave and makes a lot of food for the family. The next day all of the shops are closed and everyone heads over to the church for the funeral followed by everyone going to the house of the family and sharing a meal. I started to really think about how much money runs life in the US and how it affects relationships. If you are late in the US, there is just no way you are going to stop and greet someone or even acknowledge their presence, I mean if you are late for work you could be fired!!! But here I am constantly late because I have to greet so many people on the way and simply greeting while walking will not do for the elders, I have to walk over to them and “greet them properly” with a handshake. Could you imagine that in the states? People taking an extra 15-20 minutes to ask about someone’s family, house, work but not just asking but actually listening to the reply? Don’t get me wrong, I love how fast things are in the states I mean you can be eating food after 3 minutes in the microwave! But do we take it too far? Here, I know all my neighbors and almost everyone in my village, but in the states I can only name maybe 25% of my block where I have lived my whole life. After reflecting on this for a long time I have come to realize that in the states, going to my neighbors house to just talk really didn’t fit into my too busy schedule but is that really true? I know I thought I was super busy but is that a good excuse for not making relationships? I really enjoy just slowing down and making real relationships, apposed to the “whats up” relationship where you say “sup” but don’t actually expect an answer from the person. Sorry about all the random thoughts going on here but I have found myself with a lot of time to think here and these are the types of things that go through my head. ALSO I am nowhere near perfect with this whole impersonal quality when it comes to American culture, I mean I am currently typing out a blog on my laptop with my internet phone right here and my ipod blaring in my ears haha, baby steps baby steps.
Vil life has been going well: the preschool is up a running, health club is going well, Big Brothers Big Sisters is in the works, English classes are full of dedicated people, the garden that we built at the mission is HUGE and growing very well and the Bible college classes (health and English) are also going really well. I would say my one main difficulty is the water project that I want to get started ASAP but am having trouble trying to figure out how to do that. I have contacted the District water engineer which just got me nowhere and talking to peace corps so far hasn’t gotten me any closer to figuring things out. But do not fear, I am planning a trip to Dar to go to the peace corps office and sit down and figure things out! On another note I am finally eating from my garden which is nice and Amadeus is growing like a weed! I am in the works of planning a Kilimanjaro climb in June and I am hoping to hike over the Livingstone mountains to Lake Malawi soon so lots on the plate for hiking!
One last thing CONGRATS to the Lady Flyers bball team for winning the GLVC conference and going to the NCAA tournament! You guys are awesome and didn’t give up when things weren’t going your way. To the seniors, I love you guys like family and I wish you guys the best and you ALL had great careers and I am honored to have played with you!!!
That’s about it! Love and miss yall!!! AND a HUGE THANK YOU to the Carbaugh and Turpel families who sent me amazing packages!! I am truly blessed to have the support of so many people as I am here and I also want to say a big thank you to EVERYONE especially God who is always there for you! HAPPY LENT and remember “with the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” James 3:9-10 What you say can help or hurt someone, try to encourage someone and or say something nice to someone everyday this lent, because like Mother Teresa said even the smallest drops makes a difference in the ocean.
Amy
Greg Mortenson
“What we are trying to do may be just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop” Mother Teresa
These are two quotes from the book Three Cups of Tea, a book on “One man’s mission to promote peace, one school at a time.” He went into Pakistan as a simple passer-byer trying to climb K2 and left changed forever. People like Mortenson and also Paul Farmer (Mountains beyond mountains, another GREAT book) have given up the “normal” American lifestyle and has dedicated their lives for the world’s less fortunate. I am deeply moved by these men and by others that do the same. To give up the “American dream” filled with large coffees, Ipad2s, the biggest baddest cars and faster fast food is, in my opinion, the bravest thing in the world. After being here for almost 9 months I find myself fighting to be more like the Farmers and the Mortensons but man oh man it is a struggle. I constantly crave what America has to offer and it drives me crazy that I cant just eat my rice and beans and ignore the March Madness. Before doing my international travel I really didn’t understand American culture and even after Bolivia and Kenya I still had only a small idea of what American culture really was. But being here for so long has really taught me thing or two. I was recently talking to my friend Mama Sara when we started to talk about funerals in America and she was just appalled that you had to pay for it! Here in the vil, when someone dies the whole vil comes together and brings supplies and digs the grave and makes a lot of food for the family. The next day all of the shops are closed and everyone heads over to the church for the funeral followed by everyone going to the house of the family and sharing a meal. I started to really think about how much money runs life in the US and how it affects relationships. If you are late in the US, there is just no way you are going to stop and greet someone or even acknowledge their presence, I mean if you are late for work you could be fired!!! But here I am constantly late because I have to greet so many people on the way and simply greeting while walking will not do for the elders, I have to walk over to them and “greet them properly” with a handshake. Could you imagine that in the states? People taking an extra 15-20 minutes to ask about someone’s family, house, work but not just asking but actually listening to the reply? Don’t get me wrong, I love how fast things are in the states I mean you can be eating food after 3 minutes in the microwave! But do we take it too far? Here, I know all my neighbors and almost everyone in my village, but in the states I can only name maybe 25% of my block where I have lived my whole life. After reflecting on this for a long time I have come to realize that in the states, going to my neighbors house to just talk really didn’t fit into my too busy schedule but is that really true? I know I thought I was super busy but is that a good excuse for not making relationships? I really enjoy just slowing down and making real relationships, apposed to the “whats up” relationship where you say “sup” but don’t actually expect an answer from the person. Sorry about all the random thoughts going on here but I have found myself with a lot of time to think here and these are the types of things that go through my head. ALSO I am nowhere near perfect with this whole impersonal quality when it comes to American culture, I mean I am currently typing out a blog on my laptop with my internet phone right here and my ipod blaring in my ears haha, baby steps baby steps.
Vil life has been going well: the preschool is up a running, health club is going well, Big Brothers Big Sisters is in the works, English classes are full of dedicated people, the garden that we built at the mission is HUGE and growing very well and the Bible college classes (health and English) are also going really well. I would say my one main difficulty is the water project that I want to get started ASAP but am having trouble trying to figure out how to do that. I have contacted the District water engineer which just got me nowhere and talking to peace corps so far hasn’t gotten me any closer to figuring things out. But do not fear, I am planning a trip to Dar to go to the peace corps office and sit down and figure things out! On another note I am finally eating from my garden which is nice and Amadeus is growing like a weed! I am in the works of planning a Kilimanjaro climb in June and I am hoping to hike over the Livingstone mountains to Lake Malawi soon so lots on the plate for hiking!
One last thing CONGRATS to the Lady Flyers bball team for winning the GLVC conference and going to the NCAA tournament! You guys are awesome and didn’t give up when things weren’t going your way. To the seniors, I love you guys like family and I wish you guys the best and you ALL had great careers and I am honored to have played with you!!!
That’s about it! Love and miss yall!!! AND a HUGE THANK YOU to the Carbaugh and Turpel families who sent me amazing packages!! I am truly blessed to have the support of so many people as I am here and I also want to say a big thank you to EVERYONE especially God who is always there for you! HAPPY LENT and remember “with the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” James 3:9-10 What you say can help or hurt someone, try to encourage someone and or say something nice to someone everyday this lent, because like Mother Teresa said even the smallest drops makes a difference in the ocean.
Amy
Monday, February 21, 2011
Busy life
2-21-10
So I have been busy busy trying to make a full schedule for the next month or two and I have found that it will be a busy next few months! My villagers want to learn English and has been asking since the day that I got here so that is starting March 1st and the middle school health club mixed with a pseudo-Big Brothers Big Sisters is set to start March 3rd. The plan is to have the English class once a week on Tuesday (after my English and health classes that I teach at the bible college), then every Wednesday have a health club meeting. The local secondary school (where my sitemate lives) and I will meet once a month (on the 3rd Saturday) with our health clubs to try out Big Brothers Big Sisters. Our plan is to have topics for discussion, ie goal setting, then just give time for the kids to form relationships and have fun. Lewis University Athletics has also written letters to the kids with some good advice for goal setting (BIG THANK YOU). So that puts me and teaching preschool M-F, teaching health and English to the Bible college T&TR, teaching English to the villagers T and running the health club on Wednesdays. BUSY BUSY!!
This past weekend has been one of the most relaxing, fun and just down right American weekends that I have had in awhile! A group of us from the Njombe area got into cars of some expats in the area and drove down to a lake house for a birthday party. The expats here are a group of close knit people who have really embraced us as friends which is awesome because you can always have more friends! So at the lake house we were able to go out on the jet ski and kneeboard and ski behind it all awhile eating AMAZING food! They bbq’d a goat and 5 marinated chickens on top of many side dishes! The party went late into the night and just was a good ole time. The next morning at the expats house there was coffee and an amazing flat screen tv with a great satellite. I know, it cant get any better right? It can! We then had the opportunity for a hot shower and an amazing breakfast, which included fried eggs, bacon, sausage and toast! I know I know AMAZING!! After our great breakfast it was back out on the water for it was a beautiful day full of sunlight and more great food!…. Times like these are such a blessing for me and I am so happy I was able to go! Getting back to the village today and getting down to work! LOVE AND MISS YALL!
So I have been busy busy trying to make a full schedule for the next month or two and I have found that it will be a busy next few months! My villagers want to learn English and has been asking since the day that I got here so that is starting March 1st and the middle school health club mixed with a pseudo-Big Brothers Big Sisters is set to start March 3rd. The plan is to have the English class once a week on Tuesday (after my English and health classes that I teach at the bible college), then every Wednesday have a health club meeting. The local secondary school (where my sitemate lives) and I will meet once a month (on the 3rd Saturday) with our health clubs to try out Big Brothers Big Sisters. Our plan is to have topics for discussion, ie goal setting, then just give time for the kids to form relationships and have fun. Lewis University Athletics has also written letters to the kids with some good advice for goal setting (BIG THANK YOU). So that puts me and teaching preschool M-F, teaching health and English to the Bible college T&TR, teaching English to the villagers T and running the health club on Wednesdays. BUSY BUSY!!
This past weekend has been one of the most relaxing, fun and just down right American weekends that I have had in awhile! A group of us from the Njombe area got into cars of some expats in the area and drove down to a lake house for a birthday party. The expats here are a group of close knit people who have really embraced us as friends which is awesome because you can always have more friends! So at the lake house we were able to go out on the jet ski and kneeboard and ski behind it all awhile eating AMAZING food! They bbq’d a goat and 5 marinated chickens on top of many side dishes! The party went late into the night and just was a good ole time. The next morning at the expats house there was coffee and an amazing flat screen tv with a great satellite. I know, it cant get any better right? It can! We then had the opportunity for a hot shower and an amazing breakfast, which included fried eggs, bacon, sausage and toast! I know I know AMAZING!! After our great breakfast it was back out on the water for it was a beautiful day full of sunlight and more great food!…. Times like these are such a blessing for me and I am so happy I was able to go! Getting back to the village today and getting down to work! LOVE AND MISS YALL!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
random thoughs
1-26-2011
I am currently laying in my bed at 7:17pm, which is my normal crawl into bed time. You may think wow why go to bed so early? The answer is simple, there is no electricity. Why sit up all night in the dark? Its not that I go to bed at 7, I just go into my bed and read or maybe even write a letter. I have been in Milo trying to get work done for 5-6 months and it is slowly getting easier. In Milo I find that the people are motivated and some are truly educated (hospital staff), so if I ask my health related questions they know the answers but they just don’t do them. This poses a really tough situation because I need to figure out how to motivate behavior change. I am open to any suggestions. Changing subjects, today at preschool I asked Alex(2yrs) where his grandma was and his response “kule” makes me laugh because it sounds like “kuuuulllllleeee” depending on how far she was, the longer the “ule” the further (same with pale).This becomes a problem when trying to ask for directions because they just point and say pale or kule which just means in that direction, needless to say I get lost a lot.
* Ive found that ducks are way better parents than chickens. They protect their ducklings and stand up to threats, they also sport an awesome mo-hawk when they are really mad. Chickens are super stupid and just run in zig zags when they are scared leaving their chicks running after them.
*I LOVE my puppy so much and I am already sad that I need to find him a new home for when I leave. I see people beating dogs all of the time and I really don’t want my Amadeus ending up with a mean family. I have been thinking if it has been a good idea that I took him in the first place because I love him so much.
*My vil has a large forest area and from the hospital road you can see an open pasture on the next hill and the sun hits it just right so it looks like the Twilight baseball field.
*How to make ugali: take corn off the cob and let it dry, take it to the machine and grind it up to a flour, dry the flour, boil water and place a few spoon fulls of the flour in it, after that boils stir super fast and get all of the clumps out, take a bowl and put a little bit of water in it, put the ugali in that bowl and flip it around so it’s a big ball, EAT…… Yep pretty much paste.
*The preschool is going good but I have realized that I am SO not cut out for it! I can not stand the kids lol,,, Yes they are cute but they don’t listen to me and run around and leave the classroom to go play and I just want to pull my hair out! They listen to anyone Tanzanian but me? NOPE
* I have a young mother helping me with chores around the house, her name is Jen and she was kicked out of high school for being pregnant. It may seem lame that I cant do it all by myself but it really is a lot of work when there is legit no machines or anything to help lol .. I have work and then I am trying to visit people and start more work only to come home and go get water, was dishes, cook on an open flame, wash clothes by hand, sweep and mop (don’t want bugs), and do the same outside because ciafu has made its sole mission to attack my house! It is just a lot of work and I suck at washing clothes so having her is going to make life A LOT easier.
I am currently laying in my bed at 7:17pm, which is my normal crawl into bed time. You may think wow why go to bed so early? The answer is simple, there is no electricity. Why sit up all night in the dark? Its not that I go to bed at 7, I just go into my bed and read or maybe even write a letter. I have been in Milo trying to get work done for 5-6 months and it is slowly getting easier. In Milo I find that the people are motivated and some are truly educated (hospital staff), so if I ask my health related questions they know the answers but they just don’t do them. This poses a really tough situation because I need to figure out how to motivate behavior change. I am open to any suggestions. Changing subjects, today at preschool I asked Alex(2yrs) where his grandma was and his response “kule” makes me laugh because it sounds like “kuuuulllllleeee” depending on how far she was, the longer the “ule” the further (same with pale).This becomes a problem when trying to ask for directions because they just point and say pale or kule which just means in that direction, needless to say I get lost a lot.
* Ive found that ducks are way better parents than chickens. They protect their ducklings and stand up to threats, they also sport an awesome mo-hawk when they are really mad. Chickens are super stupid and just run in zig zags when they are scared leaving their chicks running after them.
*I LOVE my puppy so much and I am already sad that I need to find him a new home for when I leave. I see people beating dogs all of the time and I really don’t want my Amadeus ending up with a mean family. I have been thinking if it has been a good idea that I took him in the first place because I love him so much.
*My vil has a large forest area and from the hospital road you can see an open pasture on the next hill and the sun hits it just right so it looks like the Twilight baseball field.
*How to make ugali: take corn off the cob and let it dry, take it to the machine and grind it up to a flour, dry the flour, boil water and place a few spoon fulls of the flour in it, after that boils stir super fast and get all of the clumps out, take a bowl and put a little bit of water in it, put the ugali in that bowl and flip it around so it’s a big ball, EAT…… Yep pretty much paste.
*The preschool is going good but I have realized that I am SO not cut out for it! I can not stand the kids lol,,, Yes they are cute but they don’t listen to me and run around and leave the classroom to go play and I just want to pull my hair out! They listen to anyone Tanzanian but me? NOPE
* I have a young mother helping me with chores around the house, her name is Jen and she was kicked out of high school for being pregnant. It may seem lame that I cant do it all by myself but it really is a lot of work when there is legit no machines or anything to help lol .. I have work and then I am trying to visit people and start more work only to come home and go get water, was dishes, cook on an open flame, wash clothes by hand, sweep and mop (don’t want bugs), and do the same outside because ciafu has made its sole mission to attack my house! It is just a lot of work and I suck at washing clothes so having her is going to make life A LOT easier.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Busy life
12-30-10
Life has been crazy as most of you already know. Thanksgiving was really nice because there was a lot of us PCVs together under one roof cooking all day and just having a good unwind. I was able to talk to my family and even my gma. The next day wasn’t so good when I found out my gma was in the hospital and it wasn’t looking good. Its crazy to think that my gma is gone now, she was a HUGE part in my life, she helped me in every way possible and I don’t know it is just crazy (still don’t believe it). When I got home from Thanksgiving I talked with my mom and she and some family figured out how I could get home for the funeral and I was gone the next day. Many many hours of travel later I was home in the snow! I was so nice to be home for the memorial and a good family lunch where we caught up and talked highly of gma Flo. I was in the states for awhile and I enjoyed every second, I even got to see baby Brianna the day she was born! Congrats to the Nagorski family! Anywho the trip was short and I found myself back in Dar sweating uncontrollably, I jumped on the first bus to Moro and was off to IST (In Service Training)… IST was nice because I was with my whole class (39 of us) and all of our counterparts (people from our vil’s that we plan on doing projects with). I was only there a few days but it seems as though my counterpart got a lot out of it and is super ready for work!.. I left moro with a large group and went to Dar for a few days where I swear it was America! It is so crazy that Tanzania has 2 extremes! We drank frozen drinks, ate cheese sticks, went swimming in awesome pools, went to the mall and even went to the movies! I forgot to mention, this whole time my new site-mate (PCV that lives closest to me) was babysitting my puppy Amadeus aka Ami….From Dar we went to Mafia Island for a nice x-mas BUUUUT it was not that way!! The boat there made me accept the fat that I would die, seriously I came to terms that I would die lol… it was a horrible boat in big ocean waves for 4-5 hours were I was practically drowning in the waves that were crashing into us in the boat. We finally got to the island but had to jump down into a smaller boat to get to land, this was just like getting onto the boat where everyone is impatient and it was just crazy, needless to say a mama pushed me and I fell into the small boat banging up my leg! When we finally got onto land we went to our hotel (its dark by now) and turns out they have no rooms and they only reserved 2 for the next day when they were saposta reserve 5!! We then begged a hotel owner to let us stay at his hotel for half price (we are poor) and he finally agreed, it felt good to get a bed finally but we all woke up with bed bugs! …The next day we went on a wild goose chase to find a hotel in our price range and ended up in the ghetto so I decided right there I was willing to throw a few more dollars out. Tala, Trudy and I went to the other side of the island (nice side) and told the guy at the gate that we wanted to just look and would be out ASAP but he said we still had to pat the 30,000tsh to get in the gates! We argued that we are volunteers and that we are residents and should pay the Tanzanian fee (2,000tsh) but they decided that we make American wages living in Tz so we were turned away. Needless to say we were on the boat the next morning back to Dar! … The remainder of the break was nice and relaxing full of Glee and Modern family and also some hot coco with marshmallows… When I got back to my vil they were super happy to see me and I was happy to get Amadeus back, turns out though that he was being trained in tribal so I had to learn too lol … Now im just trying to get motivated to write out a schedule and to seriously start work b/c I only have a year and a half left and I need to get moving!… Oh I forget I got 4 packages on top of all the stuff I brought back from America THANK YOU NAGORSKI FAMILY, KELLY, COLLEEN, AND OF COURSE GRANDMA!! … I was/am the envoy of peace corps members right now with the amount of American goodies I have! …Anywho it’s the rainy season and my clothes are not drying lol, should’ve thought of that b4 washing all of them! … Ami is too small for his collar and everyone laughs really hard when I carry him, they call him an American dog and are waiting to see what tricks he can do (did I mention I don’t know how to train a dog?). I bought a modum so I can get internet anywhere, but since I left Dar I hasn’t worked but I am trying to fix it so I can be online more often and even better to skype! … feel free to write letters and send anything your heart desires but PLEASE remember to write PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER on my package or I am stuck spending money I don’t have :/ Missing everyone and hope your new year is GREAT!!! ….
Life has been crazy as most of you already know. Thanksgiving was really nice because there was a lot of us PCVs together under one roof cooking all day and just having a good unwind. I was able to talk to my family and even my gma. The next day wasn’t so good when I found out my gma was in the hospital and it wasn’t looking good. Its crazy to think that my gma is gone now, she was a HUGE part in my life, she helped me in every way possible and I don’t know it is just crazy (still don’t believe it). When I got home from Thanksgiving I talked with my mom and she and some family figured out how I could get home for the funeral and I was gone the next day. Many many hours of travel later I was home in the snow! I was so nice to be home for the memorial and a good family lunch where we caught up and talked highly of gma Flo. I was in the states for awhile and I enjoyed every second, I even got to see baby Brianna the day she was born! Congrats to the Nagorski family! Anywho the trip was short and I found myself back in Dar sweating uncontrollably, I jumped on the first bus to Moro and was off to IST (In Service Training)… IST was nice because I was with my whole class (39 of us) and all of our counterparts (people from our vil’s that we plan on doing projects with). I was only there a few days but it seems as though my counterpart got a lot out of it and is super ready for work!.. I left moro with a large group and went to Dar for a few days where I swear it was America! It is so crazy that Tanzania has 2 extremes! We drank frozen drinks, ate cheese sticks, went swimming in awesome pools, went to the mall and even went to the movies! I forgot to mention, this whole time my new site-mate (PCV that lives closest to me) was babysitting my puppy Amadeus aka Ami….From Dar we went to Mafia Island for a nice x-mas BUUUUT it was not that way!! The boat there made me accept the fat that I would die, seriously I came to terms that I would die lol… it was a horrible boat in big ocean waves for 4-5 hours were I was practically drowning in the waves that were crashing into us in the boat. We finally got to the island but had to jump down into a smaller boat to get to land, this was just like getting onto the boat where everyone is impatient and it was just crazy, needless to say a mama pushed me and I fell into the small boat banging up my leg! When we finally got onto land we went to our hotel (its dark by now) and turns out they have no rooms and they only reserved 2 for the next day when they were saposta reserve 5!! We then begged a hotel owner to let us stay at his hotel for half price (we are poor) and he finally agreed, it felt good to get a bed finally but we all woke up with bed bugs! …The next day we went on a wild goose chase to find a hotel in our price range and ended up in the ghetto so I decided right there I was willing to throw a few more dollars out. Tala, Trudy and I went to the other side of the island (nice side) and told the guy at the gate that we wanted to just look and would be out ASAP but he said we still had to pat the 30,000tsh to get in the gates! We argued that we are volunteers and that we are residents and should pay the Tanzanian fee (2,000tsh) but they decided that we make American wages living in Tz so we were turned away. Needless to say we were on the boat the next morning back to Dar! … The remainder of the break was nice and relaxing full of Glee and Modern family and also some hot coco with marshmallows… When I got back to my vil they were super happy to see me and I was happy to get Amadeus back, turns out though that he was being trained in tribal so I had to learn too lol … Now im just trying to get motivated to write out a schedule and to seriously start work b/c I only have a year and a half left and I need to get moving!… Oh I forget I got 4 packages on top of all the stuff I brought back from America THANK YOU NAGORSKI FAMILY, KELLY, COLLEEN, AND OF COURSE GRANDMA!! … I was/am the envoy of peace corps members right now with the amount of American goodies I have! …Anywho it’s the rainy season and my clothes are not drying lol, should’ve thought of that b4 washing all of them! … Ami is too small for his collar and everyone laughs really hard when I carry him, they call him an American dog and are waiting to see what tricks he can do (did I mention I don’t know how to train a dog?). I bought a modum so I can get internet anywhere, but since I left Dar I hasn’t worked but I am trying to fix it so I can be online more often and even better to skype! … feel free to write letters and send anything your heart desires but PLEASE remember to write PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER on my package or I am stuck spending money I don’t have :/ Missing everyone and hope your new year is GREAT!!! ….
Thursday, October 14, 2010
10/07/2010
Man oh man, I’ve been a busy bee these past few weeks! The Priest at the Anglican church and I have been having some really good conversations about what this village needs and we have some really good ideas on how to address those issues. Here once a child turns about 2 they are left home alone when the parents go out to the farm, that means that they do not get fed all day long. After talking with a lot of the hospital staff I have really seen that this is a main component to why the children are underweight at the weighing days. Another big issue is education where the kids are not ready for school, think about it in America before your child goes to school they can count and say their ABCs and maybe even add a little, here is not that way. Parents are at the farm all day and when they get back they need to go get water, cook, clean and do many more chores and after all of that they aren’t about to teach their kids anything. It is not good! What is a good solution? Well start a nursery school!!!! At the church there is also a bible school where there is extra classrooms, there is a large yard, there is a kitchen!! YES we are starting a nursery school here in Milo!!! We plan on feeding the kids and also teaching some basics and just giving them a safe place to go! …. I am super excited and I really hope it all works out! Besides all of that I have been doing nothing too special…. I asked a little girl to help me build a fence for my garden and I have never felt so useless in my life! She is 12 or 13 and she was doing 97% of the work and I was just standing there useless. We first had to go borrow a panga (machete) and go out to the woods and find wood for the frame, she was climbing and yelling down commands to me, which I totally didn’t understand so she had to climb down and do everything! She then said we needed rope, me being the American I am thought about how much money that rope will cost me, she then crawled under some brush and came out with a long vine and told me that was the rope! She then peeled tree bark with her teeth and said that “bark is the strong rope”…. YEA that was how the weekend went lol … I have been thinking a lot lately about how the heck I got here! How many small choices in life led to this moment where I am sitting under a mosquito net? Those questions often lead me to think, If I was in the states, what would I be doing? Ask any Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) how dangerous that questions is! That is the first sign that you will be sad ASAP! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my village and I am doing some good work but man oh man I miss everyone! I got a package from dev and a letter from Erin not too long ago when I was in Njombe and my friend here Jill said “How cute you still have friends” … She went on to say how she stopped getting letters long ago but how your PC friends start to become family because truly, no one can relate to you like they can…. I hope that my PC little family stays close but man I know I will be checking scores of the Lewis basketball/volleyball/soccer/softball and of course some swimming games/meets supporting my friends the way that they are supporting me …. I spent the past 4 years making a connection to a Lewis community and my friends and family from home are my rock and no amount of malaria or giardia or even sand fleas can change that! In other words I might be thousands of miles away but everyone back home, if you need anything I will be there for you! ………… Random thing also, I talked to Courtney the other day and the roosters were doing their normal “cock-a-doodle-doing” and to tell you the truth I didn’t even notice but all of sudden she just says “Amy, is that really a rooster” lol I didn’t even know how to answers besides saying “duh, I live in a village dude”.. I then talked to Resha and I told her my little helper girl went to go get me water (seen as a childs chore) and she says “Amy you have maids?” haha these little moments make me so happy to share my experiences with people back in the states…. Oh man I love my family and friends!!! …. Please keep me in your prayers, and keep your fingers crossed for the nursery school to get started (maybe even next month)!!!!
AMY
9/21/2010
Have you ever read a book in candle light while eating peas and drinking a warm beer? Well that is my night tonight. Today was pretty typical for my time here so far, I woke up at around 7 and finished my book that ive been reading (the white massai) and then rolled over and climbed out of my mosquito net. I then lit my kerosen small burner and started to boil water to make coffee then cracked open some eggs and cut up an onion and made myself a little omlette. I journaled and read my daily prayer book and started to clean up a bit. I swept my house and reorganized my potatoes because I have sooooooo many (gifts). I then got dressed and packed my work bag and was out of the house around 930am yet on my way out an old woman that was bit by a dog not too long ago stopped by and wanted to have oil and so I got her some and then also gave her a few eggs because I have alot any way. She then asked if I was a doctor and I said no but she lifted up her shirt and on her stomach is a huge tumor thing that is in need of attention bc it is open (ew). I told her to go to the hospital and I think she agreed but to tell you the truth she talks too fast and I didnt understand her, I could have promised her my first born child for all I know.I then walked to the hospital but stopping to greet everyone and I also dropped my phone off at the "duka" so they could charge it with their generator. At the hospital I translated some of the book that I am using right now and I made signs for the CTC clinic (where people go to get ARVs and also to get tested). I made some really good posters but forgot tape so I left and talked with some people on the road then went back to my house. At my house I made easy mac lol and read some of my new book. I returned to the hospital about an hour later but before getting there I sat and chatted with some store owners along the way. At the hospital I hung up the posters that I made and talked to some people before going back to the main part of town and just sat and talked with people and simply worked on my lacking language skills. I sat there for a long time before going home to cook dinner. I sarted my charcoal jiko and started to peel peas and soon realized I had no water so I asked a neighbor kid to get me some and in return I gave him gum (great deal). I was about half way done peeling when a woman I saw at the hospital came in my gate and told me she heard about me and that she is HIV positive and she is just starting ARVs, she then gave me A LOT more peas and sat down and helped me peel the rest of my peas. We talked about how I plan on starting a club for people living with HIV and that she is more than welcome and if she had any other questions feel free to ask. I then gave her a few eggs and a few plastic bags and she was off! I finished cooking the peas and read some more and here I am!!!.... FUN DAYS!!! .... On friday I watched baby weighing which was actually really sad because when a baby was underweight the mother was yelled at and not given any advice or anything so I think I will start meeting with the women whose babies are underweight and help them with nutrition and help them to plant a perma-garden (which is a way to make a garden that controls water and has high yields in little space). I also want to have a health club at the elementary school where we will plant a perma-garden and learn about nutrition and HIV/AIDS and of couse play soccer after the meeting (how else do you get kids to show up?). On top of that of course I want to work with the tree group that already exists here. I just want to introduce them to the Moringa tree because it is seriously AMAZING, look into it because it is such a sign and gift from God! It is so useful and can grow anywhere and fast!! Oh I forgot, at lunch I also put up my pictures on thewalls so that my house feels more like home!.... All in all I try to stay busy so that I feel useful here, it is hard because I see a lot of needs but my language is just not good enough to do anything yet, I can understand the jist of what people are saying but I can not hold up a conversation on nutrition AT ALL... I cant wait until I can actually do good work and not just the little things! But I have 2 years to do things so I just need to calm down lol... Missing everyone back home, especially when I have to take freezing bucket showers or im walking a bucket of water to my house! But I believe that this is where God wants me to be right now and I thankful for all of the prayers and if anyone needs any prayers their way feel free to let me know! ...... Also I have found some good TZ music, look up Mr Blue - Tuko Pamoja and also Mama Ntilie ... both good songs! .. Until next time!
AMY
AMY
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