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