June 13, Fried Mashed Potatoes

Hamjambo? (How are you all?)

Today has been a little bit hard on me. The bottom of my legs and my feet are literally covered in bug bites, but I’m still confused why. I’ve been tucking in my mosquito net very tight (and there really aren’t many mosquitos around) and using roll-on bug dope, but I’m still covered in itchy bumps. I’m also not feeling very well physically (my stomach has been bothering me), and every time I eat I feel even worse. It doesn’t help that they make an amazing amount of food, oftentimes for me specifically. My breakfast was a huge platter of scrambled eggs, a pot full of potatoes in a tomato sauce, and a sliced orange. I couldn’t eat it all, so I apologized and my host mamma ate the rest of my eggs for me. I was served breakfast (chai) alone. Then I was given more special food when we ate chai as a Peace Corps group at 10:30. They were serving donuts and hard-boiled eggs, but I opted to just drink water since I was still pretty full. Then I found out they had lightly fried up some potatoes with onions and peppers in them as a special treat for me. I shared them with some other PCVs and got a lot of inquisitive looks from people. I don’t mean to get special treatment, but people here are very generous and it seems very rude to refuse. Actually, it is very rude, but I did refuse juice at dinner. It’s very yummy but two glasses makes me liable to throw up, and I wanted to keep down my dinner.

I helped prepare dinner tonight. I peeled and sliced tomatoes, onions, some kind of squash, and peppers. I also helped stir a vegetable side dish for a while.  It was really cute because one of the kittens they have sat by the cooking fire and warmed his skinny little body, meowing very cutely. Pets aren’t really appreciated here, so I haven’t tried engaging with the cats. So far I’ve only seen one dog in passing, but they are also considered very dirty animals and are used to guard homes, not lick faces.

I met my host kaka (brother) tonight. I believe they said his name is MacDonald, but I wasn’t positive. Apparently he is the oldest, and Jacqueline and Priska are the two younger daughters. My host father also ate dinner with us this evening, which was nice, and my host cousin came over to watch soccer with the family. It’s now 11:00 and the game is still on. They stay up surprisingly late for getting up bright and early to do chores. I’ve also deduced they are a Catholic family given the picture of Mary & Baby Jesus hanging up on the wall. Well, that and the poster of the Pope hanging in our living/dining room.  Call me Sherlock Holmes.

I have noticed some strange bugs in my room, but I’m trying to ignore them. One bug by my door lock looks like a miniature brown lobster. I also saw my first big fat ol’ cockroach when I went to the pit latrine earlier. The light stopped working out there, but the electricity is still on inside, so I’m assuming a bulb went out. I’m just amazingly thankful that I have electricity for the next 9 weeks.  I am irritated I still don’t have the Internet. I’m determined to fix that soon….Well, by the time you read this, I suppose that will be the case!

Usiku mwema! (Good night!) 

June 12, Moving to the Village

 Yesterday we went to the PC center to get an office tour, get more shots, and buy phones/internet modems. I got a phone that works, but my modem requires me to download java before I can use it. I’ve been irritated about for about 24 hours now, but last night I drank some hard cider with the other PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) and chatted until I stopped thinking about it.

Today we moved in with our host families. My family lives in a village outside of the banking town of Morogoro. There are four other volunteers in this village, and all the rest are spread out in groups of five around the area. We will spend some of our time doing trainings in our village with the other four people in our group, and spend the rest of our time training as a big group in Morogoro.

There is apparently a wide range of host families. Some have rats and roaches, while others have hot showers and marble floors. My family has a large cement house with cement floors and a metal roof. I have my own bedroom and a queen-sized bed with a mosquito net hanging over it. They use a pit latrine (squat toilet) and use water to flush things down into the hole. There’s no toilet paper, but there’s liquid soap right next to it in order to clean your hands. I brought some TP with me from the city, so I’m already prepared.  They also have TV and electricity, which I was very pleasantly surprised about. There’s no kitchen, so they do all their cooking outside on a small fire. Today my host mother cut herself while prepping everything. There was a ton of blood that went on the ground, so they used ashes and dirt to cover things up. I haven’t really seen many mosquitos around, but there were an amazing amount of flies outside when dinner was being prepared.

I’m still not completely sure who everyone is in relation to my host family. I have two or three host sisters, one named Jackie like my mom (they thought that was hysterical), but there are also older girls who were sewing here, in addition to some other children who came in and out of the house. Our neighbor came by with her baby (probably about 1 year old) who was amazingly cute. We have a water well right outside so people seem to come a lot to fill up containers. One little girl who was probably about 8 years old came multiple times using her bike. She wasn’t really strong enough to lift the water or push the bike, but she managed to do it with a little bit of help.

The family is very nice. They are soft-spoken but very kind and hospitable. My youngest host sister Priska helped me go over all the Swahili phrases in the phrase book given to me by the Peace Corps, and in return I attempted to tutor her and another girl named Gloria in English.  They were learning how to tell time in English and say things in the past tense. It was pretty difficult to explain things without a dictionary or any real language skills. I have been doing fairly well at understanding the gist of things, however, and I hope to pick things up quickly since no one in my family speaks English. I am confused about some things that were said, but hopefully in time those will become more obvious to me.

Coming here has made everything feel much more real. The drive from Dar was a very interesting event. People banged on the windows of our bus when were slowed in traffic to try to sell corn, cashews, trinkets etc.  Black exhaust is emitted from most every vehicle and people ride and drive pretty recklessly. The landscape is absolutely beautiful out here. The mountain, Uluguru, is spectacular. But there is also quite a bit of visible poverty and a very different way of living.

The food is very fattening (coconuts, avocados, fruit juice, cashews, peanuts, rice, potatoes etc.), but also quite yummy.  There are certain foods I haven’t enjoyed, such as the ultra-chewy beef that can sometimes seem impossible to swallow. My favorite thing tonight was a vegetable sauce made with coconut milk. It was extremely tasty when poured over the white rice and potatoes that were also prepared.  

Meeting back up with everyone tomorrow in Morogoro. I can hear soccer playing on the TV, but it’s already 11:00 so it’s bedtime for me!

Tuttaonana kesho! (See you tomorrow!)

June 10, Visiting Dar

 Hujambo? (How are you?)

Today we went on a visit around Dar es Salaam. We were able to avoid most of the chaos since today is a Sunday, so I actually felt really comfortable wandering with the group. The crowded bus and the look of the buildings reminded me a lot of being in Southern Italy. The saying here is that on a daladala (bus) there’s always room for one more.  Fortunately I was pressed tightly against people I knew, so it wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as it will normally end up being. What was more bizarre for me personally was watching people drive on the opposite side of the road (British style). I was pleasantly surprised that we got our kangas (a kind of wrap around skirt) for only 6,000 shillings. Converting things here is interesting. In American terms, everything is extremely cheap. Unfortunately we are living on a Tanzanian salary, so we have to think about purchases in those terms. I think the Peace Corps will encourage my own frugalness.

I did see some big differences from Italy, however, such as people carrying baskets of bottled water and sodas on their heads. Many of them could do it without using their hands to support the weight, which was pretty impressive. A lot of people trying to sell beverages and things on the street would make a sort of kissing noise or shake coins to get peoples’ attention. For lunch I tried the main staple dish of Tanzania, ugali, which is a mixture of corn and water. The consistency is kind of like sticky mashed potatoes. I had it with a tomato sauce, but had a hard time remembering to eat with my right hand. I’m really bad at using forks with my left hand, so I looked pretty awesome eating chicken off the bone. Not quite as awesome as I did when I ate chicken wings one-handed last summer, but close.

Last night we tried getting a box of white wine from the hostel bar here. The wine had turned to vinegar and was pretty much brown when we poured it out. They gave us a replacement box of red, but that wasn’t very tasty either. I think it was also on its way out. If I go out drinking in the future, I plan to get the packets of hard alcohol they sell instead. We don’t have that option here at the hostel, but apparently that’s how they sell it at bars and clubs. Drinking in bars isn’t very acceptable for single women to do here, so I probably will only go out when meeting up with fellow volunteers in the banking town closest to my site (wherever that may be). I’d rather remain professional when staying in my village.

Plugging my computer in here makes me very nervous. I’m using a surge converter, plus my charger has a built-in surge protector, but my computer will still majorly zap me if I touch it when it’s charging. I’m curious to see if my host family has electricity. I will be staying with them in a village called Majengo Mapya for 9 weeks starting on the 12^th of June. Apparently I am going to have three host-sisters, all secondary school aged or older, so hopefully I’ll pick up some tips on how to teach kids that age while I’m there.  We’re dropping one of our bags off at the Peace Corps office tomorrow, so I’m going to finish packing up and try to get some rest. Hopefully the clothes I washed with my new bar of laundry soap will dry. My fan doesn’t work and the humidity is making everything mildew pretty quickly.

Usiku mwema! (Good night!)

June 8, 2012

June 8, Insomnia

Mambo?  (What’s up?)

I’m writing this post knowing that I probably won’t be able to put it online until Monday (It’s 5:00 a.m. Saturday). One of the side effects of the malaria medication and jet lag is insomnia, so I’ve been up most of the night. I’m sitting on my bed under my mosquito net. It’s too muggy for a blanket, so I’m glad they gave us a light sheet and cover to sleep with. There are hardly any mosquitos in my room, although I have gotten bitten on my feet while standing outside. They gave us roll-on bug dope with deet in it, but I’ve still gotten at least 3 bites while hanging around the compound at night. The number of tiny ants in my room is astonishing. I’m pretty sure they were carrying out water droplets because they formed a line going back and forth from my window to my sink. There have also been lots of tiny lizards chilling out on the walls. They don’t like flash photography.

We are a big group of volunteers. All 47 of us are teachers, although only 14 of us will be teaching English. The rest of my new -found friends will be teaching science and math. It’s exciting to be part of this group. Despite the jetlag and array of vaccinations we’re getting, everyone seems to be in very high spirits. The staff is also very nice…maybe even too nice! At chai (tea break in the morning), lunch, and dinner I keep being served extra side dishes due to my allergies. It’s pretty unnecessary since there is plenty of food that I can eat (rice, chicken, vegetables, and fruit), but I have gotten various kinds of fish and potatoes on my own special plate. It’s very cute and I appreciate how the generous, caring spirit of the kitchen staff. I’m curious to see how much dairy, peanuts, and wheat are used in cooking around the country. I was warned that I might be getting quite “skinny” due to my diet restrictions, but so far there is definitely no shortage of food that I can chow down on.

Today we had a security specialist from the U.S. embassy come to talk to us about maintaining our safety in Tanzania. It’s interesting because petty theft is common here, but shouting “mwizi” or “thief” has pretty intense repercussions. Apparently thieves will often be chased down and beaten and/or killed in the street if you call them out for their crime. Fortunately, the staff has given us lots of tips on how to minimize what we lose. Basically, the most important thing is to never have too much on you, and to never store everything in one spot. Well, that and have personal property insurance.

We also talked about some cultural differences today and started our language lessons. Men can be very forward here, and we should apparently expect some future marriage proposals. Friendships between a man and a woman are not really understood here. This holds true even if fellow volunteers visit us. Once you close your front door, people assume things are going down in your bedroom, so we were encouraged to leave doors open whenever interacting with someone of the opposite sex. I also found out that I will be learning to iron without the use of electricity (looking nice is very important here), and that you must always use your right hand for things like taking food, shaking hands etc. There are a number of squat toilets here (basically a hole in the ground), but not always toilet paper. Traditionally people would wipe with their left hand, making it culturally frowned upon to do things like eat with the same hand. We have normal toilets in our rooms, but I’m not sure what the bathroom situation will be in Morogoro or at our sites.

Speaking of sites, I will be finding out my placement on July 27^th. We are going to be the first group ever to visit our sites before we move to them—exciting! I was also relieved to find out that the headmasters of our schools will be accompanying us to our sites when we have to move all of our stuff. The Peace Corps gives us stuff, so it’s going to be quite the feat to move everything.

The roosters and crowing and I can hear a Muslim prayer outside. (Tanzania has a mix of Muslims, Christians, and Animists.) Soon it will be time for breakfast and another day of training.

Kwa heri!  (Goodbye!)

In Dar Es Salaam

Jambo!

I am now in Dar Es Salaam, the biggest city in Tanzania! We are on a compound and not permitted to wander outside its walls for the next 5 days (for our own safety due to a lack of language/cultural knowledge). Today I received my first rabbies vaccination. We have also started taking our malaria prophylaxis.

The training is going well. Right now we're mostly going over logistics (money, health etc.) and learning who our PC staff is. I took my first cold shower this morning (but hey, it was a shower!). We use mosquito nets at night and were given one for when we move to our sites in 3 months. My fan, unfortunately, is the only thing that doesn't really work. Sounds like the chattering of dying rats, so I've decided to enjoy the humidity instead.

The food hasn't been very allergy-friendly so far, so I spoke up before lunch. I'm glad I did! Finally have a full belly. They've also been giving us plenty of bottled water which is nice.

My internet time is running out. I will post later. Kwaherini!

What I Packed (Too much stuff!)

Luggage:

--Daypack (Osprey 22) –CARRY-ON

--Backpacking Pack (Gregory Jade 38) –TO BE BROUGHT TO PST SITE

--Rolling duffel bag (High Sierra 26”) –TO BE STORED IN DAR ES SALAAM

Clothing:

--Jeans (2 Pairs)

--PJs (2 Pairs & One Pair Shorts)

--Two warm jackets/fleeces

--Sun Hat 

--Sunglasses (2 Pairs)

--Swimsuit 

--2 light-weight zip-ups

--Windbreaker

--Heavy rain jacket (Northface) 

--5 Skirts (Below the Knee)

--4 Dresses (Below the Knee) 

--3 Blouses 

--1 Formal dress 

--Socks

--Slips (2 Full, 2 Skirt) 

--Two-Year Supply Underwear 

--6 T-Shirts

--Yoga Pants—Capri Style (4 Pairs) 

--Ankle-Pants (1 Pair) 

Shoes:

--2 Pairs nice/comfy shoes: Jambo’s & Teva Ballerina Flats

--Durable Walking shoes/sneaker: Columbia Sneakers 

--Durable sandal: Zirra Tevas & Chacos 

--Dressy Sandals: Black Leather Sandals & Brown Leather Sandals 

Kitchen/Household Items:

--Ziplock bags 

--2 Good kitchen knives

--Knife sharpener

--Measuring cups & spoons 

--Electrical Tape 

--Mini Sewing Kit

--Safety Pins

--S Clips 

--Zip Ties 

--Vegetable peeler

--Storage/food containers 

--Camping set of pans 

--2 Nalgene Bottles (One closed mouth, one open)

Electronics:

--Digital Camera 

--Kindle 

--Power Adapter

--Power Converter 

--Head lamp 

--External Hard-drive 

--15 GB Pin-Drive

--Laptop

--Extra headphones (2 Pairs)

--Ipod

--Ipod Nano

--Portable Speaker

--Rechargeable Batteries (AA and AAA)  

Tools:

--Flashlight (2 Solar Powered) 

--Solar battery charger 

--Multipurpose knife (Leatherman) 

--Padlocks 

--Travel alarm clock

--Moneybelt

--Stuff Sack

--Packable Duffel

--Duct tape  

--Umbrella

--Tape Measure 

--Gorilla Glue 

Hygienic Supplies & Essentials:

--Glasses 

--Contacts & solution

--Mouth guard

--Face wash 

--Moisturizer

--Deodorant 

--Body Wash

--Shampoo & Conditioner  (Big bottle-combo) 

--Shaving cream & razors

--Toothbrushes

--Tooth paste

--Floss

--Tampons

--Make-up

--Tweezers

--Mirror  

--Make-up

--Hairbrush

--Q-Tips

--Hair Ties 

--Chapstick 

Medical Supplies: 

--Arnica 

--Advil

--Sunscreen

--Aloe Vera  

--Bandaids

--Costisone Cream

--Benadryl 

--Neosporin 

School Supplies: 

--Pens (nice and cheap)   

--Mechanical pencils  

--Highlighters  

--Notebook

--Planner

--Colored chalk 

--Calculator for grading

--Stickers 

--An English dictionary

Hobbies/Misc: 

--Gifts (Book of Maine, Calendar, Tiny Glass Animals from Italy)

--Taco Seasoning

--Photo album

--Flyswatter

Temporary Mailing Address

If you would like to send letters while I'm away, use the following address from June-August 2012. There will be further mailing instructions later on....in fact, some tips are already listed under my "Contact Me" section.

Please only send letters for now. Packages will be welcomed with big arms later on. (Basically, once I'm out of training I will be able to accept packages. I will be living with a host family in Morogoro for the first three months of my service. During this time I'll be going through my "Pre-Service Training". I will then move to a different village, destination unknown, and teach English in a secondary school. At that point I will be able to accept packages....and I will also be living on my own.)

Jade Bowden
US Peace Corps
P.O. Box 9123
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania


P.S. My Skype name is Ladyjadee18 
P.P.S. My e-mail address is jbowden18@gmail.com