After dealing with a lot of technical issues involving SMILE
on Friday, the rest of the weekend has been relaxing. There are viruses on both
the computers now and the SMILE application got deleted from one. The virus
infected my flash drive as well, but thankfully I have a Mac so my laptop is
safe. Still working on fixing the issues. There was also a blood drive at
school. The man in charge told me I needed to go first to set a good example.
Now, I used to donate blood all the time and I really do enjoy donating…but
here I have my doubts. Basically they swept the dirt real nicely so that it was
“sterile” and then put out 3 lounge chairs. There was an ice chest for the
blood and there was actually soap on the table. Yup, very sterile. I told them
that I was scared of needles and couldn’t donate.
I finally got off my lazy butt and went to the market on Friday. The vegetable guy
kept offering me free vegetables and another duka guy warmly welcomed me to HIS
store and then asked me if I would be his fiancé. Pole sana old guy. Juice man
had stafeli (soursop) and banana juice. He seemed to be expecting me J I ate out and got
stared at for my entire meal by this middle-aged man. I also got a package from
my mommy! When I went to the post office with Katie two weeks ago I wrote down
my name and introduced myself to the post office worker. When I returned he
remembered my name! He kept telling me the package was too heavy so he tied a
string around it so it was easier to carry. Instead I carried the package (17
pounds) on my head the whole way up the hill…just as my students were walking
down the hill because school was over. They thought I was pretty funny. Then I
went to the bar with Tetsuko and Daisuke (another JICA volunteer). It was a
crazy mix of English, Japanese and Swahili but we had a great time.
Today Kathryn and her student Swaiba came into town to shop.
We did some shopping (and I got proposed to by a 70 year old man with a cane) and
then came back to my house. Swaiba had fun looking at the American magazines
that my Aunt Peggy had sent. She braided our hair and watched herself dance in
the mirror. Kathryn just received a package with homemade gingerbread cookies
and rice krispie treats. I am such a food junkie here!
We also now have water in the well! The pipe was finally
turned on yesterday. Our well had been completely dry since October 5th.
I also found another link from a PCV in Ethiopia. He is a
great writer. I was laughing and crying at the same time while reading this
post. Enjoy!
Yay, water!!
ReplyDelete'enjoyed your update.
Just FYI, the Red Cross has some guidelines for prospective donors that have lived in countries with a prevalence of malaria. They may not be followed in Tanzania (I'm sure they need blood just as desperately as any other country), but it's at least a pretty good excuse, should you need it.
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