At the village bar- left to right: Kate, Greta, Ashleigh, Me, Meesh, Charlie.First of all, Thanks to everyone who has sent me such loving supportive emails. IT is great to read what everyone is doing. Sorry that I am not really replying personally, but it is difficult to do from here. Please know that I am thinking of everyone and enjoying hearing updates from home.
Training Week One- June 22nd
Well, one week down with training.
To answer some questions:
-We don't have electricity- I study by lantern light. Right now, I walked 45 minutes, with my friend Christina, into town to the only internet cafe. They have four computers- both a bit shabby and a connection slower than you can imagine. It come in waves and is running off a generator. I literally went from Dar to the bush. The cost is the equivilant of about $1 an hour. Sorry for the typos in my posts- it is difficult to correct when I am just trying to get something out there.
-5 days a week I train at a site about a 15 minutes walk from my house. On those days we learn Swahili for 8 solid hours. Petti (my teacher) is a TZ woman from Dar with three children. She has a calm face and speaks excellent english. We have one on one interviews with her every week to access how well we are learning and our personality so she can report back to the country director. In my first interview with her she taught me a life lesson I will always remember. It was the day after I moved in with my family- I was so scared and overwelmed. She said, "Brie, you have to choose acceptance to live in this country. Americans are always trying to change everything. Somethings you have to accept. People will be poor, the rain will not come, life will be hard- but Tanzanians choose to accept and be happy. You will learn this in your family. If you are fighting all the time you will not be happy. But if you are accepting where you are you have time to enjoy life." Now I still am a questioner- but i hope I can take this lesson too. I love Petti- she is so warm. She is encouraged at my language progress and says that learning a language is like a child- it takes it in and grows and one day it will walk on its own. The sixth day of the week the PC landrover picks us up and drives all 48 PCVs in training to MATI (a place where we sit for 10 hours and learn about PC's evacuation plan in TZ, how not to get malaria, shots, and what is expected of health volunteers) MATI day was yesterday. I had my 11th shot in 2 weeks- don't worry there are more to come (yesterday was just the second rabies vaccine- it is a series of three). They give us shots in a real funny way- Someone gets all the needles ready and then they just line us up and go down the line. We were joking yesterday- because we are so used to the shot process that we are all talking and joking and it is no problem anymore. They first day of shots in DC people were crying- Now no one is crying- if you can't handle the shots don't come to Africa.
-I am on malaria meds- although I can still get it- just have less of a chance and won't die. I am on Larium with is a real interesting thing to take. We take it on Tuesday, the PCVs joke that Tuesday is "try not to die day". The main side effects are vivid and disturbing dreams or hauccinations- haha. So far I have had some funny dreams. I had one where a giant maggot was coming out of my arm while I was lying in bed. I woke up and had to turn on my flashlight to see if it was there. Some of the other PCVs have been sleepwalking, etc. I guess I would rather go crazy than have Malaria. The other PCVs are great- we don't all see eachother that often anymore as we are all in homestays, but we have a good time. It is weird to get that many people in one room with similar personalities. I am glad we have eachother for support, as many of the girls miss their boyfriends and families at home.
Sunday there is no class. Today is Sunday in Tanzania.
This was my day- Muslim call to prayer- 5am- crawl out from under my mosquito net.
Next cleaning time (By the way- they do this everyday! Just most days I go to School):
-Hauled 10 buckets of water with Rasheedy
-Swept floors with mama and dadas we use those little brooms you have to bed over for.
-Cleaned all floors with water and dirty t-shirt.
-Bahti- lights and puts charcol is our stove (We cook in the back yard)
-Bahti- then cleans choo, bathes 3 year old brother and herself.
Mama- cooks and cooks (she cooks like my mom- tasting and measuring with her hands and adding all manner of items) While she cooks she sings, talks and laughs.
During this time their are ten plus neighbor children in our house and a few mamas- just talking and laughing.
Then I was taught how to do my laundry- It is a big process consisting of many buckets and lots of trips to the well.At this point it was only 10.30 am- I was ready for bed.
I am a big deal in our "Neighborhood" all the kids come over to see me- I haven't figured out what the appeal is. When I walk the kids follow me- I feel a bit like the pied-piper. My friend and fellow PCV Christina (she lives about a 10 minute walk away) wanted to go for a walk we had 20 children coming with us. When we walk by they yell "Mzungu Mzungu" This means foreginer. Some people are offended by this- but the kids are just excited. Mzungu, we were told, comes from a story that a long time ago when ever a white person was seen they thought it was the same person, they were confused how this person could be everywhere. So Mzungu literally means "He who walks in circles" - which I feel is fairly true is describing me, anyone figuring life out is going in circles. This is what I say when they yell Mzungu, "Ninaitwa si mzungu, ninaitwa Brie." Now Brie is often yelled, excepted with the accent it sounds like "Bring". Being a minority is harder than I expected. I have no anonymity, there is no way to hide that I don't belong. I am getting better at the language and can understand vaguely what is happening at home. I can also request basic things and ask questions.
My host family is great. We have some games we play: We sing songs to each other ( I actually sang the National Anthem last night- on request) It was a little odd to sing about the home of the brave under the starry African sky. We also turn over the buckets and drum or clap the song the accompanies these actions is "Mama Katika, Kaitika Mama" or "Kaitika, Katika, Rasheedi Katika" Etc. This means that the person has to get up and dance in the center- Katika is "Shake It!" The toddlers are the funniest- but everyone else thinks I am. The other game my siblings love is when they point at items and make me say what they are (In kiswahili)- this is Bahti's favorite game. We run through tons of items a day and they laugh at my mispronounciations. Overall we have a good time. I am glad I brought the chalk and bubbles for them. I wish I had also brought nail polish for the girls and a soccer ball for Rasheedy. But they are happy and they even say "Life is good" . I got my camera out for the first time the other night. You have never seen so much excitment. Mama told me she has no pictures of her kids. I can't even imagine. Everyone wanted their picture taken. I hope when I get back to the states I can send them some of the pictures. I will try to send some at some point- but it might be awhile. I should go now. I am sad I missed father's day and Shannon's graduation and I miss miss all of you. Acceptance that I am here maybe will come over time. I am meeting great people, learning a new way of life and am continually humbled by how capable people are with so little. I hope you are all well and happy. I love and miss you all incredibly much.
Training Week One- June 22nd
Well, one week down with training.
To answer some questions:
-We don't have electricity- I study by lantern light. Right now, I walked 45 minutes, with my friend Christina, into town to the only internet cafe. They have four computers- both a bit shabby and a connection slower than you can imagine. It come in waves and is running off a generator. I literally went from Dar to the bush. The cost is the equivilant of about $1 an hour. Sorry for the typos in my posts- it is difficult to correct when I am just trying to get something out there.
-5 days a week I train at a site about a 15 minutes walk from my house. On those days we learn Swahili for 8 solid hours. Petti (my teacher) is a TZ woman from Dar with three children. She has a calm face and speaks excellent english. We have one on one interviews with her every week to access how well we are learning and our personality so she can report back to the country director. In my first interview with her she taught me a life lesson I will always remember. It was the day after I moved in with my family- I was so scared and overwelmed. She said, "Brie, you have to choose acceptance to live in this country. Americans are always trying to change everything. Somethings you have to accept. People will be poor, the rain will not come, life will be hard- but Tanzanians choose to accept and be happy. You will learn this in your family. If you are fighting all the time you will not be happy. But if you are accepting where you are you have time to enjoy life." Now I still am a questioner- but i hope I can take this lesson too. I love Petti- she is so warm. She is encouraged at my language progress and says that learning a language is like a child- it takes it in and grows and one day it will walk on its own. The sixth day of the week the PC landrover picks us up and drives all 48 PCVs in training to MATI (a place where we sit for 10 hours and learn about PC's evacuation plan in TZ, how not to get malaria, shots, and what is expected of health volunteers) MATI day was yesterday. I had my 11th shot in 2 weeks- don't worry there are more to come (yesterday was just the second rabies vaccine- it is a series of three). They give us shots in a real funny way- Someone gets all the needles ready and then they just line us up and go down the line. We were joking yesterday- because we are so used to the shot process that we are all talking and joking and it is no problem anymore. They first day of shots in DC people were crying- Now no one is crying- if you can't handle the shots don't come to Africa.
-I am on malaria meds- although I can still get it- just have less of a chance and won't die. I am on Larium with is a real interesting thing to take. We take it on Tuesday, the PCVs joke that Tuesday is "try not to die day". The main side effects are vivid and disturbing dreams or hauccinations- haha. So far I have had some funny dreams. I had one where a giant maggot was coming out of my arm while I was lying in bed. I woke up and had to turn on my flashlight to see if it was there. Some of the other PCVs have been sleepwalking, etc. I guess I would rather go crazy than have Malaria. The other PCVs are great- we don't all see eachother that often anymore as we are all in homestays, but we have a good time. It is weird to get that many people in one room with similar personalities. I am glad we have eachother for support, as many of the girls miss their boyfriends and families at home.
Sunday there is no class. Today is Sunday in Tanzania.
This was my day- Muslim call to prayer- 5am- crawl out from under my mosquito net.
Next cleaning time (By the way- they do this everyday! Just most days I go to School):
-Hauled 10 buckets of water with Rasheedy
-Swept floors with mama and dadas we use those little brooms you have to bed over for.
-Cleaned all floors with water and dirty t-shirt.
-Bahti- lights and puts charcol is our stove (We cook in the back yard)
-Bahti- then cleans choo, bathes 3 year old brother and herself.
Mama- cooks and cooks (she cooks like my mom- tasting and measuring with her hands and adding all manner of items) While she cooks she sings, talks and laughs.
During this time their are ten plus neighbor children in our house and a few mamas- just talking and laughing.
Then I was taught how to do my laundry- It is a big process consisting of many buckets and lots of trips to the well.At this point it was only 10.30 am- I was ready for bed.
I am a big deal in our "Neighborhood" all the kids come over to see me- I haven't figured out what the appeal is. When I walk the kids follow me- I feel a bit like the pied-piper. My friend and fellow PCV Christina (she lives about a 10 minute walk away) wanted to go for a walk we had 20 children coming with us. When we walk by they yell "Mzungu Mzungu" This means foreginer. Some people are offended by this- but the kids are just excited. Mzungu, we were told, comes from a story that a long time ago when ever a white person was seen they thought it was the same person, they were confused how this person could be everywhere. So Mzungu literally means "He who walks in circles" - which I feel is fairly true is describing me, anyone figuring life out is going in circles. This is what I say when they yell Mzungu, "Ninaitwa si mzungu, ninaitwa Brie." Now Brie is often yelled, excepted with the accent it sounds like "Bring". Being a minority is harder than I expected. I have no anonymity, there is no way to hide that I don't belong. I am getting better at the language and can understand vaguely what is happening at home. I can also request basic things and ask questions.
My host family is great. We have some games we play: We sing songs to each other ( I actually sang the National Anthem last night- on request) It was a little odd to sing about the home of the brave under the starry African sky. We also turn over the buckets and drum or clap the song the accompanies these actions is "Mama Katika, Kaitika Mama" or "Kaitika, Katika, Rasheedi Katika" Etc. This means that the person has to get up and dance in the center- Katika is "Shake It!" The toddlers are the funniest- but everyone else thinks I am. The other game my siblings love is when they point at items and make me say what they are (In kiswahili)- this is Bahti's favorite game. We run through tons of items a day and they laugh at my mispronounciations. Overall we have a good time. I am glad I brought the chalk and bubbles for them. I wish I had also brought nail polish for the girls and a soccer ball for Rasheedy. But they are happy and they even say "Life is good" . I got my camera out for the first time the other night. You have never seen so much excitment. Mama told me she has no pictures of her kids. I can't even imagine. Everyone wanted their picture taken. I hope when I get back to the states I can send them some of the pictures. I will try to send some at some point- but it might be awhile. I should go now. I am sad I missed father's day and Shannon's graduation and I miss miss all of you. Acceptance that I am here maybe will come over time. I am meeting great people, learning a new way of life and am continually humbled by how capable people are with so little. I hope you are all well and happy. I love and miss you all incredibly much.
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