My 25th Birthday

     Today I turned 25 years old.  That’s right.  I have now reached the quarter century mark and am starting to feel old.  With each day that passes, I will be officially closer to 30 than 20 and that’s a little scary.  I feel like I have so much to accomplish in the next 5 years!  I love birthdays (not just my own) because it is the one day of the year when people show how much they love and care about you simultaneously.  However, birthdays are not celebrated as much in Tanzania as they are in America and I thought this would be a good opportunity for cultural exchange with my fellow teachers and students. 

Today is Wednesday and probably the worst possible day for a birthday celebration if you have a job.  I couldn’t leave my village as part of a long weekend or get out of teaching my classes, but I was determined to make this day special.  As a gift for students, I bought them rice for lunch.  I should start by saying that students eat the SAME thing EVERYDAY for lunch AND dinner: ugali and beans.  I am trying to adjust to Tanzanian culture and diet, but ugali makes me sick.  I try to eat it a few times a week and each time I get a terrible stomach ache.  My body just does not want to digest it.   While the students are used to this diet, they get tired of eating the same food twice a day for four years.  So I decided to splurge and buy the school rice.  For my birthday lunch we all ate rice and beans.  This was a surprise and students did not know they would have a different meal until they walked into the dining hall.  They were so excited!  All the students stood up and sang “Happy Birthday” to me.   All of the teachers ate together in the staff room and I made chocolate no-bake cookies for the staff.  Tonight three of my students surprised me with birthday cards.  This was an extremely thoughtful gesture and I was touched that they spent the little money they had on me.  The families at this school are poor, but sometimes parents are able to give their children some spending money to use to buy pens, fruit, avocados and other things to vary their diet.  But the students spent their money on me!  The knowledge that I was making a difference in the lives of at least a few students made my birthday really special.   Sometimes I get frustrated and wonder why I joined Peace Corps in the first place.  I am lucky to have students that remind me why I am here =)