Sunday, December 2, 2012

IST & Prom


My last week teaching at school was a complete mess. The students were hauling furniture around, digging trenches and cleaning the environment (or “practicing cleanliness) all week. Tetsuko eventually gave up on teaching because the students were never in class. There will be modifications made to the Administrative Block so all of the offices were moved into the computer lab. So even though I had finally fixed the SMILE problems, SMILE sessions couldn’t continue. The secretary was very upset about the move because she was also supposed to be typing all the annual examinations during this time. Unlike most teachers, I typed my exam myself, saved it in PDF, installed anti-virus on the computer so I could safely transfer it, and then printed it.

On Wednesday and Thursday I played a review game with my Form 1 students. I walked into class with two of the beating sticks and it got dead silent. The only reason teachers bring sticks to class (every day) is to beat them. There were three components that correlated to the three sections on their exam. For the first section, parts of speech, I read a sentence and then said one word. On the blackboard I had written all the parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, etc. Then they had to point to the correct part of speech with the stick. The first team to point to the correct part of speech got a point. Then we did some true/false and short answers about HIV. Finally, we focused on routine activities. I would say the main verbs (like wake up, play, read, cook, etc.) in Swahili and then they had to write it in English on the blackboard. For Form 1 A & B the boys won, for C & D the girls won. I gave them pipi (candy) at the end of the game and that turned into a disaster. Scraped knees, kids falling off desks, fist fights-it was horrible. I will never give out candy again…maybe a movie night will be the reward next time.

So that was my Thanksgiving. Jen also came over in the afternoon and we watched TV shows and ate scalloped potatoes. I stayed up really late and got to Skype with everyone who was celebrating Thanksgiving in Modesto. It was nice to be able to see everyone and say hello even though my day wasn’t festive at all.

Friday morning I left my house at 4:45am and walked to the standi. The reporting time for the bus was 5:00am but as usual, it didn’t arrive until 5:30am. We did leave at 5:45 though! They have fixed the road so it was a lot less bumpy, but we still didn’t arrive in Dar es Salaam until about 5:30pm. We were harassed as soon as we got off the bus and then just hopped on a daladala which we thought went to Posta. Well, we got stuck in horrible traffic so we finally got off the dala and flagged down a taxi driver. He started off at 15,000/= but I got him down to 6,000/=. I still feel like I get ripped off sometimes. Finally, 14 hours later, we arrived at Econolodge.


Since we got in so late, Drew and I decided to stay in Dar for an extra day. So that is when the eating began. Let me review what I ate in a 24 hour period: half of a chicken, garlic naan, chipsi, 2 pieces of bread with jam, banana, papaya piece, chai, ice cream bar, 2 hamburgers, fruit slushie, and then we went to a buffet where I ate salad, soup, rice, 4 kinds of curry, chunks of meat, falafels, flan, cake, and 2 bowls of ice cream. Basically all we did all day was eat and go to Mwenge. Mwenge is an area of town with a big market. First we hit up the “piles” which is just piles of used clothes. I found a t-shirt and my prom dress. The guy in charge of one of the piles kept saying he loved me, so I put him to work finding my prom dress. I ended up paying 500/= ($0.30) for an 80s dress with shoulder pads. Then we went to looked around the souvenir area. We were complemented over and over again on our Swahili skills and given discounts accordingly. One man who was stoned out of his mind was laughing hysterically about how Mzungus would buy his paintings for $40, but because I was “Tanzanian”, I would only have to pay 5,000/=. Then he led me in the back to give me a zawadi (gift) and it turned out to be a brick-sized chunk of weed. I politely refused but he insisted on giving me a gift so I left with a slingshot, two bracelets and a keychain for free. It is crazy how much money they make off of white people and how easy it is to get respect just by knowing their language!

Zack got into Dar that evening as well, so we all traveled to Morogoro together the next morning. I literally got off the daladala, crossed the street and sat down to eat with the other volunteers who had already arrived. It was basically like no time had passed, even though we have not seen each other for almost three months. It is also very interesting to hear about different peoples’ living situations and the dynamics of each region. Our training group (CBT) had two volunteers who were medically separated…so it is just us three now. We are sharing a triple in one of the safi houses.

The training has been…going. I feel like I’m in high school again. I do not do well sitting still all day. We have had follow-up sessions on safety & security and medical. We have had many sessions on how to write grants and then do the follow-up evaluation. Katie, the girl who I replaced, had already had her Computer Lab Grant approved, but it was too late in her service to actually use the grant money. So I will re-apply for the same grant. We also talked about other secondary projects which we could do without any grant money. I have so many ideas, but the whole point is this isn’t MY project, it is THEIR project. So I need to have a meeting with my Mkuu or an all-inclusive staff meeting to discuss ideas. Then we will have to create Committees to do the work. Also, I have a “counterpart” who is supposed to be my number one “go to” person for the next two years. My counterpart’s name is Frednand and he teaches Accounting and Bookkeeping at my school. On Thursday all of the counterparts arrived. They have had sessions to learn more about Peace Corps history and procedures, and also cultural differences. Most of the time we divide groups based on subjects taught, so my counterpart goes to the Math sessions and I go to the English sessions. So I haven’t seen him too much, but I’m hoping he is getting something out of his sessions.

I went to visit my home stay family briefly on Wednesday evening. I had gone to my Baba’s office and asked where he was because I wanted to surprise him. He was in Arusha for business, so I told his co-worker that I was his daughter. His co-worker looked very surprised and then asked for my name. I got a call from my Baba about ten minutes later. I’m guessing his co-worker called to alert him that some crazy Mzungu claiming to be his daughter was looking for him. Anyway, so my Bibi has moved to Tanga. Catherine (the baby) is scared of me again even though she apparently points to my old room and my chair and announces that they belong to Dada Aly. The four other kids were in the middle of tutoring when I arrived (which is VERY rare in this country). I spoke to Jamila and Mama only in Swahili and we laughed and had a great time as usual. My Baba is doing well and asked me many questions. I will go back at some point to teach my Mama how to make Spinach Pasta and also just to hang out some more.

Yesterday night we had Prom! It is a Peace Corps tradition…dress up in wacky outfits and celebrate the 6 months we have been together. There is a very Mzungu restaurant, Dragonaires, very close to CCT, where we are staying. They were having a “Latin Night” so we got to order burritos and tacos and guacamole. . I’m currently taking antibiotics and anti-parasite medicine (whatever that’s called?) so didn’t drink, but they even had Margaritas! I coordinated all the food ahead of time so I was a little busy all night but besides a missing Prawn Enchilada, everything went smoothly. We had a great time dancing and taking ridiculous pictures. It was almost like a cross between Halloween and Prom because some of the outfits were just crazy. Gotta love shopping/going to fundis in Tanzania!

So that’s all. We finish training on Thursday. I will get my PADI certification on Pemba in about two weeks. My family will arrive in exactly one month. Life is good. 

2 comments:

  1. I love your use of the beating stick!

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  2. Perhaps making up your own mad-libs would help? I know that playing that helped me learn the difference between adjectives, verbs, etc. Glad to hear that there's some good traditions in place to help you guys all get together and unwind too.

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