2 years in!!

I admit it, I have really sucked at writing blogs over the past couple months. The 12th of October was our 2nd year in country. I still remember arriving at the airport in Dar 2 years ago about to burst into tears of fear and excitement. So what have I been up to since my last blog? Late July into mid August I was in my village finishing up teaching about HIV to my secondary students and starting on pregnancy, reproductive system, puberty etc. I did some lessons at the village clinic about personal hygiene and good nutrition, I also worked on some lessons/posters for the nurses to teach and display while I would be out of the village. I finished up our 2nd round of Zinduka graduating another 25 students (http://www.grassrootsoccer.org/),  if you would like to know more about Zinduka, that's the link. My counterpart and I started an anti-corruption team at the secondary school.It was really awesome to see how many students were interested in coming and also the responses we go on the day we separated into teams and debating about various topics. Then in mid August school was going on a break so I did some traveling with a couple other volunteers. We went to Rwanda first, a very modernized, CLEAN city. They have really made headway since the genocide.  We checked out a genocide museum that was very well put together,it really stuck with me when I left.So many people died for such arbitrary reasoning.
After Rwanda we went to western Tanzania and spent some time in Mwanza, what a beautiful city! Rolling rocky hills overlooking Lake Victoria, beautiful sunsets...not so nice people but we got by just fine.From Mwanza we went to South Beach Resort for out COS (close of service) conference.  We had daily sessions about what to expect after peace corps, reverse culture shock, resume writing etc. I have to admit it was really hard to sit through some oft he sessions knowing there was a beautiful beach along with a pool and disco right outside. We were fed so well I know we all left a little more round and very happy. Then I went to Zanzibar with 2 girls and we went humpback whale watching, it was awesome...whales are amazing, huge creatures.
Since then I have been back at my site (we aren't allowed to travel  the last 90 days of our service) We also cant start any new projects so I have been trying to really enjoy the remaining time I have with the villagers (1 month from today!!!!) It has been to years!! The longest, toughest but yet most rewarding experience I have ever had. "Peace Corps, the toughest job you'll ever love." SO TRUE.
Now I am applying for jobs like crazy ( when the electricity in town is actually working), trying to figure out whats next, its scary not to know!I just have to breathe in, breathe out, try not to freak out and take it a day at a time.... and hope I dont have to live with my parents the rest of my life =)
Until next time!!!!
<3 Maria

what up North America.

I have not written a blog for a REALLY long time.I have about 5 months left here which I know is going to fly by. Soooo here is how I have been feeling for a while now...I am terrified to return to the US...jobs, friends, culture shock etc etc. I have actually been having nightmares (a lot) about coming back. As of now I am this dirty, showering once a week Peace Corps Volunteer, living in a tiny village, eating with my hands, speaking Swahili, completely integrated into a very conservative Muslim society, wear clothes that show my shoulders and knees??? Nooooo wayyyyy, cant do it. I am so accustomed living in a non structured environment, showing up for a meeting at 2pm which starts at 5pm,preparing a life skills lesson for school only to show up and realize school is on a random month break, buying a bus ticket to leave at 8am that actually gets moving around 1030, buses breaking down all the time in the middle of the bush. I am accustomed to and actually kind of in love with the way of life here. Can I come back and work a 9-5 desk job?? Noooooooooo. Will my friends and family understand me and all my jokes about Tanzania, the ppl and the language?
So, yep that is how I am feeling right about now. I am by no means writing this for sympathy, I just want you to know whats up with me these days.

In other news I spent the month of June working for a company called PSI (Populations Services International). PSI is a global health organization that works  to improve the health of people in the developing world by focusing on challenges of life. They focus on family planning, HIV and AIDS, barriers to maternal health, and the greatest threats to children under five, including malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition, also water safety.I spent the month traveling with a family planning team consisting of me, a reproductive health promoter, quality assurance supervisor and a driver ( yep! got to ride around in a private car for a month with a/c!!!!!). My job was to keep a journal about time management, activities done and relationships within the company as well as with the providers and patients. They are really promoting IUCD insertions for women looking for long term method of family planning. An IUCD is a small plastic device inserted into the uterus and can destroy sperm before they can reach the egg to fertilize it. The biggest pro tho this method is that and IUCD uses no medicine or hormones so you experience little to no side effects. I also sat through counseling sessions with the reproductive health promoter and patients, helped interview people to become village health care workers to teach their communities about family planning and went door to door in villages to monitor their work. It was an amazing month and I learned so much and really fell in love with the company and the people I worked. I came up with a few really good ideas for improvement.

.Right now I am in Dar writing my final report for the company and everything here is extra chaotic because Obama is arriving today. They picked 25 volunteers to meet him unfortunately my name was not drawn out of the hat. Tomorrow I am on my way to the coast to spend the 4th of Julyon a sandbar in the middle of the Indian Ocean with some other volunteers then It's back to the village.....and it will be Ramadan by the time I arrive. Should be interesting to see how my coping mechanisms from year will come into effect this year. If anything it will only make me a stronger person.
Until next time,
Love,
Maria

Missin my village!

Well the last month has been interesting and as always proof I'm not in Kansas...Ohio...umm the United States anymore. It all started at the end of some traveling I did with a few volunteers. A couple nights in a row I had a fever and my lower abdomen was starting to hurt. The night before I got back to my village I stayed in a gesti (hostel) with 2 other girls and thats when I felt horrendous. I had a fever  that was so bad I was laying with only a kanga wrapped around me sweating so much that the entire bed was soaked through all while shivering like there is no tomorrow and had some wicked abdominal pain. I finally manged to get up and go hunt for the shower to wash all the sweat off myself. Well there was a doctor in the gesti and after one look at me he insists I go to his hospital and test for Malaria. I still have no idea how I managed to pull myself together enough to walk to the hospital. He was a great person and really helpful, he tested me (negative), gave me medicine for my fever and put me in a taxi back to the gesti all for about $1.

The next day, by the time I get back to my village I  was once again laid out with the fever and the pain which is getting worse.I just took medicine and slept until the next day. The next day I woke up to about 50 babies screaming and realize it muct be a busy clinic day ( the clinic is about 10 steps away from my house), and I should get up and make my way there. I then realize I am in so much pain I can not stand up. I text the nurse that I am really sick and in too much pain to walk, so she comes to my house but the door is locked so she can't get in.After about a half hour so slow moving I manage to get up and open the door. The nurse has two guys carry me to the clinic and I spend about the next two hours laying on the bed there.After taking pain meds, drinking a ton of water and sleeping a little the pain and fever are worse then ever so I call the Peace Corps Doctor and basiaclly cry to him "HEEELLP ME, I FEEL LIKE I AM DYING." Within an hour a car from the local hospital comes to pick me up and take me to the nearest city, Dodoma, which is about a 2 hour car ride away. THAT was the most painful 2 hours of my life. Its all a dirt road until about the last 45 minutes. With every bump I was crying out in pain feeling like my abdomen was going to burst. I spent about 3 hours at a clinic in Dodoma having different tests done and IVs hooked up to me. Luckily a couple other volunteers came to see me bearing gossip magazines and snickers =). The Peace Corps Doctor was on his way to get me from Dar es Salaam but he had a good 6-8 hour drive. After finishing up at the clinic me and the other 2 volunteers went to on of their houses. Bless their hearts for all they did for me- helped me walk, sit, stand, lay down etc. They were so awesome.

The next morning me and the doc head to Dar because thats where the fancy hospitals are with the best care. Also, PC headquarters along with the medical office is located in Dar. We go to one clinic and they do some blood work, xrays and a CT scan. They ruled out that I had appendicitis and all other life threatening conditions.Next we head to the fanciest hospital I have ever seen and thats were I am admitted and spend the next 15 days. When I first arrived on a Friday they told it seemed like I cut myself while shaving with dirty water and got an infection. Which hey, that can happen when the water in your village looks like this.

Anyways, on that Friday they said it should clear up and I would be on my way on Monday. By the time Monday rolled around I a had a bacterial infection spreading down my leg and I was still in pain with some massive  lymph nodes. Finally after many days and meds the infection localized into a mass which needed surgically removed. After getting approval from Washington to have general anesthesia the last thing I remember was being in the operating room, someone putting meds in my IV telling me it was time to sleep then the beginning of a conversation about Tanzanian beers I like, I am curious as to how long that conversation lasted.  The doc took a culture of the fluid and tissue and sent it to Nairobi...results bado (not yet)  Then I woke up, had staples in my leg, spent a few more(many) days in the hospital then I was released. I have to say that there were actually certain things from the hospital that were worthy of being missed- the ocean view and watching the sunset over it everyday, AIR CONDITIONING, fresh smoothies and grilled cheese on my demand....ummm pressing a button and having someone come running?

I had to stick around Dar for about a week and a half until getting my staples out so one of the PC staff hooked me up with his friend who was going on vaca and needed a house/dog sitter. I am actually still at the house for a couple more days and I can tell you that I am absolutely spoiled. The house is so gorgeous  but thats not even what matters, it has running water!!! a shower...with hot water!!!!! wifi!!!!!  air conditioning!!! a dog that I can snuggle with and take on walks!!! Lets just say village dogs aren't exactly cuddly.
I got the staples out of my leg today and cant wait to get back to my village!!!I do however  I think after living with all these convinces for so long that it could be a rough adjustment period....but it's only a matter of time until I am back to showering once a week, wondering if I am really tan or just really dirty, running around barefoot, preaching about condoms in Swahili while sweating my ass off and loving every minute of it. Peace Corps oh Peace Corps...I wouldn't have it any other way.
I am also considering not shaving again until I get back to America.

The time I had a parasitic blubber arthropod living in my foot!

So about a month and a half ago I noticed what I thought was a blister on the bottom of the foot and just figured it would go away. Well 2 days ago I noticed it was huge and making my entire foot swell so I decided to go ask my neighbor, who is a nurse, what to do about an infected blister. Turns out it was a blister, nope, not all all. The minute I showed her my foot she tell me I have a bug living in it and she needs to cut/squeeze it out and warns me it's going to be painful. She was not lying about the painful part! When she finally got the gross (but kinda cool?) jigger bug out of the foot I thought it was over then I heard her say "mayai" EGGS! She knew I had enough of the pain so instead of cutting them out she put kerosene on them hoping they would die....they did. So that was an interesting experience. I got a taste of the village health care= lack of resources, tools and medicine. I guess I should stop walking barefoot around the village.

It's been so long since I have posted. Over the holidays I, along with some other volunteers went to the local missionaries house. Talk about a real American Christmas, it was great. Then I spend New Years in Zanzibar with about 6 other girls. Zanzibar is so beautiful, it has amazing beaches with gorgeous sunsets, great shopping and is maybe about the most humid place on the planet.We went to a full moon party on North beach, that was awesome, I haven't been around that many wazungu since I left America. After Zanzibar a few of us went to Mafia Island to swim with whale sharks. was about the coolest thing I have even done.The 2 guys that took us out of their boat took  right up to the whale shark then are like JUMP IN!!!! NOW, JUMP! We were scared because the thing is so huge and right under, but we JUMMMMPED, and got up close and personal with the really big fish. It was so awesome. Here is a pic. You can see us a ways behind the shark.

Right now I am in town with 3 other volunteers and we are starting a girls empowerment conference tomorrow that lasts until Monday. We each have 5 girls coming from our secondary schools, it's going to be great! We are teaching about puberty, HIV/STDs, early pregnancy, goal setting and loads of other stuff. At night for fun we are having talents shows, watching movies and having a beauty night. I'll write all about it after it's done!
Love,
Maria

World AIDS day and stuff

Yeah, it been a while!! I have lots to say on many different topics. FIRST: World AIDS Day was December 1^st and I held an event in my village with the help of a local NGO. The NGO provides education about HIV by using local tribal music (Warangi) and dancing, it was so cool. They also did skits, has a choir sing some songs, drum circle and had a PLWA meeting. About 100 people came to get tested, with the stigma being so high this was impressive. Overall it was a successful day with just a few expected minor annoyances. I also gave a speech in Swahili, it was terrifying.

SECOND: Development work is the most frustrating but rewarding work I have ever done. Sustainability is key with development work. For example, if I want to build a water tank in my village first I get a group of 6-10 motivated people in my village to be trained how the tank works, how to fix it if it breaks and to help build it. I apply for a grant help with the cost and the village government is also responsible for providing 25% of the cost which can be dirt, bricks, people for labor etc. With the above the village takes pride in the project that they helped work for, people gain skills and are empowered. However when you have large organizations/NGOS going into villages building water tanks (or anything) with no help from the village and minimal to no training provided villagers start to expect things to just come to them free of charge and labor. Also what happens when there is a problem with the water tank when minimal to no training is provided? The villagers sit around and wait for someone to come in and fix it, or just build another one, free of cost and labor. It is so extremely frustrating to try to do SUSTAINABLE work when people expect easy and free, with no sustainability. My view of foreign aid has completely changed. However when I see sustainable change done at the grassroots level that I had a part in the feeling of accomplishment is so rewarding it beats all the frustrations of development works and makes it worth the struggle.

THIRD:I bought this lemon lotion that smells so wonderful. I have never been a huge fan of lemon smelling anything and one day I realized the lotion smells like a typical American household cleaner. It dawned on me that I miss being and and just clean in general so much that I walk around all day smelling like a bottle of Mr Clean. I am okay with this and still use the lotion. In fact another volunteer smelled it, bought some and now uses it everyday as well. I MISS CLEAN.

FOURTH: I started a womens empowerment group in my village and they want to start a chicken project, buying selling chickens and eggs etc. to make money and improve their health as well as their families. The only problem with a chicken project is that more times then not when a volunteer tries to do one all the chickens die from newcastle disease or many other diseases. Once the first chicken dies they fall like dominoes. It involves a lot of training Its the kind of project that volunteers make fun of each other for doing and that we sort of all try to avoid. Well the women in the group are so motivated that I decided to man up and go for it. Wish me luck.

FIFTH: All eyes on me. I saw a mud flap on a bus that said this and it pretty much sums up my daily life here, in the village at least. No matter what I am doing I can feel the eyes following me. It's like living in a fish bowl. Soooooo I have started having a little fun with it. Like cartwheeling my way across the road, or tripping constantly, or having a conversation/argument with an invisible person beside me. The reactions from people are amazing. Peace Corps, the toughest job you will ever love? The answer to this is yes, 100%.

Merry Christmas.

I am on my way to Zanzibar to relax in paradise for a week then off the Mafia Island to SWIM WITH WHALE SHARKS.
OH, I also saw rain for the first time in 7 months!!!

The seconds go by slow but the months fly by!

That is how time here works I have been in country for a year!!  I have tried to make a mental list things I do differently (and somethings that I am just so used to I  couldn't imagine going without )now since adapting to the culture here...here goes- I drag my feet when I walk A LOT. I remember when I first got into country thinking how annoying it is but now I am so guilty. I walk around, sit on buses or in my house blaring music on my phone thinking I am pretty much the coolest person ever. I might be listening to American or Swahili hip hop, bongo flavor or Justin Bieber....yea I listen to Justin Bieber and sing along. I drink Smirinoff. I crave ugali (cornflour and water mixed in a substance) and I am disappointed if that is not what my neighbors cook for dinner.I deny dirty change, places wont accept it when I try to pay so I dont accept it as change! I raise my eyebrows and that means "yes".I can suck on sugar cane all day everyday (I bet I have no cavities!) A three hour bus ride breaking down only once is short and easy. I speak "donkey", yea I can steer a cart pulled by donkeys. I pretty much greet every single person walk by everyday. Instead of just telling people no I tell them "ohhh tomorrow I will help you farm or tomorrow you can use my ipod...tomorrow means never. I pick up and snuggle any cute baby I see whether I know the mother or not.I also prefer to ride on a bus with a random persons baby in my lap.I let my cell pones ring really loudly a good 3 or 4 times before answering it so everyone can hear my sweet ringtone.I eat lunch at 3pm and dinner at 9pm, and a day without everything shutting down from 10-11 for chai would be unheard of .IT'S NOT A BUS RIDE UNLESS THERE ARE CHICKENS SWAKING AND SHITTING SOMEWHERE ON THE BUS.
Things I have not adapted to....I don't sweep dirt outside..sure it looks good for about a minute, then the wind blows. I still use toilet paper. Most people in my vill shower once or twice a day, I think I max out at once a week.I dot carry things on my head that often, it's painful.


I prefer to bathe in my courtyard. Why would I want to bathe in a cement room when I can bathe under the sun? I also prefer to walk barefoot in my village, I live in the desert & like the way the sand feels in between my toes. THe amount of thorns I've had stuck in my feet because of this...approximately 847.

I have recently visited some of the volunteers villages that live "close" to me (3hrs away). One of the villages is way out in the bush where people speak click, it was an awesome trip.I got a click name, no idea how to spell it but it sounds something like uncle with a click in the middle.It amazes me how different their villages are from mine. They are so far out with around 3000-5000 really chill people. Mine is on a dirt road that leads directly to Dar with 10,000-11,000 really "poa" people.

Letters and packages are not coming anymore! HAS EVERYONE FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME? Just kidding, I know life goes on.
Love,
Maria

Nipo

Not too much has been going on lately. A couple other volunteers came to my village to celebrate Eid-ul-fitr which is the last day of Ramadan.We ate A LOT and everyone was so clean and dressed up. I have never seen the kids in my village so clean! It was pretty awesome. We also taught my counterpart and his friend how to do the electric slide.Tanzanians love to line dance! That was def not something I was expecting.  We went to a cub one night and they did this line dance for a good hour and I was all over it, it was really fun. School has been on break the last month so I haven't been teaching and since a lot of the students travel during break my kickball club has been on hold and we also arent starting Zinduka until school starts back up.So I have been helping out at the clinic a lot and just spending one on one time with people who want to talk about anything health related. I also received Harry Potter books 4-6 in he mail so those have been helping me through all my free time. I love the dreams I have while reading those books, who wants to wake up from flying around on a broomstick?
I have also been sick this past week and while being sick anywhere sucks being sick here really makes me miss little convinces like speaking English, using a fan, cvs pharmacy, a real flushing toilet inside the house...chicken noodle soup. If I want chicken noodle soup first I would need to find and kill the chicken, make the noodles etc....you catch my drift. Anyways school starts back up next week and I'm going to start teaching about HIV/AIDs,STDs etc. It will go hand in hand with starting Zinduka(explained in a previous blog) as well! I am happy for school to start back up, I like being busy!
Love,
Maria

Ramadan Rant

Well Ramadan started and I always had a basic idea of the concept but living in a village that is about 90% Muslim brings a whole new light to things.I never thought of all the details before like- do pregnant and/or breastfeeding women fast? What about people living with HIV/AIDs? What about little kids?! Well here is what is going on in my village that has made me really think about region and religious practice. I have just about reached my breaking during the past few weeks- pregnant women are trying to fast, A LOT of pregnant women are. They come in to the clinic for a check up and it's the first quesion I ask-"ume funga?" and so many say yes, even though during Ramadan pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are not required to fast. I try and try and try some more to explain to them that while being pregnant you need extra food and fasting for a month can detrimental to the baby. I get the nurses to help me explain that during pregnancy you need extra calories and to be drinking plenty of water. Also keep in mind about 90% of the people in my village are already severely malnourished.After we get done talking to them abut the possible harm most of them just laugh, and oh my let me tell you it is so so frustrating.The stigma about HIV is so high in my community that it's a struggle to meet with the PLWA group, I have been slowly working my way in but are they fasting during Ramadan & not taking their meds? The meds are strong and need to be taken with plenty of food and water so that is another huge issue.Children are also not required to fast but I can not get a correct answer on the age when they start fasting, some say 3 some say 5 etc. Walking around my village during the day seeing children laying on the side of the road clutching their stomachs in hunger is heartbreaking.I literally locked myself in my house for about 3 days locked the doors, closed the curtains and did a lot of thinking. about religion, religious practices, religious wars etc. I also took a lot of time thinking about different ways to talking and deliver messages to the breastfeeding/pregnant mothers besides just lecturing them. I felt a lot better after those 3 days and made some changes with thoughts and communication.

Ok, thanks for listening to my rant. When the sun goes down and everyone eats the party starts and it is pretty cool to watch the kids sing and dance while playing the drums and I have partaken in Iftar which is the meal eating at susnet. It was delicious and really heavy, consisting of chick peas, potatoes and pasta all mixed in a gravy.I am also wating for the end of Ramadan to celebrate Id-al--Fitr/ People having been comparing it to a Christmas feast.
-Ill keep you updated!

Is anybody out there?!

Hellllllllllllllllooo!!! I have not posted in so long!!Where to start? Well first off the internet cafe I am in is playing country music....thats new. I am used to Celine Dion and Justin Bieber.....but country...really Tanzania?? I went to the most amazing training at the end of June. The training was called Zinduka and it was a week long. Ten volunteers went and we took 2 coaches. It's a 5-10 week program (depending how many days a week you do it) you do with about 25-30 youth of your village. It teaches all about HIV/AIDS, safe sex etc through a serious of games like soccer. It is such a fantastic program, I can't wait to get started in my village,not to mention my coaches are spectacular!! The coaches run most of the practices and I'll be there to do energizers and support them....that way when my time here is done they will be comfortable enough to keep doing the program without me.Gotta love sustainability. Here is a pic of my coaches (they are both teachers) and I.

Oh Tanzanians and their picture taking. They rocked the training though, such great coaches. They guy on the right is also my counterpart. A counterpart is someone in your village you helps you get y your projects started, deal with the logistics of dealing with the village gov't and to really help you get your point across...it's hard with language and cultural barriers. My counterpart is just about the best thing that has happened to me since I have been here. Not only is he great at helping get projects started and helping me prepare lessons for school, he is my best friend in my village. He is so westernized, he speaks prefect English and is pretty up to date with the slang as well.We teach each other about our cultures, help each other with language- alot of our convos Ill be speaking Swahili while he answers in English. He is also a great cook, so when we arent doing work we are probably at his place watching really bad Tanzo soap operas or music videos chowing down on ugali na mboa. Have I ever mentioned I eat with my hands here? yeah, no silverware needed.
Anyways, after the Zinduka training me and about 10 other volunteers headed to southers Tanz and spent the 4th of July relaxing on Lake Malawi. It was so beautiful. Here is a pic.....ok its not letting me uplaod but you can check out my facebook for pics galore. We also went on a death hike to see this glorious
ft waterfall. We spent about 3 hours scowering (is that a word?) boulders.....if you didn't find your footing you could very well fall to your death. Pics of that on facebook too, since this computer is being dumb.

Oh, have I mentioned how much I love teaching Life Skills? Sure, I have my days when the kids wont listen and have trouble taking subjects seriously, but I really love working with the youth. It took me coming to Tanzania to figure out what I want to do with my life but here it is..work youth! It is so rewarding and I have the perfect personality for it.
It seems like letters are starting to dwindle now that I have been here for 9 months (9 MONTHS??!???) Please write me!! I miss you all.Sorry about the typing in this blog this keyboard is messedup.
Love,
Maria

Getting Started!

So I started teaching Life Skills at the secondary school. I can already tell that I am going to love teaching. These kids are stoked to learn about sex, condoms, stds and HIV/AIDS. I decided to start out teaching about peer pressure then work my way into everything else. Some of the kids are so bad! I set the ground rules my first day and they know they will be punished if they break them (NO talking when I am talking). Since I'm not really into beating the students with a stick I am going the route of making them hold  penny to the chalkboard with their nose.It works, they seem to respect me for the most part. I also have kids from other forms (grades) snaking into my class to listen. I don't know if it' because they want to learn or they just want to see the American chick teach in Swahili.

I also started a sports club for the youth. I also made sure to get the street kids, orphans and students all involved as well as boys and girls.  I decided since they mostly just play soccer that it would be fun to introduce them to kickball. I thought it would be easy but let me tell you that this was one of the hardest things I have done here.A bunch of kids showed up to play but introducing  foreign concept to them was really something...."we use our hands AND our feet?". After literally 5 minutes kids started leaving saying it was too hard but eventually the ones that stuck around got it and loved at. After the kids who left saw them playing and loving it some of them came back.I have my second meeting/game today so we will see how it goes.

The previous volunteer started a group of OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) caretakers. They make school uniforms and such and sell them. I have started going to those meetings too, getting them back up and running.

My Swahili is ummm gradually getting better. I don't think I'll ever bee 100% fluent though, we shall see. My relationship with my village is better then ever. I seem to have a good rapport with people of all ages. It took a while to differentiate myself from the volunteer that was here before me. She was the first PCV in the village so when I arrived most of the villagers assumed we wold do things exactly the same. It's fun to teach them about American culture.
Thats all for now!

Pictures? Yeah, Pictures are good.

It has been bought to my attention that my blog is lacking pictures, what have I been thinking?! Here are some pics of my Tanzanian journey over the last 6 months.

This is my host family! They took care of me my first 9 weeks in country when I was Swahili-less ha, they thought me how to sweep (yea, it's different here) , how to do weird things with a bucket such as bathe and wash clothes and how to cook with the interesting little thing called a jiko

This is a jiko

This is me with my CBT....the people I spent 8 hours a day with 6 days a week in a 100+  degree room learning Swahili and all about Tanzanian culture. We became really close really quickly, they are my family.

Love these girls! Training was quite the experience, oh yea it was.

My host Mama and I sporting our gowns

Baobab tress are cool

My favorite tree! This picture barely does it justice. This was the week during training we got to shadow a current PCV.

MY host brother (far left) and his cousins. I love these kids, they taught me how to count in Swahili and all of the animal names. They even took me to meet the neighbors monkey.

 Another pic of my CBT, on Thanksgiving along with our teacher

My sitemates!! We are perfect for each other. My family keeps growing

My home for the next 2 years

The end, for now.

Five months in!!

Well, I have almost been in country for half a year! It absolutely blows my mind.I think the hardest aspect thus far has been adjusting to the Muslim culture/religion. The dress, polygamy,gender roles,how to present yourself in public and the 4am,4:30am and 6:00am call to prayer over a loudspeaker. The easiest adjustment thus far has been the "living in a fishbowl" aspect. All eyes on me all day, everyday. I always think of Finding Nemo when the girl is pounding on the fishbowl yelling "Fishy, wake up!!!" Only the Tanzanians are yelling Mzungu! Come here! Talk to me! I love meeting people, chatting, exchanging cultural lessons, playing with kids etc....but believe me it is all day everyday no matter what physical or mental state you are in, I just tend to deal with it really well.

Some days are really slow and I can catch up on some Dexter or reading, while other days it starts off at the clinic then off the the secondary school followed by the primary followed by a PLWA meeting followed by a village meeting, then I am exhausted and sound asleep by 9pm.

I have been baking a lot lately. I started off with cookies-PB, choc chip & sugar, then I moved on to bread- banana bread, mango bread, yummy garlicy buttery bread then I made cinnamon rolls. They were not the easiest to make but man were they delicious!! Next i want to make mango bars and maybe peanut butter pie.

I have also been on the looking for the most off the wall fabric to have dresses made out of. I found a chicken and egg fabric and a fish in a basket fabric and I want to buy them both and wear the dresses everywhere. Some people look for pretty fabric, but I prefer funny. I just copied a whole bunch of movies from an expat so I am off to watch Pineapple Express!
- I'll keep you posted!

Turning 30 in Tanzania and stuff.

Well yesterday was my 30th and it was a great day,I got to celebrate with about 8 of my fellow PCVs. We made mango ginger bucket wine that was delicious. We started off with a dance party at our guesti then hit the club.The DJ made the mistake of letting me have control of 2 microphones, for some reason today my voice is about gone.We danced for hours and hours, it was such a great birthday.I have tons of pics I need to post. On Wednesday we went to visit the missionaries they have lived in Tanzania for 15 years. Every time I go to their safi house I feel like I am in America. They made me a birthday dinner consisting of Mexican chicken,cornbread, beans, spinach salad with BACON and a cake with 4 layers.I stuffed myself to death.
Tomorrow morning I am heading back to my village. The village life is still going well. I am finishing up an assessment of what my village needs to present at a 2 week conference we have next month. I am pretty excited of the conference. I will get to see everyone again and I'll get teaching materials so I can start teaching life skills when I get back. That's all I have for now! I am an old lady

Karibu Tanzania

Well I had a sweet blog all written out to type up but I lost the notebook so....yeaaa. I have been at my site for a little over a month now! I LOVE my village. I am becoming mildly obsessed with the Tanzanian lifestyle. I enjoy going out to the village square in the evenings when everyone gets done farming and chilling in the coffee hut or just alongside the road in the grass for hours upon hours with my villagers.It's perfectly normal to see 2 guys or girls walking down the street holding hands or embracing but you will never see guy/girl pda. I fully take advantage of this with all my girlfriends. It's also a sign of respect to call an old man just that -Mzee, I like it.I now eat dinner around 9pm or later. During homestay I thought eating at 8pm was late. Now eating before 9 feels strange.Also, around 10am everyday everything closes for a chai break, and trust me, my belly knows when it's time for chai. How did I/will I ever live without the daily chai break? I also cant imagine sleeping without a mosquito net.

So a couple weeks ago I go into my banking town to meet up with one of my site mates. I arrive at the bus stand to meet her a couple hours early so I find a spot in the shade to read. One of the bus conductors (who I do not remember ever meeting) comes up like "Hey, Maria!!! Your friends bus gets in at 10 so come inside our office to pumzika and wait for her." When her bus arrives he says "oh she is right near the front so she will be off soon." It was so random. How does he know who I am waiting for and that she is in the front of the bus? It's so random but I suppose they always know what the wazungu are up to. The conductors must call each other as soon as they see us. I have to admit it's really convenient though.I will always know if a friends bus is running late or had problems. Also, so soon as I walk into the standi I hear "Maria Maria, njoo njoo(come here) So I never have a problem getting where I need to go and I pretty much get VIP treatment. Bus rides are always very interesting....packing 200 people onto a bus that holds 130.

It's not all fun and games here though. As much as I love my village I defiantly feel really isolated sometimes.I know I have said it before but it's a rollercoaster ride. The things I worried about when living in the US seem so petty now. Waking up in a village that wonders where they are going to get their water for the week makes "who Betty was with last night" seem really insipid.


Right now my daily schedule is something like wake up around 7am, buck bathe(maybe about twice a week), boil water to drink for the day, make oatmeal on the jiko, head over to the clinic around 8:30 to weigh babies, fill out charts or sit with the nurse as the sick & injured some in and help distribute medicine, have chai and chapati around 10:00 then back to the clinic, head to the primary school around 12 and visit the students and the teachers,eat lunch around 1:30 (ugali, beans, chai). Then the rest of the day I read, visit the villlage sit on my front porch with visitors,visit the youth at the pool table, hit up the coffee hut and learn the local language. Sometimes I go into the subvillages with the nurses to weigh babies. In February i will start giving presentations at the clinic about importance of boiling water, malaria, typhoid fever etc. I start teaching life skill sat the secondary school  in late March /early April. I really want to work with the youth outside of the classroom as well. On my daily pool table visits the youth have manged to steal a place in my heart, so I def want to start a youth club. We can meet up once or twice a month and talk about safe sex, stds, drug abuse and possibly start some income generating projects. Thursday I am also going to a womens group the previous volunteer started, I have lots of ideas for projects for them as well.This is all I have time for now! I lost my Swahili to English dictionary (kind of a big deal) so I am off the look for one. I miss everyone!!!
I'll keep you posted
-Maria

Pole sana bro! Mama yako, sasa nini.

 Hi everyone! SO,I got to my site about 2 weeks ago and it still seeems pretty surreal. My vil is huge! I still have not seen it all. I live right beside a clinic where I help weigh babies and will eventually give nutrition presentations to the Mamas. It's really beautiful with the picture perfect sky and rolling hills. My village has a huge water prblem though. I went to see the "river"where people get water and it's all sand with people digging holes to find water...and it's about 3 miles away from the vil, so that is some serious water choting. That is definatly a potential project for me. I drink coffee a few times a week with the wazee
 I already got a house girl. I swear to you ,I can sweep my house 5 times a day and still have a layer of dirt but she sweeps once it it's SO clean, and she gets my laundry cleaner then I ever could. Plus, she is going to ue the money I pay her to for secondary school so its a win win situation. My house is pretty safi for a PCV house. I lucked out. I am uploading pics as we speak but the computer is really slow. I'll probably only manage to get a few up... so pole sana bro.
It was really wierd to be away from my family for Christmas. I met up with about 7 other volunteers and we ha a blast, but it still wasnt the same as being with family. Right now I am in Moshi for New Years It's pretty safi here & I can see Mt. Kili. I am out of time! I'll upate more soon.
Love,
Maria

Swearing in tomorrow!!

Hey Everyone! Well, I made it through training! Actually, our whole group made it! Not one person has ET'd (early termination). I am so proud of us! I did okay on the written test and got an intermediate high on the speaking portion. You need an intermediate mid to swear in, so I am pretty happy about my score. We are now back in the compound where it all began. It's funny to think just two  months ago we were here, not allowed to leave the gates, unable to speak Swahili  and knowing very little about the culture and nervous about leaving for homestay.  Now we are back, homestay is over & we are running around the city, speaking Swahili, shopping, doing whatever we want.Being in Dar is like being in America, it's a nice treat before we are shipped off to our villages. I went to a mall the other day and ate fast food and ice cream and watched Breaking Dawn! Later today we are going to go eat Mexican and shopping after.
Tomorrow morning we go the the Embassy an swear in. We are singing Over the Rainbow in Swahili and English and singing the Tanzanian anthem. A couple people have prepared a speech then we cite our oath, sign paperwork and eat CAKE! Almost all of the girls had dresses made...lets just say having dresses made for the first time = some pretty hilarious dresses. Ill take a lot of pics. One girl said hers has a hood. ha. Then,Thursday morning we all leave for our sites. I am so excited (and slightly terrified)  to get to my site and check it out. It's going to be so strange to be on my own. For the last 9 weeks we have been on a fairly tight schedule and now we are going to have what seems to be all the time in the world. It's going to be a tearful goodbye to everyone. Luckily I have some great people coming to Dodoma with me. I think the closest will be about 3 hours away.

Now for some cultural differences. In Tanzania greetings are HUGE.  Greetings can take about 15 minutes. Translated to English the greetings are something like, I respect you elder/are you well/whats up, how is your morning, how did you wake, how did you sleep,how is your home, how is your family and it goes on and on. Also, when a Tanzanian hears me speak Swahili sometimes they turn into a whole new person, right before my eyes.They will be giving me the death stare and  I'll say "Shikamoo, habari za mchana?" And they break out in the biggest smile and are just so over joyed that I know the language.
Also if  I was walking down the street and someone stole my purse or came up to me and started throwing punches that person would get severely beaten, maybe even to death.Shoulders and knees are slutty here, keep them covered at all times.Crazy.
I know I said I was going to put up pics this time but its not happening, sorry. I am off to do some shopping and repack...again. Next time I wrte I'll be at my home!!
-I'll keep you posted.
ps. dont send any more packages until I get my new addy

Where am I going to live the next 2 years??

Dodoma!! Yeah, we had site announcements last week and I am headed to Kondoa, Dodoma my village is called Mondo....I am stoked! You can google it. This week I am also shadowing a current volunteer in Mpwapwa Dodoma. Its beautiful! I feel like I am in Lion King land. It does get really hot but since it is desert it's dry heat which is much better then the 200% humidity in Tanga (where we have been training the last month and a half). I will also have electricity! I was not expecting that at all! I will also live right next to a clinic and a primary school. I will probably be teaching health, weighing babies & possible some nutrition and water stuff. I'll know more about what exactly I'll be doing after the first 3 months. The first 3 I basically get to know my village, find out where to get food and water and just get integrated. Then we have IST (in service training) for a week, THEN I go back to my  village and get started on work.

 So more on this shadowing week- The guy I am shadowing is pretty amazing. Honestly all the current PCVs I have met are fantastic. We have had yummy food all week like hummus, black bean burgers, pancakes and pasta. It's good to get out and learn about the projects he has/is doing,see his relationship with the village and learn about the issues he has. One of the biggest issues in Dodoma is water.The first 2 days we had enough for drinking water and coffee (of course), but not enough for bucket bathing. Then, on the 3rd day like 4 people brought over buckets of water, I have never been so happy to bathe.Right now we are in Dodoma town meeting up with the other volunteers/shadowers in the area. This is going to be my banking town so I am excited to check it out. So far I know there is ice cream,street coffee, burgers, pizza, chicken, swimming and miniature golf. I'm not complaining.

 I go back to Tanga on Sunday & have one more week of training then we head to Dar to swear in (super excited to see the dress I had made) then I'll be off to site!!! I am ready for site but man am I going to miss my training & CBT group. I don't want to think to much about leaving them just yet. Next time I will post pics!! I promise, maybe.
-I'll keep you posted.

I dont have malaria, I promise!!

Hey everyone! So I am back from the beach. sadface. Actually, the ride back was interesting we got stuck in the mud & broke down a couple times. The Tuesday we got back I had a low running fever and decided it would be best to stay home from class/training that day. I told my mama I was staying home & she said she would go to my LCFs house and let him know. I was like sweet, thanks and went back to bed. About an hour later the PCMO called me and said he was having a Peace Corps car come pick me and and take me to the hospital for malaria tests.I was like "uhhhh what, I don't have malaria." We talked about my symptoms and came to the conclusion that I did not need to go to the hospital. Later when I talked to my LCF I figured out my mama told my LCF I was skipping class because I had malaria. That is just a taste of how quick Tanzanians are to call "malaria." Education is needed. Depending where my site is I'll definitely be dong some malaria education & eradication. Since this is going to be a long post here are a couple pics of our vaca to the Indian Ocean.  I know pictures make anything more interesting

 


So far a few PCTs have pooped their pants. I may or may have not been one of them.I mean with news foods and everything its pretty common. Shit happens...literally.

We had our mid OPI yesterday. Basically you sit in a room with a tester and they ask you different things in Kiswahili. I was pretty nervous but I think I did okay. Friday we have our final written exams. Next Sunday I am going to Dodoma for a week (Nov 28th- dec 4th) with another PCT to shadow a current volunteer! I am so excited to go to the capital! I wont have cell phone service there, just fyi. Then when we get back we have one last week at homestay before we pack up and head back to Dar for swearing in!! Its crazy to think in a month I'll be on my own. WE find out our sites on Saturday, I am thinking I'll be placed in Dodoma but we shall see! I am stoked.

It's so weird that Thanksgiving is on Thursday...mostly because its so hot out. We are having a potluck that day, I think Ill take wine.Christmas is going to be rough. Ill have been at my site for almost 10 days, we aren't allowed to travel out of the region for the first 3 months so I hope another volunteer is close by or something that day. In my CBT we are all going to write each other letters and open them on your first night at site. I really like that idea! We learned how to make bucket wine this week. Its pretty easy-fruit ,water, sugar and let it sit for about 3 weeks.
I think this is all I have for now! Hopefully Ill be able to update again after shadow before we swear in! Expect texts/calls Saturday when I find out my site!!
- Ill keep you posted!
Now accepting
-any sort of lotion for reeeaaaalllly itchy skin. I almost scratch it off everyday after bucket bathing
-travel sized febreeze or downy wrinkle release. I wash my clothes with rain water & they get wrinkly & I kinda smell like a mudpuddle.
-oxy pad face wipes
-black underwear & sports bras
 -the biggest bag of M&Ms you can find