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.

Highlights of today...

• Being invited to a 50th wedding anniversary party up in the foothills tomorrow.
• Going to a tailor to have a dress custom made for about 7 dollars
• Buying a beautiful African dress... I'll be sure to post pictures when I can. It is hot pink.
• Having two Jesuits try to convince me that I would be a very good priest and should consider that as an option if the Catholic Church ever gets its act together
• Watching music videos
• Seeing someone wearing a Steelers jersey in town
• Seeing a huge rat on the table in the kitchen and not even flinching... its normal... no big deal
• Going to the second-hand market. It was basically the biggest flea market I have ever seen and all of the clothes are donations that are made in America to places like Good Will and Salvation Army who, in turn, ship them to Africa. They tried to raise all the prices for us because we are white but luckily we had a friend with us.
• Spending the day with Catherine, our new Tanzanian friend. She took us around to shops and the tailor and the second-hand market to help us get used to shopping in Moshi. However, the best part of the day was when her and me and Mary Beth were sitting in the living room, drinking soda, watching music videos and giggling about boys. It was one of the first relaxing moments we have had and a nice break from being constantly overwhelmed by meeting new people and having new experiences.

Today was a very good day.

Mt. Kili behind a beautiful church up in the foothills!

Christmas in Moshi

Merry Christmas! I'm finally in the area that will be my home for the next two years! We arrived two days ago and have been going pretty non-stop since then. Father Balige is wonderful, very intuitive about our needs and very hilarious. We went and saw our house (affectionately nicknamed "The Estate") but we can't move in quite yet because they are still preparing a few things for us. Sister Njao, who is our boss and arranging housing, wants us to have a night guard before we move in, so she is looking into that. She is a strong, strong woman. She runs Mary Goretti Secondary School, where I will be teaching, and she has a powerful personality. She is definitely used to things being run her way down to the last detail, so it has been interesting striking a balance between letting her make all of the decisions and gently letting her know that we are capable of making some ourselves. I'm very excited about moving into the Estate though. It is an enclosed area with a gate and we have a nice little yard that I'm hoping to do some gardening in. Best of all... we have running water!! And a view of Kili from our front porch! Pretty big deal, and I'm very excited about it. The school is also beautiful, and we found out that it is actually co-ed....kind of. It is 95% females and 5% males. That should be an interesting dynamic. Mary Beth and I are not sure yet what we will be teaching, but we should find out at our staff meeting on January 5th.

Christmas in Moshi was an experience. On Christmas Eve we were taken up in the foothills by Father Leo so that he could show us where he grew up and went to school. It was beautiful, it gets so lush and green when you start heading up the mountain. We went to mass at a local parish and we really enjoyed the Christmas decorations. The Christmas tree is more of a couple of branches smothered in Mardi Gras colored streamers and flashing lights. The spirit of the room was beautiful though, the two and a half hours were well worth the sore knees from the wooden kneelers. After mass we came back to the Jesuit residence for a toast with church wine and christmas caroling. Sister Njao gave us all more drinks and we had a wonderful evening of chatting and laughter. We taught Father Balige how to play a game called Fish Bowl (charades/catch phrase/general craziness that is very fun) and stayed up pretty late celebrating.

For Christmas we went to Father Shirima's childhood home in the foothills on the other side of the mountain. Father Shirima is the provincial of the East African Province. Some of his nephews showed us around the town and we prayed at his mother and sister's graves, how had passed away last spring. His mother lived to be 108 years old. After exploring the area for quite some time, we went and had a big meal at his younger brother's home. After eating more than our fill we headed over to an older brother's home for a drink. Little did we know that we would be expected to eat again. I ate more food that I have eaten in the past three weeks combined. The Tanzaniana are so generous and welcoming that it is impossible to say no to whatever they offer you. After more food and drinks we finally waddled back to our cars and made the trip back to Moshi. It is about an two hour drive, with an hour and 45 minutes on back mountain, very dusty, very bumpy roads. It was a rough trip and we were grateful to get back to shower and rest before our mini JVI Christmas party. The six of us decided to exchange Christmas Haikus with one another in lieu of gifts and we had a great time doing so. Nicholas has been in bed all day with a fever so we had a small gathering in his room to exhange. It was a nice Christmas moment, very different than any other Christmas, but good all the same. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with the Jesuits and trying homemade banana brews that we had brought back from the villages. I was also thankful to be able to talk briefly with my family that night.

So that was Christmas! I'm quickly falling in love with Moshi and Mt. Kili, but I know I have a lot of hard work ahead of me. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you again for the e-mails and letters, I get so excited every time I hear from one of you! Mary Beth and I will be getting a phone number in the next few days so I will keep you updated. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday, miss and love!

Last Day in Dar

So we finally move up north tomorrow! Kate finished up her two years of service and left last night, it was a hard goodbye. It was hard for her to say goodbye to people that she had been forming very close relationships with over the past two years, and it was hard for us not to feel a little bit of jealousy that she was on her way home to spend Christmas with her family. Tomorrow morning we leave to go to Lushoto for a four day retreat that I think it much needed by everyone. We need a little processing time to soak in everything that has happened in the past two weeks and spend some time preparing for the next two years. After the retreat we finally will head up to Moshi, my new home! I am so anxious to see where I will be living and to meet Fr. Ballige, our in country support person. Not only is he a clinical psychologist, but his first name is Bonaventure! Meant to be! He is also very excited to meet us and has even asked how often would be too often to invite us over for dinner, so it will be great having someone in Moshi to help us out with things.

Our days here in Dar have been filled with meeting new people, making new friends, learning to cook Tanzania style, adjusting to the heat and trying desperately to learn Swahili. We have also made it to the beach three times, which has been amazing. The Indian ocean is absolutely beautiful. Its a killer commute, it takes us about two hours each way in the crazy crowded dalla dalla, but it was so worth it. My favorite beach was called Kipepeo Beach, which means butterfly beach. It was a little tropical paradise, the warmest water that I've ever swam in. For Kate's last night in Tanzania we went to the beach with a group of about twenty people. We spent all morning preparing for it, we peeled a 50 pound bag of potatoes and made a charcoal pit in our yard so we could fry a bucketful of chips and bananas. We spent the evening swimming and then sat around to eat all of our treats and drink sodas (they drink a lot of soda here, its a social thing that I'm still trying to get used to) and all stand up one by one to say our goodbyes to Kate. It was very touching and so much fun. It was a great group of people and I'm a little sad to be leaving them to go to Moshi, but hopeful that we will be able to make good friends up there as well.

Most exciting part of today thus far... the purchase of an Obama khanga! A khanga is a piece of cloth similar to a sari that all of the women here wear, some of you saw the one that I had at home. They have really beautiful patterns and sayings on them. This particular one has Obama's beautiful face in the middle of it and two pictures of Africa on either side of it. It is pretty fabulous. I'm hoping to be able to post a picture sometime soon.

Rumor has it that there is a convent in Lushoto that sells cheese and honey and berry jam, all rarities here in Tanzania that I am pretty excited about purchasing.

The other day there was a fire in the house next door to us. Nicholas walked into our living room and told us about it, and we all went outside to carry buckets of water over to help put it out. There were crowds of people watching all over the place, it was a big event but everyone was calm about it. When we handed the buckets to the men fighting the fire, they were more concerned about letting us know that they would return them to us then they were about taking them into the house. We watched as they carried a woman out who had passed out from the smoke. There had been a big party going on in the house and a few hours after the fire, the music was back on and they were back to celebrating. We spent a lot of time afterwards talking about how differently the sitation may have been handled in the States. Everyone acted so quickly and efficiently, and even though they experienced a considerable loss they continued on with the celebration of the day anyway. I would imagine that in the states it would have been a more chaotic event that absolutely would have ended the festivities of the day. People here are much more laid back about things. I've learned to appreciate "Tanzanian time," which means that everything occurs at least 20-30 minutes later than its actually scheduled to. It works out pretty well for me.

I miss you all and I hope you're enjoying the holiday season! We sat around singing Christmas carols last night and drinking peppermint hot cocoa, but its difficult to get in the Christmas spirit when its 90 degrees and there are palm trees everywhere. Next time I write I'll be able to tell you about my new home!

A 25th Birthday in Tanzania

So I'm safely here in Africa. The flights were long and mostly uneventful, perks included being able to watch Dark Knight, getting Baileys after meals and having an entire row to myself from Amsterdam to Tanzania, making sleeping like a baby very very easy. A slight snafu at customs when they refused to take one of our hundred dollar bills for our visas because it was dated before the year 2000 so we all had to dig in our wallets to come up with 100 dollars dated after 2000. Mary Beth Neckles, Christen, Emily and I were picked up by Kate, Nicholas and Caroline. Kate is just finishing up her two years and will be leaving in about a week. Nicholas and Caroline will be doing their second year of service in Dar with Christen and Emily. Mary Beth and I are hanging out here in Dar with this community until after Kate leaves and everyone will come up to Moshi with us o help us move in and get settled. We will also spend Christmas together up there. Kate and Mary Beth and I are all sleeping in a tent together in the living room of the Dar house. I'm anxious to get up to Moshi to see where I will be living for the next two years and get settled, but this time with people that can actually speak Kiswahili and know whats going on is needed and appreciated. Its amazing listening to the other volunteers speak so easily with the Tanzanians. I have so so much to learn and its scary to think that Mary Beth and I will be on our own shortly. We have started Kiswahili lessons though and I'm looking forward to learning more.

I would love to write about every detail of everything I've done but I don't have that much time and you probably don't want to hear quite that much. Let me just share what my birthday was like yesterday. It was a good day. I'm having a lot of trouble sleeping so I was up at about 5:30. I wake up to both roosters crowing and children laughing and playing in the streets, a very pleasant wake-up call. Since its my birthday I eat cookies and cheddar pretzels for brekfast out of my treat bag I took on the plane. Then Kate walked Christen, Mary Beth, Emily and I to an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity. The elderly and mentally challenged also live there. I spent my morning playing with about 20 children that were between one and three years old. They were smelly and really liked putting things down my shirt but they were precious and I loved it. At one point they started cleaning up and would take my hand and show me where to take the toys. It was lunchtime. I helped feed two of the children and I was a little thrown off with some of the women that worked there force feeding some of the other children. They were being forced to eat so quickly that two of then vomited it right back up. After lunch all of their pants and diapers were taken off and a row of little training toilets were lined up against the wall and they all lined up and sat on there little pots. They were mostly well behaved, but I definitely did my part in instigating them by returning their raspberries and hand slaps on the floor. While They sat on their mini toilets and we sat on a bench across the hall from them, the older children came in and lined up between us for a little song and dance routine. It was so entertaining and the children were adorable. This lasted for probably an hour, with the little ones sitting on their toilets all the while. Some of then fell asleep. Finallythe older children went back outside and the little ones were allowed to get up and get washed off. After their diapers were put back on (from the same stack of diapers that had been taken off of them earlier) we had a quick dance party before they started grabbing ourhands and leading us into a room filled with cribs where they crawled in themselves (those that could) and promptly fell asleep. It was a good morning and I hope to be able to spend more time there.

The walk back home was brutally hot, we walked back around noon. We were happy to have a refreshing lunch of cold rice and vegetables and lots and lots of water. After lunch we went and had our first Kiswahili lesson with our tutor Emmanuel at Gonzaga Primary School, where two of the volunteers here in Dar work.

After our lesson we went to Mama Davey's house for dinner. Mama Davey has been a friend of the volunteers for years and she invited us over to meet all of us new volunteers. The food was delicious and her eleven year old son was adorable. After dinner we went on a long walk with her to her sisters house to see her sisters new baby. Once we got there they took us to a bar where we all sat around outside and had a beer with Mama Davey. It was so nice to sit around and relax and tell stories.

Once we got home we had a birthday celebration that I was very touched by. Caroline had made me a carrot cake and she even put egg in it, an extra special treat because they are expensive here. It was so delicious. They even got me a gift of some beautiful cloth that I can have a dress made out of. I was very appreciative of all they had done, I was worried that I would be sad about being so far from home on my birthday and they made it a special day for me.

That was my African birthday! Pretty fabulous, although I would be lying if I didn't say that I didn't have a moment right before bed where I was really missing being at home with you all for it. Hope all is well! Miss and love you all! I hope to write again soon, but no promises.