It’s a ...... !

So, back to why Wednesday was such a great day! 

Wednesday morning I woke up and checked my email before leaving for school. I had an email from Katie telling me she wanted to chat that afternoon (well afternoon for me... morning for her). I immediately knew that it was going to be a long day, waiting for some good, exciting news.

I think most everyone reading this already knows but, if not, I guess now would be a good time to mention that Katie is pregnant! She is due at the end of July, which is pretty much perfect timing for my July 8th return to the land of the free and home of the brave. 

I made it back and grabbed my computer. After some minor technical difficulties, Katie and I made it through on gchat. They had gone to the doctor on tuesday and so she had all kinds of baby news to fill me in on. It was the perfect pick-me-up! And I even have a picture to share. So, everyone, meet baby Lafountain! 

the weekly run down

1/18/14 – 1/24/14 

the first full week of school.... 

So, I discovered this week that posting during the week just may not happen. My goal is to at least get you caught up on the weekends with a good long post. Also, I know it would get quite monotonous for me and you if I were to give you a run down of every day. Summed up, it would look like the following. 

• wake up and eat peanut butter and banana and maybe a little jelly 
• get a call from Muhumi asking me if I am ‘in position’ to leave. then we ride to school, always pulling over to talk to someone or pick them up and take them somewhere. I’m basically a celebrity by default when I ride with him. (going to miss out on this whenever I get a bike) 
• take care of all of my greetings with all the teachers at the school. 
• figure out my teaching schedule of the day and when I can steal periods from another teacher. my goal is to see all the classes each day.... doesn’t always happen 
• have break where I drink chai and eat a chapati 
• wait for Muhumi to take me home or walk 
• snack again on some pb 
• do a workout/ read/ get on the computer/ chat about our day/ do dishes 
• prepare dinner and eat (one of our probably 6 select meals) 
• chill before attempting to slaughter all mosquitos in my room 
• crawl under the net and hit the sack 

Anyways, this past weekend was very low key. There really wasn’t much going on for me besides lots of reading. I went to the market on a mission for bananas, green peppers, peanut butter, and toilet paper. I failed on the last two but handled it well. I am completely okay with laughing at myself/ laughing with the mamas at the market. Sunday, I watch Spiderman as I sorted rice and took the stems of the mchicha (like spinach) for 2.5 hours. Like I said, quite the busy weekend... 

Now, for the random notes for this week. There is no way I will be able to organize stuff too logically so I’m not even going to try. 

When I got to school monday, the academic master brought in the new timetable that he created that weekend. It was...well... interesting. The teachers were all crowded around it, arguing about their class times, pointing out flaws, erasing and changing things, etc. I just stepped back and took it all in. After all that drama was done, I analyzed my periods. It was so rough and irregular. As is, I would only see stream A for 3 periods, stream B for 8, and stream C for 4 (periods are 40 minutes and you normally teach double periods). And some of my periods even overlap. Obviously, I wasn’t okay with that so I invented my own schedule with the leftover times and have been going to teach when other teachers don’t show up for their class slot. 

So, let’s talk about teaching. It’s pretty much amazing. The students are still definitely trying to get used to me just as I am trying to get used to them. The weather is normally just about perfect during the day. The breeze is usually just flowing through the room. I usually see lizards crawling around the tops of the walls. Young children are playing on the large rocks outside our window. Women walk by, typically carrying something on their heads. Birds are chirping. If you can’t tell, I love it. Its so incredible, peaceful. Outside + Teaching = Perfect. 

It’s very typical to have an audience outside the classroom sometimes. Since the school has no fence or anything, many people are always walking by/ through the school campus. It’s not very often that you see a mzungu in the middle-of-nowhere Tanzania/ Africa. 

Now for some student norms. First, usually when I walk into the classroom, everyone stands up, saying something in Swahili, and then Good Morning Madame! I ask them how are they doing and it is a chorus of ‘we are fine’. And they stay standing until I tell them to be seated. Students are very quiet and extremely respectful. They are not used to the western style of teaching at all and hardly ever speak up in class. I am slowly breaking them into talking to me, answering my questions, and asking me questions. Many students also stand up when they ask or answer a question, though this has decreased as they have become more comfortable with me. Also, if they are out of the classroom, they knock and ask if they may enter before coming in. No sneaking in behind the teacher’s back... thats for sure! They speak very softly and I often have a hard time understanding them. I frequently have them come to the board if I do not understand them. They keep their exercise book immaculate and always draw straight lines... preferably with rulers which are constantly being passed around the room or with the side of a pen. I am sure I am giving them hives with my less than straight coordinate axes. Also, along with being quiet, they don’t normally tell you when they do not understand what I am saying. This is something I emphasized on day 1 and they have definitely been getting better. I have adopted the thumbs up/ down/ in the middle as a gauge to help me and it has been phenomenal. With that said, even that has a slow learning curve. Nonetheless, my ridiculous sound effects have made it a hit. Let’s just say I have no problem making a fool out of myself in front of them. They find the smallest things so funny, especially when I make noises. They also find exaggeration hilarious. Every time I get them to laugh, I put another tick mark in my win column. They way I think about it is that if I can brighten their day, if even by just a little, in the midst of all the other crap they have to deal with in school and out of school, then I was successful. 

And the teacher workroom silliness... 

- most awkward handshakes/ hand touches ever. they seem to find absolutely nothing to be awkward though. You either shake hands for what seems like 4 hours. Sometimes they have a firm handshake but most of they time it is very soft. And sometimes, you just get a fist when you just stick out your hand and touch wrists. With this said, this business is just a part of the greetings that are extremely important to them. 

• Mr. Nicessee  
• He said it on Friday too and I thought it was hilarious. But on monday after I asked him about his weekend, he said it was good and bad because his ‘head is still yacking’. 
• he was telling me how to pick a good sheep to slaughter. you find the sheep with the biggest poofiest tail because you know that the sheep will have good meat. Then that quickly turned to how to pick women and not surprisingly you do it the same way. However, this was beyond funny because he had major sound effects and hand motions to show me how their ‘tail’ moves. This came complete with examples of the two teachers sitting by me... one that was satisfactory and one who wasn’t. And then that turned into blaming the teacher with too small of a tail for his being single. Apparently she was in the hospital and nicessee went to check on her on his wedding day and his wife left him. Again, you say pretty much anything you want here. 
• Mr. Deus Toga 
• ‘you know i am a good preacher’ 
• Samuel 2 - let the poor man die. 
• the poor say long prayers and they should be short because god has already heard everything you think/say before you say it in a prayer 
• Revelation chapter 2  verse 14 
• Japanese are creating cars with chips in them and no drivers. You just sit in the car and can turn around and have conversations with the other people in the car. You can just tell it where to park. 
• talking talking talking. I wanted to go to class one morning and he kept insisting that the students were not ready and that they were arranging the desks. I don’t know why but they do do that every morning. 
• a little bit about free masons and edward snowden. nick and amber are convinced that there is something going around town about free masons because it hit their schools this week too.
• swahili is our national language. how can you ask us to stop (using it while teaching)? english is the language of the colonials.  
• Mr. Nyumbani 
• we talk about everything and how it compares to America. 
• having many wives is a pride thing. polygomy is much less common now due to the teaching of the  bible but it still occurs. 
• same with children... having many children is something to be proud of. It shows that the man is strong and capable. He said it is typical to have 5-8 children. Sometimes looked down on for just 1-2. 
• multiple teachers 
• talks with me about corporal punishment. thursday was a bad day for corporal punishment. one teacher wanted me to help punish at least 2 students. another one was relentless about why i would not do it and kept giving me various circumstances that i guess he thought i would change my mind for. 

Random tanzanian english that I find hilarious 

• can you manage? 
• are you in position? or my bike is not in good position 
• tighten my belt (fasten my seatbelt) 
• so, my friend 
• let us keep time 
• i intruded the meeting
• let’s we check ourselves  
• and so many more

We had a school meeting thursday. It completely ruined the plans for getting to stream A and B in the afternoon. It was 3 hours long, thankfully mostly in english. I guess it really consisted of two meetings: the first with Muhumi about the form 2 exam results and the second was the discipline committee (which according to the sign in sheet, I am now a member of). 

So, meeting #1: Form 2 Exam Results 

• 0 A’s 
• 16 B’s 
• 35 C’s (>43 marks) 
• 43 D’s 
• 125 F’s (<30 marks) 
• average score was a 31. Passing is a 30. 
• Ranks for Biashara: 
• zone: 413/ 452 
• regional: 123/ 126 
• district: 15/15 
• 3 headmasters already demoted due to their school’s results. Muhumi said ‘they are thinking of what to do of those who have done bad so you may not find myself in the office soon. and what if the headmasters being demoted. do you find yourself safe?’
• Beliefs about why the students did so poorly: (from the teachers perspective)
• class/ school is bigger than others. Having so many students can affect the averages 
• learners are NOT READY or committed to learn. this is the main problem
• teachers are losing time in first period because of the lengthy announcements at the parade (morning assembly). 
• something about the teachers motivation and the reward system. It is essentially a pay for performance issue. I think that teachers get bonuses for getting any B’s on the exam but are not rewarded for the number of B’s. This is paid from the school budget i believe. 
• district made a few exceptions to the passing requirements this year
• So, typically a student must get 30 or above to move on to Form 3. But this year they are letting any student that scored 20-29 move on to Form 3 as well. They just must have remedial classes. 
• Also, typically a student who fails the national exam the first year will retake form 2 again the next year and retest. If they fail again then they are essentially kicked out of school. But again, this year, they are letting these students retake form 2 again. Muhumi said ‘if they failed last year they can retake again. even 7 times. that is politics. we will remain with them here. they will not be chased from here.’ 
• ‘practice makes perfect’ made its way over here. of course, its used a little different to mean that students should have weekly tests and homework from every class every night so that they do nothing but study. 
• meeting etiquette... basically there is none. Teachers were on phones, grading papers, talking with others, had their head on the desk. 

Meeting #2: Discipline Committee (again. not my beliefs. just summarizing points that were discussed) 

• I was a member. The second headmaster was known as ‘chairperson’ for the meeting. and the discipline officer/ teacher was known as ‘secretary’. 
• the prefects (basically head students. maybe about 15 of them. head student of environment, sports and games, academics, ... ) are given too much freedom. they are trying to be above teachers. 
• we have a chronic problem... dressing style. We should have an operation. (I guess this would be a good time for me to tell you that students have uniforms. The school’s colors are like a baby blue and gray. So girls wear a blue skirt and boys were blue pants with a white buttoned collared shirt. They may also wear a grey sweater. All hair must be kept extremely short.) 
• The punishment for being out of class/walking around campus is maybe to keep them out of class. then they can think about the others who are learning. this is better than the stick maybe. 
• let’s make classrooms a library. quiet. no interruptions or entering late. 
• idea to give students a paper from teacher showing permission to leave class - aka a pass to wherever
• we should not allow students to go to the bank during class hours (i think to get money for school or exams) 
• we should not allow students to tie their sweaters around their waists. they must put it in their bag. 
• punish latecomers with corporal punishment. not physical punishment. that is because that lets them outside and allows them to miss class which is what they want. 
• AOB? ... AOB? ‘any other business’ 

Randomness: 

• a good many all-stars have basic calculators on their watches! 
• not that anyone cares, but my pedicure is still hanging strong. nick is blown away. I think it is permanently stuck on like the rest of the dirt on my feet. 
• amber is back on the gram (instagram) and is giving us all kinds of news. We died over justin beibers mug shot. Also, she had a picture of a friend all dressed up with the caption ‘I didn’t choose the Miley life. It chose me.’ So thinking about our 18 hour bus ride, we came up with a saying for me... ‘I didn’t choose the monk life. Amber chose it for me.’ We got a good ten minutes laugh out of both of these. Again, it’s the little things, folks. 
• best afternoon ever Wednesday... got to chat it up with Katie and get some baby news... she sent me the best pictures I have seen since I got here. That’s all for the teaser. It deserves it’s own post. 
• Thursday. We had an extremely impromptu workout session right before dinner. Amber decided that some song I had playing on shuffle was a good song to do sit ups to. So Amber and I rocked out some sit ups while Nick did some push ups. That turned into a plank. Then wall sits. And on and on. It was pretty great. Shuffle did not disappoint all night. Neither did Amber’s dance moves. Nick and I were reeling and offering up all the encouragement she needed. After a pretty heavy day at school for Amber and I, this evening was exactly what we needed. 
• Friday, we had our first school baraza (basically a school assembly). It was another 3.5 hour affair that basically covered everything that was said in the meeting yesterday just with the students this time. I was welcomed again and had to say a word to the students. Again, they offered up their ‘wows’ and applause at having a masters in mathematics (not entirely true) and being from america. It was nice at the end of the meeting that they let the students speak about any matters they wanted to. They said they allowed it because it is a democracy... most of the time it seems like a strict dictatorship though. After school, I had another nice walk home. Of course, it gets a little warm and I stick out like no other but I do really enjoy my walk. 
• Speaking of sticking out, everyone in probably all of Bariadi knows where the mzungus live. I think its pretty funny. Nick said a volunteer from another district showed up at the doorstep to surprise the past volunteers at this house without even knowing where the house was. He just asked where the mzungus live in town. 
• The boys that live near us really enjoy our nightly music jams. They usually are playing soccer in front of the house in the evening but they were dancing up a storm one night this week. 
• We had two serious but short rains on Thursday. Oh how I am not looking forward to the rainy season. 
• and friday night, we went to Father Kushoka’s house for dinner. such a wonderful experience and a nice escape. We were welcomed into his house by his friend and current student working toward his masters in mass communication (Father Yokim). Drinks, especially wine, were practically being shoved down our throats. Then, we went into the kitchen where we had the most amazing dinner. It was a feast! And even better, it was all set on a huge lazy susan in the middle of the table so you just turned and turned until you got what you wanted. We had fish, 2 types of chicken, rice, beans, pumpkin leaves, cabbage and carrots, chips (fried potatoes), and fruit (watermelon, mangoes, oranges, bananas). We were even able to catch some tv. We watched the news - BBC Swahili - and then a pretty great soap opera. It was great. It was dubbed in english so the mouths were not anywhere close to matching what they were saying. And it was so dramatic but also confusing. Nick and I were lost within the first 5 minutes. Amber had to keep us on track. Father Kushoka and Father Yokim drove us home around 10:15 ... my latest night out on the town so far! 
• a couple of boys in one of my classes asked me a question when I was leaving the room Tuesday. I went to their desks and set in a chair in front of them to work it. And within a matter of 15 seconds, the entire class was huddled around me. I am almost positive that they were interested in how close they could get to me and not the question I was answering. Similarly, on Thursday, I was walking from stream C to the workroom and I got approach by a form 4 student. Again, he was asking me how to solve 2^x = 4x. And again, within 15 seconds, I was in the middle of probably 30 students. They just kept throwing questions at me. One was to graph x^2 + y^2 = 2. That turned into me arguing with a student that sqrt(x^2 + y^2) does not = x + y. Then they were asking about trigonometric ratios and identities. What is tan 3theta? Tan (2theta + theta). And then the integral of x^2 cosx ln(sinx) dx. This is not simple math and I am almost positive that the last few questions are not a part of form 4 math. I just love their desire to learn!! Unfortunately, in the mob, I lost my student workbook that I was using to teach my Form 3 classes to another student. I really hope to get that back monday. And honestly, even if it is not how I would go about getting it back, if I tell another teacher, I’m almost positive I will get it back. 
• some of the many names I am called/ answer to: 
• Madame 
• Mzungu
• Teacher
• Sister
• Baby
• Hey/ Good Morning/ most anything in english 
• Kassie 
• Katniss
• D1
• Good Morning! This is pretty much all we hear.... any time of day. It just be the curse of the worldteach volunteers. I get it right and reply with good afternoon most of the time but I would be lying if I said I hadn’t told someone good morning at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. 
• Its official that I am obsessed with the sky. I am sure that Nick and Amber might be getting tired of me saying it but the sky is pretty great at all times of day. Also, there is nothing better than brushing my teeth at night, looking up at the stars. Here are just a few of my shots from this week. 

1/17/14

third day treats 

• swahili lessons this morning from sebastian. he was teaching me how to call kids to me. Nothing like the real deal. He called a girl over and made me tell her to come here and then that I would call her back later. It was funny but awkward. 
• cultural lessons about respect. you are supposed to stand up when someone comes into a room (side note... students stand up and say something in swahili for about 10 seconds and then good morning madaam every time i walk in the room. I then have to tell them to please be seated before we can get going. many students also stand up to ask me questions or to answer my questions). The teachers told me it is also normal to bow a little or to kneel for certain people. Also, people with round bellies are highly respected. It’s pretty much the bigger the better here. They are thought to be rich and literate (wise). People that do not have bellies or wear shorts are thought to be poor and illiterate. 
• a ‘boy’ is generally anyone under 30. the only exception is when you have a title or job. Then you must respect that person. 
• I had no clue about the crazy timetable. It doesn’t help that it is not followed most of the time but this morning I just asked Sebastian if it was time for me to teach. He gave me the okay so off i went! 
• It was a great first class. The 3 streams were consolidated into 2, which is nice for me. The students were responsive, they asked questions, did work individually and with others, and 2 people even came to the board to present their work! Students were engaged and they asked one or two very bright questions. Overall, I was impressed. 
• Chai break came around and stayed around. Again, we weren’t following anything close to the schedule. Today, the food just keep on coming. Each day, one of the female teachers has gotten her food first and immediately brings me some. So, I sat down to my chai and two mandazis and then she gave me a chapati. Then after I stealthily stashed the mandazis and half the chapati in my bag, another teacher sat down and wanted to give me the rice cake (kitumbua). I was able politely refuse that offer. Then, at the end of the day, the teachers started getting corn from nowhere and then before I knew it, I had one to eat then and one to take home to Nick. No one can deny their hospitality. 
• after school was over, teachers stayed after for a while and just talked for a while. i got into a long conversation with one teacher about so many things. it was beyond entertaining. topics included corporal punishment, government workers and pay, HIV, sneezing, and more. I know sneezing sounds weird but i have noticed that people here do not say anything after you sneeze and I wondered why. so i asked him this afternoon and he told me that here sneezing is a sign of health so it is almost like it is a good thing. 
• The whole hallway was full in the administrative block waiting for Muhumi. So I just walked into his office and told him that I would walk home today because I didn’t want him to worry about me. The academic master walked with me until we got into town, where he caught a bike home. As we were walking, kids from the villages were continually running towards me and yelling things at me. They were too cute but they were so funny to the academic master. It is somewhat normal for me now but the behavior was completely new to him. 
• I really enjoyed the walk today. We get out early on Friday so I enjoyed the time just walking through the town, seeing the beautiful scenery, getting constantly stared at, honked at, and talked to, etc. :) 
• Nick and I went to get some water from the tank at the school. 3 trips with 3 buckets filled up our two big buckets. 
• Read a little and did the dishes from yesterday. 
• typed up the blog posts for the last few days
• prepped and ate stir fried rice for dinner
• i knocked out divergent in about 2 or 3 days and started insurgent tonight. im ready for a relaxing weekend but ill get a little lesson planning and a little swahili study time in there im sure. 

1/16/14

2nd day shenanigans 

• pick up on time this morning and got Sebastian's morning rant when I got to school. 
• The timetable (tanzanian word for schedule - in and out of school) was posted today. apparently it will change? but at least it was listed 
• Muhumi decided I would get introduced today so I attended the morning assembly/ parade. The head student ordered them to get in line, march in place, turn around, get quiet etc. Then Muhumi spoke some encouraging remarks about the school year. He said he wanted them to all be successful and to choose to attend school every day. He introduced me and I stepped to the center and gave my little word of thank you, excitement, etc. At the end of my little speech, I announced that I was teaching form 3 math and all of form 3 started clapping and talking excitedly. There was a low rumble than ensued before Muhumi got their attention again. It made me feel welcomed and wanted. 
• No one said anything to me but I had had enough of the sitting around and not interacting with the students. So i checked out the timetable, grabbed a piece of chalk, and went in to meet stream c. It was basically beyond uncomfortable but needed to happen. They were so shy and refused to talk for the most part. I understand that my accent is hard to understand so i have been talking extremely slowly and have been repeating myself or giving examples. Either way, I am glad I did it. We talked about my expectations and I had them tell me what they learned last year. 
• This repeated two more times with a little more interaction from stream a and b which made the classes so much better. I will start the math - relations- tomorrow. 
• saw my first little bit of corporal punishment on the way to stream b. 
• just an overwhelming day overall. 
• talked to muhumi about the ride home situation. I think he wants me to take a pikipiki (motorcycle) home. That will run me about 10,000 tsh a week. Not a huge expense. But he did also mention the bike. Basically it was another talk with no resolution. 
• Chai break. I am still surprised that I like the chai. Very happy about it though. Although I refused Sebastian’s chapati (like a fried tortilla that is still soft and chewy and thicker/more dense), I set down with my cup of chai and a chapati appeared before me. I actually liked it much better than the other two. 
• brought my swahili book with me and studied a good bit today. 
• really funny discussions during chai break that they actually had in mostly english. there was an intense debate about whether to take a bike or a car in dar es salaam. And another talk about sugar and how bad it is to have inside of you. That lead to a talk about diabetes (although diabetes sounded nothing like diabetes) about what it is caused by. Is it stress or is it sugar? 
• Picking noses is definitely acceptable. no trying to hide it here. During a face to face conversation...? Sure! why not? 
• So much talk about free masons. It was hilarious. Apparently a free mason is a satanic devil worshipper. Rick Ross, madonna, old tanzanian president, and many more people were brought up in the discussion 
• spaghetti again for dinner. no eggplant this time though

1/15/14

First day facts 

• picked up on tanzanian time ... 30 minutes late
• lots of students at the school when we arrived. they were ‘cleaning the environment’. this means hand-cutting/ whacking at the grass, raking the dirk, moving desks, sweeping, etc 
• Muhumi dropped me off at the door and I was off. I met some of the teachers and talked mainly to Sebastian and Deus or Toga. Sebastian was on a roll. He is very opinionated so that is amusing. His favorite saying is the small minded leading the big minded. That is analogy for pretty much anyone above him/ anyone who has a powerful title. Two more of his saying that I found amusing- ‘they want the milk without feeding the cows’ and ‘its like putting new wine in an old bottle’. I just smile and nod most of the time. 
• We were visited by 4 DEO’s (District Education Officers) on day 1. It was definitely unexpected and also unwelcome. They went on a rant about how unwelcoming the teachers were. oh well i guess. They were there to measure teacher attendance, check to see how many teachers had the syllabus for their classes, and to collect their ‘scheme of work’ (basically the teachers plan for the year). Their message was not too warmly accepted by the teachers but I do admire their efforts to try to keep tabs on the teachers. It is their goal to conduct their own kind of study to try to identify a connection between what happens during the school year and the student success on the national exams. 
• there were 17 of us there. pretty impressive actually. I do not know how many teachers there are supposed to be but I doubt it is many more. This is rare by tanzanian teachers to be there, especially this early. Nick’s school only had 4 teachers there for comparison. 
• Sebastian told me he would rather go fight in Iraq than teach math. This was basically his way of saying that he is not good at it and he respects me for it. However, across the board, math and science are highly valued here. Many teachers have already been begging me to teach them math and two have come to me with math problems to help them solve. The problems were very similar and something that I do not think that we solve too much in the US. For example, 2^n = n^2. 
• Later in the day, Muhumi introduced me to the only other math and physics teacher. He said ‘now this is your department’. I found some humor in that. He said he is trying to find a part time teacher to help. 
• I was pretty much clueless all day because the teachers were talking in swahili. At first it was a great listening exercise. Then it got old. I am good at smiling and laughing when everyone else does though! 
• So. much. fried. dough. Chai break came around noon today and I actually liked the chai so that was a relief. But the food. Everyone got 2 mandazis (doughnuts basically) and then i had to eat another fried rice cake thing. Not really a fan of either. Luckily, i was able to pawn off a mandazi to another teacher after I saw them fighting for the last one! haha
• I did some lesson plans. I think I will have to reevaluate them after I get in the classroom though. I planned 3 days for most of the 1st unit. There are only 8 units for the whole year. At least we will have plenty of time to practice/ review. 
• Talk about the USD. I had not thought of this yet but the largest currency that Tanzania makes is 10,000 tsh. I think that says a lot about the economy and the cost of living here. To give you a little perspective, right now the conversion rate is about 1,600 tsh = 1 usd. So, their largest bill is about 6.25 usd. The school gave me an old Form 3 textbook and rates is actually one of the units. The book spent a lot of time on currency conversion and I found an old exchange rate for USD. As of May 17 2007, the rate was 1272.50 tsh = 1 usd. I don’t know what happened between now but I say the shilling has taken a big hit. 
• I think two teachers taught today. I really was so clueless. I did not know which form was in what classroom. I did not know the times of the classes or anything. 
• The teachers are very demonstrative and loud yet quiet at the same time. Don’t worry, I am confused how that can happen too. 
• vegetable stew for dinner. beyond delicious 

1/14/13

Not much going on here today so I’m going to keep it short and sweet. 

• finished book #2 and started rereading the Divergent series. Amber is dying to have someone to talk about them with. 
• did a workout and cooled down to Hairspray. Such a god movie. 
• went to the market at Somanda. Amber and Nick got chips mayai and I got some cabbage to cook. Nick went back later and got some bread, bananas, water, and peanut butter. We went through that first bucket like a boss. Nick has proclaimed me as the peanut butter fixer. That means I basically get rid of the oil on the top, which makes the peanut butter much thicker and much better. He is so disappointed I wasn’t here to fix it the right way for that last six months. 
• first day that i was really hungry. 
• second bucket shower. 
• our water went out yesterday and we are praying it comes back on anytime now. We had two buckets full and we are just about out now. No worries though. We can get some water from the school here and buy some from the market. 
• lentils and rice for dinner. sooo good. while dinner hasnt been extremely varied I have been very happy with all of them so far. thats reassuring since thats about all we have for the next few months! :) 
• We started our dinner and a movie tonight. The first showing was The Hunger Games.
• mosquitos are out in full swing. my legs are pretty much covered. good thing they don't swell up/ itch like the do at home 
• I think I actually might have my first day of school tomorrow. Now, if students will be there and if I actually get in the classroom is another story... Either way, I am looking forward to getting into the action! 

1/13/14

The first day of school that wasn’t the first day. 

Happy Zanzibar Revolution Day! 

This morning I woke up and wrote some blog posts. I tore all the mold off my slice of bread and ate it with my peanut butter, jelly, and banana. I got ready for Mr. Muhumi, my Headmaster, to pick me up and take me to school. He arrived pretty close to on-time and very early on Tanzanian time. He is so sweet and his english is very good. He offered to take Amber along to show her the school so we both got to go on an adventure! The school is past town, about 8km away he said. It is very remote, a good bit away from Bariadi town, and just in the middle of many houses. He took us to the administrative building, where the teacher workroom, discipline office, and Headmaster’s’ offices are. We talked for a while in his office. We both got to sign the guest book and write a little note in another guest book. He showed us the picture book that Catherine, the past volunteer had made for him. So neat! He then asked me which form I wanted to teach. I basically told him that I would teach where he needed me the most.... which is basically everywhere. They have one part time teacher right now and they are trying to get one more. Not too many times do you get to tell your boss what you are going to do, just saying. But anyways, here was the thought process behind which form I teach. No to Form 1 because they will hardly know any english. That left Form 2, 3, and 4. The next no was to Form 2 because it is huge! He said he didn’t know how ‘powerful’ I was. Amber said I was very powerful but we still decided it was best to not teach it. It is just too big. So, then you had Form 3 and 4. I tried to get an understanding of the daily schedule before committing to what I would do. Mr. Muhumi didn’t seem to sure of it what he started going over it with me. But anyways, I told him I would start with Form 4, see how much work that is, and then decide on Form 3. Though that sounds a little odd on US standards, its not odd here. Teachers come and go as they want. Also, Form 3 is not even decided yet. That’s because you have to pass the Form 2 national exam to get into Form 3 and the results of that exam haven’t been released. Im completely rambling right now so I’m just going to leave this by saying I will be teaching Form 4. I’m beyond excited about it because I know that I will be giving these students the best chance of success. 

Mr. Muhumi drove us all around town and pointed out important buildings that all started sounding the same. He took by the hospital and also to his home. He was also constantly pulling over on the side of the road to say hey to people and introduce us. I think he is the head of city council or something like that. Amber told him that he was a celebrity and he was like yeah I’m famous. 

So, I still don’t really know how I am traveling to and from school. Supposedly, Mr. Muhumi is going to pick me up from my house and take me to school. But we don’t know how I am getting home yet. He did mention the bike but he said it was broken and needed a lot of work done on it. I’ll keep you updated. 

End of story, so nice to meet him and I am extremely excited to get going! That just won’t be Tuesday either since we learned that it too is a holiday... the prophet Muhammed’s birthday. And either Wednesday or Thursday will be a holiday too... depending on the moon. We were saying we would have lived for this kind of schedule in the states! 

This afternoon we studied some swahili as we listened to some music and shoveled down some more peanut butter and bananas. Disclaimer: The following sentence sounds horrible. Happiness came and cleaned the house and did the laundry and the dishes. Happiness is about 16 years old and is studying at a school to become a seamstress. Now, I promise, we do all of these things by ourselves as well. It is typical for all houses to have a house maid here and is considered to be such an honor. It also provides a good income for her and helps her pay her tuition for school. However, I really struggled with her working here. Mama taught me well, and this was the first time anyone had ever cleaned my house like that. And being here made it even more uncomfortable for me. 

Tonight we made spaghetti for dinner and it was delicious! A little onion, carrot, green pepper, eggplant, and tomatoes worked some great magic. After dinner, we pulled out the entertainment, moved our oh-so-comfortable wooden seats around the table, and watched an episode of curb your enthusiasm and modern family. 

1/12/14

We’re living such the rough life. I woke up this morning and stayed in bed until I finished my book. Then I joined Nick and Amber at the table where we chatted and I picked up my other book. I ate my bread with peanut butter (lots) and jelly with a banana. I got my first workout in in the courtyard. It was nice to get moving and sweat due to exercise rather than just living/ existing/ breathing. I read some more and then ate my steady eddy of a banana and peanut butter for my lunch/ pre-‘hike’ fuel. Then, after Amber’s boiling party (for drinkable water) we were off on our adventure. And what an adventure it was!! It was amazing to get out and walk around and the scenery was nothing shy of gorgeous. I am so lucky to be placed here and each day just seems to add to the blessings. We walked out of Somonda to where people were just living. Houses sparsely dotted the landscape that was dominated by corn and rectangular rice patties, roaming cattle, working families, and beautiful trees, shrubs, and mountains. The goal of the mission today was a large rock/ mountain that we could climb and get a great view of the area. And we did just that. It was just perfect. So peaceful. It was a two mile trek on a dirt road before we turn off and walked on just a narrow path on someones land. We weaved around on the paths and the dirt embankments built up to contain the rectangular plots of rice. Only interrupting the lizards that darted in every which direction as we were summiting (it makes me feel more accomplished if I use that word), we walked around and just enjoyed the views. We’ll be back.. next time with all the essentials for a weekend picnic. 

One last little note, the sun here is pretty scorching, even when it doesn’t feel that hot. After two days, I already have a chaco tan going on, my arms have a good color on them, and my neck has a good bit too much color on it. But no worries, I won’t be back super tan. The rainy seasons are drawing near and any color is get will be around my very modest shirts and long skirts. 

The afternoon was nothing less than perfect. I sent a text to wake up mom and told her it was time to facetime! So, from 8-10 her time we caught up on everything. I gave her a tour of the house and told her about my last few days while she filled me in on all the news from home. The two hours flew by! Then I got to video chat with Katie and Sam and catch up on all of their news too! It was the first time I got to talk to Katie so it was so so fantastic! While I was chatting it up, Amber and Nick were slaving away, fixing dinner for us. We had mchicha (spinach), cabbage, and rice. They were totally cool with me missing out on the preparation. Nick told me that family time trumps all and I’m a fan of that motto. 

This evening, two little girls delivered a note to the house from my headmaster. I have heard only great things about my headmaster, who is apparently a big guy in the community. Nick says he is a basically a big teddy bear and he is obviously so kind, caring, and welcoming since he is finding time to show me around even with malaria. So the letter... It was perfect. It reads: 

Madame Kassie

Goodevening! 

I’m Mr. Mahumi the Headmaster Biashara. 

My condition is not well I have maralia. But I’m doing well. I could have visited you but I send my second to see you yesterday. 

Tomorrow is holiday. But I’m, finding some time at 10:00 am to take you to BIASHARA. So get prepared. 

Thank you.

Also, we got a text from Kim last night say that just an hour ago, tomorrow was announced to be a holiday. Amber texted Sana because he was going to pick us up and show us around and introduce us to some important people. His reply: 

It’s true and been anaunced by president this night that tomorrow is public day hance our timetable of official introduction is distabed until othertime.  

Tanzanian communication is awesome. There are so many steps to understanding what they are saying. First, you have to process the actual words that came out of their mouth from their Tanzanian accent. Then, you have to take those words and figure out what words they really meant. It’s a neat little brain exercise. We were just cracking up, thinking about how this would go down in the US. What would you think if President Obama made an announcement tonight at 8pm that there would be no school tomorrow for a public holiday? And speaking of holidays, we are having another one this week on Wednesday or Thursday. You may ask why I don’t know which day it is. Well, it’s because it depends on the moon! I don’t know what the moon is going to tell us and how but I guess we’ll get another presidential message. 

so... the house

words... where to start. It’s a beautiful house. The district was so so generous. The house was built in 2012 I believe exclusively for the WorldTeach volunteers. It is located on the grounds of Bariadi Secondary School and is right by the headmasters, second headmasters, and teachers house. You walk in to the kitchen/ living room. The wood table and chairs in the picture has our gas stove (so lucky!) on it. So it is our kitchen countertops but also our living room table. Its the only place we have to hang out. By the main room, we each have our own bedroom. The courtyard is nice, completely closed in, with two clothes lines. On the other side of the courtyard is a separate building. There is a bathroom (with a squat toilet) and a shower room (with running water and a shower head) and both have electricity! We also have a storage room by the shower room. Overall, it is a basic house but its perfect for everything we need. I count my blessing each day because I really do think that Bariadi is the best placement in Tanzania. It is the perfect mix and has everything we should need. There is a market and bus stand right by our house, a larger market with shops and restaurants in town, beautiful countryside, and Mwanza (2nd largest city in Tanzania) is only a 4-6 hour bus ride away. I know its early but i'm pretty sure I can handle this!  

Oh and a few more things about the house. Yes, there are creatures. Many of them. None that really bother me but they are definitely here. Many flies. Ants. Spiders (Nick has photos of some sizable and apparently very fast ones). Mosquitos. Lizards/geckos (really large, pretty ones). And many unknowns in our ceiling. Our house has ceiling panels which are nice, but they also provide a nice home for bats and mice especially. We do hear them at all times during the day but luckily it doesn’t bother me. We do take precautions to keep some of the bat shit from cascading down the walls in our living room with packing tape. It’s the little things, folks. 

(ps. these collages are very rough and I know that. i piece them together by just using screenshots of the pictures. i think it makes the file smaller and it still gets the point across... i hope.)

1/11/14

I feel like I am starting over for the real day 1. It was the first morning waking up in my new home for 5 1/2 months and getting the day going. Let’s just say it was a very peaceful (salama sana) day. I woke up and read my book for while in bed. Then, I moved to the kitchen/living room to read some more. Nick had the leftovers from dinner and I fixed myself an open face pb&j. We just read through our books and Sports Illustrated magazine and had a relaxing morning. I typed up some blog posts before we took our first venture into town. 

So let’s back up a little and have a quick little geography lesson. I live in the Somanda village in the Bariadi town in the Simiyu region in Tanzania. So, we walked into Bariadi today... maybe around 45 minutes to get a few groceries for dinner tonight. There is a market in Somanda, 5 minutes outside out door, that we can get food at as well. Nick said it is a little pricier so he normally just stops and gets groceries for the house in Bariadi since he has to ride his bike right by there to get to school. Conveniently, the bus stand is located right there by the Somanda markets as well. 

Anyways, back to walking into town. I really enjoyed the walk, the ‘exercise’, and the views. The area is very pretty and the people are friendly. Of course, Amber and I are fresh meat in the town so we definitely got many looks but it didnt bother me at all. The experience did give me even more motivation to put some swahili together though. We ate at a restaurant in town where we were seated on the sidewalk. Perfect people watching spot. We made it back to relax the rest of the day and do whatever we wanted. That meant reading a book, doing dishes, cooking dinner, and just talking. We also had two visitor stop in to welcome us. One was a male teacher from Nick’s school. Im pretty sure you can guess why he wanted to come see us. The second was the second headmaster at my school. He was nice and welcoming but no new information about my role at the school. Rice and beans for dinner. I got the honor of sorting through the rice... its a stressful job, i tell you. It means i have the dental health of all three of us in my hands! Also, lesson learned. Put the beans on earlier. They take forever to cook. We finally settled on al dente beans. .  

we finally made it made it

1/10/14 

i feel like we have been traveling for the last week and a half but never made it to our new home until today. The hotel had a nice breakfast for us. I had 3 bananas (no im not a pig... they were smaller than my pinky), a slice of pineapple (very sweet and not near as yellow as in the states), a bite of a pasta dish, a bite of a potato dish, and a hardboiled egg. Yes, i was starving. Leaving at 9am turned into 10:30 or 11 on typical tanzanian time. I assumed private transport from the district just meant amber and I... not so much. We had two of our newer best friends with us (math review 2+2=4) in the bask of their little SUV. funnnnn. We made a few stops before we really got going to pick up some stuff for the other passengers and also drop some paper off at this very suspicious looking building. well actually it was the gate with the hidden door and the electric fence that looked suspicious but thats beside the point. We finally began driving... on the shortcut to Bariadi. While maybe a shortcut, the road was in terrible condition and we were constantly being bounced around and beaten up. I was holding on for dear life the whole time. We stopped and ate lunch at some point and I was able to put down some far from delicious food. I had my first try at ugali, which has a very weird texture. and i picked at some very sketchy chicken. Luckily i saw the maybe 3 x 4 foot cage that their next victims were in on the way out. But anyways I kept shoveling it down with Mr. Sana. Not too many times do you get to stop at a super local place and share a plate with a tanzanian district official. We kept chugging along as I miserable tried to simultaneously sleep without busting my brains against the side of the car. A couple stops in Bariadi town and we made it to out home for the next few months. Nick was there to welcome us and take care of us while many others came by to visit and welcome us into the town. The house is lovely, perfect for what we need. I unpacked and got my room all set up before we started the process of cooking dinner. I say the process because, well, it takes a while. For anyone in the states, go buy a box of uncle bens and kiss it. Nick did the labor for us last night while Amber and I peeled, washed, and cut the veggies for basically veggie fried rice. We also have to have a little foresight in our menu planning because we needed to sort through and soak the beans for dinner tonight. I took a nice shower and the cool water actually even took my breath. Speaking of temperature, it is sooooo much nicer here. I can’t stress it enough. We had a short rain tonight and I really enjoyed listening to the rain on our tin roof. I also walked around outside while the rice was cooking to enjoy my own lightening show. No thunder or anything, just beautiful lights peaking through the cloudy black-dark navy blue sky. Before bed, I also made a point to go outside and check out the stars. So beautiful. So peaceful. Also, I actually used a sheet last night and was comfortable. My mosquito net is also pinned from 4 corners instead of just hanging down from one nail so it is much easier to sleep under. Winner!  

and off we go

1/9/14

After oversleeping and hurriedly getting all of my bags to the taxi, steven had us on our way to the bus terminal at 4:30am. Apparently, Kim got us a great bus because it was second in line and we even had benches to sit and wait. Luckily, we did not get to experience the vastness of the bus terminal. Kim said that it is just a huge open area, bigger than a football field, of busses and people and luggage, all fighting their way out of the gate. We were fifth out of the gate and on our way at 6am! The bus was, well, cozy. It was very, very tight quarters. These legs of mine literally could not fit if i was sitting with them straight in front of me. That just meant I either had my knees spread out on the edges of the seat or turned my whole body so my legs were in the aisle. Thank goodness for an aisle seat!!! 20 minutes in we were sidelined and just sat on the side of the road for about 25 minutes with tons of busses passing us, waving, honking, laughing. Not good. But we got back on the road and kept plugging. It was so cool to see so much of the Tanzanian countryside. It was pretty novel for about 10 hours... not quite 18 though. Yep, 18! I had prepared myself mentally for 16... but those last 2 hours were quite miserable. It was pitch black, I had no clue where we were or how much longer we had, Mr. Sana (the district official who was picking us up) was waiting for us, and I was exhausted. We finally made it to Mwanza at midnight - the last bus to arrive - but I could not be more relieved to get off the bus. They took us to a hostel that the volunteers really like in Mwanza and it was paradise. 

Now for some lovely observations/ interesting things that happened on the bus... 

• animals we saw: lots of goats and cows, chickens, a few donkeys, cats and dogs
• buildings were usually either cement or mud packed bricks 
• roofs were usually either tin or thatched. rocks were frequently used to hold on (nail down) the tin
• im in love with the mountains here. they are littered with boulders. they were basically rock sculptures with a little green brush and a few trees scattered around
• There were three babies right by us. They were so cute and well behaved. they were also just as fascinated with us mzungus as everyone else.
• it was also so neat to see breastfeeding so culturally welcome. it was so sweet and natural 
• the bus would make frequent stops at ‘shopping malls’. this basically consists of pulling on the side of the road and having people running at the bus with drinks, food (fruits, nuts, fried dough, roasted corn,....), sunflower oil, and anything else on their head. You would open your window and get whatever you wanted. Occasionally, someone would get on the bus and ride with us for a little bit, trying to sell whatever he had. I have a feeling that us mzungus made many peoples day. we were often the target of many salesmen.
• we had to go through many weigh stations... always cutting in line (wait, there is no line in tz) in front of the larger transport trucks 
• tvs- so there were two tvs on the busses and loud stereo systems that ensured everyone on the bus and everyone that we passed could hear what we were watching. the tv was hilarious. there were hysterical music videos, a jackie chan movie, a comedy show (everyone on the bus thought it was funny so i just laughed when they did) and our personal favorite ... a leann rimes music video for ‘How do I live?’. I have never appreciated that song so much. I was sorta in and out, dozing off when i heard that song and I immediately perked up and started rocking out. Amber was listening to her ipod at the time and paused it for this. We were just a singing away and also thoroughly entertaining my two best friends beside me. They were looking and laughing at us so i totally played it up and held up my make-believe microphone.  Amazing. listen to it in honor of me. just do it. 
• speaking of my two best friends. its official. smiling and laughing is the universal language. bc thats the only way we ‘talked’ for 18 hours. their (mother and grandmother) baby was so cute and loved staring, smiling, and laughing at me so i felt like we had a continuous conversation. 
• also, the first instance of someone wanting to touch my hair. it was pretty much hysterical. amber and i were talking and see saw the lady behind me trying to sneak a touch at my hair. amber gave her full permission and we just smiled and laughed about it. Im pretty sure that happened for 17.5 of the 18 hours. 
• All day, i ate two granola bars, 3 crackers, and some peanut butter.
• i also only drank 2 nalgenes.... thats what happens when you are terrified that they wont stop for anyone or anything. 
• speaking of restroom stops. we stopped once to fill up on gas, which coincided with a lunch break and toilet stop. a journalist from dar attached himself to me as soon as we got off the bus but his english was quite good so it was much appreciated. that was around 12. the second ‘stop’ was on the side of the road to let our engine cool down and the bathroom was squatting right by the bus. luckily it was dusk then and everyone just went right to their business and so did i! granted i stood out a lot more than everyone else but who cares?! homeboy journalist and his homemade (well actually busmade) business card came visited again after he thought i was done stretching. and you better believe i was stretching after being cooped up so long. 
• overall, the country was quite lush and green and the scenery varied greatly 
• happy to report it was much cooler in mwanza 

1/8/14

So today was the one week marker. While it was a great week and definitely one to remember, it was also an extremely long week. We had our last day of swahili lessons today and were missing Mai. Let’s just say that I have lots of studying to do. After that, we walked to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, which is where the WorldTeach office is. It was a nice walk that lead us through a different part of town and even through a university. It was neat to see all the students walking around, all carrying their books and wearing their white ID’s with a blue lanyard. The WorldTeach office was nice and big, and it even had AC. We filled out some forms for our visas, learned about the requirements of the Teacher Quality components of the program (one detailed lesson plan and one learning module per month), and visited with someone from the Ministry. I forget her official title but she is like an English coordinator I believe. She was so incredibly sweet, encouraging, and thankful. We ate lunch at a museum before embarking on our journey of trying to get Amber’s internet to work. Following an bajaj drive and another glimpse at the outskirts of the town and the Indian Ocean, we were treated to a special farewell dinner at a local Ethiopian restaurant, Addis Abba. The whole experience was amazing. 

(two quotes - proverbs maybe- on the wall... ‘little by little an egg will walk’ and ‘when spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion’)

1/7/14

I know you’re tired of hearing how I slept so I’ll try to end this streak on a good note. I pretty much slept like a baby last night. I took a shower before bed and I think that did the trick of cooling me down and setting the tone for the night. Also, since I took a shower before bed that took my total number of showers for the day to...(drumroll please)... 2!! I was also a champ under the mosquito net. Whew! Done with that. 

At breakfast, Kim said she was on board with getting us out to Bariadi a day earlier. A couple of things about this. We had to shuffle around a few things regarding swahili lessons and had to contact the district officials to make sure he/they could pick us up but we made it work. Yay! Now we will have two full days in Bariadi before our first day bring at the school. Notice I didn’t say the first day of school. That was actually this monday, the 6th. Apparently other things take precedence over teaching/learning for the first while of each semester. She told not to expect to teach next Monday either. On another hand, Bariadi is letter away from baridi which means cold and I certainly won’t complain about some cooler weather! 

Swahili lessons were quite sad today. At the beginning of the class, Mai told Amber that she was sizuri (not good). While that may not sound like an odd answer to ‘How are you?’, it is extremely rare for Tanzanians to say that. Honestly, the only answer that question for this is nzuri (good). We learned that both of her children live with her mom and that the youngest one was sick. He apparently has henia (sp? - Mai said we have it in the US? But she also said there are 26 states and Denver is one :)), which is a disease that only males get in the cold and that it attacks the liver. While I don’t know anything about the disease, her youngest son was having surgery today and she wasn’t able to be with them. Over half way into class, she received a call from her mom and immediately I knew things were not good. Her mom told her to get there immediately. Immediate is not possible when Ingringa, where her mom and children are, is 8 hours away. She was understandably upset but insisted on hiding her emotions and charging through. While she called another teacher to come, she continued to teach until our time was up while he just set behind us. Amber was extremely sweet and comforting to Mai. While terrible and definitely not unsympathetic, Kim said, “This is the life here.” 

The session today was on corporal punishment, which we had discussed throughout the week, and critical thinking. Lot’s of interesting discussions there. I’ll try to get up a separate post about the highlights from our sessions. Also, lunch was by myself at the YWCA today. I had beans and greens for 1000 tsh. crazy cheap. Observation: servings here are huge, especially the rice. I also haven’t tried ugali and really have no desire to. 

Our big outing of the day was terrific. Kim called her bajaj driver, Omi, and he came to take us to buy our ticket for the bus ride to Mwanza. (So, we will travel about 16 hours to Mwanza on Thursday where the District Official will pick us up and take us to a hotel. Then, the next morning they will take us to our home in Bariadi, about a 4 hour drive.) Anyways, this little journey was so neat because it got us out of the city center and let us see so much more. The bajaj was quite the experience by itself. Traffic is crazy to say the least. There hardly seem to be any traffic laws besides ‘survival of the fittest’... Darwin would be proud. Also, everyone drives so close. So imagine cars in traffic without traffic lines and with fast 3 wheeled golf carts and motorcycles weaving around, riding between cars, and on the sidewalks and thats the picture of my ride. I loved it. Omi was so funny. He got out of the bajaj once to go ask a large truck to move forward so he could cut between the traffic. Also, on a random note, we get called ‘sister’ a lot by the Tanzanian men. Like “hello, sister. hey sister. how are you?” Anyways, on the way back to the YWCA, we stopped at a pharmacy. We tried three different pharmacies yesterday and none of them had the doxycycline, the antimalarial I am taking. Actually, one pharmacy did have 50 but they would only give 7 at a time because they were also using them for treatment. We suspected there was  a shortage but Kim called this pharmacy and was able to find some. So I got 200 (many more than I actually need) for 20,000tsh. Thats like 12 dollars. A little perspective... I paid 35 dollars in the states for 30. Also, regarding malaria, none of the volunteers had gotten it this year until maybe sunday when Kim got a call that one had just been diagnosed. The blood test is super simple (a finger prick) and super cheap (about 3 cents, US). She has been on the medicine since then and is already feeling good. 

Dinner was at the YWCA with a few friends of Kim who work in some capacity with the Tanzanian education system. It was great to meet them and be able to pick their brains. A little swahili homework, a nice shower (nice is all relative, isn’t it?), and bed.