TZ Life Continues

So my love for these people continues to grow and grow and its almost becoming unbearable. the thought of leaving never fails to bring a tightness in my chest and tears to my eyes. ever since i came back from my safari, i've been spending more and more time with everyone and growing closer and closer to them.

i think the ultimate highlight of my week was saturday night. last week, i was just hanging out with the boys and thinking how they never get to go out, they never have fun, they never just have time when they can be free and away from work and just let go. so i talked to bibi and i arranged to take the boys out. so on saturday, i took albert, iwe, lusekelo, james, simon, and amos to see ngwasuma (the most popular band in tanzania). all week they "prepared" themselves, singing and dancing. and they LOVED the concert. i will NEVER forget how much they laughed, how they danced, how they were SOO incredibly happy. it was probably the first time they had ever done anything like that, and for most of them, it may be the last. unless of course, i can arrange to do it once more before i leave. which could prove to be difficult. the boys enjoyed themselves SO much that they refused to leave when we were supposed to. bibi had told us to be home at 1 a.m. (since i was taking all the boys there would be no one to open the gate, so she was going to stay awake and wait for us). well, we couldn't get the boys to leave, so we didnt make it home until 3 a.m. needless to say, bibi was NOT pleased, but i took full responsibility because i felt getting in trouble was worth a night of so much fun for the boys. by the next day bibi insisted she was over it, and all was forgiven.

babu's been gone for a few days now because his sister died last week, so he left to go to the funeral and travel around to other parts of TZ to see family. When his sister died, our house was filled with family and everyone was cooking and we basically had a HUGE "sleepover" for 2 nights.

i bought all the people who work at the house their own english-swahili/swahili-english dictionary to help them communicate with me (i bought myself one, too). apparently, eliza and petronella have been going to english classes every other day for the past 4-5 months and that has definitely been helping them. iwe and i have been working on his english, he has been completing the tests and assignments that i give my class. one person who has latched on to me, MUCH to my surprise, is lusekelo. he and i have been sitting and working on his english every night. i tell him stories, we work on his pronunciation and vocabulary, and i help him with his writing and spelling. if im sitting inside, he makes the stupidest reasons to come in and sit there as long as possible, or he calls me and lets it ring once, and this his way of telling me he wants me to come outside to sit and talk with him. my students are also seeking me much more than i expected they would. they actually come to me during their free periods and ask me to have an extra class. one of the massai boys who is a guard at the school is illiterate (he's in his late 20's), but he's just been learning to write the alphabet and he very proudly showed me his a, b, and c scribbles today. VERY cute.

many of the teachers are really making me angry, two of them in particular. they are so lazy and so irresponsible. there are many times when they just sit in the staff room and dont teach their classes. last week i went to help at ELA, the nursery school, and i was on my way back to fanaka around 11:30 and i came across those two teachers sitting at the bar. i told bibi and she had quite a talk with them. then, the very next day, one of them came to school two hours late with no reason. today, i came back from class and saw that my pen was missing from my desk. it was the only one i had with me, so i was searching for it. i spotted it on one of the teachers' desks along with about 4 other pens (so he obviously wasn't "borrowing" it out of need). i walked over, picked up the pen, and said, "yeah, this is mine," and sat back down at my desk. the two teachers said some things in swahili to each other and giggled like they always do so stupidly. the teacher who took my pen also owes the shop next to our house about $30 for beer he never paid for one night. somedays it takes all i have not to walk over and punch those two in the face.

BUT, other than that, haha, i like school, and i live my students. sometimes they talk too much and they drive me crazy, but i do my best to incorporate things into class that they will find "entertaining" and its done a lot to keep them interested. they are precious. i really, really love them.

thats the latest from tz. :)

African Safari! :)

well, i just got back from my safari this past monday. so awesome. i loved it. i was with a group of 15 volunteers from cross cultural solutions. at first they seemed to be a bit too much for me to handle and i kept really quiet (mostly befriending the tanzanian guides) but i had gotten closer to them and started having much more fun by the last night.

first we went to lake manyara and we rode some camels there. very fun. getting up and down from camels is definitely an interesting experience. then we went to a massai village to learn a little bit more about their culture. one of the massai warriors proposed to me. and he was VERY serious about it too. he offered me 5 cows as a dowry. i was pretty offended when i found out he had 200 cows, haha. BUT, he told me he wanted to give me the 5 and sell the rest so that he could build me a very nice house like i would have in america. he even offered me the gold ring on my finger. AND he called me that night after we left, but i missed his call. haha. very funny. i felt bad because he was actually telling me he loved me and i was straight up laughing in his face. needless to say we all got quite a kick out of the situation.

we went on safari (meaning "journey") to the serengeti (meaning "endless plain") and ngorongoro crater which was created by a volcano. our main goal was to see the Big 5. The big 5 are the most sought out animals on safari because they are the most rare due to poaching in the past. the big 5 are water buffalo, lions, leopards, elephants, and rhinos. luckily we saw ALL of them! :) we also saw giraffes, zebras, wardhogs, hyenas, cheetahs, cool birds, gazelles, etc. it was really cool and SO gorgeous! i really wish i could go ahead and put up my pictures.

we've been back at school this week, but we havent really had normal classes. many, many of the students were sent home because they still havent paid school fees from the beginning of the school year. so a lot of the kids are missing and im pretty sad because its some of my favorites who arent here. i havent been able to give new material, so we've just been doing reading exercises and having class discussions.

i dont know why, but ive really been missing greece lately, and my family and friends there. i think i might just be sad at the realization that i cant see them this year. anyway, things are great here, and i hope things are great where each of you are as well! i love you all soo much!

A "Munzungu's" Life

Wow, this is the fastest i've been back for another blog. right now i'm in the town of moshi. i just got here after an 8 hour bus ride. i'm staying the night here tonight, and tomorrow im setting off for one of Africa's famous safaris to the serengeti and ngorongoro crater, as well as a massai culture tour. apparently camel riding is also part of the deal. sweet as. im excited. and the drive over here was gorgeous. i wanted so badly to be sitting by the window so i could hang out of it and take pictures, but i feel sure i would have completely tormented the guy beside me if i tried to reach across him for the bajillion photo opps.

so, its the rainy season here in tanzania, particularly in the area where i live. and the roads are crazy. theyre mostly dirt roads with HUGE holes that fill with mud and they are sometimes QUITE a challange to walk through. ESPECIALLY when the CRAZY local drivers are barreling through at ridiculous speeds. basically, if you're anywhere around, even trying to navigate your way through a horridly huge and deep puddle, you better get your ass to running because you're about to be as flat as a chapati (or pancake).

speaking of pancakes...lets talk about food. i eat the same thing every day for lunch and dinner. rice, beans, beef, maybe some cabbage, maybe some cooked bananas. so far, im not tired of it, but i am tired of breakfast, its the meal i look forward to least. we eat cereal with boiling hot milk. not so enjoyable, especially when you're sweating to death. also, when the milk starts to cool, it gets this white, filmy cream stuff on top of it, and the sight of it alone is enough to make me throw up. also, another thing which may lead to loss of appetite if your mind is not kept in check is the awful crunch that randomly comes up in the food. i dont know if its dirt or what, but, its quite unenjoyable.

going into the city is a nightmare. a total nightmare. it takes forever, its so crowded, its dirty, and you're bound to come home with an awful headache. the city is only 30 km away from my village, but it can take close to 2 hours to get there. yesterday, cassie and i had to go into the city for a couple of errands. we were literally done in 30 minutes. but because of flooding and buses and blah blah blah, we got home 7 hours after we left. that was fun. or maybe not. generally, everything here takes FOREVER, no matter what. patience is a necessity.

i guess this post has mostly been complaining, but i really love it here. for the past couple of years, there has been a small piece of me that has felt emotionally dead. i just havent been moved or touched by things as i once was. and thats really been bothering me for a while. but ever since i got here, i have been moved to tears by the smallest of things. i cry so much it seems, but theyve been such good tears. but, some of my tears aren't really good ones... this place is REALLY making me miss nigel. i cannot stop thinking about how it would be to have him here. i cant help but look around at these people and this place and KNOW he would love it. i cant help but think that this is undoubtably a place his feet would have walked, his smile would have greeted tanzanians, his arms would have hugged these precious children, and being called a "munzungo" would not have even phased him. everytime i get in a dala dala, i wish he was there with me.

i know i was meant to email a lot of you, but the internet is too inconvenient here to really do so. keeping up with the blog is about as much as i have time for. so keep reading. i miss you all!

The people i love most in Tanzania

well, time continues to pass and ive already been here 3 weeks. it really feels as though the time has flown by. but im completely falling in love with everyone here. what else is to be expected from me, right? for the first couple of weeks i was very shy and quiet, just taking everything in. i didnt really make much of an effort to talk to people. but the last week i have REALLY been opening up and being myself and joking around with everyone and beginning my usual habit of giving gifts. i really love these people, so so much. i have to tell you a bit more about some of them....

first there are bibi and babu, my host parents. ive mentioned them quite a bit but they really are so great. babu doesnt say much, but when he does he talks up a storm in a low, muffled voice and his eyes are closed for most of the conversation. but he is very kind, and he loves children. bibi was in tanazania's parliament for 14 years fighting for women's issues and equality. she tells it like it is, and isn't afraid of speaking against some of the more, what i would call, silly, ideas of this culture. they have 2 grown children, but have lost 3 others. one of their sons was murdered while studying in cuba. one of their daughters was going to have her appendix taken out and they gave her too much anesthesia and she died. another daughter had malaria, and the doctors gave her too much medication and she overdosed. its really so sad. but as a result, they founded the school and many children are getting opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise, although a lot of them are sadly wasting those opportunities.

i also really love the "help" at the house. our driver is by far my favorite. his name is albert and he is married to a gorgeous woman and they have 2 of the most beautiful children EVER. he barely speaks english, but he and i have such a great way of communicating with lots of laughs. he is SO cute. the girls, eliza and petranella, are very cute and they also cant speak english but they use as many words as they possibly can all the time and they really love to laugh at me. there are 5 "house boys." i say boys, but theyre actually between 24 and 30 years old. they are orphans and have come to our house to work in exchange for food and a place to sleep. they are alot of fun. simon does the most around the house, and he's also the one i talk to the least. amos works as a mechanic nearby, bibi and babu found him the job after he had been helping them for a while. iwe is studying to go back to school and he has such a funny voice. james barely speaks any english but he laughs a lot and he's always giving these flirtatious looks. i KNOW that he's one of those slick charmers and there's no telling what kind of things he would be saying if we spoke the same language. it may be better that we dont because i might decide i didnt like him so much if i really know what he was thinking. but as of now he's one of my faves. lucicado doesnt speak english either and up until yesterday i thought he was utterly afraid of me.

i love my students. they are so curious and ask so many questions. they want to know EVERYthing about me and ive become quite attached to many of them. we're on easter break now, but one of the students got my phone number before we left and he has been texting me relentlessly ever since. but i love it, and all of them.

the kid who i feel closest to is called Father. its not actually his name, but its what he's called. he is 7. cassie, the other volunteer and i, have developed quite a lot of concern for him. he is so smart, but he is being raised in an awful environment. his mother beats him, and apparently has sex with different men while he's in the room. he will certainly not have enough money to pay for school, so cassie and i want to do some fundraisers and send out some letters to get money to send him to a school some where away from his mom. we will be putting up a group on facebook really soon, and we are both so desperate to help him.

i feel like there's also so much i think about wanting to post, but once i get on the internet i cant think of any of it. ill be doing my best to put up as much as i can. i love you all!