Gangster's Paradise: Mafia Island

First of all, I have officially competed my first grant with the help of my very cool and trendy friends Toni and Ben (not that being trendy made much difference).  For our grant, we conducted 3 days of free HIV Testing and education at our sites.  Overall, we provided HIV testing for over 200 people and education for hundreds more.  We were lucky enough to score the talents of Ben's theater group who put together some very informative skits and a local HIV positive woman who talked about her own experiences.  It was such a good feeling to be able to provide such a service that is normally no as readily available.  

After we wrapped up our grant reports, I peaced out for the beginning of my vacation!  I made it to Mtwara Town and flew to Dar es Salaam.  That's right, instead of the usual 12+ hours trudging through the mud on an overcrowded bus; I spent an hour on an air-conditioned flight being fed juice and sandwiches.  I had better not get too used to that though.  We got to Dar and met up with some friends.  The next day, we set out on an amazing adventure, MAFIA ISLAND!  We caught about a 3-hour coaster to the town where the ferry sets out.  On the way there, I may or may not have discreetly threw-up into a plastic bag.  When we finally arrived, we had missed the ferry so we started looking for guesthouses close by.  After asking a few people, we found one and started our few days of marathon arguing.  We got them down a bit, dropped our bags, and headed out for a beer to recover a bit.  While sitting around, we were approached by some random dude asking if we wanted to make it to the island that same day.  Umm...no, I'd rather sit here in the 100 percent humidity paying entirely too much for a place I didn't want to be in the first place.  Of course we want to go.  After getting him to half his price twice, we had obtained transportation in a smallish motorboat.  Our next goal was to retrieve both our luggage and refund from the guesti that we spent approximately 2 minutes at.  The very not cool lady said that there was no way we would be getting a full refund.  After a while arguing, we got half of our money back and skedaddled for the boat.  We got to the harbor and thankfully received life jackets.  Then we had a merry little 2 1/2 boat ride in the company of a generator, 4 goats, and 3 hookers (all the necessities of an island, you know).  After hitting the shallows and wading into shore, we called up the place we had made reservations at and they sent someone to meet us.  When he showed up, we were told that the reservations had been messed up and we did not have a room that night.  He made up for it though when he spent about 2 hours calling every guesti in town finding us a place to stay for the night.  The next morning, we kicked off our day with some good ol' beans and chapati.  Then, we headed for the resort.  We were in for another session of bartering when we arrived and were told that the prices to stay there were about twice what we had been told earlier.  Because of all the arguing, we decided to go straight out in search of the holy grail of our trip, the whale shark!  We got on the boat with our two Tanzanian guides and a couple Germans.  On our way to deeper waters, we stopped by some dudes fishing in a canoe and our guides asked if there had been any whale sharks spotted.  The excitement was overwhelming when they pointed not far and said right over there.  After a couple more minutes of puttin' along, we say a dark fin cutting through the water.  When we got right next to it, they dude said jump, and Jordan and I didn't even wait to ask "How high?”  We just jumped.  Talk about scary.  Never in my life did I think that I would be swimming towards that iconic Jaws-style fin.  When we jumped in, the shark had switched direction and we couldn't catch up.  After we hauled ourselves into the boat, we got to try again.  The first time I got a good look at the shark, it creepily appeared out of the plankton thick water coming straight at me.  I got out of its way and swam besides it.  When it dove, I tried to go with it, getting entirely too excited, forgetting that my snorkel didn't reach that far and choking on tons of salt water.  The entire experience was just extremely amazing.  It is hard to believe that I was swimming along with a 30-foot shark.  At one point, I was swimming by the tail and realized that the fin was taller than me.  We developed a pattern.  Get in the boat, spot a fin, zip that way, and jump.  We continued this for a couple of hours until I was missing the skin off my elbows and the rains were coming.  When the winds come, the sharks dive so you can't play with them, so we headed in.  We decided to just stay that one night since we did what we came to do, and headed back the next morning.  The ride back was not quite as safi as our ride to the island.  To get to the actual boat, we loaded about 30 people into a tiny little boat and poled out to another slightly larger boat with a motor.  Next, we loaded two tiny boats worth of people into the slightly larger boat and slowly putted out to the ferry.  It was mass chaos trying to get into the boats, but we made it.  The ferry itself was very pirate-esque.   This "ferry" was a wooden ship that they stuck a motor on to.  We all loaded on and took off.  On the way, we passed through a storm and rode some of the biggest waves ever.  I loaded myself up with Dramamine, so I was fine, but the Tanzanians didn't handle it too well.  At least 2/3's of the boat was vomiting the entire way and we were getting hit in the face with waves coming over the side.  Can you say exciting pirate (and a little bit refugee-esque) adventure?  We did finally make it and then headed on to Dar.  Overall, amazing time that makes me feel so incredibly lucky to be in PC Tanzania.  Next stop, AMERICA!  Peace out peeps and if you in OK, come see me!

Holidays in Africa

So holidays are always though in Africa.  Being far away from family and friends just takes away some of the spirit.  Luckily, I am surrounded by a group of amazing friends that have morphed into some strange hodge-podge family. 
Halloween: For Halloween, we all gathered at a volunteer's house in our region.  We all worked on our costumes and most were Tanzanian themed.  We hung out, played games, and ate (as usual).

Its me...Ghee!! Love dressing up as other people.

Voodoo Priestess

Cashew Nut

Chili bottle...as seen at every bar in Tanzania

Primary School Student

Bus Stand Hard Boiled egg Salesman...and yes, thats an exact title

Creepy dude?

Overall, it was a pretty big success and fun to celebrate in a somewhat normal style.

Now Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday and it just kills me to not have the normal fixins.  Because our region is awesome though, we had almost a perfect Thanksgiving dinner.  We all helped out and actually had the normal turkey (killed that morning), dressing, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy and some other awesome sides.  As per a usual Thanksgiving dinner, I completely over ate and was miserable, but it was completely worth it.  Ben and I also got a red velvet birthday cake.  It all made me pretty darn happy.

Dinner has arrived!

Thanksgiving Mtwara style

Fortunately, I will be spending Christmas with my family!  That's right people, I'll be back in 'Merica from Dec. 13th to Jan. 2nd.  I cannot wait to see friends and family and stop sweating for a bit. 

Peace out folks!

Has it really been a year?

So my neighbor had her baby.  A month early, but luckily healthy.  Baby Elnathai was born August 21st and weighed a whopping 1.5 kilos, which is about 3.4 pounds.

Little baby Elnathai

Its that time of year, in with the new and out with the old, volunteers that is.  It is so weird that the older, more knowledgeable people are going.  I did make it to a couple sharehe's, going away parties, to say bye.  At Kristi's, the primary and secondary schools sang and gave speeches.  Also, no Tanzania party is complete without everyone saying a speech.  Luckily, I was passed over (wiping sweat from brow).  I just got to eat, dance and enjoy my time.

Most of the ville turned up for the party.

Dance party

Claire's little friend, Tashi, rockin' it before her sharehe

Tanzanians believe in wrapping you in every single present you receive, followed by a short dance party.

I also made it to Claire's party.  It was a lot of fun and all of her students and teachers came.  They sang, danced, made speeches, and gave presents and we also stuffed ourselves full of pilau and danced the night away. 

Ran into my first black mamba in country.  Luckily, there were students nearby with a hoe that cut it into pieces.  Good thing too because those will kill you dead!

The boys showing off their snake-killing weapon.

A newly discovered talent of one of Claire's students.  

Tanzanians love playing with our hair.  Claire's students successfully turned her hair into a rats nest  right before good-byes.

In other news, this month marks one year of living in Tanzania.  It is strange how fast it has gone!!  I feel like I have so much to accomplish in the next year am looking forward to the rest of my service.

That's about all folks!  Peace Out!

Things I Miss When I'm Sick In Africa...

So I've got something funky going on with my sinuses right now.  I am calling the Peace Corps doctors tomorrow to find out what medicines to go get, but in the meantime, I'll just lay in bed, thinking about all the things that feeling like this makes me miss. Here goes:

1. My Mom
2. Real Pharmacies and doctors I can trust
3. A bath
4. Ice cream
5. People understanding that when I am sick, I want to be left alone
6. Making soup without having to light the kerosene stove
7. America's Next Top Model marathons
8. My duck blanket
9. Sonic Blue Coconut Slushy
10. Ritz Crackers
11. Decongestants
12. REAL KLEENEX

Thats pretty much it for right now.  Sorry about the pity-party, but I would sell me kidney for a Sonic Slushy right now!! Peace out!

Hospital Time

So today I had my first true experience with the healthcare system in Tanzania.  A student at a Claire's school collapsed, had a seizure, and was unconscious for about an hour.  We are thinking this may be due to cerebral Malaria.  After this occurrence, his friend held him on the back of a motorcycle and they admitted him to the Newala Hospital.  When they arrived, there were no doctors and no real nurses.  Eliezar, a teacher from Kiuta, was carrying him until they finally admitted the boy.  Once admitted, a really shocker happened.  The hospital had no supplies.  This is not just an exaggeration.  All the hospital has is beds, sheets, and mosquito nets.  Claire had to go to the duka la dawa, pharmacy, and buy IV lines, needles, and medication.  Once every thing had been bought, the staff took about 20 minutes to get the IV in him arm.  Claire gave me a call once they had settled and I made my way that way, buying bananas, because get this: the hospital does not feed the patients.   In fact, they do nothing except administer the drugs that you buy yourself.  It depends on the patient's friends and families to feed, take to the bathroom, and clean the patient.  When asked what happens if someone is without family, the response was that they die.  That just goes to emphasize how much people rely on family in the Tanzanian culture.  They share everything: food, money, success, and failure.  In fact, if one person has any success, it falls on them to support the rest of their family.  As great as it is to be close to family and depend upon one another, I can't help thinking that this is a contributor to many of the problems in this country.  I know a guy who is extremely smart and an amazing person.  He is the oldest child and his father has passed away.  Because of this, after A-Level schooling (the equivalent of Junior College), he got his teaching certificate instead of moving on to University so that he could make money and help his younger siblings finish schooling.  It is great for the education system that they got such a remarkable person, but he has so much potential to do much more good for this country.  But, back to the hospital; after the IV was put in, he started to rouse.  After about an hour, he was even able to talk, with difficulty, and drink water and eat some food.  I can only hope that his progress continues.  This trip to the hospital got me thinking about what can be done to improve the overall health care system in Tanzania.  I think really, accountability needs to be addressed first.  I was told that whenever the government comes to inspect, people are fired because they just don't show up to work.  This still does not seem to improve the dependability of the staff though.  Once this has been addressed, then other logistics can be improved, like separating people with TB or contagious diseased, possibly like the man in the corner of the building we were in coughing up blood, from the other patients with already compromised immune systems.  Overall, the entire experience was extremely eye opening and I now understand why the Tanzanian citizens, at least around my area, seem to distrust medical care and tend to opt for solutions provided by witch doctors and superstition.  

Cookin' Tanzo Style

So cooking over kerosene stove, while limiting at times, is still enjoyable.  I love cooking so one of the most enjoyable parts of my day is cooking dinner.  So many people at home may be curious about the options available.  We actually have quite a bit: spinach, eggplant, hot peppers, bell pepper, onions, tomatoes, and potatoes.  I only miss a few things like cheap eggs (eggs are expensive for our budget), milk, cheese, and nice ready-to-cook meat.  I am lucky that I have an amazing family though, because I usually have some packages of tuna for some quick protein.  One of my favorite Tanzanian foods is chapati.  Chapatti is the African version of the Indian naan.  You may also say that it is just a thick tortilla.  Well anyways, I thought it might be fun to show here so if you are interested, you can try it out for yourself!

To make chapatti, you need 3 cups of flour (maybe a little extra to flour the rolling surface), oil, salt, and water.

First, in a bowl, combine 3 cups of flour, a pinch of salt, and about a tablespoon of oil.

Next, add enough water so that you are able to form one elastic ball of dough.

Break off pieces of dough, experiment with the size you want.  Roll out the dough, drizzle a little oil on the dough, and then roll the dough back up and set aside.  I am usually able to form between 8 to 10 balls from one batch.

After oiling all of the dough, set aside for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

After setting aside, roll out the chapattis into reasonably thin circles.  Again, the thickness is mainly up to your own preference. 

Heat about a tablespoon, or less, of oil in a pan.  After it is hot, add a chapatti.

When the chapatti is good and bubbly, it is time to flip.

After you cook them all, you can go traditional and enjoy with a hot bowl of beans, or make wraps.    

So this is just a little taste of Tanzania.  Hopefully more to come!  Bon appetite!  Peace out!

As we go on...We Remember...

First of all, I want to add some pictures of Claire's very successful HIV/AIDs Education/Soccer camp.  I went to Claire's ville last week to help out with this 3-day camp.  The mornings were about 4 hours of HIV Education and Life Skills.  Then in the afternoons, we played around 3 or 4 hours of soccer.  The entire thing was exhausting, but extremely fun.  I also think that the kids took a lot away from it.  I am so glad that I went to help because after seeing the programing and structure, I think I'll conduct this camp at my school.

So there comes a time in every volunteers service that their time here is drawing to an end.  For our 2009 Health and Environment class, that time has come.  Last weekend, we decided to have one last hoorah for our friends.  On Friday, we all made to trip to Mtwara town on the coast.  The beach house had been reserved so we spent a good weekend with friends, internet, and good food with a beach front view.  Not a bad way to go if you ask me.  We shopped, ate at the fish market, swam and celebrated the friendships that we've made in  such a short time.  I know that sounds really corny, but its amazing how quickly good friendships are formed over here.  In such a high stress, foreign environment, we count on each other for support.  I still talk to my family, but there are so many things that I feel I can't tell them.  They are already under so much stress by my being here, I would never want to aggravate that.  Therefore, you end up talking to other volunteers who understand what you are going through and more often than not have gone through the exact same thing.  It is so sad to see this class go, but we can only hope that they aren't replaced with a bunch of weirdos.  Heres hopin'!
In other news, school officially reopened this last Monday.  Hooray for my second term as a teacher.  Time really flies over here, almost exactly 10 months in fact.  Crazy.  Well sorry this was such a sappy post!  Peace out!

50th Anniversary Speech

So last month, Peace Corps Tanzania threw a big shin-dig to celebrate 50 years of Peace Corps.  This means a lot to the program as a whole and we have the honor of serving in one of the oldest programs here in Tanzania.  Love it!  I have been asked so many times why I would ever want to go to Africa, leaving all my friends and family behind.  The following exemplifies the feelings that all Peace Corps Volunteers have about our service.  After hearing this, I felt a renewed sense of purpose and pride.  I hope that all of you enjoy this as much as we did!

PCV Dan Waldron’s speech at the 50^th anniversary celebration - June 22, 2011

 

“Dr. Florens Turuku, Ambassador Lenhardt, Director Williams, Country Director Wojnar-Diagne. Distinguished guests, fellow volunteers, ndugu wenzangu. Take a moment to look around. We are not natural neighbors. We come from different generations, from different states and different countries, from different religions and backgrounds. But tonight we are united in a community of hope, brought together by an unshaken devotion to our common humanity. So it is tonight, and so it was at the beginning of our journey.

 

50 years ago a group of driven individuals arrived in what was then Tanganyika. It wasn’t a country yet, it wouldn’t be for four more months, and when they arrived, they were greeted by a sign which read “Beware the lions” And there we started. But who were these people, these reckless ambassadors? Reading the first curious accounts, the first letters home from a new frontier, one gets a sense of their characters. Who were they? They were George Schreiber, who talked about embodying “ a pioneer type of spirit”. They were George Johnson, who said “Peace Corps exists as an embodiment of a conviction that the best way to achieve global understanding is to put Americans in contact with other nations.” There were 35 of them, engineers, surveyors, and geologists, from Princeton, Harvard, Michigan. And they were drawn together by a man who stood on the steps of Ann Arbor and told the assembled students that based on “your willingness to not merely serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete.” 5 months later, the Peace Corps was signed into law, with Kennedy again telling us that “We will send those abroad who are committed to the concept which motivates the Peace Corps. It will not be easy:”

 

Across the nation, people were moved. They volunteered, they went to boot camp (Drill sergeant and all), and they became the first soldiers in an army of peace. 50 years later, that army has fought poverty, hunger, disease, and subjugation in 139 countries, side by side with peoples of every language, tribe, and religion. Kennedy’s words have outlived him. The army fights on. And though it sometimes feels as though our struggle is never-ending, battles have been won, progress has been made.

 

Yet for all the measurable progress, so much of what Peace Corps does is unquantifiable. There is no box that shows how amazed the children were when the seedlings began to grow, no graph to measure the change that occurred when a woman living with HIV when she realized she had become a leader. And more: how many Tanzanians knew, until the moment they were proven wrong, that Americans could never swing a jembe? How many Tanzanians did not believe that we could dance? And how many of us volunteers never guessed at the number of different ways life could be lived, and lived beautifully, until we came here? We knew about the poverty, but how little did we know about the generosity? These things may be unquantifiable, but they are no less real. Mwalimu Nyerere said "To measure a country's wealth by its gross national product is to measure things, not satisfactions." Many other organizations build more things. Yet I doubt there is another that builds more satisfactions.

 

Now where do we go from here? The goal of our work is to make the continuation of our work unnecessary. We are not there yet, in fact we are nowhere near the limits of our potential. Success is based on expectations, but it is also limited by them, and we are limiting ourselves, and our communities as long as remain prisoners to what Michael Gerson called “the soft bigotry of low expectations”. Let us never tire of pushing ever upwards. We have come so very far, Tanzanian and American alike, still we have so very far yet to go. This is a party to celebrate 50 years of friendship and accomplishment, but it can be more. Let us stand together tonight and take this anniversary as an opportunity to recommit to the spirit of the Peace Corps, to remember the sense of duty that brought us all here, to do better, to go farther, to try harder. We can expect far more from one another, but we can also offer far more of ourselves. American poet Robert Browning wrote, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” Tonight we have a golden opportunity on this golden anniversary to not set limits on our potential, but rather expand our expectations.

 

I don’t know much. I left America a year and a week ago, and I’m just beginning to realize what I don’t understand. But I love this job. There is nothing like it. I said goodbye to everything and everyone I held dear, climbed onto a plane with a large group of strangers, got pushed out at 30,000 feet, landed, and began to plant trees, dig wells, and teach beekeeping. One day, mungu akipenda, I will get good at my job, at which point it will be time to leave. And after all of that, after the level of insanity I’ve put myself and my loved ones through, the thought that will keep me up at night: is how do I get back to Tanzania?

 

Because somewhere along the way, something changed. We came here as ambassadors from America, to show Tanzanians what America really is. But now…now we have become ambassadors to America, from Tanzania. For the rest of our days we will do all in our power to represent Tanzania: its beauty and its need, its poverty and its riches, its depth of generosity and humanity. The Kiswahili word for together is “pamoja”. It literally means “in one place”. And if that’s the case, none of us will ever be together again. A part of us never left America, the land of the free, the home of the brave. But a part of us will never leave Tanzania, “nakupenda na moyo yote”. That part of us will always be Tanzanian, rising with the sun, gripping the hands of strangers-turned-family, forever exchanging with unguarded smiles the news of the morning.

 

Because Peace Corps is not for everybody. As Kennedy said, “it will not be easy.” It isn’t ea   sy.It is painful, and it is lonely. But none of us here today have to be here. We could be living closer to our loved ones. We could be making more money. We could be cooler, or more comfortable, and God knows we could be cleaner. But each of us decided that there were more important things to us than comfort, that while a ship in the harbor may be safe, that is not what ships are built for. Everyone here tonight, Tanzanian and American, has dedicated a portion of their lives to the belief that with devotion, and kindness, and insistence on a brighter future, change is possible. Everyone here tonight is part of something greater than themselves. We are all soldiers in an army of peace. An army that marches on, as our President Barack Obama said, “with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us.”

A Great Vacation

Last episode of my blog, I left off while sitting in an amazingly Americanized coffee shop in Moshi.  So much as happened since and I have either not had internet or been too lazy to type.  So we hung out in Moshi about a week.  Basically all we did was lounge around and eat all kinds of food.  One day we did muster the strength to venture to the used clothes market, Memoria.  This trip was made a success when I purchased a rather snazzy Patagonia rain jacket.  We also did make a trip to Arusha.  Kathryn and I loaded up onto yet another bus, and made to short trip to Arusha.  After arriving, we had no idea where we were or where the guesti was so we wandered for a good amount of time.  After a suggestion from another volunteer, we finally found a place to stay that was within our budget, which was quite the quest in the jungle of high-end tourist hotels that is Arusha.  After getting to our room, we rested a bit and then later decided to explore the wonders of Shop-Rite.  This extraordinary find is a real-live grocery store.  Overall, we spent over an hour, browsing the aisle upon aisle of rarities such as raspberries, coffee creamer, and fresh-made breads and doughnuts.  Basically we were happier than Charlie was in the Chocolate Factory.  Oh commercial bliss!  After Shop-Rite, a.k.a. "Land o' Plenty," we met up with our friends that had just climbed Mt. Meru at a sushi restaurant.  When I say sushi restaurant, I mean it.  A Japanese expat had settled in Arusha, recruited a real sushi chef, and founded my favorite place in Tanzania.  We had dumplings and sushi and I was a happy, happy volunteer.  The next day, after attempting sushi again (alas the sushi chef has Tuesdays off) we headed back to Moshi.  After a few more days of hanging out, we loaded up onto my 7th bus in much to short of a time, we hopped over to Tanga, a region of the northern coast of Tanzania.  Around 6 1/2 hours later, we met up with all of our friends.  Overall, there were 20 volunteers gathered in Tanga for our 4th of July get-together.  The next day, we went swimming at a beach.  Swimming in Tanzania is always an awkward experience.  Everywhere I have been in this country, there is always a swarm of children, and sometime even adults, wanting to just stare at your glorious whiteness in your swimsuit.  Because of this feeling of being put on display, you must approach swimming with strategy.  First, you must get out of your clothes and wrap a towel around you as quickly as possible.  Next, approach the water fully concealed under your towel.  You must then drop your towel as close to the water as possible without the chance of it getting wet.  Then submerge your body in water up to your shoulders, there-by revealing nothing.  Luckily for our swimming experience this day, we were met by a hoard of other white people so the awkwardness level is significantly decreased.  The next day, on July 2nd, we celebrated the 4th of July early.  A couple of volunteers had arranged a boat to take us out to a sand bar.  We then spent most of the day on the sand bar, eating, drinking, and being merry.  Also swimming in the Indian Ocean.  This section of the ocean proved especially treacherous though.  We had one girl step on a sea urchin and then get to spend a good chunk of the day getting the spikes dug out of her foot and there were also jellyfish about.  The day was wrapped up at Toten Island, the Island of the dead, where there are a number of ancient German graves.  On that next Sunday, Kathryn and I, accompanied by a couple of our friends, bussed down to Dar es Salaam.  When we arrived, there was a bit of confusion and the bus did not stop where we needed it to, hence, we did not get our tickets to head back to Mtwara the next day.  Instead, we gorged on delicious Indian food.  The next day was the 4th of July, so we decided to celebrate with a Subway sub, Twix, and cold Pepsi.  We also went to the bus stand and bought our tickets for the next day.  That night, we celebrated our last night in Dar with Lebanese food.  Nom, nom, nom!!  The next day, we loaded up onto the bus, and headed back to home, sweet Mtwara.  We actually made it in record time too, pulling into Newala at 5:30 p.m.  It was glorious!  The next couple of days, I spent marketing and visiting with people.  I also spent almost an entire day washing my huge number of dirty clothes.  Overall though, there is no better feeling than getting home after a long spout of travel!  That's all for now folks!  Peace out!

BRRRR!!! Iringa!!!!!!!!

So!! As great as Zanzibar was, it was good to get back to the mainland and more reasonable prices. Our feeble Peace Corps salary was not made to go to safi tourist places. When we got back into Dar, we hit up Subway. Sandwiches might be one of the things that I miss most! After that, we napped and then snuck into the center where PC had all the new Education volunteers locked down. We spent a few hours getting to know them which was great! Now we just have to wait 7 weeks to find out who our new neighbors are. On Saturday, we decided to sleep in a bit and catch a later bus to Iringa. We got to the standi, and bought tickets. Well it just so happens we bought tickets on a super nice bus. They even served us cold sodas and water! Talk about service. We got to Iringa Town around 6 and met up with another volunteer, Glenn. We dropped our stuff at the guesti and then went out for Chinese food and a couple of beers. Honestly, the greatest thing about travel is getting to see all of your friends scattered around the country. That night, we also discovered just how cold it gets in Africa. I was wearing my North Face fleece and was still freezing. I slept under the thickest blanket I have ever seen, pants, and my fleece and was still a little cold. Glenn had to leave early the next morning so Kathryn and I slept in and went out for a late breakfast. We went overboard and ended up getting omelettes, french toast, and yogurt. After becoming entirely too full, we decided to hike up to a big rock that has a great view of the entire area. We spent a couple hours hiking up and then took a nice nap, well actually Kathryn napped and I fidgeted. Then we went back to the guesti and napped more (writing this makes me realize just how much we sleep!). That night, we did something that I did not even know was possible in Tanzania, we ordered DELIVERY PIZZA!! It was delicious and actually reasonably priced. That next morning, we had cold pizza for breakfast and then two more volunteers, TJ and Carly, got to town. We went for lunch at this amazing place called Neema's. They have amazing food, we got bacon avocado paninis, and also have cool crafts. The entire establishment is staffed by disabled Tanzanians. For example, the entire serving staff is deaf. It was amazing to see a business that allows Tanzanians with handicaps to support themselves. Elswhere in the country, their only option is begging. That day and the next day, we spent playing board games and hanging out at Neema's and spending way too much money on food and crafts. Iringa was a plethra of handmade products!! The motherload for a craft-lovin fool like myself. Also, Iringa is full of yummy food. A Peace Corps Volunteer must! I even had a warm cinnamon roll and homemade yogurt, am I in Africa anymore? Yesterday morning, we loaded up onto yet another bus bound for Moshi and almost exactly 12 hours later, made it! So far, I've had a bacon bagel and 2 cups of real coffee!!! Sorry if this blog seems a little scatter-brained!! Blaim it on my caffeine high! Thats about it for Iringa. Tune in next time for the down-low on Moshi! Peace out!