September 6, Tanga Is Cursed

We started with fourty-seven volunteers and we are already down to fourty-four. One recently ET'ed (ET means ealy termination. Meaning you resign. There is also medical and administrative separation.) and now two of my fellow Tanganites are leaving due to a medical problem (Married Couple). I am just praying the number doesn't go down to forty-three...

Anyway, this just reaffirms my feeling that the Tanga region really is cursed. I hope that no one else has to be sent back stateside anytime soon!!!!

On that note, my mefloquin nightmares  have been worsening. I may switch to Doxy if the PC doctor ever returns my calls. I have been sick again, so I decided to check in, but I have gotten no response. I also got no reply about the mole I have that suddenly changed, so I assume that means I'm in the clear.

I cooked myself eggs for breakfast. I then cooked one of the two giant bunches of spinach I have in a tomato-onion-oil medley. I also managed to boil a lot of water, so I will be better able to keep hydrated. I wish I had a steripen. And pot holders. I have been using my khanga, but it just is really awkward to pick up pots that way.

I was gawked at by a large group of children while cooking, so I tried to teach them my name. My water buckets were also refilled today-I'm spoiled and had people bring me water before I could go do it myself. Tanzanians are wicked hospitable.

I am hoping to go running later today, though lately I am completely exhausted. I could pass out right about now, even though I slept for ten hours. I am not sure if it is connected to my belly problems, or related to the nightmares. Last night I had such a vivid dream about having hives that I half-asleep got up to take some Benadryl. I also had another dream about an older man getting into my house at night. Very scary!

September 5, Made My Own CHIPSI MAYAI!

Today I cooked for myself for the first time here. Saumu (younger niece of my mkuu, a.k.a my headmistress) took me to town to get food and then helped me along with lighting my jiko (stove). It’s pretty much like lighting a BBQ, so I’ll be fine from here on out. More importantly, I am very happy that I can get quite a number of items right in town, even on non-market days. I bought salt, pepper, ginger, tea packets, tomatoes, spinach, kerosene, and garlic. There weren’t many fresh produce options, but I figure I will get plenty of fresh fruits and veggies on Mondays and  Thursdays.

Saumu had me cook inside, but I think I will try to cook outside whenever possible. The sparks flying made me a bit nervous, and I don’t want my house to smell like smoke, even if it does stop smoking pretty quickly. Plus cooking with charcoal just inherently seems like an outdoor activity when looking through my American paradigm, so I’ll probably cook inside with the gas stove I hope to purchase, and outside with my charcoal jiko.

Anyway, I made my own chipsi mayai (french fry omelet). It was unlike others I’ve had before, but equally delicious. I covered it in chili sauce and had a field day. I also boiled my own drinking water. I’m terrified of using a khanga as a pot-holder, though, so I’m really hoping to receive some real pot-holders in the mail. I don’t have the same heat tolerance as everyone here, so picking up a metal pot full of boiling water with my bare hands just isn’t going to happen. I’m a wimp, but I’m okay with that.

Today I also went with Emmanuel to the fundi (carpenter), and we finally agreed on a price for my cabinets. I still think the price is a bit too steep, but I got it down 130,000 from last time, and 70,000 from his original offer today. Mzungu (white person) bargaining actually working!

My mkuu came back today. It was great to see her. We talked about education structure differences and what weather is like back in Maine. She also told me she’d host a meeting with the staff to make sure they know I’m here to teach, not sleep around or get married to one of them. AMEN. I also went down to the river with Saumu and Kibena (the two nieces) and saw one of the big gardens in my village where I can apparently buy things like spinach and cabbage. 

In other news, I think I will start running tomorrow. I haven’t been feeling well, but I have been itching to exercise, so I think I will just suck it up and push through the abdominal pain and nausea. 

September 4, Adventures with Anjelina the Evangelist!

Today I did some laundry, which was kind of painful because I have cuts on my knuckles and fingers, and swept out my house. My phone ended up falling in a bucket of water, but I grabbed it quickly and took the battery out. It’s fine now, but I do need to start being more careful around water. Phones, water, and I have a history together. (Smith College Noteables/Haverford Humtones can vouch.) 

More excitingly, some students finally removed the unused bunk bed hanging out in my kitchen, so I finally have the whole room to set-up!  They narrowly missed snagging all my clothes down from my clothes line when they were taking the bed sections out of my house, but fortunately everything stayed hanging.

At around 11:00 I went to find Anjelina, a mama who has taken me under her wing here.  She is really good friends with my mkuu and now considers me ‘one of her children’. She’s a very sweet woman and very energetic. I found out today that she is a widow, and the mother of two (formerly three) children. She’s invited me to come to her church multiple times, so I will probably go sing there when I’m in my village on Sundays. I plan to usually go to Lushoto on weekends, but I’m sure I will be here on some weekends, especially during the rainy season.

Before going to the fundi, I explained what I wanted to do with each of the fabrics I brought with me. I had two khangas (one is black and yellow and was given to me by my host family in Morogoro, the other is a Peace Corps khanga they gave us), in addition to the fabric I bought to make curtains. I ended up deciding to use one bunch of fabric for the curtains and the other to make a skirt and blouse ensemble. We went and I was measured. Once again they were impressed/surprised by the size of my hips. I’m not sure why they can’t tell just from looking at me, but it seems Africans never think that a white girl will have such big hips.

We stayed at the fundi for a while, and I watched her cut the khangas in half and stich-up the sides so they don’t fray.  Anjelina made me put one of the black and yellow khangas on and then took me around the village while the fundi finished making my curtains. For some reason everyone tells me I look really good whenever I am wearing a khanga. It's a phenomenon I haven't quite figured out yet, but I assume it's because I look more "Tanzanian" with cloth wrapped around my bottom-half. Regardless, today I got numerous compliments while wearing my khanga. People were very excited that the black in the khanga matched my black shirt, which obviously wasn't on purpose, but I just said "asante sana" over and over again. (Asante sana means "thank you very much" in KiSwahili.) 

After visiting couple houses, we went to the clinic. Anjelina has a bad headache and a backache. They gave her three packs of malaria meds without asking many questions or doing any tests (any illness here is considered malaria), and then we went to Serafina’s house to get lunch. I made Eva, the toddler who cries whenever she sees me, cry extra hard today. Apparently my glasses were scary looking. 

I was pretty hungry by the time lunch was ready, and I felt kind of bad because I knew that I had been expected to eat back here at my mkuu’s house, but it seemed to be fine when I got back here. The mboga was particularly good at Serafina's house, and I wasn’t forced to have seconds, so it was a very enjoyable lunch. Anyway, I spent about 4 hours in town, so at least I’m getting out and about! I will probably go to the village center again tomorrow as well, but I hope to spend the afternoon cooking for myself rather than hanging out in other peoples' houses. The fund told me that the outfit I’m having made should be ready by tomorrow. As they all said, “It will be ready if God wishes.” 

September 3, 20 Positive Things

So, I feel like my posts have been well...slightly negative. So, I am going to list some of the things I like about being in my village/the Lushoto district:

1. My mkuu is a very smart, strong woman. She is open and warm, but also gets stuff done. I really respect her. I also love her two nieces. They are hilarious and very hospitable. 
2. My house is a good size--not too much to be unmanageable, but also not too small.
3. I have an outdoor choo, therefore it doesn't smell in my house all of the time. AMEN.
4. I can get reception in most parts of my house, and internet reception in my bedroom corner. That's awesome.
5. All the people in my village are very excited to greet me when they see me. Children think I'm hilarious/mysterious or otherwise think I'm Michelle. But it's fun to teach them my name and hear the "Jadey Jadey" chant when I go by some of them. Slowly they'll hopefully all learn to call me "Jade" or "Jadey" instead of "Mzungu" or "Mchele"
6. It is BEAUTIFUL here. I love the colors of the mountains. The flowering trees and cacti are incredible.
7. This is a great hiking spot. Plenty of places to explore!
8. I have super easy access to water most of the time. The tap is SO close to my house, plus there is a river 150 meters away. I also have easy access to food--market days on Mondays AND Thursdays. Plus, Lushoto has a bountiful amount of everything, too. 
9. They are going to teach me to make vitumbua. I'm pumped.
10. I am close to an AWESOME group of people. I love the support I have from my fellow PCVs.
11. I have a toilet paper roll holder now thanks to Glenn. It's made from a wooden board and string. Works awesome. Easy to switch rolls. So cool.
12. They are going to let me start a library here. It is going to be amazing.
13. I'm very close to the primary school, so I hope to get involved with that school as well during my time here.
14. My students are eager to learn and to get to know me!
15. Lushoto is so beautiful and only two hours away. I love the chipsi-mayai there more than any other thing I've eaten in country. I could probably eat there every day if I lived in Lushoto. 
16. Tanga is also really cool and only six hours away. HOT FIX COMING UP IN TWO WEEKS!
17. For now, there is lot's of beautiful sun, which means I can charge things and get a slight tan. I am concerned about the rainy season, but that's not the point of this bullet. The point is there is sun power!
18. I am going to be able to start my own garden down by the river. Go permaculture! 
19. I now have a huge bed. And soon will have a frame of my own to go with it! 
20. I enjoy learning a new language, even if I do suck at it most of the time. And everyone is willing to help me learn/laugh along with me when I don't know things. 

September 3, Ceiling Boards Are Up

Today has been an interesting day socially. I actually got total alone time until around 8:30 in the morning. No calls, no texts, no one “hodi hodi”-ing at my gate. It was really nice to get up, brush my teeth, and do a little reading with no interruptions.

Kibena (one of the nieces—I’m pretty sure that is how her name is spelt) came over with some bath water around 8:30, though I used most of it to clean out the buckets I bought in Lushoto. Later on I had some chai and vitumbua for breakfast, as usual, and then came back to do some cleaning. My room was left a mess after they came in to set up my temporary bed frame, so I decided to organize everything today. I ended up designating the pink bucket I bought for house-ware supplies (laundry soap, toilet paper rolls, dish soap etc.) and the green bucket for hardware supplies (hammer, nails, s-clips etc.). I had attempted to use both of those buckets to make a water filter, but the water-filter candle actually ended up breaking once I got all the holes made in the buckets this morning. It was a very discouraging event…I feel a little like a failure as a human being. The candle doesn’t work, and they are very expensive, so I’m not going to bother trying again. I will boil water for three minutes and drink that for the time being.

Anyway, my room organization in truth is mostly temporary. The bed frame I’m currently using will have to be dismantled in two weeks when my real bed frame is finished, meaning everything will go topsy-turvy again. Plus, I need to get a dowel and make a hanging rack for my clothing, get a chair for my cell-reception corner, and figure out where to hang the rice sifters I bought to use as faux shelves. Space here is limited. And so is my money supply. But I don’t want to set up the rice-shifter-shelves until I figure out the best place for them to hang. And part of me is daydreaming about making my own beanbag chair for the reception corner of my bedroom, but that sounds like a very expensive venture. I also keep feeling the urge to paint this house, but it’s so costly to do so, and everything would need a serious putty job. I may do it anyway, just because I think everything would look 100x better.

The fundis showed up as I was organizing everything. They put up ceiling boards in my kitchen, so I finally have a covered ceiling in there! I am EXTREMELY HAPPY about that. I also had students show up and invite themselves into my house. I haven’t figured out how to prevent them from doing that without being really mean, or never having my door be open. I’m going to work on it, though, because I miss my privacy.

The student teacher who had been bothering me before came back to my house this afternoon. I sent my mkuu a message about it, because despite my continued attempts to make my disinterest readily apparent, he continued making me quite uncomfortable the entire time he was at my house. I told him to not to touch me, and also explained I become very uncomfortable whenever he licks his lips at me. I outright refused to go to town with him or give him my number, and I told him that if he couldn’t accept being just friends that he needs to leave me alone for good. I also kept reiterating the fact that I have a fiancé who I intend to be faithful to, but apparently that still isn’t clear enough for TZ standards. All he did was act mildly hurt and tell me that “he would die for me.” The whole thing is really creepy and makes me very uncomfortable, but I’m glad that my mkuu is going to help me handle the situation.  I don’t understand why he’s acting like that, because the other student teachers are really quite nice and don’t have the same boundary problems. They can come say hello without making me feel awkward, and I respect them for being nice but also professional. 

Anyway, he and the other student teachers kept insisting I get a student or two to clean my house. I’m not sure if that’s the norm here, but I don’t really feel right about having some poor girl come clean my house for free. I guess I will talk to my mkuu about what is culturally best. I don’t mind if students re-fill my water buckets since the tap is very close to my house anyway, but I don’t really need someone to clean for me. I guess I will have to find out the best way to mesh my culture with Tanzanian culture. I don’t want to step on any toes, but I also don’t want to feel like people can just trample all over me, either.

The student teachers also told me I was being too “scarce” and not socializing enough. I ended up going to town by myself later just to feel like I am making an effort to integrate with the village community. I live 1 1/2 kilometers from the village center, so I mostly see students when I stay at my house. I just don’t like going to town with people when I’m full because I know I will be forced to eat something, and I honestly have been busy setting up my house and figuring out my life. Anyway, I went to the market and bought some fruit and vitumbua, even though I didn't need either. I gave the vitumbua away to some children who followed me home. I also chatted with a local rapper, and invited some old ladies to come to my house sometime. I ate the orange I bought, mostly because I'm feeling kind of dehydrated, and it was a nice fat one. 

In other social news, I had a long discussion about the difference between British and American English with one of the students here, Charlie. He is a really bright boy, and I enjoy talking to him because he’s very polite, but also fun to talk to. It’s nice to feel like I have a normal teacher-student dynamic at least with someone at this school. He knows not to come into my house, and doesn’t ask me for gifts (like most of my other students did upon my return from Lushoto). He is interested in democracy and politics, so I might be giving some civics lessons on the side. 

I’m actually off now to tutor one of my students in English. I told her to come back in fifteen minutes because I was writing up an e-mail. I also managed to keep all five students who came to my door outside by shutting the door behind me as I emerged. I think that will work, especially since you are supposed to ask permission before entering in TZ culture. I'm hosting the lesson outside, because I really don’t feel like setting a precedent that kids can just come into my home whenever they want. 

 I feel like I’m not getting off to a good start here sometimes. Other volunteers don’t seem to be having some of the problems I’m having with boundaries and pressures to go house-to-house all the time. It makes me wonder if I’m a bad volunteer or just too much of a doormat. Needless to say, I’ve started to put my foot down today, and will continue doing so in the future! 

September 2, NO SERIOUSLY DON'T GIVE OUT YOUR NUMBER

So, I'm currently waiting at Tumaini for a little bit. My bus is supposed to leave at around 12:30 I think, but we will see what actually happens. I'm just glad there is a bus...or that there is at least supposed to be a bus. I'm pretty sure the Shambalai bus (the more cushy one) still isn't running, but that's okay. I do wish they'd bring my ceiling boards to my village soon, though...and those are on the Shambalai bus apparently.

I got a call at 5:30 am from my student. I wrote her a message explaining that Peace Corps says I'm not allowed to use my phone to contact students. I hope she gets the point, because it really isn't okay with me on a number of levels.

I'm not feeling super well mentally or physically today, but I'm hoping that things start getting better as the day/week goes on. I did take a scalding hot shower for about 30 seconds this morning. I do miss taking regular showers, mostly because bucket bathing can be kind of cold when it's not very warm outside. I also snagged a roll of TP from the hostel room. This is a typical Peace Corps practice, though I always feel slightly shady doing it.

We went to the market here in Lushoto this morning and I got some food that won't immediately go bad. I bought coconut milk, potatoes, onions, chili sauce, and a free avocado. I also got a kilo of white rice, so I'm hoping to start cooking for myself this week. My charcoal arrives tomorrow, so I'm excited about that! It will be my first time cooking on a jiko. Exciting stuff!

September 1, Never Give Out Your Number

So, I have made the tragic mistake of letting students come into my house. Then I made the bigger mistake of letting one of them who wants English lessons have my phone number. I get calls/texts from her at 11:00 pm just for kicks. So...that is going to need to stop. Very soon. Time to lay down some privacy measures!

Today I had a crazy ride at 4:00 in the morning to Lushoto. There was no bus, so I took some kind of short-bus/van. As if the universe was rubbing it in, we stopped for no reason in Sam's site for about 30-45 minutes. We didn't pick anyone up there...just stopped. My feet got so cold that I could hardly walk when we finally got to Lushoto--I had no feeling or circulation left.

I got breakfast with Hannah and Amy at Tumaini. Eggs & oranges. Then we got chipsi from our favorite bwana--salad tonight from Lawns! Tumaini (Hostel) let us bring in an extra mattress to make a double a triple-room once we threatened to stay elsewhere. They originally wanted me to pay for a double all by myself.

Peace Corps still hasn't transferred my money to NMB, but I do have my English books now thank to Glenn. And electricity for the day :)