Mombasa Raha and Rock City

At the end of May, our first term at MGSS ended. The students all took terminal exams, which once again meant a lot of essay grading. Some highlights?

Facts in an essay about HIV/AIDS:
‘HIV/AIDS was started in Uganda in 1956’
‘People who get HIV/AIDS are the people who love sex.’
‘To avoid getting HIV/AIDS, a person must have one partner, no more and no less.’

Answers to writing the name of the flowing animals’ young:
Tiger: Tiglet
Cow: Nephew
Goat: Cousin
Pig: Cab

My students are very creative.

I worked really hard to get all of marking done quickly so I would have some time to travel in June. At the beginning of June, a guy name Mike who had been volunteering in Kenya, stayed with the Jesuits for a couple nights before and after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Once he finished, he was heading to Mombasa on the coast of Kenya, so I decided to go with him. The bus took us through Tsavo National Park, if any of you have seen the movie ‘Ghosts in the Darkness,’ that is where that story took place. Since I was afraid of getting eaten by lions, I made Mike sit by the window. We didn’t see any wildlife though, just a lot of brush and dust.

Once we reached Mombasa, we met up with two of Mike’s friends that lived there, who we would be staying with. I had my first ride in a tuk-tuk, and I loved it. I want one. I really enjoyed Mombasa, the night life was fun and the beaches were beautiful. We traveled a little farther north to a place called Malindi, and spent some more time at the beach there. In Mombasa, we were able to meet up with two MaryKnoll volunteers, a married couple who had recently retired and decided to do some volunteer service. They were great people, and I decided that I absolutely want to do the same when I retire. If I ever stop volunteering in the first place and get an actual job. I also visited a place called Fort Jesus, which was a really beautiful place.

Fort Jesus

It’s amazing how different of a place Kenya is from Tanzania. I mean, there obviously a lot of similarities as East African countries, but there are many cultural differences. In Tanzania, every person that I meet in the street that appears older than me, I greet by saying ‘Shikamoo’ which literally means, I lay myself at your feet. They respond with a ‘Marahaba,’ which means, I accept. Not so much the case in Kenya, the first day that we were there, we were sitting in a restaurant and an older man walked by and was looking at me. I respectfully greeted him with a shikamoo. Willis and Collins, our two friends from Mombasa, laughed at me and told me that in Kenya, you don’t greet everyone you see. They’re just not quite as hospitable and respectful there as in Tanzania. Another example is that in TZ, when you are at the store, you ask politely for whatever you need by saying, ‘Naomba ______’ which literally means, I beg for or I pray for. In Kenya they believe that since they are paying money for something that they don’t need to ask so they just say ‘Nipe!’ which means, Give me! These seem like small things, but I think they are a good representation of one of the main cultural differences. Kenya is definitely more developed and faster paced. I hope I didn’t shed a negative light on Kenyans though, the families I stayed with and visited were definitely very welcoming and generous, it was just very different than TZ.

Mombasa

The bus ride back home was slightly torturous. Tsavo is extremely dusty and the inside of the bus frequently looked like a big dust cloud. We also broke down quite often, so the trip took extra long. The roads are not very good, and I kept thinking that the bus would tip over. I had come pretty close to assuring myself that this could not happen, that the bus driver did this trip almost every day and must be sure of himself, when we came across another big truck flipped sideways in the road. Road safety is a pretty big issue around here. Luckily I could keep myself distracted and entertained by listening to the man who got on the bus halfway through our journey and spoke for over an hour about the medicines he was trying to sell us. The green snake oil for indigestion was intriguing.

After returning to Moshi that evening, I immediately started preparing for my next trip. Mary Beth and I would be traveling to Mwanza the very next day and our bus left at 5:30am. I sorted through my clothing, choosing what looked the cleanest, and prepared for another long dusty ride. You can get from Moshi to Mwanza several different ways, and we were going the longest way. The easiest way is to go through Nairobi, but we didn’t want to pay the transfer visa just for driving through Kenya. There is also a bus that goes through the Serengeti, but it does not run every day and would not get us to Mwanza in time for our retreat. So we had to take the bus that took us around the southern part of the Serengeti and back up to Mwanza. We left at about 5:30 and arrived in Mwanza at about 10:30 at night. The bus stopped once for about 15 minutes. Brutal, but absolutely worth it. I loved Mwanza. It is right on the edge of Lake Victoria, and nicknamed Rock City because of all of the crazy big rock formations all over the place. This was where we would have our third retreat. Mary Beth and I had arrived a day early because it was our only transportation option, and met Christen (from Dar, who had also arrived early) at the New Pentagon Hotel, where we would stay until everyone else arrived. It was like heaven. After two days of fighting dust storms, I had dirt in every crevice conceivable. All I wanted was a shower and a bed, I didn’t care what condition they were in. When we arrived at the hotel, MB was at the front desk checking in, and a manager took me to the room to show it to me. As he is pointing out the hot shower, air conditioning, television with HBO, and two big beautiful clean beds, I am jumping up and down screaming NIMEFURAHI NIMEFURAHI!! (I’M SO HAPPY, I’M SO HAPPY!) because the idea of a hot shower and a little mindless entertainment sounded like bliss to me. It was the cleanest I felt in a very long time.

The rest of the Dar community was supposed to arrive the next day, but their bus left seven hours late and had to stop and sit for a few hours in the middle of the night because you are not allowed to travel at night in TZ, so they didn’t end up arriving until the afternoon of the next day. That gave MB and I a day to explore Mwanza. We hiked up to Capri Point and saw these unbelievable houses with incredible views of the lake. Some of the houses were actually built with the rock formations as part of the structural base, it was crazy. We stopped at a Chinese restaurant that was on the water’s edge, and we were blown away by the prices. Mwanza was very expensive. To give you an idea…usually when we go somewhere to get a serving of plain chips (French fries) it is less than 1,000 tsh (1300tsh is about 1USD). At this particular place, a plate of chips was 3,000tsh. We said no way. There were things on the menu that were close to 20,000tsh, that is crazy unheard of. So I had a glass of wine that was surprisingly reasonably priced, and we just relaxed and enjoyed the view for awhile. Then we went back to our room and I ordered room service for the first time in my life, which was far less expensive that it would have been the US. I felt so spoiled. And I was pretty excited that I got to watch Kindergarten Cop as I ate.


Sidenote: When MB and I left that morning, we left things everywhere in our room, it looked like my bag exploded because I was trying to get things out and shake the dust out of them. When we returned that evening, we opened the door and the room was spotless. MB gasped, for a split second thinking we had been robbed, but I opened the cupboards and found all of our things folded and put away in them. How nice is that? Seriously, spoiled.

So the next day we reluctantly packed up our things to go find a place for all of us to stay for retreat. We really wanted to continue staying there, because believe it or not it was very reasonably priced, and obviously nice. However, they did not have enough of the kind of rooms we would need. So we went to a different place down the street, with a nice balcony that we could watch the sunsets each night from. African sunsets are beautiful. That is where we spent the next few days on our third retreat, which was a little more intense that the other we have been on, but really fulfilling. It was so good to be with the Dar community again. We splurged one night on pizza from a little restaurant that uses its profits for a center for street kids and a few beers, and it was fabulous to be sitting outside with pizza, a beer and good friends. Happy times. The fish in Mwanza was delicious, the Jesuits were hysterical and the scenery beautiful, I would love to go back someday.

Rock City!

After another exhausting bus ride back home, I was ready for a few days of relaxation before school started again. Our trip to Uganda didn’t work out for a variety of reasons, but I still plan on going at some point during my time here. We’ve started our second term at school and it’s crazy how quickly time is going by. In a few days I will have been here for eight months, that’s a third of my time here! I’m still trying to take advantage of every opportunity, and I’ll share some more exciting stories sometime soon!

Snakes! and Bunnies!

Pole sana marafiki zangu! I have been out gallivanting and have not had a chance to sit down and blog. I’m now back in school, sitting at my desk and looking for any excuse to not start my lesson plans for the term, so it’s prime time to update you all on the past few months. I’ll try to stick to highlights, because a lot has happened.

After I returned from Nairobi, we went on our third retreat to a place on the coast called Tanga. I’ve fallen in love with the Indian Ocean, so I was excited to spend a few more days there. We stayed at a retreat center that was right on the beach, and it was absolutely beautiful. I spent most of my time in my swimsuit, either in the ocean or right next to it studying my Kiswahili, it was a much needed retreat. We had just finished grading mid-term exams at school and it was a lot of work. Grading 400 essays written by students with a broad range of English knowledge was both strenuous and hilarious.

We were on retreat with the community from Dar, and once we finished in Tanga we traveled down with them to their home to spend Easter there. Dar was where we spent our first two weeks in Tanzania, so returning there stirred up a myriad of feelings. I spent a lot of my time there reflecting on how overwhelmed I had felt in my first few days, and how much more comfortable and confident I now felt, just a few months later. It was very affirming. It was also nice to see friends we had made and spend time with the Jesuits there. I was able to go to Loyola and watch both Christen and Caroline teach, which was very fun. In Caroline’s class, they were playing a Bingo game to review some geography that they had learned. Some of the boys in the class whispered my questions, hoping I could help them, and then giggled when I also did not know and had to whisper to someone else. How was I supposed to know the capital of Zambia off the top of my head? The next day I went to Gonzaga, the primary school that Nicholas and Emily teach at. So fun. I loved hanging out with the little ones, and totally instigated chaos. I had discovered a water gun in their staff room, so during Nicholas’ math class, I proceeded to sneakily squirt the boys in the class in the backs of their heads every time they did anything that could remotely resemble misbehaving.

Easter Day was very fun. Mary Beth and I were sleeping in our typical spot, a tent outside the house in Dar. I woke up early and as a stuck my head outside of it; I noticed two big white fluffy footprints outside of the tent. Next to them was a note, the Easter Bunny had made an appearance the night before! The note contained a clue leading to the next spot he had visited. Unfortunately, we needed to prepare for church. And it was going to take me awhile because my hair had been in braided for over a week and needed a good washing. We all dressed up in our Easter kitenge best and headed to church. All of the women looked beautiful, and it was nice to be back at the church in Dar. After a three hour mass, we headed back home to follow the path of the Easter Bunny! It was a strenuous hunt, filled with many mind-boggling clues and tricks, but we finally discovered the little bags of candy the Easter Bunny (aka Christen Reardon, one of the Dar volunteers) had left us. What a happy morning. At this point it was around 11AM, and we proceeded to feast on candy, cassava (a fried root that is extra yummy) and some beer that Nicholas’ family had brought from Canada since he and Emily both gave up alcohol for Lent. Delicious. Soon thereafter we headed to a friend’s family home for lunch. On the walk over, something magical occurred. While at Gonzaga, we had a discussion about the lack of rabbits in Tanzania. We had yet to see any in our five months here. That afternoon, we saw the Easter Bunny. There was a little white rabbit hopping along the path with us! What timing to see our first lil’ African bunny! Once there, I struggled to eat much of the huge portions put onto my plate; I ended up stealthily scraping my food onto Nicholas’ plate. Tanzanian hospitality can be brutal, you need to eat ‘eat, eat, eat until you are eaten!’ The rest of the day was spent preparing for a slightly more nutritious Easter feast at the Jesuits. I grated my first coconuts and made coconut rice pudding. Once there, we discovered that they had prepared nyama choma for us, roasted beef, goat and chicken. What a treat. We feasted and laughed all evening, it was a happy Easter.

My Braids

When we returned from Dar, the next week I was Teacher On Duty at school. Each week there are two teachers that pretty much run the joint. They make sure all of the student’s duties are done, make sure all school rules are followed, run morning assembly, basically make sure that everything runs smoothly and then administer discipline if it does not. Typically the Teacher On Duty walks around carrying a stick so that if any student is misbehaving they can give them a quick whack. The students knew that I would not be doing this, so they were slightly more difficult to manage the week I was Teacher On Duty. Luckily my time at Mercy taught me a lot about setting limits and natural consequences, so I didn’t have that much trouble. I was definitely center stage for the week, all of the other teachers were watching to make sure the school didn’t burn down under my watch. It didn’t, it was fine. The most eventful part of the week was when I was supervising lunch in the dining hall and all of the girls in one corner started screaming and running away with yells of NYOKA! NYOKA! There was a green snake slithering along the wall and promptly causing chaos in the entire dining hall (filled with about 400 students). I was laughing so hard at the situation that I was crying, but I managed to help Mr. Tom and Pascal (who is nicknamed the Arnold Schwarzenegger of Tanzania) to track it down and kill it. Rumours flew that it was a green mamba, but it was never confirmed. On the Saturday of my week on duty it was Labor Day in Tanzania and all of the staff were sent to Arusha for a celebration. I was worried I would have to stay and watch the school, but Sister Njau wanted all of the teachers and staff to be able to go so she stayed to watch the 900 students all by herself. So fun, and so kind of her to do. It was like a wedding reception, set up in beautiful gardens with lots of food, drinks and dancing. We had a great time.

A co-worker Tom and I on Labor Day

Lots of Dancing!

Speaking of snakes…we also traveled to Arusha to the snake park! Christopher (one of the Jesuit Scholastics), Tom (a co-worker and friend) and Mary Beth and I decided to take a day trip. On the way there we were pulled over at a police check-point. They asked us for our papers, and unfortunately the registration papers for the car had been left at home. The police, being corrupt and looking for every opportunity to profit, spent the next half hour trying to solicit a bribe. At one point a man came out with a big machine gun around his neck to try to intimidate us. It worked. Not for Tom and Christopher, because they had grown up in a war-torn Uganda with plenty of guns around, but for me. But not necessarily because of how big the gun was, I was more worried about the fact that he was wearing a Baltimore Ravens hat and scared that he would discover my loyalty to the Pittsburgh Steelers and we would be finished. Luckily he was content to check my passport and sneer at me. After giving them some money, they let us go on our way. The snake park was lots of fun and all sorts of scary. Good trip. Okay that’s it for now, I don’t want to overload. More later! Hope all is well wherever you are!

A trip to Kenya

Before Easter I was able to travel with Christen and Caroline to Nairobi, Kenya. They had already begun their mid-term break, and I had a few days before my students took their exams that I would need to mark. James, one of the Jesuits, also needed to go to Nairobi to renew his passport, so we were able to drive up in one of the Jesuit vehicles instead of taking a bus. What an adventure it ended up being. The rains had still not come, so it was very, very dry and dusty. They are still constructing the main road between Nairobi and Arusha, so most of our travel was on very dusty, very bumpy dirt roads. They were rough, so rough in fact that we ended up with a flat tire outside of Arusha, in the middle of the bush. As we were gathering the equipment to change it, we discovered that we had no jack. Luckily a car stopped and a few men came out to give us some help. Crossing the border took quite a bit of time, and then we stopped to repair the tire, which also took awhile. While we were waiting in the car, many Maasai women approached us, trying to sell us their beaded jewelry. They would not take no for an answer, it was non-stop. Once we were all patched up we headed out for the Kenyan side of the journey. The Kenyan side was a bit greener, but it was apparent that they were also hurting for the rains to come. On the trip up I saw Thompson gazelles and zebras all along the side of the road, my first experience of seeing African animals in the wild! We finally made it to Nairobi, and I was astonished at how big it was, it’s a real city. The traffic was absolutely nuts, pseudo five-lane highways with no lines and people moving anyway they please. Slightly terrifying. Christen, Caroline and I were staying with the director of the East African branch of Catholic Relief Services, and when we finally reached his house it was close to 7:00pm. We had embarked on this so-called five hour journey at 9:00am. The family and the house were amazing. I felt like I was catching a glimpse into what I wanted my life to be in like in 20 years. He has worked for CRS for a long time, and their family has lived all over the world. As a result, their house is filled with art and furniture and different things from all of these places. The four children ranged in age from 15 to 4, and were so much fun to be around. The two teenage girls loved having us there, we did everything from chat about boys to help them with their algebra homework. When we sat down for dinner and there was a real salad and spaghetti with cheese and meat, we all thought we were dreaming. Then after dinner that night before the family went upstairs to go to bed they showed us how the television worked and we were able to watch tv! I even was able to record one of the Pitt games and watch it the next morning during breakfast! Needless to say, we were in heaven.

The next morning we got up early to wander around Nairobi. We wanted to go to the wildlife reserve and see the baby elephants, so we headed downtown via matatu (like a dala dala, the vans for public transportation they stuff a million people into). We were running late, and not exactly sure which matatu to get into next, so we decided to grab a cab. Shady business. We bartered with a guy over price for a few minutes and then Caroline and Christen hopped in the back and I got in the front seat. Thank God I did that. We were in the cab a second before the driver and Christen says, ‘Um, do you guys have handles on your doors?” Thankfully I did, because neither of the backdoors had handles, so if we would have all been in the back seat we would not have been able to get out. Then the driver gets in and puts the car in reverse, but only moves a few feet before a group of men come running up yelling, reach in and grab the keys out of the ignition. We had no idea what was going on, but it didn’t take long for us to decide we did not want to be in that cab and I got out and let the other two out. We took a few seconds to re-group and then found another cab. He claimed he knew exactly where we wanted to go and off we went. Turns out he had no idea where we were going. He was asking to see our guide books and looking for a map. I was in the front seat again, and I ended up giving him directions the entire way. I’ve never been to Nairobi before. Anyway, the baby elephants are only out from 10am to 11am. We arrived at 10:55. When we got there we went in anyway to see if we could catch the last one, and they said there was a baby rhino still out. We started going through the gate and the woman stopped us and told us if we wanted to go in we would have to pay the 3000 shilling donation. So um, not a donation if it’s mandatory. So no baby animals for us. Defeated, we started walking through the park towards the entrance, the last thing we wanted to do was get back in the cab, and there was no public transportation in the park. So we’re walking through this wildlife reserve, looking at baboon tracks, hoping we don’t get eaten by lions and breathing in crazy amounts of dust from all of the cars passing us, sun beating down, not feeling especially happy. We were told that the Karen Blixen museum was only one kilometer from there, so we were headed there. After awhile, a Hummer with all tinted windows pulls over and asks us if we need a ride. It’s an old English gentlemen and two younger guys, all who were very polite so we hopped in. They quickly informed us that the museum was much farther than a kilometer, but drove us there even though it was no where near where they were going. The air conditioning was fabulous.

So now we are in the town of Karen. Karen is named after Karen Blixen, who the book ‘Out of Africa’ is written by and the movie is about. The Karen Blixen museum is actually the house that she lived in that the book is about and where the movie was filmed. It was really cool to be there, and it was really beautiful. After exploring there for awhile, we walked to a place called Kazuri Beads. This is a bead workshop that was started to create jobs for single mothers in the area. They make all of the beads by hand, they make the clay, the form them, they dry them, they paint them and they fire them. The jewelry was beautiful, and all of the proceeds go to the development of the place to create more jobs. I bought lots of stuff and I love it all.

After the bead place, we hopped into a matatu that was blasting reggae music and had black lights in it. It was awesome. We got onto a bus that took us back into downtown Nairobi and finally made our way back to the house we were staying. We hung out with the kids for awhile in their backyard on the trampoline and then went in for another delicious dinner of pad thai. I love pad thai. Then that night we hung out in the girl’s rooms for a little girl talk, they wanted us to never leave.

The next morning we left and went downtown to check into a hotel for that night. We were meeting some of Christen’s friends that she knew from when she studied in Kenya and going out to a club, so we didn’t want to come in really late at the family’s house. We wandered around downtown all day and bought some really beautiful fabrics and clothing. We went into a place called Nakumatt and I was speechless, it was a real supermarket, they had everything there. We bought all sorts of treats for dinner. We went to a coffee shop and hung out for a little while and had some delicious coffee. We also went into the Hilton, it was one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever been in and I couldn’t believe for a minute that I was still in Eastern Africa. This was the hotel that was bombed in the 90s when the US Embassy was bombed in Dar es Salaam. It was just a weird feeling to be in a city that was so developed and so westernized after living for four months in an area that isn’t as much. That night we went out with a bunch of Christen’s friends to a club called Florida 2000, and we had a very good time.

The next morning, on very, very little sleep, we packed up our things and met James at the cathedral to head back to Moshi. We saw some baboons on the way home that were mad ugly but cool to see. Again, outside of Arusha, we ran into some trouble. Mary Beth called James’ phone to talk to us, and when he turned around to hand it to Caroline, he took his eyes off the road. The car started heading off the road, straight up an embankment, luckily the other priest sitting in the passenger seat had enough presence of mind to grab the wheel or we probably would have slipped over. There was some damage to the undercarriage and we were leaking transmission fluid all over the place. We started driving, hoping to make it to Arusha. We barely made it, and rolled into a service station to get fixed up. Three hours later, we were back on the road, on the way home. When we finally made it back to Moshi, Mary Beth was thrilled that I was home, she had not enjoyed staying at our house alone, especially with no electricity for two nights and with the creature that has taken to crawling around on our roof. We don’t know what it is, we have a new guess each night. The latest guess is a bush baby.

So that was my trip to Nairobi! I was very excited to get out and travel around a little bit, there is so much that I want to see around here. I’m looking forward to my next adventure to Mwanza for retreat in June, we’re thinking about traveling up to Uganda afterwards where I may get to see the source of the Nile.

Wazungu Capture

• So a lot has happened since the chicken slaughter. I’ll rank them in order of importance.
  
  1) THE STEELERS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!
  Magical. I purchased a black and gold khanga for the occasion. The game was at 2:30 in the morning, and I had to be at school at 7:30 that morning. I had planned on going to bed super early and getting up to watch it, but I was too excited so I stayed up all night. Pre-game was kind of a low point for me. I was up preparing some treats for myself and felt extremely homesick. I was thinking about the last time the Steelers won the Superbowl and the being surrounded by all of my Bonaventure loves. Thinking about dragging people to Lucky’s to watch games and eating delicious wings. Thinking about home and wishing I could be in PA for the game. Thankfully I had an unbelievable football game to watch to distract me from being sad! So good! I’m so thankful that I got to watch it!
  
  Okay the ranking system isn’t really relevant anymore; I just wanted to depict the enormity of that particular occasion.
  
  




• Alice: A doctor who teaches at Stanford came to teach at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) and has been staying at the Jesuits for the past month. She was such a blessing to Mary Beth and me. She was a warm motherly presence and she cooked us all sorts of American treats. She even made pizza one day! As I was helping her pack, she gave us all sorts of little goodies to keep that she couldn’t fit in her bags. She spent a large part of her stay trying to convince me to consider medical school as an option for my future. She helped me practice too, she took me along to a class she taught on infant resuscitation and she had me give an injection of an anti-inflammatory. To a real live human being! I practically already have my license. She was fabulous, I’ll miss her a lot.
  
• A Tanzanian Matrimony: The teacher that I team teach my English classes with was married recently. It was nice that I was able to teach all of the sections of the class myself for about three weeks, her and I have been having a lot of trouble communicating and collaborating. The festivities surrounding her nuptials were fascinating and I’m glad I got to be a part of them. The Wednesday before the wedding, we attended her Sending-Off Party. The invitation said it would begin at 5:30 and we were worried that we were going to be late because Mary Beth was trapped in the staff room. We arrived at about 5:15, and there were approximately three people there. It was held at the YMCA, and the room was GORGEOUS. They had it all decorated with hanging, silky fabric and candles and thousands (I’m not kidding) of roses. It was really beautiful. It had a similar feel to what a wedding reception would look like. At 5:30 there was still no one there so we wandered to the hostel’s café for a soda, courtesy of our co-worker Tom. The party didn’t actually start until about 7:30. And what a party. Everyone was dressed beautifully, it was a really big deal. Mary Beth and I became Sister Njau’s little pets for the night. The bride (my co-teacher) is Sister Njau’s sister. Every time Sister Njau had to go up as a member of the family, she took Mary Beth and me with her. We ate some more goat cake in front of everyone, we toasted the bride in front of everyone, we got food first, we were presented with a tier of the cake, it was slightly embarrassing to be paraded about, but the perks of good seats and eating first were appreciated. Some highlights included when Sister Njau admitted she did not know the name of her future brother-in-law, when the entire staff of Maria Goreti Secondary School danced up the aisle, singing and holding our presents to the bride above our heads, and when the groom hid from the bride and she had to wander around the entire room looking for him. We were there until 12:30am, it was a big party. Good times. There were at least 300 people there. Then Mary Beth and I attended the wedding on Saturday. We were told that there would be three women dressed up as brides and the groom would have to choose the right one. What actually happened was that three weddings were performed simultaneously. No one comes to the wedding; there were very few people there. My English class was there though, and when I get married I totally want 100 teenage girls to be a part of the ceremony. They were awesome. They would bust out in cheers and screams at random parts of the ceremony. They would start singing songs if there was a lull in the music. It was great. Later that night there was another party for the wedding reception. Not as big of a deal as the sending-off party. People weren’t as dressed up; it wasn’t quite as nice of a place. Still a fun time though. Here is a picture from when the family entered the sending off party:

• Skiffy, JJ, Franco and Superman Mary Beth and I are beginning to make friends at work. This is evidenced by the fact that we are learning real names of people and no longer feel compelled to reference their nicknames each time we need to speak of them. A female teacher that we had been calling ‘Skiffy’ due to a dress she frequently wears featuring a print of a spoon, knife and fork (S+K+F=SKiFFy) recently locked Mary Beth in the female staff bathroom, but luckily ‘Superman’ was nearby to hear her cries for help and release her from captivity. I was too busy giggling about the ordeal in our little corner of the staff room to be of much assistance, having watched the whole thing go down.

• Speaking of captivity... MB and I also got locked into the computer room at the end of a school day and had to yell for students until someone came to save us. I don't know how the person that closed and locked the door didn't see us in there.... we've been told we glow in the dark.

• The 2009 Kilimanjaro Half-Marathon So I ran a half marathon. In Africa. It was pretty much up a mountain, no big deal. It was an unbelievable experience. As I was brainstorming ways to keep my mind occupied with things other than how much my knees ached, I decided to dedicate each of the 21 kilometers to someone or something, and think of them while I was running and offer up a short prayer for them. Here’s my list!
  

1. To finish without be stricken by heatstroke




2. Gratitude for simply being there and being able to run in that race. What a blessing it is to have the opportunity to spend two years in such a beautiful place and to be healthy enough to run 21 kilometers!




3. Sheena Jacobi! And her discernment process about international volunteering! Hooray!




4. MercyWorks 06-07 Never Before, Never Again. My community from my year of volunteering in Chicago has been absolutely incredible in how supportive they have been. From the encouragement through the application process, to the eight long months of preparation, to all of the phone calls and e-mails and cards and kind words I continue to receive, they have been nothing short of amazing. You guys are fabulous.




5. Thinking of Chicago… thought I’d offer up a lil’ Noha Home lovin’ as well. I miss the lil’ munchkins and my staff, the kids here are too polite and my co-workers are too appropriate all the time.




6. My Students and Co-Workers at Mary Goreti….they’re not Noha Home, but I really, really enjoy working with them and the other teachers have been so welcoming to Mary Beth and I.




7. The Jesuits and Sister Njau: The friendships we have developed have been such a gift. They have done so much to help us get settled here and I am incredibly appreciative of them.




8. Mary Beth Neckles: We complement each other so well, good job JVI staff! What an adventure we are on together! And she made such a sweet sign the day of the marathon that someone asked her if he could have. It said ‘Congratulations Talia.’ He was satisfied with taking a picture with me and the sign. She also came through big time in getting me a t-shirt.




9. The Dar JVI Community: Good people.




10. JVs All Over! I hope all of their experiences are fulfilling in their own ways.




11. on my way HOME! This was the point where the race route turned back towards the finish, which was very close to where Mary Beth and I live. As I began my journey back home, I began to think of my home in the States, particularly of my favorite running experiences, most often with Leah. I know it was hard for my family to be supportive of me leaving to go live in Africa for two years, and I appreciate all they have done for me. I miss them. And the Doodle.




12. Grandma Ruthie… rocks my world. She sent cheese to Africa. And various other treats. She is so good to me and I miss her like CRAZY!




13. Friends: This kilometer was a huge thank you to all of the thoughts, prayers, e-mails, phone calls, letters, gchat words of encouragement and Steelers won the Superbowl magazine care packages (thanks Adam!) that all of my friends have been sending this way. Thanks friends. I’m so blessed.




14. Holly and Dan: Deserved a kilometer just for them because they rock my world. Headlamp….awesome...comes in so handy for sorting rice with no electricity and tucking myself in my mosquito net after I’ve already turned off my light. They sent me an AWESOME care package too… Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, yummy chocolate, a magazine with Britney on the cover, what more could a girl want? You two are so sweet, thank you.




15. Johnathan: Speaking of fabulous packages. He sent a fabulous care package filled with such practical thoughtful things. Yes I have a Skype headset now, who wants to Skype with me!?!? Not only that though, he has been so incredibly patient with me and supportive in so many ways… I don’t even know where to begin in trying to express how thankful I am, all twenty-one kilometers wouldn’t be enough. And I couldn’t have done this half-marathon without his helpful sports psychology tips! Go go go! I’m a lucky girl.




16. My Growth: This was both a kilometer of gratitude and hope. I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to grow in so many ways, but I’m hopeful that I can develop a little more self-awareness about what this particular experience is doing for me. There are plenty of ‘What the f am I doing here?’ moments, and I would like to be more aware of what I am learning and what positive impact I am making.




17. Bonas and TH212: Thinking of some of those formative experiences that have helped me grow, obviously Bonaventure shaped me in a big way. I’m trying to hold on to that Franciscan spirit as much as I can while being surrounded by Jesuits! Living with Amy, Andrea and Rebecca in 212 was such a blessing and as I’m finishing this blog entry on St. Patrick’s Day, I can’t help but to think of the good times we’ve had together celebrating it both at Bonas and in Chicago. Love!




18. Fr. Dan Riley: I recently received an e-mail saying he was being honored for his work at Bonaventure, so I wanted to send a little African lovin’ his way! This kilometer was for him, both in appreciation of the support and love he’s offered and the prayer that he may continue to touch many other students’ lives in such a powerful way.




19. My Mountains: As I glanced back at Mt. Kilimanjaro, and thought about the peace that comes with my morning runs when I’m able to stare up at her beautiful peaks, I also thought of Mt. Irenaeus and the peace that place brings. I’m so thankful for the people it brought into my life and the lessons in contemplation and reflection I learned there.




20. As I approached the finish line I again ran in gratitude for being here. What an amazing opportunity! Sometimes I still can’t believe that I’m living in Africa.




21. For Finishing! Without heatstroke! Whoo hoo! Altogether an amazing experience that I’m so glad I had. Next year… full marathon! Eek!

before the marathon....feelin' strong!

after the marathon....feelin' hot and happy!

Last Night's Dinner Preparations

Yesterday was the end of our first real week of work. I taught a few English classes and really enjoyed them. The students make me laugh, one of them raised her hand and said, "I thought Americans were all supposed to be fat. Why are you so skinny?" Another, after discovering that for three of my first four years out of university will be spent as a volunteer, asked, "Will you ever actually try to make any money?" They are often more excited to learn about American pop culture than then English language, but their eagerness to learn about everything is encouraging. The school day typically ends at 4:00. Yesterday, the headmistress announced that there would be a prayer service for the teachers from 3:30 to 4:30. Instead of an uproar about the final day of our week being extended by another half of an hour, there was a buzz of excitement and many of the teachers approached Mary Beth and I, inviting us to be a part of it. We sang, we read a psalm, we prayed and we reflected. It was the perfect culmination of a work week. When the prayer service ended, Sister Njau wanted to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the school once more, so she brough out soda and wine for everyone. It was a pleasant little social gathering that enabled Mary Beth and I to interact with more of the teachers on a different level.

When we went to the Jesuit Residence that night for dinner, one of the Jesuit scholastics, James, said that he wanted to have a nice meal to end our first week of work. We were in luck. Christopher, the other scholastic, had gone over to another teacher's home after school and that teacher had sent a chicken home with him. I had witnessed Christopher walk into the house holding a live chicken by its feet. We decided to eat it that night. I asked, half jokingly, if I could be the one to kill it. James and Christopher got really excited about this idea and before I knew it I was outside with knife in hand. Christopher gave me very thorough instructions on the logistics of killing the chicken, but also spoke about the Muslim traditions of respecting the life we were about to take and praising God for it. I was hesitant and nervous, but I did it. Thankfully Christopher was right there to step on the neck after I severed the head, or else blood would have spurted all over me. James then arrived to dance a celebratory jig. This is all on film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaDjXr3MdtY

Next, I learned out to pluck and clean the chicken and I helped James cut it into pieces and cook it. During this process he made a comment about reconsidering his vows now that he knew what I was capable of. Christopher agreed. I made them both take it back immediately, I don't want God to be on my bad side by taking some soon-to-be priests from them! I informed James that when I had asked him the week prior to marry me that I thought I had made it clear he was to be the priest in the ceremony and not the groom.

It was a memorable experience as a whole. I feel as if every meat eater in the world should have the experience of taking the life of what they are to eat, so as to appreciate more fully what it is they are consuming. It was a bonding experience for me and the Jesuits (they were quite surprised at my willingness and enthusiasm towards learning about and doing the dirty work), further strengthening the sense of community that we are developing. And the chicken was delicious.

all kinds of new stuff

New House! We moved into our new house last week. At last! Very very excited about it, lots of work to make it feel like home. We live with a bunch of little (and big) cockroach friends that we capture and DOOM! on a nightly basis. We also pretty much live with the girls that live in the servant quarters type thing that is also in our gated compound, which will be fine once we can communicate with them and become friends, but right now its a bit difficult to feel like we have any sense of privacy since they peek in our windows at the crazy wazungo all the time. It doesn't help that we scream when startled by our cockroach friends every single day. I'm looking forward to picking out fabric to make curtains for my bedroom and I love my giant king-sized bed. I'll be sure to post pictures of our house sometime soon. We still don't eat very many meals in our house because we don't have all of the supplies we need to cook. We also can't really afford to go buy them. Sister Njau dropped off a few boxes that had some plates and silverware and two pots in them for us to use, which was so so nice. She also included a little tea and sugar, so sweet. We did try to go shopping for a bunch of food and cleaning supplies and we were very successful at the market, however we were not so successful with getting it all home. We were robbed. Two of the Jesuit scholastics drove us and when we stopped at another market for bananas someone opened a window that wasn't completely latched, opened the door and stole most of the things we had juts purchased. Luckily they left us a loaf of bread and some peanut butter, but we lost a lot of stuff we had spent quite a bit of money on. We were grateful to be safe and that nothing of great importance was lost, but not very happy. I still love my kingsize bed though.
New Job! We started staff meetings last week and orientation for the form one students started yesterday. The staff meetings were generally pretty boring, (although anything pales in comparison to Noha home staff meetings) but I think they were a little taken aback by my participation in the meeting. Mary Beth and I are on the schedule to teach 45-50 periods a week. There are only 50 periods total in a week. That is actually pretty impossible. We are signed up with other teachers for all fo them so we're hopeful that those number will be cut in half but it has also been impossible to track down the teachers and coordinate meetings. Class starts Thursday and we really have no idea exactly which classes we are responsible for or what the syllabi will look like. This should be interesting! Also going to be interesting...me teaching Divinity and Computer classes along with my English classes. Orientation has been really fun, thank you to all of you that sent me group dynamic activity suggestions! Its taken me a little bit to adjust to working with 160 little girls that are very well behaved and think that I'm a nut job because I teach them weird songs and games to play, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. Some still struggle with English a bit and call me Mister Tal-ee-a and some are really good with English and say things like "I think our group motto should be unity is success!" They're cute.
New Language! Swahili lessons are going slowly but surely. I'm really excited about learning the language and relatively motivated about studying it, but I'm not sure when I'll have time to practice! There are signs all over the school saying "Speak English Always" and its strictly enforced. The Jesuits and our friend Catherine have been good about quizzing us and teaching us new words though.

New Look! I had a dress made here with fabric I received on my birthday and I love it! Those are ducks and reeds on it! I also have worn more make-up and jewelry and high heeled shoes here than I ever have in my life. I'm trying so hard to feel pretty but its SO DIRTY.

New Life? We have been told repeatedly that if we spend two years here we will become Tanzanian. The other day at lunch bets were being placed on my future. One Jesuit says I will move to either Pennsylvania or Denver in two years. One Jesuit says I will go back to the States for schooling but then come back and work in his clinic here. One Jesuit says I will never leave. We shall see.

ps I ate cheese today. and bacon. What a good day. AND IM STAYING UP LATE AT THE JESUITS TO WATCH THE STEELERS GAME!! GO STEELERS!!!

A typical staff meeting at Mary Goreti Secondary School

Meeting Scheduled for 9:00AM, Wednesday January 7th 2009

8:59 Mary Beth and I arrive to find a note on the white board informing us that the meeting has been re-scheduled for tomorrow, January 8th at 9:00am due to very few of the teachers showing up for the departmental meetings that were held on the previous day.

Thursday January 8th 2009 Posted Meeting Time: 9:00am

8:58am Mary Beth and I arrive and excitedly go to sit at our newly assigned desks. Two other teachers are seated at their desks. One teacher is wandering around cleaning.

9:05am One more teacher arrives.

9:08am Four students arrive and begin to clean the staff room.

9:10am Two more teachers arrive. One of these teachers is the self-proclaimed Master of Ceremonies who has a goatee resembling a rat tail protruding from his lower lip.

9:11am Three of the teachers go outside.

9:13am A teacher approaches us and attempts to schedule another meeting with us for 9:45. Double booked!

9:15am Mary Beth and I are the only teachers present in the staff room.

9:19am Mass cleaning effort by six students continues. MB and I are beginning to think we are not supposed to be in the staff room at this time but no one has said anything to the crazy wazungu in the corner.

9:24am James (a Jesuit living with Balige for this semester) arrives and after laughing at us for arriving at 9:00 informs us that when a meeting is scheduled for 9:00 we should come at 10:00.

9:25am Two teachers come into the staff room and sit in the lounge area instead of at their desks. One teacher at desk.

9:27am Sudden inexplicable influx! Four teachers arrive!

9:28am Three of them go back outside.

9:30am Status update: Four teachers at desks. One moving furniture. MB and I straight chillin. One student cleaning. One teacher at computer.

9:31am One in one out rule seems to have been applied.

9:34am Supplies for tes begin to be put out.

9:39am MB leaves on a mission to find Sister Njau.

9:40am Someone turns on the television and flips through the channels until the soap opera channel is found. Show title: Deceptions.

9:42am Sister Njau(headmistress and convener of meeting) arrives sans MB

9:45am Sister Njau, "Good Morning Teachers! How is the day?"

9:47am Sister Njau is chatting on her cell phone.

9:50am Meeting commences. Stand for prayer. 22 people present

9:51am Three more people straggle in.

9:52am Announcement of Form 2 Examination results. They ranked second out of 486 secondary school in Tanzania. Celebration to occur later.

9:55am The Master of Ceremonies re-enters and is playfully publicly chastised by Sister Njau.

10:15am Status update: 30 people present

10:18am This writer begins a crossword puzzle brought from the Washington Post. Thursday level. Tough.

10:21am Interruption for speech from special guest! He begins his spiel with a "God is Good!" The congregation responds, "All the time!" He says, "All the time?" Congregation of teachers: "God is Good!" He then proceeds to inform us that in life, people should do three things. Plant a tree, have a child and write a book. He goes on to claim that he has done all three and then pitches his study skills book to us at the discount rate of 2000 tsh.

10:33am After a strenuous 43 minutes of meeting... its time for a tea break!

11:05am Meeting resumes.

11:15am A handout is passed out from the computer department. Under general comments it states that the computer department would like to thank the administration for the two new computer teachers, Ms. Talia and Ms. Betty, who are mostly welcome. Mostly??

11:35am Several people asleep. Handouts being read aloud word for word. This writer witnesses a teacher sending a text message to a colleague to wake her from her nap. Cell phones ringing sporadically.

11:43am Sister Njau stands up and peaces out with no warning mid-action plan from the Natural Sciences Department.


12:18pm* A note is passed from James. It asks..."Who sings Lean on Me?" I bust out my pizzle to check and show MB. It says the Temptation. She says, "no."

12:28pm Another colleague surreptitiously begins to read Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (who Mary Beth has met and whispers this information to the reader) under his desk.

12:32pm Sister Njau returns and immediately begins asking questions that were just clarified 36 seconds earlier.

12:38pm Crossword puzzle finished.

12:45pm Two cases of soda arrive.

1:15om Sister Njau lists of the absentees of this meeting, stating why they are not here if she knows, and inquiring as to why if she does not.

1:18pm Prayer for lunch. Words of encouragement for the new school year from Sister Njau, "Let us put our legs down and our hands down and our legs doen and reduce this F." Then we celebrate the positive Form 2 Exam scores with sodas for all!

*It should also be noted that between the minutes of 11:45 and 12:15 nine people were witnessed picking their noses.