Tanzania is not a country for the clumsy....

I should start this post by saying I am extremely clumsy!  I have fallen going up stairs and have tripped walking on flat ground.  The roads in Tanzania are not paved nor flat.  In fact, there are numerous ditches, potholes, rocks, and uneven ground that you must walk over regularly.  As a result, I knew that my accident today was inevitable...

During our lunch break, some fellow Peace Corps Trainees and I decided to walk into the city to go to the bank.  The bank is only open during certain hours (8 am to 3 pm) and we are ALWAYS in training during business hours.  Lunch was the only opportunity to get money and without money I could not buy a cell phone.  Most of Peace Corps safety and security policies require the use of a local phone, so it was something I wanted to get right away.  As I was walking to the bank, a rock and minor ditch appeared out of nowhere and of course I had to trip and fall to the ground.  I bruised both knees and was bleeding from my elbow and one of my knees, but that was no big deal.  The worst part was that I SPRAINED MY ANKLE! It hurt so bad and I had to limp all the way back to our training site.  Luckily, my fellow Peace Corps trainees helped me out.  When we finally arrived back at training (nearly 30 minutes late), the staff was super helpful.  They helped me clean my wounds and wrap my ankle.  The ironic thing was that one staff member said "You should have called and we would have picked you up."  Doesn't he know the whole reason I went to the bank in the first place was so I could buy a cell phone....??

Tanzania is not a place for the crippled or the clumsy.  We walk everywhere! I just hope the ankle heals quickly....

The Honeymoon is Almost Over

I have been in Tanzania for about two weeks now and have learned that while there are many things I love about this country and the culture, there are just some things that I am struggling to adjust to.  I should start by saying that training is absolutely EXHAUSTING!!! We spend the entire day doing language and technical training along with some cultural training.  We have very little free time and it has been a struggle to even find time to study let alone blog.  But here I go (I figured list form would be easier to digest)...

THINGS I LOVE

1. My Host Family!  I have lived with my family for only a little over a week, but they have been very welcoming. My host Momma taught me how to do laundry by hand and cook on a charcoal stove (I even made spaghetti for everyone). I have always wanted sisters and was lucky enough to be given two of them.  My sisters are ten years old and love to smile and laugh as I attempt to navigate their culture and make pretty basic, yet embarrassing mistakes.  For example, "magi ya kunywa" is drinking water and "maji ya kunya" is water with shit in it.  It is very important to learn proper pronunciation in Kiswahili!!  Luckily my sisters act as my teachers and correct my homework, make my flash cards, etc.  My brother (kaka) is only 5 years old and quite demanding.  I am sure it will only be a matter of time before he forces me to understand what he says.  My family got a puppy yesterday, so that was the highlight of my week.  They don't treat dogs well here, so I am hoping this can be a good cultural exchange.


2.  Emphasis on Relationships!  The Tanzanian people care far more about interpersonal relationships than productivity.  For example, a teacher may be late for class because they were busy talking to another teacher.  Strangers always say hello when they pass on the streets and most people here are friendly. I value productivity, but every once in a while it would be nice if Americans would smile and say hello to strangers. 

3. CHOCOLATE!!  I have an addiction to chocolate and I worried that when I came to Tanzania there would not be a large supply.  Luckily, I have found delicious but overpriced chocolate to keep me comforted. It can literally make a gloomy day brighter, and I am thankful that I found it here.

4. Clothes.  I will be getting some custom made clothing while in Tanzania because the fabric is BEAUTIFUL and custom made dresses are cheap.  I haven't bought one yet but will keep you posted. 


5. Physical Beauty of Country!  Tanzania is AMAZING!! I love all of the beauty here. We can see the mountains from where we are training and its gorgeous.  I can't wait to explore more and walking everywhere is a wonderful workout.


THINGS I AM STRUGGLING TO ADJUST TOO....I know eventually I will get over these things, but at this particular moment in time I think the excitement of it all is fading quickly.


1. The choo!  I love western toilets!  As much as I try to adjust to squatting its just really difficult for me.  There is definitely no temptation to stay in the bathroom.  I know this is something that I will learn to love, or at least tolerate but at the moment its one of the things I hate most.  Also a tip for women planning to come to Tanzania....skirts are AMAZING!  While it is true that wearing a skirt is part of the culture, it is also very functional.  There is an acrobatic workout that women undergo while on the choo.  You are squatting while standing on your toes, trying to lift up a skirt with one hand, wipe with the other, all without losing balance.   The choo requires skill!


2. The food!  I don't mind Tanzanian food, what I am struggling with is the EXCESSIVE amount of carbs.  I enjoy rice and potatoes, but I cannot eat it every single meal. Also, my host family keeps trying to make me eat more and I have to politely decline and explain that I am not a machine. In this country, being fat is a sign of wealth so they encourage girls to eat up.  And it would look bad on my host Momma if her American actually lost weight while staying with her. That being said,  I just want a big salad with a tasty boneless skinless chicken breast on top.  Maybe one day...

3. Bucket Baths!  Yes this is superficial but I miss hot showers. I just don't feel quite as clean.  And we bucket bath in the same room as the choo, so the water goes everywhere.  Yes imagine trying not to slip while using the choo after reading what I described above.


4.  Relationships with Men.  In this country, men and women aren't friends.  If they are alone together it is assumed they are having sex.  Since I don't want to be the town hussie, I need to work on this.  It just doesn't seem fair (note:  I was a tomboy for several years).


Overall, I LOVE Tanzania. I am sure I will adjust to everything eventually.  Please keep commenting and I will keep writing =)

Aaron Williams Visits Tanzania

Today, U.S. Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams came to visit.  For those of you who do not know, 2011 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps and the director decided to visit some of the original countries that received Peace Corps volunteers.  Tanzania was one of the first countries to receive volunteers and so there was a huge celebration when the Director came to visit. 

 Director Williams wanted to visit Peace Corps Trainees and volunteers, so he came to our site and we had lunch with him.  He talked a little bit about his experience as a PCV and answered questions varying from his most embarassing Peace Corps moment to how he plans to increase safety and security for women.  The lunch was delicious and it was fun to meet him. While we were eating this huge praying mantis landed on my mug.  It was creepy but then cute, so I took a picture of that too.  Director Williams took a picture with all the trainees, but I was only able to get the staff picture on my camera.  I think the picture with me on it is on the Peace Corps website.

I have included a couple links below for people wanting more details about his visit.  I think there are more pictures on the Peace Corps website.

http://tanzania.usembassy.gov/pr_06282011.html
http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.media.press.view&news_id=1809

Living the Life of Luxury in Tanzania

We have been in Tanzania for 2 days now and I realized that I am living the life of luxury at the hostel we are staying at.  By life of luxury I mean that I have running water AND electricity.  To be completely honest, I am not super excited about giving up these things.  There has been some adjustment so far.  I must sleep under a mosquito net every night, and the toilet and shower aren't separated.  This means that after I shower the whole bathroom is covered in water.  There is also no hot water, so I am learning to enjoy cold showers.  I usually wake up sweating, so I have learned that the showers may not be a bad thing. 

Training has been okay so far.  We have been getting tons of vaccinations which is no fun.  And I am STRUGGLING to learn kiswahili at a pace I want to be at.  I still have jet lag so that makes things difficult. We have been learning a lot about safety and security and techical Peace Corps stuff.  Also, we have been learing how to stay healthy! On Sunday we will move to another training site and stay with our host families.  I should quickly mention that I cannot disclose the location of my site, or where we are for training due to security purposes so don't even bother asking.

I will update soon!

P.S. I pay for computer time so theses posts are usually quick and unedited...

A long day of traveling

When I last posted, I was at the airport getting ready to board a flight for Tanzania and the next 24 hours were LONG!  It's amazing how exhausting it can be to literally sit in one spot for several hours at a time.  I slept, listened to music, read, watched a movie, and talked with other Peace Corps volunteers so the time passed relatively quickly.  We had a layover in Amsterdam, so the 40 of us just sat and in a huge group trying to pass the time. We definitely stood out among the many tourists at the Amsterdam airport.

The flight to Tanzania started off hilarious.  The overhead compartment above the seat in front of us started leaking while it was open and it looked as if it was raining on the people in front of us.  The stewardess came over to see what the problem was thinnking that something in one of the passangers bags was leaking.  However, when she checked the overhead compartmenet was completely dry!  It made no sense.  She put the overhead compartment down again and it looked like a mini rainstorm.  Once she put the compartment up, it just drizzled.  The people in front of us had a napkin and had to wipe it every 5 seconds to keep the water from falling on them.  I found this hilarious! Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, but I could not stop laughing.  I even took a picture which I hope to post at some point.  The plane was booked so the couple in front of us had no place to move to (and since nobody wanted to sit for 10 hours with water droplets on their head, they could not simply switch seats).  Luckily, the plane stopped raining about an hour into the flight. We still don't know the cause or why it stopped, but it sure was a good laugh.

We arrived in Tanzania around 10pm and the Peace Corps staff was at the airport waiting for us. It was a BEAUTIFUL night and we got to enjoy an amazing lunar eclipse.  Unfortunately none of my pictures turned out well, but the moon was covered in red! After got our luggage the staff took us to the site where we would be staying.  We had snacks and received malaria medication before they finally let us go to sleep.  The time difference from home is 7 hours and I am still struggling with Jet lag.   I couldn't fall asleep until 3 am and had to be at breakfast at 7:30.  To say I am exhausted would be an understatement....

The time has come....

I am currently sitting at the Newark airport patiently waiting to board my flight to Amsterdam and then on to Tanzania.  It has already been a long day...For those of you who know me, I tend to be unlucky when it comes to airports.  My flights are usually delayed, bags have been left on the wrong continent, etc. So of course as I prepared to leave for the airport I knew something would probably go wrong.  And without fail, I managed to have a little mishap.  I have brand new lugguage for Tanzania (we were given weird lugguage dimension rules) and one of them had a TSA lock built in.  I read the directions thoroughly but somehow managed to make a mistake resetting the code and as a result I locked myself out of my own suitcase.  Imagine my panick as I left for the airport unable to open one piece of luggage!!! LUCKILY, I met a very nice TSA officer who took time off of his break to get the special TSA key and open the bag for me.  Unfortunately that key did not work!  The guy was so nice and went back into their break room to get a different key and thankfully that did the trick.  I was able to open my bag and used a separate lock that I was positive I knew how to work.

I am not sure what my internet situation will be like when I arrive in Tanzania, so this may be my last post for a while.  We will arrive in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday night (there is a 7 hour time difference from my home in Michigan) and then our intense 3 month training will begin....

Staging!!!

Today I turned in my paperwork and became an offical PEACE CORPS TRAINEE!! That's right...starting today I can recieve money from the US Government for my service abroad. At staging we talked about our anxieties/ aspirations and the Peace Corps mission.  Skits were created and pictures were drawn to make the day even more fun.  We also had an opportunity to meet the other trainees and begin the bonding process. 

After a long day of staging several of the volunteers and I went to dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant in Philadelphia. Unfortunately I forgot the name, but my last dinner in the United States was delicious!!

It's Hard to Say Goodbye

I have never been one to cry a lot, but saying goodbye to friends and family at the airport before I left for staging on Sunday evening was rough.  I have spent the last few weeks saying goodbye to friends and family and had been able to hold it together pretty well, until now.  This is officially the beginning of my journey as a Peace Corps volunteer.  I am excited to meet my fellow trainees and begin this new adventure in my life, but realized that sometimes it can be hard saying goodbye.  I was lucky enough to have my Mom, Dad, brother, Sharon, and one of my best friends accompany me to the airport.  We had a delicious dinner at the Westin hotel before I left although nerves took quite a toll on my appetite.  The hotel is connected to the airport so it was easy for me to go through security and straight to my gate.  My flight was delayed and as a result I had some time to pull myself together before getting on the plane and then meeting a fellow Peace Corps volunteer to go to the hotel.  When we arrived at the hotel we met up with a few other volunteers, had a drink, and watched the Mavs win the Championship game!!!  Overall it was a good first night and I fell asleep quickly after a long day.