Besides waking up at 10:30 and 12:30 and thinking that I had gotten a full nights rest each time, I slept much better. That being said, it didn’t take much. I have already decided that the mosquito net is going to be the bane of my existence. I woke up once and it was nowhere near covering me. It is quite the skill to master. Its hard not to have it fall on my face or stick my legs out. Plus, it blocks some of the treasured breeze that we get from the fan. (side note... the fan is so rickety. I can confidently say it is the worst fan in all the rooms here. How can I know that? Well, I can’t here the noise of any other fans from a few rooms away. There are wires sticking out of it and it shakes all the time. But you know what? It might just be the single best thing I have laid eyes on since I got here). (side note #2... sleeping on my back or my stomach is my only option. Why? Well, that’s because the only time that my legs do not touch - uhhh i mean get sticky/slimy wet from sweat. Too much information..? sorry!)
We had our first swahili lessons today. Mai is our teacher (mwalimu) and she does such a great job. She is constantly acting out words and making us speak and practice continuously. We will have classes for 2 hours everyday until we leave for Bariadi. In the two hours today, we only covered greetings. You may think that is a little ridiculous; however, that just stresses how important greetings are here. And yes, greetings is plural because there are so many. They are a huge part of the culture here and must be done fully before getting on to the conversation, introducing yourself, asking a questions, or anything else.
After the lesson, we were off to buy our phones and our internet modem. The phones we get are from Vodacom and the modem is from Airtel. Well, Vodacom was the first stop and it was quite interesting. The store was in a very new, modern building and was full of many workers and customers. Amber and I both got the cheapest phone available - 35,000 tsh/ about $20. We had to hand over our passports (can you believe I am going to be considered a resident of Tanzania soon?), and check out with the lady behind this one section of the counter where we got our phones. We also wanted to get some airtime on the phone but that lady sent us to the left 2 feet to wait on someone else. Well, that someone else wasn’t there for 20 minutes or so but in the mean time we got to watch the first lady sit in her chair and do nothing and another worker at the next counter literally sleep in his chair. This did not bother me at all; rather, I was loving taking in the variety of people in the store and the culture all around. Eventually, the next lady came and activated our phones, put credit on it, and took our money. No computers needed here. I have no clue how she did it but she just used a basic phone to get everything set up and ready on our phones. After Vodacom, we walked just a little bit further to a shopping ‘mall’ to get our modems at Airtel. Modems here most frequently connect to the computer through the USB port and are called dongles. We made it to the store but it had just closed... at 12:30 on a saturday. Apparently because we are in the city center, most places shut down on the weekend. It was no big deal though. We’ll get them Monday.
Regardless on the dongle drama, we were planning to eat at Mokkacity Cafe. Air conditioned with wi-fi? Count us in! While I ate a far from delicious lunch, I got to talk with mom! Even though it was 5:30 in the morning there, I knew she would want to hear my lovely voice so I kept texting and texting her until I finally woke her up. Good morning! Amber and I have decided rest is for the weary, anyways. We texted for a while through the iMessage feature on the MacBooks now and even got to FaceTime for a while. Such a treat!
Kim wanted to take advantage of having Katie, a current volunteer, in town to teach us about large, multilevel classes. This was especially relevant for my school because Kim believes I will have class sizes of at least 60 students. (side note #3... she also thinks I will be the ONLY math teacher at Biashara... talk about some pressure.) After that we went to the YMCA for some dinner. After eating, Katie, Amber, and I went to Snoopy’s for some ice cream. We came back and Amber passed out while I played with my new phone (it has snake!) and studied up on my swahili. Oh! Its so fun to use it when I can. at the canteen tonight, the worker there was talking to Katie and I was somewhat following along. Then he asked me where I was from and i was able to proudly say ‘ ninatoka Marecani’. Still a nerd, I really want to learn the language. Teacher may be my title here, but students I definitely am.
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