A Day in the Life (Part One)

-Wake up!!! (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 5:00 a.m., other days about 5:45)

-Boil water for shower/breakfast.

-Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (if it’s not raining) I run with Laura, about 3 miles in the dark.  Other people are out running at this time, too, though so it is pretty safe.

-6:00-6:45- Shower, eat, get ready for school.

*A note on the bucket shower:  I say this only because it confused me...  This may have been very clear to everyone else.  I thought a bucket shower entailed some sort of rigging system where there is a hole or many holes in the bottom of a bucket that you hoist over your head.  Wrong.  It’s a bucket with water in it.  You use some small container to pour the water over yourself.  Duh?  I think my imagination got the best of me. 

-6:45-7:00 Walk to the bus.  We walk by a primary school on the way, and the kids love to practice their English “good morning’s” on us.

-7:30 arrive at school, wander about, greet kids and teachers.

-7:50 “Parade”  This is kind of an assembly where the kids stand in lines and respond to commands such as “attention!” “at ease,” “about turn,” etc.  This is usually followed by the national anthem (I almost have it down), maybe a song in English, and morning prayer.  Then the kids march off to class (singing “marching, marching, marching like a soldier…” they love it?).  At first I found this very odd, but now it is one of my favorite parts of the day!

-8:00-12:20- Classes.  This is the time when I rotate between the four “English Medium” classes.  Lately I’ve started to go to only two classes per day to try to develop some continuity in the classroom and have time to do something a little more meaningful.  Every day is different and I’m still not quite sure what I should be doing, but I’m trying.

Typical classroom activities include singing songs (If you’re happy and you know it, 5 little monkeys- Molly they LOVE this one!!! Thanks!, twinkle twinkle, etc), writing the alphabet and numbers etc.  I also do a lot of grading, which mostly involves checking if things are written correctly, e.g. is that capital letter Q acceptable?  I’m pretty much a hard ass.  The first grade kids do a lot of copying from the blackboard.  For a lot of them, I’m pretty sure school is just a drawing activity.  I’m trying to figure out ways to get them to actually understand what they are doing.  Suggestions in all areas here are MORE than welcome! 

Honestly, school is really, really hard for me.  I’m going to go into more depth in another post to try to explain it. 

This is getting long so I will continue with the PM hours another day!  And by they way, to tell time here, subtract 6 hours… For example, 12:00 p.m.  is really 6:00 (or saa sita in Swahili).  7:00 a.m. is 1:00 (saa moja asubuhi... the first hour of daylight).  It definitely makes sense if you think about it because the days here are pretty much always the same length, but needless to say it is a little confusing to ask someone the time. 

xoxoHB

I Wore Tights?

It was a little chilly; I was wearing a longer dress; I decided to wear tights. No big deal, right?  Wrong. I noticed we were getting a little more attention than we usually do on our walk to the bus stop in the morning.  Cristina and I were both looking at each other trying to see what might be drawing the stares.  We racked our brains, but thought nothing of my tights. 

I didn’t find out until I got to school and talked to my friend Nanja that my wearing black tights happened to be confusing and HILARIOUS. Why are her legs black?  What is that?  Are those socks?  She is very dark today.  Half African?  Children, adults, and everyone in between gave me a second look that day.

I’m not sure if I’ll wear tights again, but if I do, at least I will be in on the joke.

Kilimanjaro Half Marathon

For the past two years, Christina Baladi, Alicia Ranney and I have been participating in the Kaiser Half Marathon in SF.  We had a blast running our hearts out and then proceeding to Kerry and Chris’s to gorge ourselves “all-American” style at their Superbowl party.  Needless to say, I missed it this year! 

However, I did have a replacement activity to console me.  When I thought I would be headed to Moshi, I read the blogs of the current volunteers and saw their pictures from the Kilimanjaro Marathon held in town.  Obviously, I thought it was the coolest thing ever and couldn’t wait to participate.  Luckily, a little re-location to Dodoma wasn’t able to stop me… 

Cristina, Laura, and I did it!  We traveled to Moshi for the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon where we were warmly welcomed by Moryah, Andy, and Liz, or as I like to call them, my surrogate community.  We had 100% participation in the event, with Andy running a FULL marathon.  I still can’t believe it.  Everyone did great, with Cristina and Laura both completing their first half marathons!  What a way to do it.

Rain clouds obstructed the views of Madam Kili during the race, but honestly, I was thankful.  The race was exactly half up, and half down.  Literally.  (j-sway… it was kind of like our extreme hiking experience…)  I’m not sure I would have made it in the African sun.  One of the greatest parts of the out-and-back course was seeing the lead pack coming down the hill as I was on my way up.  INCREDIBLE!  I don’t know how they do it, but the runners are so graceful and make one of the most challenging feats look simply effortless.  I gave a few extra fist pumps and “tuende dada!” cheers to the lead ladies as they held their own with the men in front.

The event organization was not the greatest, so I never found out my time, but I think it is for the best.  It certainly wasn’t my fastest, but I felt so accomplished, and maybe even a little bit cool, having just crossed the finish line.

After the race I ate a bunch of mangoes from the trees in the Moshi house’s yard and lazed about nursing a decent blister.  I wore my medal the whole time, of course.  After a little rest, we headed back to the stadium for a beer (Kilimanjaro!  For the picture, really.  Not my fave beer here.)  There was live music playing, and there were lots of people enjoying the festivities. 

When we got back to the house we chowed down on a “chips mayai” (this french fry omelet delicacy best enjoyed with chili sauce and ketchup).  Then the Moshi folk shared the secret of their favorite treat:  CHOCOLATE MICE.  I’m not really sure why it is in the shape of a mouse, but I do know that it was delicious.  I might compare it a brownie, sort of, with the taste of a ho-ho. 

Exhausted, we set off to bed.  Thinking in advance, I popped a couple Tylenol PM, so sleeping in a tent on the floor and getting eating by some bug that snuck in didn’t phase me.  Cristina was not so lucky.  Though both of our legs were riddled with bites, at least I slept through it. 

The next day we set off for the 12 hour bus ride home to Dodoma.  Definitely not the best way to recover after running thirteen miles the previous day.  The three of us were walking pretty funny, but we survived.  During the bus ride I had my first glimpse of a wild animal.  I SAW MONKEYS!!!!!! They were just sitting there on the side of the road.  It felt a liiiiittle surreal. 

Overall, the weekend was a much needed respite from my normal day-to-day here, and an absolutely great time.  

P.S. The T-shirt for the half marathon says "If you can't run it, drink it."  The full marathon tee says "If you can't climb it run it."  Love it.

Pre-School/Kindergarten Teacher? Why Not.

1/28/2012

In the last three weeks I have been figuring out my job placement at the school associated with the Village of Hope, Maria De Mattias Pre and Primary School.  It has been at times overwhelming, fun, terrifying, educational, exciting, and stressful.  I am still working out all the details, but as of now, I rotate between four classrooms: Pre-Standard One A&B and Standard One A&B.  In the U.S., that would probably mean pre-K to first grade (approximately). 

My first day of school (the same day I found out that I would be teaching the young ones) I was left alone in a classroom with 70+ children (two classes combined because a teacher was delayed in Dar ) from 5-8 years old.  It was bad.  My mindset changed from “let’s learn something!” to “please just don’t hurt each other” pretty quickly.

However, things are improving.  I still don’t know what’s going on pretty much ever, but I’ve definitely had some good moments and am learning so much everyday.  The kids are quickly starting to understand me, and I am starting to understand them (not quite as quickly). 

Still missing you!

Hannah

One Month Down, 23 to Go

I can’t believe I have been in this country for a whole month.  Today I have the day off as my roommates begin the school year at St. Peter Claver High School, so I thought I’d catch up on my correspondence!  I apologize for the delay as we’ve been traveling with limited internet access!  This entry will be pretty long (sorry) but I’ll try to keep the rest short and frequent. 

Tomorrow I will start my placement at the Village of Hope.  All the details are not yet clear, but I will find out more when I go tomorrow!  I’ll save all that for the next entry and fill you in on the past month instead…

Part 1: Visit to Ihumwa

Laura and Sean made friends with a wonderful family last year that lives in a village outside of Dodoma called Ihumwa.  Charlie, the dad, is a cook at St. Peter.  They generously invited us to come stay the night in their home.  It was so cool to spend time in the village, playing with all the kids, preparing meals, showering/using the bathroom outside, going to the market, etc.  We definitely stood out as “wazungu” (white people) there even more than we do in Dodoma.  A hilarious moment was when Laura tickled a baby that was staring at her and he jumped and cried as if the monster under his bed reached out and grabbed him.  Don’t worry, all the mamas around laughed and thought it was hilarious as they consoled him! 

I am excited to visit Ihumwa again, especially when I know more Swahili and can hopefully learn a little bit of the tribal language, Kigogo. 

Part 2: Retreat in Tanga

The 11 American Jesuit Volunteers came together for a week in Tanga for a beautiful retreat.  The location was AMAZING.  We each had our own rooms located right on the coast.  I hadn’t realized that I’d never seen a sunrise over the ocean, being from the West (best) coast.  It was gorgeous and inspired me to get up early to run!  Our time in Tanga was spent getting to know each other and our intentions for our greater time together in this country. 

Part 3: Christmas in Dar

After our retreat, we traveled together to Dar es Salaam (2^nd years: Shea and Cat, 1^st years: Cait and Beth).  While we were in Tanga, massive floods in Dar es Salaam, taking many lives, homes, and infrastructure.  The volunteers were very lucky and their house only had a little water.  However, the primary school (Gonzaga) where Cat and Beth work was inundated.  Although we arrived only a day or so after the floods, the Sisters who run the school were already at work determined to have it ready for the children to come to school on the 9^th, showing true resilience that I am coming to find is characteristic of many in Tanzania.  Our group helped in the little way we could by washing the hundreds of uniforms that were muddied in the floods.  I will contact the Dar volunteers for an update on the school and community to let you know how they are doing. 

The experience of the floods showed me how truly isolated from information I am, even within Tanzania.  None of us knew of the floods until we arrived in Dar, whether it be because of our lack of access to information or the media and governments efforts to keep news of the devastation quiet.  To stay informed, I’m going to have to been proactive.

As for Christmas, it was great to be together!  However, I very much missed home.  I had a few “woe is me” moments thinking about how I was hot and sticky and uncomfortable and didn’t understand the language and missed my family and missed my friends and on and on.  Having the perspective of the 2^nd year volunteers really helped.  They said the first Christmas away is MUCH harder than the second and they felt the same way one year ago.  They still miss home, but in a different way having created another home for themselves in this country.  I am hopeful that I will do the same!

Part 4:  New Years in Moshi

My almost home… Maybe it was because of all the mental preparations I had done, or maybe because there were hills, but I felt very comfortable in Moshi (2^nd years: Andy, Moryah, and Liz).  It also helps that Liz did a JV Domestic year in San Francisco and Moryah is from the East Bay!  The town is much quieter than Dar and has a much more western feel, most likely due to tourist influence. I was able to go for runs in the morning in Moshi with views of Mt Kilimanjaro.  Definitely had a “moment” there and am excited to visit again.  A few of us are looking into traveling for the Kilimanjaro Marathon, Half Marathon, and Fun Run at the end of February. 

For New Years, we had ourselves a raging dance party wearing moo moos and having a few mixed drinks.  It was not a trolley in SF, but it was a blast!  Please see facebook for more pictures!

On New Year’s Day, we were invited to share in the Silver Jubilee for three Christian Brothers celebrating the 25 years since their ordination.  During the celebration, I had concurrent and opposite feelings: being so happy to be there and excited about learning traditions and having new experiences, and having the overwhelming feeling wanting to go home and be somewhere where I know appropriate things to do and say.  It will be interesting to see how these types feelings wax and wane as I continue my time here. 

Part 5: Back in Dodoma

Happy to be back!  I think part of the intention of having us travel so much is to make somewhere you’ve only been for a week feel like home already J.  We had our beds put together and are currently working out the kinks of being “new home owners.”  We have had a couple of floods from pipes bursting, and are working out the bill-paying, trash, rent, cleaning, cooking, etc. systems.    I think we are all excited to establish some routines and get to a “normal schedule” here! 

A NOTE ON TRAVEL:  In Tanzania, one travels on a bus, and it takes forever to get anywhere! Examples: Dodoma to Tanga: 11 hours, Tanga to Dar: 7 hours, Moshi to Dodoma: 16 hours (normally about 12, but we were delayed about 4 hours when the police decided to stop ALL the buses to check licenses… it was a long day).  However long/uncomfortable these trips are, I have been EXTREMELY lucky (knock on wood) that I haven’t been getting carsick at all!

If you made it this far, bless your patience and thank you for reading!  Please feel free to ask questions about things you’d like to know!  I thought it would be obvious to me what to share, but it is trickier than I expected.  So please help me out. 

Peace, love, and hugs,

Hannah

A Lot Has Changed

Since my last entry, my placement site has changed from Moshi to Dodoma.  Also, I have been in Tanzania for a week and a half! 

While my site placement change was a huge shock and pretty upsetting, I am very happy to be here in Dodoma.  I am currently job hunting at two places: St. Ignatius Primary School and Kidiji cha Matumaini (Village of Hope).  Both are wonderful and beautiful locations.  I’ll keep you posted on developments there, but in the mean time, please enjoy a random list of impressions and thoughts on my first few days here:

1.     -I MISS YOU! Homesickness is nowhere near debilitating, but it’s there.  I think of you often!

2.      -Laura, Sean, and Cristina (my community mates) are great!  (Watching True Blood together already.. what more can I say?)  I am so lucky to have two people who have paved the way for me and are willing to help me adjust to life here. 

3.      -Karibu sana! The people I’ve met have been very, very welcoming.

4.      -Kidogo Kiswahili. I know very little Swahili and I need to learn ASAP!

5.      -I need to practice with drop toilets.  I’ll spare you the details J

6.      -Rain here is incredibly beautiful.  I will enjoy it for the next couple months until Dodoma becomes dry again.

7.      -I am re-learning how to clean everything!  Hand washing laundry, showering from a bucket, doing dishes, etc. 

8.     - I have rhythm, but it’s not Tanzanian rhythm.  It will come.

I love you and miss you all very much and am excited to have more to share soon!

Departure Date.. yikes.

Hey all,

So, I haven't written much of anything on this blog as I still talk to most of you very regularly.  However, I'm trying to develop some good habits before I ship out, so I will (try) to post here more often.  


The big news is that I will be IN Tanzania on December 5th!  When I got that info, things began to feel very real.  I am really doing this!  For the most part, that thought is extraordinarily exciting.  Has anyone seen the episode of 30 Rock where they flash back to Jack's 10th birthday party, at which he gets so excited that he throws up?  Well, I kind of feel like that, with a little fear-induced nausea mixed in.  


Save the date for a big going-away bash Thanksgiving weekend!  Also, if you're talking to anyone in my extended family, please attempt to dispel the rumors that I will be sequestered for three years with no communication with the home or any where else in the world.  I know we're a hard-headed bunch, but do your best.  Feel free to direct them to this blog if they need proof.


Lots of love,
Hannah