5/18/14
another long day at the homestead. but hey i only have 5 more! i read, folded up the clothes i am leaving here to make me feel productive/ closer to going home. laid out in the courtyard. did a workout. texted with wendy and goober. ate a delicious bowl of oatmeal. before going to bed, i went and laid down in the courtyard again. it was such a beautiful night. breezy and cool and the stars were incredible. saw a shooting star and my usual of mars of jupiter. i laid there for ever, pondering life i guess and talking to my bff - god. dont know if i ever wrote about this story before. when jacob and mcama came over to do the chicken one weekend, we were all sitting at the table and i asked mcama if jacob was his best friend. he didn't know what best friend meant so the definition i came up with at the time was that a best friend is the person that you spend the most time with. and here’s the zinger. he said no, my best friend is jesus. such an awesome moment. so yep i was spending some time with my best friend under the beautiful sky that he has given me each and every day here.
5/1914
last monday! brought me stud to school to give away today. i got caught in mahumis office as i was trying to give the stuff to mahumi. they were preparing to give the form 4s the local/ mock examination. they got out a big bundle of exams that I guess had been in the office long enough for what they called termites to get all in there. i told mahumi i would come back later and i ran into stream b so i could give back they exams and the little prizes for the students. i had a bag full of mostly pens and pencils. then i gave my top 4 scorers a calculator. then i went in to stream a where i actually had a period and gave back their exams and a few prizes. i caught many students begging for something, pouting, and trying to steal more. i dont think it got through to them that students were getting prizes based on their scores. many students came back to me and said that they wanted to trade for something else because they didn't know how to work what they got. so i showed each of them how to work the mechanical pencils and twistable crayons. glad i could give this to the students because i know they will really use it… even if it is just for a ‘ruler’. i hunted until i found stream c. they had been moved because of the form 3 exam. i gave back their exams with the rest of my ‘jifts’. then i went to mahumis office and gave him the gifts for the school and for him. he told me to stay at home tomorrow and to come to school wednesday to say goodbye to the students and teachers. may be something going on since he told me to come wednesday instead of tuesday.
no gas today for the chai. so of course we couldn't get out chapati without the chai. it took forever to wait but i had fun wasting the time by playing cards with the teaching. i gave them two decks of cards and i learned their card game that everyone plays here. its called last card. so basically you can play the same suit or same number card. but then there are special cards. a 7 skips the next person and you can play as many as you have at a time. but if you skip someone who has a skip then they can play it. a 8 is a reverse and you can play multiple too. 2 means you have to draw 2 and a joker means you have to draw 5. if you play 1 or 3 jacks then you can tell the next person what suit you want them to play or you can say special card. 2 or 4 jacks means that the next person can play whatever they want. then you count up your cards at the end after someone goes out. oh and to go out you have to say last card or knock on the table the round before. king is 4 points, queen is 2, 2 is 20, jack is 25, joker is 50, and the rest are the numbers on the card.
anywho, i taught them blackjack and we played that for a second before a meeting started. i honestly don't have a clue what it was about but i am guess something having to do with discipline since that what who was sitting at the headtable. meanwhile, the chai finished right after this meeting started so still no food. i debated skipping it but i had a banana and a baby bit of pb this morning at 6:30 and its past 12 now. fyi. miley cryrus and katy perry have made it big. how do i know? well they have a headline in one of the newspapers here. ‘miley cyrus amla denda hadharani katy perry’. mahumi came and grabbed me from the meeting and gave me a lift into town.
i went to print the pictures that i want to give to the teachers and students. and i had to waste some time while waiting for them to print so i walked around the town. still starving so i bought a banana and ate that then and a pineapple that i was ready to devour when i got home. i walked around the market and tried to steal some pictures. the ladies were crazy and so excited that i had a camera so i had some willing subjects. i went back and waited on my pictures then i walked home. while waiting for the pictures, i saw crazy nasty wet-handed stinky board chairman guy and he didn’t come over to see me so that made my day.
Kelvin
i tore into my pineapple when i walked through the door. somehow pineapples here are a single serving. hmmmmmm. i then did a bathing suit workout in the courtyard, did my laundry for the last time, and did the dishes. all in all a very productive day. veggie stew for dinner and that was so good as always.
5/20/14
were int he 20s! 2/3 of the way through may. 14/15 of the way done with everything. i have to say that the last 10 days have gone by pretty quickly.
hungry this morning, prob from lack of food yesterday. packed up my bags mostly. just needed to a test run to see how much room i have. so exciting. read a book about mind readers. then a workout that was long enough for me to get a reel good sweat on. texted with mom and krisit. got a phone call from madame eva telling me to arrange my timetable to visit her home and say goodbye to her baby tomorrow. yes maam. will do. mahumi told the staff that tomorrow will be my last day.
showered and had rice and beans for dinner… for the last time! hallelujah. i can handle the other meals over and over but rice and beans just hasn't really done it for me. cabbage/mchicha and spaghetti for the last two meals for me.
went to read in bed after dinner and found way too many bugs in my bed for my liking. so i waged a war. bug spray everywhere…. sheets, mattress, me. then took my sheets outside to air out and flipped my mattress. played a game on my computer while i waited. nick had his nighttime snack of his tanzanian pb&j. aka a tons of peanut butter with jelly on. he kills the pb! like puts me to shame sometimes… and thats quite the accomplishment.
5/21/14
last day at school. so crazy! and sad! but very exciting! i was very quiet/ reflective on my last phone call from mahumi and my last ride into school. mahumi brought me to parade where i gave my little goodbye speech to the whole school. then i went into streams a and b to give them an extra goodbye. very sweet. i will miss them. luchonga was my photographer all morning so that was nice.
me at parade talking to the students
so my last day of school is also wendy/goober’s last day. mine just happens to end earlier then theirs.. perhaps exactly 7 hours earlier.
really chill day in the staff room. somewhat empty. only 10 teaching in there for most of the day.
random note. my nails have been getting disgusting recently. more frequently than not, i have a french manicure with a black line under my nail. attractive.
brought my frisbees that mom sent today soi can finish giving them away. i am shooting to go find my little kids that i pass on the way home from school..
morning greeting: madame kassie, you were not present to days ago. no i was just not present yesterday. ah! a single day feels like a year. we miss you.
oh i got straight up cold this morning at parade. like goosebumps and hair standing up.
daily argument about america v africa. one teacher said ‘being african is not a mistake. i think big’. thank you! i recorded a huge chunk of the american debate/ conversation and then we started playing card. so fun. we had a lot of people getting into it. they get so into the game and i guess it is a requirement to slap down the cards because they are intense. side note… clubs are karanga (nuts), hearts are copper (idk why) or love, diamonds are kiss (knife), and spade if jembe (hoe). during one of the games, madame haule called me into the discipline office and there were 4 different kitanges in there and they wanted me to choose which one i like the most so that they could present it to me. guess something more formal is coming for my goodbye.
at break time, i probably had my last cup of chai and one of my last chapati but im not giving up on these guys. i soaked it all in… oiliness and all. then i went to give my pictures away to the students. that caused all kinds of drama but i knew that going into it. theres no way i could print a picture for everyone.
so for the goodbye ‘function’. It was classic tanzanian and so perfect. Edward served at the MC (master of ceremony). They had gotten sodas for everyone and a bottle of water for me. I sat at the head table with Mahumi and the second headmaster. MC was doing all of his formal stuff when madame difficult brought him a tiny piece of paper. before i knew it, i was standing in the middle of the room with difficult singing. singing one swahili song and then blessed assurance. it was awesome. after i sat down, madame haule, the second academic master said something and then lammick, the discipline master said something. he said we know our office is a harsh room. thank you for teaching us about you ways and methods and we used them but when we did not we hope that you will forgive us and forget it and accept it as part of our culture. know that we dont want to beat kids. it is just culture. then of course sebastian had to say something. it was nice and funny. he said he would come visit me soon on hyenas. a new teacher also spoke. he was sweet saying he didn't know me long but he would miss me and that i had taught him so much that will help him in school and in life. then luzoya, the second headmaster gave a totally weird goodbye but it was so perfect. he said that he knows i miss my family and my husband very much. and if i dont have a husband i can choose here. lets just say that got the guys going. mahumi also gave a nice speech about how i was a hard worker and a good example. he told me to pack my suitcase with the good things and to leave the bad behind. then they passed out the soda and the ‘bites’ (kind of like empanadas). then we proceeded with the cheers with everyone. while we were eating, they asked the people responsible to bring in my gift. so 4 ladies went out and came back in with my kiting all opened up. they were dancing, singing, clapping, tounge-clicking ay-yi-yi-ing. then i had to go to the middle of the room and they wrapped me up in. then the paparazzi(teachers) attacked. all the guys jumped up to get a picture with me. i gave my little speech and was actually getting really sad. and lastly it was picture time. lots and lots of them. i was taken to luzoyas office for more food. rice and rubber - oh i mean meat.
i waited a little bit for madame eva. took some pictures with the students that work so hard everyday in the staff room. then we walked to her house. but she was sure to let take me to all of my friends. i got to see my little guys for the last time. i gave them some balls and frisbees and it cause quite the scene. it was actually a fiasco. the mothers were yelling at the kids and at me. i had kids crying and fighting… yeah, it was just a mess. we stopped so eva could get a papaya (pawpaw she insists in english) for the house. she had food ready for us. cabbage, beans, rice, and papaya and pineapple. i wasnt really hungry but i kept putting the food down. took some pictures and just spend some time with them (eva, sitter, baby, daughter, and niece). when i felt i had been there an acceptable amount of time i asked to head back. i got my last walk home and it was just what i needed. i didn't make it back until 6:30. i couldn't have asked for a better day!
5/22/14
last day in bariadi! i goofed around for a while. spend time on the internet, put together a list of things i will miss, and packed!!!!! i rearranged my bags and put my engineering skills to work. did a workout in the afternoon that was interrupted 3 different times. had to say goodbye to daniel. then kelvin came by and then happiness. so glad i got to see all these guys again. happiness and kelvin were sweet as always. i took my last shower and it was perfect. no better way than to go out on a bucket shower! i did the dishes then went to say more goodbyes. to the form 5/6s at bariadi day. to the little kids i play with. to jonah and the cooks. then nick got back and we threw spaghetti together. such a great meal. meanwhile, we took pictures in front of the house and just tried to enjoy the last night. got a call from mahumi and it was quite classic. he wanted to take me to the bus tomorrow so i called to tell him what time and he wanted to make a booking for me and all this stuff. well i say it was classic because as nick says, neither of has a clue what the other person is saying. we finished extremely loud and incredibly close, which since we were already feeling blue/ emotional/ ready to get home/ stressed/ all that stuff, wasn't a great pick for the night. speaking of nights, i wrapped up the bariadi nights with another night in the courtyard checking out the night sky. somehow time just flies when i am out there. the sky was brilliant. so incredibly clear.
5/23/14
early early morning. i woke up at 4:57 and got a call from mahumi at 5:03 and i was already ready. yolito. i got all my bags together and left the house for one last time. he took me to the bus and i was eternally grateful for that. i would say there were no less than 15 people banging on his car, yelling at us. thats normal. and trust me i know all about it as i had head it for the past 5 months from the comfort of my bed. anyways, he had talked to the conductor last night and he had a ticket for me and got my bags put away and all of that. the ride was nice as i got to see the sunrise. it was packed as always, no change there. side note: tanzanians dont sleep. im sure of it. they don't ever go to bed and they are always awake super super early. we drove past tons of rice paddies and people harvesting. abel picked me up from the bus stand (still crazy as ever but officially my last one!) and took me to the christmas tree. i got my stuff settled down and then went out to walk around. i was looking for a souvenir that i wasn't able to find and also a good box of cereal. well neither of those happened but i did enjoy walking around. i got some oranges and a chapati and a jug of water and went back to my room. i laid in bed as i ate some peanut butter with my chapati and watched a show about crazy sports and accidents. it was in english and i was watching tv so i was happy.
eventually i packed my bookbag and headed out for hotel tilapia. ive been here for long enough to type this up now but were struggling in the power department. excited to talk to some peeps soon. wakie wakie america!
i am spending the night here… already tasting my indian food from tilapia that i am going to order soon. and then i am flying out tomorrow. i have a flight to dar and then to kilimanjaro. hopefully ill catch a shuttle into moshi and then a taxi to my hostel. the plans are to day a day trip on kilimanajro on sunday and then make a visit to the materuni waterfalls on tuesday with a chill day on monday. wednesday, I'm getting to dar. thursday is the end of service and then i have to waste time all day friday until i can get on my plane that night! the end is in sight folks! cant wait to see everyone!
happiness!!
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