June 27, Followed Home

I am not feeling well tonight, and my host family was super sweet about it. Feeling very at home. Today two young men kept trying to talk to me on the bus. They were asking for my number, and I ignored them. We walked back like we always do, and I realized they were following us. After about 20 minutes the guy started hassling me again for my number. He wouldn’t drop it no matter how many times I said no in English and Swahili, until Sam also told him no. He then pleaded for my number, and then seemed to plead for Sam’s number, then left. I was glad I was with a group because I would have been freaked out if I had been alone. 

June 26, Took a Trip to the Banana Stand

Tonight was fun! I went inside Tracy and Aly’s houses. They’re so open and bright! Mine is much darker in comparison. I hung-out with my CBT group at Michelle’s house and then we all went to a bar a little ways out from our village. I got a bottle of cold water, pretty hardcore. I still haven’t tried the packages of hard alcohol they sell—looks intense. Buying a drink like I would in the US is pretty impossible, making me sad I can’t drink beer like a normal person.

When I got home I played “redi” or “reti” or something like that. It’s a game where someone stands in the middle and dodges a soft sock ball. If they catch the ball, they can try to hit the legs of the people throwing the ball at them. If you get hit in the legs, you’re out. At first I thought the point was to kick the ball, so I made the crowd of people watching me play laugh pretty hard. They lost it when I head-butted the ball at one point—I’m a one-woman entertainment show. Later on they also laughed super hard when I put on my chap stick—it turns my lips red, so they thought it was hilarious I put on “lipstick”.

We went down the road to get some bananas and an avocado from the fruit/veggies vendor that’s close by. It was fun to be part of a Tanzanian group (it was Priska, Dai, and me), but I still think I heard some “good mornings” or “good evenings” being muttered.  I really like spending time with Priska and Dai, so it was really nice I was invited to go along with them.

Before dinner I got a really special treat: squash! I haven’t seen it here before. It was really sweet and delicious. I was very excited about it. Dinner was rice, beans, and green leafy vegetables. Banana for dessert and some fruit juice, too. I’m stuffed!

I think I’m learning how to tend the charcoal fire tomorrow. Or maybe they are just re-using the coals and that’s all they were saying, but I got the impression I would be the one re-starting the fire tomorrow morning. I’ve also been asked to take pictures tomorrow. Should be a busy day! 

June 26, Some Fun Facts

So, last night a cockroach came up onto my bed through my mosquito net before I had tucked it in. I flicked it off and killed it with a sandal. I’m not sure when that kind of thing will stop grossing me out. I’m unbothered by the ants and the flies, but roaches and spiders still bother me.

Also, I almost dropped my key down the choo. (PRN: ch-oh not chew) I usually keep my key in my bra, and when I bent over to get water to flush, the key almost made its way into the pit of no return. Fortunately I caught it! That would have been awkward to explain!

So, some fun facts about TZ:

--There are a lot of Muslims who live in TZ, in addition to a big percentage of Christians (of various sects). There are also some people who still practice traditional medicine. Apparently chicken oracles are a real practice in some tribes, which excites my inner-anthropologist.

--Many women wear different kinds of hijabs/head-scarves here. Women should cover their shoulders and knees, but it’s perfectly okay to pull out your breast in order to breastfeed. Shoulders should still be covered while you do it, though.

--Polygamy is practiced among some Muslim families here.

--Tanzanians tend to be super opposed to war, but also avoid daily conflict. If someone has an issue with you, they will leave subtle clues or tell others so that it’s passed down the grapevine to you.

--When eating oranges, they do not eat the white part of the orange or any of the skin. They just suck out the juice and leave the rest behind.

--Oranges are also not orange, but they call the color orange “the color of oranges.”

--PDA is not accepted among men and women, but friends can hold hands (man-man and woman-woman).

--Clothes hangers are shaped to make skirt/dress hips look big. Curvy is good here, and the hangers literally bow out.

--The cellular system is similar to that in Italy. You can buy vouchers pretty much everywhere, and that adds credit to your phone. I will also be on a Peace Corps plan with Airtel that costs 5,000 shilingi a month for unlimited calls between PCV’s + 100 free text-messages (SMS).

--Tipping is not practiced here.

--The left hand is the “wiping hand”, so you better not eat or shake hands with it.

--Shaking hands when greeting lasts a lot longer. They switch hand positions as they do it. Greetings are a much bigger deal here, so you say many of them when stopping to talk.

--Most people have their hair braided/cut-off. This makes a lot of sense to me because washing mine is a hassle here.

--A lot of TV advertisements are broadcasted in English.

--Cell phone chargers are sold with European plugs. My host sister showed me you just jam a pen in the top part of the UK outlets, and stick the plug in. Safety first.

--Separate shoes are worn in the bathroom. No one seems to wear shoes in the house, but the one time I tried to leave my house flip-flops outside, I woke up with them sitting by my door. Unsure what to do about the foot situation, but they seem to be cool with me wearing shoes inside.

There’s more I always mean to write, but I can never think of things once I’m blogging. I need to start jotting reminders down I guess!  

June 25, My Awesome Host Family

So, as I’ve stated before, I am living with a host family until the first couple weeks of August. Most of the time I don’t really communicate much with them because my mama and dadas don’t speak English, and my Swahili leads a lot to be desired. I did manage to crack a joke when we were sitting outside thanks to my family-tree assignment. Major accomplishment! Plus, later on Priska played with my hair, which was fun. I think she wants me to have it braided…

Anyway, tonight my host brother was hanging out in the living room and asked me if I had a digital camera. I got out mine and showed him how to use it. (We aren’t allowed to let people use our belongings, but I figured it was a good bonding activity to do together. I wouldn’t let him use it on his own, but it was fun to show him the different settings and stuff.) He took some pictures of my host sister Jacky eating dinner, and then we all took different photos of each other. It was really fun!!! I’m a little sad I look like crap in every photo since I’m make-up-less and have my hair all over the place, but I guess that’s my norm now! They want me to get a printed copy of a full-family photo before I leave. They have one from the volunteer who stayed with them last year. Her name was Rose, but that’s about all I know. After I showed them some photos from home (I brought hard copies), my host bro and I talked about gay marriage, Obama, poverty in the US and TZ, if the Free Masons are devil worshippers/if Jay-Z and Rihanna are Free Masons, and my relationship status. He asked me if I supported gay marriage, and I said I did, even though I know I lost major brownie points by admitting that. I don’t mind fibbing about other things like how religious I am, but it felt wrong to lie about that. I explained that I personally support it, but that it varies widely in the US. Talking politics isn’t something we’re encouraged to do in the PC. Anyway I really enjoyed talking to him. He asked me for my FB name and phone number, so I guess that makes us official friends in all senses of the word.

OH! The missing house dada has returned and seems to be well. Not sure where she went, but I assume she was visiting relatives or something? Also, I was given a large piece of sugarcane today. Tracy and Aly (from my CBT) went over to my neighbor’s house while we waited for Sam and Michelle to meet us (my house is on the way to the school), and they gave us each a hunk. This little three year-old girl was gnawing on one piece and also wielded a knife pretty well to hack off chunks of it. People are much more relaxed about childcare here in a number of ways. Often I think the US is too uptight, but here I do worry sometimes about young kids getting hurt. They seem to do okay for themselves, though!

Feeling good about getting myself out of home-sick mode. More info about TZ later! I’ve been meaning to blog about generic cultural stuff, just never seems to happen. 

June 24, Getting Made Fun Of

I already posted today, but this won’t be up for a while, so I’ll write again. For some reason today I seemed to be the butt of a lot of Tanzanian jokes. (Along with the other people in my CBT group who went to Hotel Oasis with me.) I got laughed at on the bus, on the street, on the bus again, and on the road to my village. People definitely mock-greeted us…or just talk funny. I’ve decided if nothing else I am bringing joy to the Tanzanian people just by being a conservative version of myself. I will spread joy and happiness by being the awkward white girl who can’t peel tomatoes properly.

On a negative note, three men touched me when they got off the bus. They grabbed at me through the window I was sitting next to. One got my cheek/nose with his hand and it really bothered me. I am kind of used to the occasional arm grab, but the face was too much. Grumble.  

I thought I’d also restate that I am only staying in Majengo Mapya (Morogoro area) until August 11^th. Then I’ll be sworn in and shipped somewhere else. I won’t find out where until July 27^th, but the interview is soon. I’m requesting somewhere warm! Full of vegetation! And lack of frost! I will be living alone there, not with a host family, most likely in close proximity with the school I’ll be teaching at.  We get to visit our sites before we move there, so I’m looking forward to the first week of August!!

Baadaye! 

June 22, Goodbye Cat Puke

I have been smelling vomit in my room since last night. Incidentally, the kitten we have had puked under my bed. That’s what the yellow thing was: yellow puke, with some black stuff in it. Said vomit was removed today with the help of Dai,  our very sweet house dada. I also swept and washed my floor. I still smell it, but it’s physically gone at least.  

I am also pretty sure the other house dada is gone. I can’t ask, because I’m terrible with names and forget what her name was, but one day she just wasn’t around anymore. I’m not sure if it would be awkward to ask even if I did speak Swahili well. Was she fired? Did she quit? Disappear? Go on vacation? I’m not sure.

Today was thoroughly boring. I was very happy when training was over. (Listening to special English all day made me want to stab my eardrums.) It was cool in theory because some secondary school kids came and were taught three different lessons by different Peace Corps and Tanzanian teachers, but in truth it was pretty dull. I did enjoy when one kid said, “I like to kill babies” as one of his three “I like ____” sentences in English class.

We also went over different English speaking games today. That was better than the rest of the day, but many seemed impractical to me. Let’s just say I was having a low-tolerance day and didn’t feel very patient. I didn’t sleep well last night (the buibui/smell of cat puke haunted my dreams!!), which didn’t help things.

Lot’s of children said “good-morning” to us on our walk home. I decided to shout “Good Evening” back at a couple of the other kids, just because. Once I was home, I helped peel and cut tomatoes. My host mama definitely was disappointed at how much tomato I took off with the skin. It’s really hard to do with dull knives/no cutting boards! I also tried to stir the coconut sauce, but couldn’t get the perfect swishing motion. The smoke from the cook fire kept going in my eyes, and now they are all puffy and watery. Major fail on my behalf.

Our LCF wore a seriously blinging jacket today. Silver, shiny, striped. One girl in my group couldn’t actually look at him because it made her dizzy. We all got a pretty good laugh out of it. Can’t wait for the weekend! Only half a day of training tomorrow—for the win!

Off to dinner!

June 24, At Hotel Oasis

Had an awkward morning. My family helped me do laundry, and basically took over in the process. It was nice but made me feel incompetent. They also kept insisting I "rest" but I didn't really want to...I'd like to do my own chores! We also made everyone laugh on the dalaladala just because we were foreign!

I've decided to stop looking up close at walls. That's when I see the bugs. I did manage to kill my first roach today, though! I've ignored most things, but today this one met his end.

Still failing at getting Java. Sigh. Hopefully I'll update at least once a week!

June 24, Hoping the Rain Will Stop

I have been surprised how sunny it is here, mostly because June is part of the “heavy rainy season.” For the most part, it really hasn’t rained to speak of…however, last night it poured pretty hard. It’s still drizzling, which is unfortunate because I really do need to do laundry today. There is literally no way to wash/dry my clothes if it doesn’t at least turn cloudy/vaguely sunny. It’s still early (7:00 am) so I’m going to “pumzika” (rest) some more and see what happens. I was asked about church last night, but I don’t think today is the day. I’ll probably go next weekend when I’m not as determined to go get Internet at the Hotel Oasis. Apparently it’s quite the experience to go to church, though, so I will try to do that before I go to site. Or, I may join a church choir once I’m at site, just to make friends and sing a little. We will see how it goes…. 

June 23, Inside Jokes/Pretty Laid-Back Saturday

I really like my CBT group, and our LCF named PJ. Today I laughed a lot. I’d explain why, but I think the humor would be lost in my attempt to do so. Needless to say, I had a really good time at training, walking with the group to the shops near our village, meeting other host family’s, and making a water filter with Sam and Michelle.  The gated houses where the other volunteers live have cool yards that have very “clean dirt”. (People here sweep their yards, so even though the ground is obviously made of dirt, there isn’t a lot of lose dirt around.) My feet are still completely covered in reddish brown dirt, however, as I walked down the road earlier. I always have to wash my feet when I get home because they literally change color.

Today we also stopped at a bar to hangout for a bit. I didn’t buy anything, mostly because the selection for me is very limited. I also don’t want my host family to get the wrong vibe from me. Drinking here isn’t like it is in the United States, and I’m not sure how they’d feel about it quite yet. My place as a woman is still pretty loosely defined… apparently that will change soon.

Anyway…I am not sure where I should put the water filter I made now…dilemma. I plan on asking soon. Right now it’s awkwardly sitting outside. I also saw a crazy spider in my room once I got back, but I was able to easily toss it out of my room (it was on a bucket lid). I’m toughening up already! Or at least I’d like to tell myself that. Really only the spiders bother me. At night the bathroom walls are always speckled with some kind of cricket, but those are pretty docile. Cockroaches are still pretty gross to me, I will admit. But I’m used to flies being on my food before it’s cooked. I assume their vomit/poop/whatever it is flies do is boiled out once the food is cooked. 

Today the students at the school we intern at were all doing laundry outside. We also met the school board, and they were all very nice and accommodating. We switched rooms—looks like the one we’re in just got painted. My school is private, so it is pretty nice. I got a peak at the dorms today and saw that they had bunk-beds. Not an exciting observation, but it does support the idea that “the bunk-bed experience” is universal.

I had chipsi mayai (French fries cooked in eggs…like a super greasy but delicious omelet) for lunch. I also nommed on some papaya. Papaya is like eggplant for me. I don’t really like it, but I always really want to eat it when it’s around. So I ate like 2 or 3 pieces, and didn’t really enjoy eating any of them. Tonight I bet we are having more potatoes (had them for breakfast too), and probably rice or ugali. Plus a green leafy vegetable and some kind of meat in a coconut or tomato-based sauce…or beans. Then I’ll be served some juice after dinner, as no one seems to drink while they’re eating. From what I can tell, the diet is pretty monotonous here. Lot’s of eggs, rice, potatoes, and beans. I’m already craving things like almond butter and Kind bars. Maine blueberries. Gluten-free pretzels. Tortilla chips with salsa. Sushi-rolls. Pulled Pork. Tacos. Big heaping salads. Shellfish. My mom’s pea soup. Hell, all soups! Mmmmm. American food is so diverse! I think as a special treat I’m going to buy myself some dried mango or pineapple one of these days. I also want to try the cashews but none of them are marked and I’m afraid of peanut contamination. I’ll keep looking for a package that seems safe. Tat-ta for now.