home. but not for long : )

Karibu numbani, to myself. (welcome home)

I am back from a sweet weekend away. I was down in Katesh (in case you havent been reading avidly...) visiting emma for the weekend. It was so so nice to be away for the weekend and to see a different place and way of life. Emma met me here in town on Thursday and we spent the night here in Arusha with another peace corp volunteer. It was cool to see another part of Arusha that i would never venture on my own. We went to a sweet little road side place and had grilled chicken and chips for dinner- it was amazing to have chicken that consists of more than feet, legs, and wings. Its good to know chicken here actually have breast meat too! Friday morning Emma and i got up early, took a dala dala to the bus stand and got on our bus to Katesh. The ride was great- only the first hour and a half or so were on paved roads. The scenery was great and just knowing i was going away for a bit was great.

We got off the bus about 6 hours later in hot, sunny Katesh- a big contrast to the way Usa has been. We walked to Emma's supercute house, where another volunteer was hanging out. We went for rice and beans and to get a few things at the pick and pay. Then we headed down to the huge market that takes place 3 times a month. It was massiveeeeeeeeeee. And vey overwhelming. I let emma and jimmy do all my bargaining and got some sweet fabrics so i can finally get my clothes made! awesome! We got back home after some pictures and started cooking dinner- pasta and tomato sauce. I watched emma light the jiko- a charcoal stove thing, and start to cook. I was amazed at how long it takes to cook... and it was awesome to have the experience to cook for myself, and on a jiko at that. After dinner I boiled some water and got to take a HOT!!! bucket shower! it was freaking amazing! I had forgotten how good hot water can feel. I brushed my hair with a fork (emma has no brush- nor hair really) Then we hung out a bit and went to bed.

The next morning we got up and were lazy in our pj's. But not really lazy, I washed the dishes from the night before, another cool experience my host fam wont let me do..., and then did some laundry- my jeans were, kinda still are, nasty. Then another volunteer came in and we ran some errands to get some things printed for him and then just hung out. Two of Emma's friends came by and i realize just how little swahili i do know. haha. i knew maybe every 10th word. But i did learn some sweet ones: shagalabagala means messy, chaos, etc. And kwa sababu means because. both have a sweet ring to them. i also learned how to say cheers- which is one of my fav words to learn in other languages! its kilala heri in kiswahili. ANYWAY. After phil left we hiked up to the top of this ridge to see the sunset, it was so pretty.

I fell hiking down, so im gonna have some sweet tanzania scars maybe.... we hung out then made dinner... pizzas!
they were amazing. who knew you could make all that on the charcoal jiko? I wouldnt even make it at home! (maybe now i will)

Sunday we woke up and did more dishes and laundry. Then we were lazy and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Two hours later we had them- and they were good. two hours to make cinammon rolls... and we made the dough the night before! so insane. but so worth it. Emma has mastered cooking on a jiko thats for sure. Sunday we piddled around town, i got some more fabric for some sweet pants emma is gonna have made for me- they are like nothing you have ever seen before- they go on kinda like a diaper! haha. you just wait.... then we met her boss for a soda and what turned into lunch. Beef and ugali. I only ate the beef and some of that i had to slyly spit into my hand and drop under the table because i literally couldnt chew it. Sunday night I cooked dinner by myself, complete with lighting to jiko- oh ya, i am tanzanian now... (NOT). we made mash, tomato slices, and cheese and crackers- so really all i made was mash. But thats ok. I also took another hot shower. lovely.

I got up early this morning and got the 6am bus from Katesh. I arrived back in Arusha at 2.15 or so, got a bit confused around the bus park, but made it back here to post this for all you to read. I will head back to Usa in a bit, teach for three days, and then head to Zanzibar on Friday for the week! woooooooooo! i am so ready for some sun and another cool place. So i might not post again until then.... maybe take a break from the sunny beaches and my diving course to give you an update. you all should know my birthday is soon soon soon! And im going to visit the orphanage tomorrow, finally! gotta check on my baby!

HOPE all is well, things here are brilliant as always!
why am i only staying 2 months? really...............
xoxo
nakupenda

exams. guests. OUT OF TOWN! WOOO

Back in town again, meeting emma to head to her town, Katesh, tomorrow morning. Wednesday afternoon, we went and had lunch at a pretty touristy place called Via Via, but it has a cool ambience because it does pinpoint tourists. Its series of straw huts, linked by fabric. pretty sweet. We went back to court and this time were in a trial for a minister of the government who was on trial for encouraging and rallying groups to attack. The witness we saw get cross examined was testifying that the defendant had been instrumental in holding meetings, but the defense was showing basically that the witness was never at a meeting that the defendant held. We had to leave for a while, because the questions might have identified the witness and his identity was to be witheld from the public. In the morning we had seen the witness, a fat american man. so that was kinda neat. It was crazy to sit and hear someone flat out say that a group of them surrounded a certain hill where the tutsi lived and moved in giving them no where to go, and killed them all. WOAH. And this time we figured out which one was the defendant, so that was interesting to be able to see him. So, overall, really cool. I hope to go back again. Im kinda bummed i didnt get to see more of the prime minister killer's trial. If you have no idea what im talking about and why this is so cool to be here for, please go pop hotel rwanda in the dvd player and clue yourself in...

Yesterday our students had exams all day. I had to sit and watch them, four exams back to back. we spread their desks all across the school yard so they couldnt cheat, since our classroom is pretty freaking tiny. They took the english exam i had written, and did pretty well. I think the lowest grade was a 77% and the highest a 98%. I was pretty excited. I caught two of my students trying to cheat by throwing stones. pretty humourous actually! Yesterday right around lunch time, we were told visitors would be coming to the school. I thought that maybe one or two would come, but instead a group of like 30 people from california showed up! I was in the classroom with the students, and the other teachers were being introduced to the group of visitors. eventually, i walked out of my classroom and the shock on their faces to see me there was pretty funny. I dont think they expected another white teacher. haha. it was great. So they asked me all kinds of crazy questions, about my class and my teaching- about what to do when there is no toilet paper... i held out my left hand... and one of the 17 year olds frantically told me she was so so glad to see me and had to ask what you do with tampons here since you dont flush them. pretty funny. I got my class to sing for them, and even got them to do the two songs I have taught them- both illahee songs! Oh camp would be so proud... kids in tanzania are singing the beaver song and magdalena hagdalena.... haha. The group invited me to come back to have lunch with their group, and lindsay and i did, which was nice. It was interesting to walk with a huge group of wzungu (foreigners) and have people stop and stare. I would speak to people and they would look shocked at my swahili, assuming i was just one of the tourists. It was a cool feeling, really, to be the one who knew where i was going and knew how to answer people's questions when they addressed us in swahili. After we came back to the school the group played football with the students who were still around with 3 new balls they brought. Another half of the group painted one of the classrooms, so that was cool.

Today my students took their math exam, which was no where near as pretty as teh english one. The scores were in the 40% range then a huge jump to 77% and up to 94%. I was kinda bummed but there are two good things i can say... 1. the grades on the arts and crafts exams were ALL in the 40%. 2. more of my students were in the 77-94 group than the 40's group.... 8 pass, 4 fail.... could have been worse....

now I am here, hanging out, til i meet up with emma. Apparently we are going to dinner and to hear live music tonight, so that will be good, then headed out in the morning down to katesh. pretty sweet. im just excited for a break- not from the work but from the volunteer base here in Arusha/Usa. plus, i come back and have 3 days til i leave for zanzibar... wooooooooo.

hope all is well. check out new pictures on facebook (complete with my ring worm pictures!):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143646&l=03da9&id=29701857


xoxo

Judges. Mud. motormouth!

hello! i hope everyone saw the pictures, i will try to do more on Thursday maybe. it just takes so long.... and my patience is limited!

I am back in Arusha town today, after teaching 3 periods, to watch the Rwanda trials. We stopped in when we got to town and watched for about a half hour, when of course, they called lunch break. bummer. but we are here, will get lunch, then head back. The guy on trial today is being charged with killing the prime minister of Rwanda, back in 1994. AMAZING! we get to see the big wigs go down... or at least part of their trial! It took a while to figure out which side was defense and which was the prosecution but all my days of watching law and order (!!) are so paying off. haha. We watched the testimony of an American crime expert- we thought that was a pretty interesting expertise... but we came in to the cross examination of the witness by the defense. It is interesting how many Americans are involved, one of the judges and maybe 4 of the lawyers. It took a while to figure out what was going on.... but basically for what i gathered, the prime minister was killed by a hand grenade. The defense was trying to show that the expert crime guy witness was not 100% sure in ruling out a grenade launcher... meaning the defendent would be innocent because he was found in the room. OR something along those lines. I think once we go back and see more i will get a much better idea of what really is going on, details wise with the crime. BUT, regardless, even with limited understanding, it is cool! One of the first questions asked to the witness was 'where were you from june-august 1994' which is when the genocide took place. the second was 'have you ever testified in a genocide trial?' OH MAN, so cool.

So now that ive gotten my super exciting and most recent news out of the way, lets tell some stories from the last couple days.

My students have exams tomorrow, so we have been working hard to prepare for them. I am nervous for them. i really want them to do well, and i feel like i have prepared them, but i just dont know. granted ive only been teaching a week- but i did write the exam. we shall see. keep your fingers crossed. On thursday I will come in to arusha to meet Emma, and we will go on Friday to katesh the town she lives in with the missionaries! I am excited to have a ride and not have to jump right on a bus.... and just to get away for a weekend will be really nice... i cant wait. My students will still be taking exams on Friday, and just grading so i wont miss really anything as long as i get my English and maths exams graded before i go.

My dream came true. The fact that I am white made a baby cry! I have always heard and seen (like in invisible children) of small kids that have never seen white people and they are terrified, and they freak out. On a walk home one day, we passed a little girl with her mom, and she saw us and started screaming and kicking! as we got closer, her face froze and she starred at us as we passed. then promptly began screaming and looking after us! her mom laughed as we walked by and said she doesn't know white people. I was in heaven! what a cool experience to be some where that a little kid has never seen white people! i loved it. it seriously made my week. How i haven't told you before now is beyond me, since it happened last week some time.

it is rainy. it is MUDDY. and the mud here sticks to your shoes til you have an added inch and 3 pounds on each foot. you scrape it off on a rock, and repeat the process until you get where you are going. I need to do laundry too, my jean legs literally stay in place like they still have a leg in them when i take them off. It is colder than i thought and so my jeans have been my daily attire. thank god i did actually bring them, i wasn't going to!

I thought i had more stories. opps. we learned a sweet card game, called big bertha. think phase ten, but with wild cards. and i attempted to teach agape, our host sister age 10, to play spades... even though i knew it was too complicated.

AH remember a story. We have the most adorable little neighbor kid named ellie, but a boy. He is five and comes over randomly and just walks in the house. His mother died and his father is struggling to take care of him so our family does some times. The other morning the family was all at church, we stayed home to see a volunteer off to the airport. Ellie came into the living room where we were sitting and started playing cards... the funny part of the story is he is so young that he doesnt have the slightest clue that we dont speak swahili. at all. he will look you straight in the face and say a huge long sentence over and over and even though you respond in english, over and over, he still continues to talk to you- nonstop. I love it! i think it is sooo sooo funny. Luckily we got into the game of counting the cards. i do know how to count-- all the way to 1,000! in swahili, and i know the word card and game and play. so we managed to play the game (cheza) for a good while. Finally we had to leave and so i managed to somehow say time to go home. And he looked sad, but he left. Truly i didnt know if what i said was right. but it worked haha. They girls were so annoyed with him when he came back that afternoon. Again, deep breaths libby- we all have different ways to dealing with things... and different tolerance levels. breath out.

so there we go, my time i almost up and i have some other things to do.... like respond to facebook posts that make my day... because they do occasionally... and keep me from breaking slow computer screens out of frustration when it takes 20 minutes to open one page.

hope all is well. i am happy... healthy (minus the fungus- which i think is pretty cool)... and love it here.

nakupenda. (if you dont know, its not for you- cept maybe you M&D) (gram... you know!)

pictures. i hope.

I am going to post some pictures, i dont know how long it will take, so i dont know how many i will get up. I am starting with the house though so you can at least see where i live.
cross your fingers for speedy uploading... the people around me probably hate me. haha.

ok so it doesnt look like it is going to work, the internet is wayyyyyyyyyy to slow to upload. im going to try facebook to see if it will upload and will post the link if i can....

Anyway, School yesterday was really good, we taught 5 periods then tuition, which is after school help. I really really like teaching, which i didnt know that i would. I gave the class a quiz yesterday on the speed and distance formulas, mixing the questions so they had to actually figure out which formula to use. A lot of them got 100%! maybe the cheated... but i watched pretty closely, so that was awesome. Maybe they are actually learning it, i hope because their exam is next wednesday.

I am going to see Emma next weekend, which is exciting. Just to get away for a few days and see another part of TZ. And there is a chance that i will get a ride there with the missionaries that live in her town, so cross your fingers for that, bc that would be awesome and mean that i only have to miss one day of class, the monday, where i only teach 1 period anyway. cross, cross, cross. Things for zanzibar are coming together, and im thinking i am going to do my open water diving course here! how awesome would that be? its like $350 so im really going to have to look at the money, but i think what a cool place to do it, rather than the YMCA and do my dives in a pool and then have to pay for another trip to like florida to get my other dives in. so. maybe. sweetness.

Next week we are planning to go to see the Rwanda trials. I think i already mentioned that we might, i am so excited. word on the street is they are trying the big guys now... awesome.... what a cool thing to be able to see.... you will get a full report afterwards.

oh. we got a few pictures to go- ill pick my favorites, maybe not the ones you want to see... like my bed but at least i can show you the ones i like the best...

My house, and our family van for going to church on Sundays. Yes, that is the only day they drive it.

Remember I told you there was a baby I would bring home?? This is him, although sideways, Lawrence.... my favorite baby. He is so adorable and happy and always would smile when I would walk up to him or pick him up. This week I will go back to visit him. too cute!
These are some of my students at lunch. Most of the girls actually. We eat beans and HUGE mutant corn mix every day. The days we have rice and beans are my favorite.
Kangas, big rectangles of fabric that are worn as skirts, to hold babies, etc. hanging on a line.
I think among my favorite 'artisit' pictures I have taken...

sweetness in Lake Manyara National Park! check out the mountains in the background too... wooo

here are more on a facebook album, they uploaded faster...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143646&l=03da9&id=29701857

my school website!

dont know how i forgot to put this in....
www.upendoschool.com is my schools website! i have not spent extensive time on it, but i know that it is my school. so you can see a bit of something. and there are photos, anne i know you will love that.

hiya friends.
My internet is excruciatingly slow, esp. for Arusha town, but that is ok. I came in to print my english and math exams which my students will be taking next wednesday. I wrote them today during my 4 hour break between classes and used another volunteers laptop to type them. it was pretty fun to write out exams. i am really enjoying teaching, even though i had to yell today because on of my students didnt do his homework for the second day in a row. grrrr.

The week has been really good, getting in the swing of teaching, which i have pretty much taken over by myself. lyndsay comes and so does the guy whose class i am taking over, but i have pretty much taught everything and they have checked the homework while i teach. i have a fair amount of classes but will end early on monday, tuesday, and have a huge break on wednesdays. I will get a lot of reading done, or just all my lesson plans done for the week. I have been taking little notes, not quite journaling during the days when i think to, and will share some with you from yesterday:

I am sitting in the school yard, watching the 3 oldest grades, 2, 3, and 4, have PE class. They are all dressed out in their pe clothes, a sweet yellow shirt that says Upendo pre and primary school PE. (i want one!). The are in neat lines, doing stretches and minor things like crunches and squats. The teacher teaches with a stick in her hand. I watch as the kids sit down, legs stretched, and struggle to touch their foreheads to their knees as they are told. The teacher walks around pushing their heads down until they touch, and popping them with her stick on the wrist if they can't do it. I have never seen a kid be hit at school like this. We have had lots of conversation about it, lyndsay has said she will leave the school if she sees it. I am pretty torn about it. I know that i will never ever hit my students, nor will i tell the headmaster who did not do their homework, knowing that he will only hit them. But as i sit here, i wonder if i will ever say anything to the other teachers about how i feel about it, or even bring it up in general at all. Sitting here watching it happen, i wonder, do i condone it? or am i merely being cultural respectful as i think i am. or am i hiding behind the excuse of being culturally sensitive because i just fear saying something. hmm. a kid gets sick and comes to the side. he is taken hold of by the head master and two teachers. he can barely stand on his own. he is not throwing up, but spitting thick gloppy spit every minute. The headmaster massages quite forcefully his stomach, tumbo in swahili- a word i know..., maybe making him be sick.... i wonder if he is dehydrated, but decide not to say anything. it is finally a dry and hot day in Usa River. They take him in the school jeep, maybe home, maybe to a doctor.

My journalnoting was interrupted by the head teacher asking me to write the exams for next week, which i did today. He talked me through what sound be on them and the format to put them in. I hope i didnt make them too hard. I dont want them to struggle but also dont want them to not be prepared for the national exam later this summer.

I have a pretty sweet bite on my arm, im thinking spider. it gets bigger every day and looks pretty nasty. its a perfect circle, and i am hoping it doesnt get to the point that i have to get it drained like my past spider bites..... a trip to the doctor for something so trivial (or maybe not) is not what I want. My skin has hated me, honestly, here. all the deet and sunscreen- not that its been sunny- and the lack of showering.... hey TIA (this is africa) we dont have to shower so regularly. plus the bug bites and new laundry soap. The girl at the computer next to me has a full ring, not a circle and said hers is a fungus. she said she just went to the pharmacy and got some cream and its gotten better. she looked at mine- said that is how hers started haha. awesome! so maybe i have fungus growing on my arm....

Alright i dont think i have more to say.... we are working still on zanzibar and i am talking with emma about a trip down, trying to work that out without missing too much teaching- i feel bad leaving them hanging, though they have managed before.... so we shall see. all in all, things are really good. i really like it here, my swahili- at least my greeting is getting better, and life is good.
take care of you

comment. question. answer.

Just read my comments for a while ago. Anne wants more details on the family, which is good- ask what you want to know for i forget what I have told.

We live with the beste family, pronounced like meg and claire - for my family who knows them. We have a mama and a baba, both workin Arusha town. Mama is a librarian at a chuo (college) and baba is in tourism. Barnabus is the 19 year old brother who has finished form 6, or high school, and is looking for scholarships to go to school in tanzania or preferrably abroad, though i think he needs to resit his exams or something along those lines. There is another brother, age 14 or so whose name none of us have managed to catch. He is in school most days and is SUPER quiet, though I am working on getting him to talk. Agape is 10, in 5th grade, and is shy, but helpful. She actually just got named 1st in her class! which is still kinda crazy that they announce a head pupil in each grade. She got a special trip into town with mama on saturday for a meal and her hair done to celebrate. Salome is our house girl. We just learned her story on Friday, she is 13, though she looks 20 and can ring some clothes! The older sister, who is 26, of the beste family brought her home to them after their last house girl saved enough to start school. Salome has never been to school and after the death of her father, her mother sent her with our host sister to be a house girl and earn some money. She does all the cooking and cleaning and the families washing. She is amazing. She loves to laugh at our stories after dinner, espescially when we explained what a taco is at home.... taco here is butt cheek, mtaco being your whole bum. We live in a nice house, with a small room with a bed and bunkbeds. I am on the bottom bunk, which holds my mosquito net nicely. We have a squatting toilet, a porcelain hole, i think i have told you about. I have found that the bucket works best for showers- which excites me!

So that is my family, and my home. I guess I forget the day in day out small details.
more questions, post comments!