A Volunteer of Many Names and the Demon Cat

It really is amazing what you become accustomed to being called when living in Tanzania.   If you have ever heard that song by The Ting Tings, "That's not my name," that song summarizes my feelings about living in Tanzania.   The Tanzanian people are very fond of calling people everything, but their actual name.  So far, this seems to not indicate whether that person knows your name, or they just don't like using it.  The following is a short list of names I have been called. 

1. Dada- this is Kiswahili for "sister."

2. Sister

3. Mama

4. Auntie

5. Mzungu- basically "wonderbread," "whitie," or "cracker" in Kiswahili

6. Teacher

7. Madame- how Tanzanian students address female teachers

8. Numerous names of other white, female Peace Corps Volunteers because all white people look alike. 

In further news, I really thought my body was rejecting Africa for a while.  It all started with a rash behind my left knee.  That rash looked like harmless heat rash until it spread all up and down my leg, onto my right leg, onto my stomach, and up my back.  A few days later, I started running a temperature and had extreme nausea.  Then just the other day, I woke up with one eye almost completely swollen shut.  I seem to finally be bouncing back though.  My rash is slowly clearing up, my stomach issues and temperature lasted only 24 hours, and a popped some allergy pills and my swollen eye slowly went back to normal.  Also, I am no longer afraid to stay up after dark because I now have a cat to protect me from the critters of the night.  Unfortunately after 3 days, it is very clear to me that our personalities do not exactly mesh.  The second night I had the cat, I discovered that he seemed to be suffering from some sort of separation anxiety when I shut him out of my room to sleep.  He proceeded to spend the night meowing at my door and chewing up various objects that were left out.  Luck for me, I had only left out some Ziploc bags and empty water bottles.  This cat also appears to be the most vocal cat in the universe.  It has the loudest, alien-sounding meow in the world.  Sometimes, I swear words actually come out of that idiotic mouth.  This morning, that lovely little feline decided my bed was a good place to take a dump.  Needless to say, I am currently looking for a new home for this cat, which is currently the bane of my existence, and am searching the market for a replacement kitten.  That has pretty much been my life for the past almost week, just hating this demon-cat.  Next week we are all getting together for Christmas so hopefully I will have some better updates.  

Karibu Mtwara!

So as you might assume I safely reached my permanent site.  The bus ride down was nothing short of interesting.  We did end up staying all night and at around 4:30 we started loading up all of our possessions.  We then had to all say our goodbyes to each other, which was about as much fun as getting a tooth pulled.  We got to the bus stand at about 5 a.m.  As soon as I got off the Peace Corps bus, someone promptly tried to swipe one of my bags, but lucky for me, one of the Peace Corps staff was on top of it.  Then, the bus people refused to put our bags under our bus so Katherine and I's bags got put up with all of the passengers and my name written all over the bags for a purpose I do not completely understand.  So now, my name is written in permanent marker not only all over my bags, but also Katherine's, including a big "K. Thill" written on her pillowcase.  We finally got on the rode and remained on the rode for the next 13'ish hours.    This would have been around a 10-hour ride if our lovely bus had not gotten stuck in the mud for 3 hours and pried out by our fellow passengers using big sticks and one shovel.  Happy Birthday to me...

So far I am really enjoying my site though.  I am in a bit of a bigger town than I first thought, but have almost everything I should want locally available.  Since I am in one of the bigger towns, I also have had a stream of other volunteers visiting, picking up supplies.  I have yet to go a day without seeing another volunteer.  Not exactly what I was expecting, but I'll take it.  Everyone in my 'ville has been awesome so far.  Even the crazies.  There is one man, whom I call "Bird-man."  I truly believe that this man is half bird because there is no way that a full human can make some of the bird noises he makes.  Also, the other day, he tried to catch a mango falling from a tree with his mouth, which proved very entertaining.  My site is almost perfect.  I can even see Mozambique from my house.  There is just one thing.  There wildlife has about made me wet myself on several occasions.  Now I'm not creeped out by most creatures, but my house guests are a bit much.  For one, my house and the surrounding area seems to harbor giant lobster-bugs.  These are humungous bugs that look like a cross between a scorpion and a spider and red-colored.  Basically they look like a small lobster.  I was later told that these were "just tarantulas."  Also, I share my home with some very pleasant rats.  I woke up to a living nightmare the other night when I heard a rat in my room.  I turned on my flashlight, trying to locate the culprit.  After a while of looking from the safety of my mosquito net, I finally saw it.  It seems that earlier that day I accidentally zipped a rat inside of my duffel bag while cleaning up and it was now attempting to escape.  I of course immediately slipped into a state of panic and lay in bed, sweating profusely for about 3 hours before I worked up the nerve to leave my mosquito net.  When I finally got up, I ran out, got the broom, used the handle to drag my bag out of my room into the living area, and slam my door, shoving kangas under the crack before jumping back into bed.  The next morning, the first thing I did was throw my bag into the middle of the courtyard and leave it there until someone else showed up to deal with it.  To deal with this problem, I have adopted a killer cat.  His first night in my house was a success.  His hit list included 1 rat and 2 lizards.  Well thats all for now.  Time will tell how this whole owning a cat thing goes.

All Sweared In!!

So today was an extremely successful day...and maybe one of the best days of my existence.  This morning, we made the short bus ride to the United States Embassy for our swearing-in ceremony.  We all got "pertied" up in our Tanzanian finest and became official Peace Corps Volunteers, or PCV's.  There was our honored guest, a member of the ministry of education, and even the U.S. Ambassador himself, Ambassador Lenhardt.  We sang a little song and did a little dance, well maybe not a dance but we did have to sing, and then said our oath.  After that, they shoved us full of food and patted our heads for a job well done during training.   We had a bushel of samosas and meat on a stick, and man was it delicious.  After that, we went back to our hostel for free time, a.k.a. try to nap in my room, but really just lay there in a puddle of my own sweat.  We piddled around for a couple hours, packing, talking, cutting hair.  Yes, I cut more hair today. I think I might have a new profession in my future.  After that, we had to get dressed back up and loaded a bus to go to the Ambassador's house for dinner.  When we got there, we hung out with his wife Jackie who may or may not be one of the sweetest ladies ever, and talked a bit.  Then the food was unveiled.  What lay before us literally brought a tear to my eye!  Ladies and gentleman, the good Ambassador Lenhardt and his wife managed to wrangle us up an amazing Thanksgiving dinner in the middle of Africa.  I ate so much mashed potatoes and stuffing that I was in physical pain and continued the self-torture by serving myself up a plate of pumpkin pie.  BEST DAY EVER!! Tomorrow, we have to get up at 3:45 though and head to the bus station so we are thinking we might not even bother going to bed and soak up the last bits of togetherness before we get separated.  Despite the awful waking hours, I am extremely excited about tomorrow and to finally get to my home for the next 2 years!!

Sorry its been like ten thousand years since I've posted.  Things are still great.  So since last time we found out our sites.  I will be moving to Mtwara and teaching at Newala Day Secondary School.  Mtwara is in the far south of Tanzania, on the Mozambique border and along the coast.  I am supper excited about my site!  I have a 2 bedroom house, pretty much already furnished, with a courtyard.  There is a passion fruit vine, mango tree, and papaya tree in my courtyard.  And the best part? ELECTRICITY!! Yes friends. I will be living on the coast, able to see Mozambique pretty much, with a plethra of fruit and electricity, so basically in the lap of luxury.  Anyone want to visit?
In other news, I am done with training!  The week before last week, we went to shadow current volunteers.  I got sent to Singida.  I was told that Singida was the desert of Tanzania and was dreading it.  It turns our Singida is absolutely beautiful.  It is dry, basically sand, but the sky is huge because the land is so flat.  Our adventure began with the always exciting Tanzanian bus system.  To start, the but was almost an hour late.  When we were getting on, we basically sat wherever our bag was thrown by the conductor.  I sat in between Doug and a gangly, rather pungent Tanzanian man.  Most of the ride, the bus was flying.  To avoid hurling all over the extremely crowded, swerving death-trap of a bus, I tried to stay passed out the entire ride.  I was so unaware of my surroundings most of the time, I had no idea, until told by Doug later, that apparently my stinky friend next to me monopolized on my current state and used me as a pillow.  After a whole 8 hours on awful roads, and at one point no road at all, we reached Singida Town.    After getting to town, we met up with some PCV's.  They had gotten hotel rooms and we went and dropped our stuff and went to the next door bar for drinks and dinner.  They are all well acquainted with the owner who just loves "wazungu," or whities.  He made us maybe the best meal I've had since arriving in country.  The next day, we hung out in town, grabbing breakfast going to the internet cafe and later on lunch.  After all this, it was time to catch our bus to her village.  The ride was ridiculously bouncy.  Imagine riding a charter bus across a field.  Consequently, I spend the ride ready to stick my head out the window to hurl.  I was in a better boat than my fellow volunteer though who was having stomach issues and about to poop his pants the entire ride.  Apparently, this is not an extremely uncommon issue in Peace Corps.  Our host said she had pooped her pant four times in the last 30 days due to a gnarly stomach issue.  We finally reached her village and walked to her house.  For the next 2 and a half days, Colin and I pretty much did nothing but work on a puzzle and occasionally help cook.  It felt pretty awesome to just do nothing.  While we were at Amy's house, we celebrated her birthday, making banana pancakes, omelets, and mango.  Uma, Jordan, Doug, and their host Carol walked from their village, bringing chocolate cake.  After vegging out, we spent the day laying on the concrete talking/reading/playing cards/puzzling.  It was pretty wonderful.  That night, Amy, Colin , and I went into the village to visit and eat dinner.  We hung out chatting with her village, drinking what was meant to be homemade mango wine.  After what seemed to be too much yeast, too little sugar, and too little mango, you get pretty much mango vodka'ish jazz. There are really no words to describe.  The next day, we hiked 2 hours to Carol's village to spend the night with Jordan, Uma, and Doug.  We played games and drug mattresses out on the front porch and slugged around all day.  The next day, we again had bus adventures.  So buses might bery well be the most interesting/scary part about my Tanzanian experience.  We took a bus from Carol's village to Singida Town.  We get smooshed on, fighting for our seat and breath in an often exhaust filled bus.  This particular bus ride, I literally saw a man shove two live chickens into the overhead bin.  Apparently the chickens just shut their eyes when the bus starts moving. Maybe we share the quality of getting motion sick and they just close their eyes to avoid tossing their little poutlry cookies.  When we reached Singida Town bus stop, we then had to fight off the hourds of people selling mangos, water, baskets, and plastic crap.  These vendors are all over the new buses rolling into the station like stink on poo trying to sell their goods.  After a bit of confusion, we figured out that our bus did not leave till 1:30.  It was currently about 8:30.  We then went into town to waste time, avoiding the usual children screaming "give me money mzungu."  After wasting time in town, we went to the bus stop and our bus was actually there.  the bus ride seemed off to a great start: a normal amount of people, no animals, and actually leaving on time.  Well then, we stopped 10 other times before leaving town and crammed as many people on as I though possible.  Well I was wrong.  The bus then stopped on the highway the entire way to Manyoni, cramming more people on.  At one point, I had about 4 people half-sitting on me.  Another time, some lady literally sat her baby on my shoulder.  I am thankful I wasn't in one of the other volunteer's seat where he had to stay our of pecking reach of the chicken held right at his eye level.  After a day in Manyoni, we headed home.  It was then that I saw yet another sight that was extremely unusual.  I saw a petroleum tanker with a live goat tied on top.  Strange.
This last week, we had to go to CCT everyday.  We had numerous tests, over teaching technique, security, etc.  Thursday, we learned to make a permagarden.  I really enjoyed this from about 8 to 3, but after that lost all concentration.  I was entertained by playing with a machete for most of the day though.  We would take pieces of banana tree and throw them at each other, trying to slice them out of the air.  Basically it was like that Wii game, but real life.  Friday, I had my final language test, which went awful.  Friday night, we had our family good-bye party.  My family gave me a dress.  I am so ready to move on to my site, but will miss my host family so much.  Tomorrow, on Sunday, we head back to Dar es Salaam where we will stay until we are sworn in at the embassy on Wednesday.  Then on Thursday, I move to MTWARA!!

Up in flames...

So yesterday, I got up bright and early and went to church with my host brother Felix and Mama Happyness.  The music was greta, but I understood absolutely nothing.  There was the long sleep-filled sermon and then the entire congregation got up to give a donation.  After that they auctioned off kitangas (Tanzanian cloth) and a pair of shoes to raise money for building the church.  Right now, the church is basically just a cinderblock building with wooden benches.  Pretty much, the auction was like half-time entertainment.  I was actually pleasantly suprised when chuch only lasted an hour and 40 mintues considering my friend Doug's experience a couple weeks ago when church lasted 7 hours.  After church, Doug came over and ate breakfast with my family.  After we finished breakfast, we went to Veronica's and sat in the shade while she finished her laundry.  Then, we picked up our friend Eric and went to the local market.  Going to the market is definitely my favorite way to practice my Kiswahili.  You just feel so good about your skills because everyone is so excited that the whitie can speak Swahili at all.  I even ran into some of my students from my school and talked to them for a bit.  We then went back to Veronica's and Eric, Veronica, and I cooked lunch.  We made guacamole, chips, sauteed potatoes, and an omelet.  The chips we made were from plantains.  We sliced them and fried them in oil and they were pretty much the greatest thing ever.  The potatoes we sauteed with pepper, salt, and fresh ground cumin.  In the omelet we put onions, pili pili hoho (bell pepper), to tomato, and spinach.  Over everything, we poured pili pili sauce (just hot pepper sauce) that Veronica's host sister made.  Overall, I was pretty impressed with the way everything came out.  The most entertaining part of the day happened right before we cooked the omelet.  We washed a bowl and put it on the jiko (charcoal stove) to let the water sizzle off.  Well, there must have been grease or something on the bowl because all of a sudden, the entire pot went up in flames.  Veronica pulled it off the jiko and I was doubled over laughing.  The flames were huge, like almost as high as our heads at points.  She kicked to bowl and it skidded across the floor, coming to rest beside a wooden table with a tablecloth hanging off.  I grabbed the bowl and put it away from anything flammable.  We were looking for baking soda when Eric decided that flour would work-WRONG.  That just made the flames even bigger.  We then just decided to ignore the "don't use water to put out a grease fire" rule and problem solved.  The pot was pretty charred, but still usable and thankfully, Veronica's host sister had run to the store so we still had our pride.  By the time we ate and cleaned up, the process had taken 7 hours.  It had been a long day so Vero and I went to the bar with our friend Colin.  There, over beers, we had a long discussion about how Physics is far superior to Chemistry.  Essentially, they believe that Chemistry is the bastard child of Physics.  Overall, a good, but exhausting day.

So someone told me that I haven't written often enough so I'll really try and pick it up. Sorry for my shortcomings. Things are still great. Life has really become routine. Up at 6:15, school from 7:30 to 5:00, cook dinner, eat, bed. Because of this really exciting pattern, it’s always really exciting when I get to do something different. The Thursday before last was a national holiday for the first Tanzanian president. Because everyone else had a free day, we went to CCT and played sports. Physical activity is good. My daily exercise has basically only consisted of walking to class and home every day. The Saturday before last, we joined groups with another Kihonda group and went to the market and cooked. It was so much fun to put our market-talk practice into action and I was able to score us some nicely priced cucumbers. We were out in the backyard of a friend's house for hours, learning to cook traditional Tanzanian dishes. We cooked beans, ugali (similar to tasteless mashed potatoes made from flour), pilau (rice made with spices like cinnamon, potatoes, peas, carrots, etc.), and a few other dishes. We then ate ourselves silly and then did dishes in the yard, which seems extremely counter-productive. Sunday, we got up early and climbed the mountain here in Morogoro. We met up with our guides, which you have to have or else you'll get robbed (story of my life here, basically if you are white you run a high risk of getting mugged everywhere you go). The mountain was awesome though. So beautiful. The mountainside is a covered with forested areas, farms, banana tree groves, and small villages. We hiked for a few hours and reached an old building that used to be a resort when the Germans controlled much of Tanzania. The building was beautiful, covered in flowering vines with awesome architecture and overlooking a cliff. We rested there for a while and then took off for a few more hours. When hiking, we passed through the type of villages I thought I would be living in when I used to think about coming to Africa. The houses were made of basically sticks and mud and the people spoke tribal languages. We finally reached a waterfall, rested for a while, and then headed back down the mountain. Overall, we were gone about 9 hours. I was so extremely tired, but so glad I did it. The 2 straight days of being outside took its toll though and I do believe that I got the worst sunburn I had ever gotten in my life. Having no lotion or aloe vera to relieve it, I had to take Advil in order to sleep. After the hike, we all headed home, but found out the next day that one of our fellow trainees got hit by a motorbike on her way home. She was walking, about to turn off the road, when she got hit from behind. She had on a backpack with a metal water bottle in it. The bottle is crushed pretty good, but absorbed a lot of the blow to her back. She is pretty bruised up and ended up with tissue damage to her legs. She is using crutches and got about 13 stitches in one leg and 3 in the other. From the looks of the stitch job though, there should have been about twice that in each leg. This last Tuesday I started teaching and my first lessons went awful. It turns out they were not where I was told they would be so all my planning went out the window. One of the classes also said that I looked like a baby, meaning I looked young. One kid even guessed I was 15-years-old...awesome. Last Wednesday, we had the written portion of our language mid-term. We had nothing to do after that so we played Pictionairy for hours. Our tactics got pretty ugly and nobody guessed a clue for about an hour. This was due to the fact we were giving each other clues like "Edward's Syndrome" and "Giarrdia." We left early that day though and took a daladala ride downtown. We all had some much needed banking and post office errands that needed taking care of. We then had time so we went to the market, visited my host mom's tailoring shop, and bought a birthday present for our friend. We then headed back to Kihonda to meet our friend, Veronica, for her birthday. We had a couple beers and then went to her house or a birthday dinner. Her host mom prepared both a "traditional cake" and a modern cake. The modern cake was just a regular cake. We sang, she cut the cake, and then Veronica had to feed everyone a bite in the order of importance to her. I was awesomely awkward. Then, her host mom unveiled the traditional "cake." This turned out to be a whole, raw chicken with a large number of hard-boiled eggs spilling out of its butt. Her mom had prepared a ridiculous amount of food and we ate an uncomfortable amount of food. Thursday, we had the oral part of our language mid-term. It actually went better than expected. I understood everything and was able to answer. I also taught again and it went tons better. We got out of class super early and I never thought I could be so content just lying on my bed, headphones in, staring at the ceiling. When I finished my staring session, I went and played cards for a couple hours. I honestly believe that meeting my friends, playing cards had helping keep my sane. I am becoming a pro at all sorts of new card games. After cards, went home, cooked, and had a Michael Jackson dance session with my host brothers. Friday at CCT, the Peace Corps Headquarters delivered all of our mail. I would like to personally thank each and every one of you for NOT sending me anything. It really made be feel all tingly inside. Just kidding...but really. The last weekend, we went to Mikumi National park, which was one of the coolest trips ever. We saw all sorts of animals: elephants, baboons, zebras, hippos, and giraffes. We were even lucky enough to see some lions feeding. We really lucked out. I took a ridiculous number of pictures so just let me know if you would like any of them. Well "Happy Halloween!!!" Kind of sad that I won't be celebrating it really, but Hamna shida (no worries). I'll try to update sooner next time...Peace out.

"Don't the sh*t bricks yet.."

Hello all!  So far, I haven't been stupendous at updating this thing, but I'm trying.  My days are incredibly packed.  I have a feeling it will be a lot easier to find the time to update after training is over.  Just to quickly catch you up.  I have officially moved to Morogoro.  When we got here, we stayed at another compound-like place.  We were sometimes allowed out of the walls of this prison at times though.  While we were here, we were split into CBT's (Community Based Training groups), and our language training began.  My group consists of Doug, Uma, William, and Carolyn and our legit language-culture facilitator is Rehema.  So we really dove right into language.  Since then, our days have pretty much consisted of nothing but language training from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  I can honestly say that this method seems to be working.  I think I can officially speak Swahili better than Spanish, a language I studied for years, but with no real dedication.  I am loving having Rehema as a teacher.  She speaks mostly in Swahili and really has a calming presence.  This really became apparent when we had a sub one day when she was sick.  Our sub was great, but something about her teaching style turned me into a spaz.  I literally had a panic attack in class...awesome.  Needless to say, I was grateful when we got Rehema back.  During these days, we also had sessions about moving in with our host families.  They gave us the do's and dont's of living with a host family.  Some of them were pretty obvious, others were good tips, such as don't smell your food.  The entire time, they would get us worked up and stressed about moving in with our families only for the homestay coordinator, Jumapili, to tell us to "don't shit the bricks."

So the Sunday before last, we moved in with our host families.  That may have been one of the most awkward experiences of my life.  Basically, they load you onto a bus with all of your bags, knock on your family's gate, and leave you there with a Swahili-speaking family and a pile of bags.  So here is a run-down of the family.  My mama's name is Happyness and she is a taylor, or fundi, for a living.  She is married to my baba, Emmanuel.  He works for World Vision and is gone to Dodoma during the week.  My oldest kaka or brother's name is Felix, who is 16.  He speaks excellent English, which has been wonderful!  My next oldest kaka's name is Alex.  Alex is 14 and also speaks very good English.  I also have a dada, or sister, named Glory who is 8 and absolutely adorable.  When I first got here, she just wanted to follow me around and hold my hand.  We have a house girl who we call Dada named Sarah and a bibi, or grandma, who speaks not a drop of English and frankly frightens me a bit, for no good reason.  The family has 3 dogs: Jet, Kok Kok, and Jim.  And a week after moving in I found out we also have a cat, which really doesn't have a name, but people kind of call him Neow.  The food is amazing which I was really not expecting.  They have ways of using bananas that I could not even imagine.  There is also a lot of rice and beans, which honestly I am all about.  When I get home from school everyday, I help cook dinner and do homework.  By 9 o'clock, I am all pooped out and only want to go to bed.  I am actually breaking my strict 9:30 bedtime to write this and save to my hard drive so I can possibly post tomorrow at the Internet cafe (yea for sticky key boards and uber slow internet).  This last weekend marked my one-week anniversary of moving in with my host family.  I celebrated by learning to perform household chores.  I learned to sweep and mop (because I would have never figured that one out), light a kerosene lamp, and do my laundry in a bucket.  It took me about 2 hours to wash 3 skirts, 5 shirts, and 2 bras.  The result of all the hard work was clean clothes to wear, but also no skin on the knuckles of my left hand.  If I return home with only a nub for a left hand, you know why.  Also this Sunday, I rode the dala dala by myself for the first time ever!  For those of you that don't know, dala dalas are the buses around these parts.  Basically, they are the equivalent of a church van and seem to have all been imported from Asian counties (judging from the Chinese symbols on the sides).  The manufacturers seemed to design these vans having in mind that they would hold about 18 passengers max.  Once I was riding on one, and decided to count how many people were on the bus; I lost count at 30.  Every time you stop, you are thinking "there is no freaking way that we are going to get more people on this bus!" then 7 more people cram on.  People are crammed in, sat on, hanging from the ceiling and leaning out windows.  It is honestly hilarious mayhem.  So needless to say, my first successful solo dala dala ride made me feel incredibly accomplished. 

Well I'm exhausted...way past my bedtime.  I'll try not to wait so long to write next time. 

Tutaonana baadaye!!

(See ya later!)

Beware of the "wiggly finger"

 Habarini!  So I finally made it! After so long it is still amazing to me that I am actually here.   I haven't been able to blog much with all the traveling and lack of internet so let's just start from the beginning.

I flew out of Tulsa airport on Sept. 21st and flew to Philadelphia via Chicago.  Chicago was not the best experience.  When I got there, I had to drag my carry-on and "personal item" all the way across the airport without the assistance of maybe my favorite invention, the moving sidewalk.  When I finally arrive, I am sliding my bag off my now separated shoulder when they come over the intercom and announce that the departure gate has moved.  So I loaded back up and hauled my pack mule self all the way across the terminal to the new gate.  I finally take a seat and they tell us that the gate has moved again.  Other than that, my trip was pretty uneventful except for a terrifying trip on a shuttle from the airport to the hotel.

Staging began on Sept. 22nd, but not until around noon, so I decided to tour the great city of Philly.   I went on a tour of Independence Hall, Betsy Ross's house, saw Ben Franklin's grave, and the Liberty Bell.  Then I headed back to the hotel for the unknown.  My roommate, Eula, and I headed to the lobby to wait for staging to begin.  We handed in all our forms and other really fun stuff.  Meeting everyone went very smoothly.  Everyone was really great and got along well.  For our last supper, a group of us headed to China Town to have supper.  I have the adventurous choice of Ox Tail's Soup; maybe the wrong choice for a last dinner.  We then went on a quest for a final ice cream to discover that the store was closed.  We opted for beer instead.  The next morning, we checked out and hopped on a bus to JFK in NYC, and to make a long story short took a plane to Dar es Salaam, with stops in Zurich and Nairobi.  When we made it to Dar es Salaam, we hopped on a daladala (a bus) and drove to hostel we are staying at. 

Our days now are filled with endless seminars trying to teach us how to not get robbed, go to the bathroom, and other knowledge we are expected to absorb.  One of the best talks was about the "wiggly finger."  Apparently if a female shakes a man's hand and he wiggles his finger against her hand, this does not equal good things.  Basically, he is propositioning you and you must immediately put an end to this awkward situation.  We have also gotten so many shots that we have trouble raising our arms and had to stop playing frisbee because it simply caused too much pain.  We are also trying desperately to pick up the language.  We even wrote a different vocab word on each card of a playing deck and played drinking games with them.  If you knew the word you saved yourself from drinking.  The Security guy from the U.S. Embassy also scared the bejeezus out of us about staying safe in Tanzania.  For my mother's sake I will not touch on these too much.  If you are really that interested just email me.  I only have one word for the food: interesting.  We have the same foods for every meal, ranging from chicken gizzard and liver to hot dogs. 

I am saving the best story for last though.  The other day, I was playing soccer with a two kids, probably around 3 and 5.  After a while of playing, the 3-year-old and I started playing chase.  It was hilarious because it made him laugh really hard and it was possibly the cutest laugh ever.  Well this was all good and well until I finally made him laugh so hard that he wet himself, which was really actually funny until he ran up to me and hugged my leg. Whelp, no re-wearing those pants.

And just so you know, I counted and I have more than 30 mosquito from my knees down.

Jet Setting...

So today was the big day that we have all been looking forward to/dreading for so long.  I left.  My entire family took off of work and school to see me off at the airport.  Saying goodbye to them may have been the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  If you know me at all you know that I do not cry.  Well that changed today...I cried all the way through security, all the way to the gate, and until be took off.  Then I passed out.  What made it even worse was that it was the smallest plane EVER!  I was the only chair in my row and then there were only 2 chairs across the aisle from me, my knees touched the back of the chair in front on me, and the flight attendant brushed me every time she walked past.  In other words, the entire plane could see me blubber.
So after finishing up my sob-fest, I woke up when we were landing in Chicago.  I get off the plane and hike what felt like 7 miles with bags that felt like they were about 50 pounds.  It was great.  I finally made it to my gate, VICTORY.  Just as a find a chair to sit down, they come over the loud speaker and say that there has been a change of gates.  I then have to drag myself all the way down to the opposite end of the terminal.  When I get there, I sit and and realize the plane is delayed, so I decide to pull out my computer and watch Modern Family Season 1 (which I just got for the plane!!).  During this process, they switch the gate again.  All in all Chicago is not my favorite.
I finally get into Philadelphia, collect my bags, and in the process meet some people in my group.  We then venture onto the death trap they call a shuttle and make it to the hotel.  My friend from college, Elizabeth, was waiting there when I rolled in!  It was such a relief to see her friendly face and go have dinner with her.  All in all its been an eventful day and I am completely worn out.  I have no idea what to expect tomorrow, but think I am ready for whatever comes.

Packing List

So packing 2 years worth of stuff into 2 checked bags and 1 carry-on has proved difficult.  Combined, the dimensions of my checked luggage cannot exceed 107"or more than 80 pounds.  I have combed over numerous blogs with packing lists from previous PC volunteers hoping to pick up tips on what to take and what not to take.  Although this proved to be tremendously helpful, this was still probably the most frustrated experience ever, considering I hate packing under normal circumstances.  What all I have packed is as follows:

What I need to fit into my bags

Clothing

3 skirts (mid-calf length)

3 pairs light-weight pants

3 nice shirts (to teach in)

1 pair nice shoes (to teach in)

Jogging pants (not tight)

1 Modest swimsuit

1 pair jeans

1 Hoodie/jacket, for cold season

Rain Jacket

1 pair sturdy sandals (reefs)

1 pair chacos

3 Regular bras

4 Sports Bras

25 pairs underwear

2 Slips

1 Pair leggings (to wear under kangas)

Electronics

Camera gear

2 head lamps

Calculator

Travel clock

Travel speakers for ipod

Ipod (with otterbox case)

Solio solar charger with adapter tips

Flip camcorder

Kindle (with preloaded books)

External Hard drive

Rechargeable batteries and charger

Kitchen and House Supplies

Cutting board

3 paring knifes (giving one as present to host mom)

Measuring cups

Measuring spoons

Spices

Leatherman knife

Toiletries (solid shampoo, razors, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, facewash)

Small sewing kit

Dramadine (I get car sick)

Hair-cutting scissors

2 pairs glasses

Sunglasses

3 months worth of prescriptions

2 Pack towels

Other Supplies

Camping Gear

Soccer Ball (deflated)

Small Water filter for hiking

Large USA wall map

Large World wall map

Bannanagrams

Deck of cards/Uno

Travel Apples to Apples game

Bible

3 Moleskin journals

Binoculars

Pocket Dictionary

Knitting needles

Passport and money belt

National Audobon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife

Travel Map for Tanzania

Guide for Birds of East Africa

Lonely Planet guide for Tanzania

Swahili translation dictionary

Hammock

Picture Album, with pictures from home

Command sticky hooks (for my house)

Office supplies (stapler, tape, scissors, pens, pencils)

Peace corps paperwork

Copies of passport, credit card, etc. (also left a copy with my Mom)

Extra passport photos

Gifts for Host Family

Hard Candy for children

Post Cards

Calendar

Paring knife for Host mom

After Packing

These are a few of my favorite things...

As my departure date gets closer, the reality that I am going to be gone for two years is really setting in.  I feel like I am about to jump out of a plane and just hope my parachute opens.  I know very little about what to expect which makes me even more anxious about this process.  I am starting to realize how much I will go without over the next 27 months and thought I would share some of those with you (mainly because I am bored and just sitting thinking these depressing thoughts):

1. My family                                14. The cooking channel
2. My friends                               15. Visiting Freedom, OK
3. My pets                                    16. My Pledge Class
4. Text messaging                        17. Chick-fil-a
5. Frozen yogurt                           18. Oklahoma State University Homecoming!!
6. Movies                                      19. Electricity
7. Barnes and Noble                     20. Running water
8. Internet Shopping                      21. "Date nights" with my little brother
9. Tailgating                                  22. The lake
10. College Football                      23. Thanksgiving
11. Astro's Baseball                       24. Pina Colada night with my sisters
12. Driving
13. Murphy's hot hamburger (if you haven't been there you need to visit Bartlesville, OK and discover the awesomeness)


These are just a few that I've been thinking about, but what I need to remind myself is how many new things I will have the opportunity to experience and the lives I will touch.  When I think about the difference I can make it makes it a little easier to say goodbye to these things for that time.

Travel Plans

So I've been working on buying everything to live overseas for 2 years (don't worry, there's a final packing list coming soon.)  This weekend, the solar charger I ordered arrived.  Before anyone realized that it had been delivered, our black lab and husky mix found and, tore open the package, and drug all the parts all over our front field.  In the description of their product, Solio brags about the durability of their products.  This was definitely proven.  My very sweet little brother hopped on the four wheeler and hunted down every tiny piece over an area of a couple acres.  After putting the charger in the sun for a couple hours to charge up, it miraculously worked!  So for anyone needing a solar charger, check out Solio products! They are even dog-proof!

 Today though, I got my final email from the Peace Corps sending me last minute papers and travel arrangement information.  The email told me that my staging dates have been pushed back to September 22.  After calling the travel people, it turns out that there are not any flights that can get me in before meetings start on the 22nd so I'm actually flying in on the 21st.  This should work out great though!  My friend Elizabeth is actually moving to Philadelphia soon so I will hopefully get to see her and hang out before I ship out!  I can't believe I am leaving so soon, but am getting so excited!!

Maisha merefu! Afya! Vifijo!
(Good Health)

Katie

Where in the World?

After 16 months of waiting, I finally found out my home for the next 27 months.  TANZANIA!!  I could not be happier about my assignment.  I will be a Secondary Education Biology teacher in Tanzania, Africa.  I could not believe it when I received my invite from the Peace Corps and didn't even tell anybody for about the first hour or so that I had it.  It was so unbelievable that I had that blue envelope in my hand after waiting for so long.  The timeline of my application process is below.

Applied April 2009--->Interview/Nomination Aug. 26, 2009--->Send in Medical Review Jan. 2010---->Dental approval Feb. 2010--->Medical Approval April or May 2010--->Receive PC Invite Aug. 11, 2010

This process is in no way easy.  The entire time you are unsure of what is going on and feel completely helpless.  I think this has maybe given me an idea of what I might feel like over the next 27 months.  But finally, I am an official Peace Corps Volunteer.  After I received my Invite, I had to read over all the information they sent me, telling me all about my country assignment and job.  I then had to contact the Peace Corps office to officially accept my invitation.  You actually have 10 days, but after 16 months of waiting I was sure I wanted to accept within 16 seconds of opening that packet.  Then the never ending paperwork began.  My immediate attention was on getting my new government passport and visa.  I got to deal with a very confused, not so nice lady at the post office, but finally got all my passport paper work approved.  Then I got walked through the Visa application by a laughing Tanzanian on the phone who found my questions extremely entertaining.  At least I brought a little humor to some one's life.  

The name of this blog, "Tumaini" means "hope" in Kiswahili (which is the language I will be learning!).   I feel that will be my theme for this journey.  I want to bring hope to the Tanzanians I work with and my fellow Peace Corps volunteers, and also try to remain hopeful throughout my journey no matter the obstacles I encounter.  Wish me luck on this!! 

I should be getting more information in a couple weeks letting me know my address in Tanzania.  I will definitely put that up as soon as I get it!  Also, feel free to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or email me!!

Maisha merefu! Afya! Vifijo!

(Good Health!)

Katie