Fav-oo four-aes, dav-oo door-aes, welcome Christmas, Christmas day....

So I'd expect that Christmas in a nearly all-Muslim region would pass like any other day.  But no!  It's not even noon yet, and so much Christmas cheer has come my way....

-Lots of people here know it's Christmas, and when I went out grocery shopping, I got asked a lot how my day was going and if I had any special plans.  Even kids in town who usually shout "Mzungu!" as I go by instead were shouting "Christmas!"  It's said in the same impersonal tone, but I'll take it.

-I had a hot chocolate epiphany!  A week ago I got some gourmet hot chocolate mix in the mail from Katie.  Somehow moisture had gotten into the packet, so it was a sticky paste instead of powder, and when I mixed it with hot milk it wouldn't dissolve, and thus would not release it's chocolate-hazelnut deliciousness.  Oh noes!  But this morning I had an idea!  I mixed in the paste and then boiled my milk, and voila!  It all dissolved and I had delicious hot chocolate with breakfast!  The weather here is way too hot to warrant warm drinks, so I was sweating buckets by the end of the second mug, but totally worth it!  I then took a cold shower and felt amazing.

-Katie also sent me Candy Canes.  Delicious!  Enjoying one right now....

-A lot of kids bug me for money and gifts around town.  They are especially persistent at the end of Ramadhan, when all the adults are giving out little gifts and candy.  But today I turned the tables on them!  "Today's Christmas; your turn to give me a gift.  Give me money!  Give me candy!"  Predictably, they had nothing for me, but they stopped pestering me for the day.  I wish everyday was Christmas- I could pull this all the time....

-I've got the Christmas music going:
    Brass albums by The Canadian Brass and The London Brass

    The Grinch Soundtrack (see title of post).  Even without the video, this makes me really happy and reminds me of being a kid.  "And what happened then? Well in Who-ville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew 3 sizes that day.  And then the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of 10 Grinches, plus 2!"

    Trans-Siberian Orchestra (over-the-top rock and roll adaptations Christmas standards, sent to me on a flash drive from Katie!)

    And of course Handel's "Messiah."  Duh!  We all listen to that one right? Right???? Ok maybe not everyone....

-I got the following text from one of the guys in my English club:
"Happy birth day Ooh! Sorry...! Velentine day.... Shit!  Good morning, no,no,no,no...! Oh yes, i want to say.....happy christmas."

-Last but not least I found 20,000 shillings I didn't know I had (about $12).  Woot!  Merry Christmas to me!

Christmas cheer abounds!  One of my best gifts was last night's sunset at the port:

Port buildings from the pier

Boats in the channel between Pemba and Fundo, a small island to the west

Men finishing up their day's work

Ahhhhhh.....

Sundown on Christmas Eve

Kilimanjaro!

First vacation in Tanzania: success!  It was a nice gift to myself after finishing my first 3 months at site.  It's also been 6 months since I got to Tanzania.  I've been in the Kilimanjaro region visiting my friend Riah, who's site is on the lower slopes of the mountain.  We had a pretty awesome time; lots of delicious food, plenty of sleep, and lots of lush scenery on the slopes.  The food highlight of the week might have been veggie-bacon burgers (yes, veggie burgers with bacon.  Delicious!). 

One morning we visited Riah's counterpart Catherine (the teacher at her school who she works most closely with).  She and her husband Alex are incredibly friendly and welcoming, and they have the cutest daughter ever, Joan.  Catherine made us a traditional Chagga dish (the Chagga are a neighboring tribe of the Maasai), and served it to me in a traditional bowl for Chagga men.  During our visit I got drowsy, and disappeared for an hour to take a nap on one of their beds.  This might seem a little odd, but is very acceptable behavior here.  It's one of the things I love about Tanzania: being sleepy isn't considered rude, and you're genuinely encouraged to take a nap when you want one. 

Pictures!

Remnants of the two ducks we had for Thanksgiving

My VSO buddy Juanito and I at breakfast in Dar Es Salaam before my trip to Kilimanjaro

Amazing English breakfast in Dar.  All you can eat cheese bar included.  I died and went to heaven.

Alex and Joan.  Daddy and Daughter.   =)

Me (with my Chagga man-bowl), Riah and Joan

Joan finishes the leftovers.  Precious.

Riah, Joan, and her mommy Catherine

Kilimanjaro!

I get sick, I get better, and the Aggies Win

So I survived my first stomach bug since getting here.  I figured it was bound to happen at some point.  I haven't figured out exactly what I ate that did me in.  36 hours later I'm feeling fine, thankfully.

After staying inside since Thursday, I ventured out of my house this morning to buy groceries.  There's a small market near my house that I walk by everyday on my way to town.   I stopped at my favorite stall to buy the essentials: potatoes, eggs, bell pepper, onions, and tomatoes.  The two women who work there asked me where I had been the last few days.  I was surprised they had noticed; I don't buy food there everyday.  They must notice me passing by all the time (I do stand out around here).  I told them I had been sick, and they seemed very concerned that I was doing alright.  Did I have malaria?  Did I see a doctor?  Did I take any medicine?  Was I 100% better?

I guess even being sick has a silver lining; it was nice to know that people noticed I was missing.  Also it reminded me about the difference in community here.  In the States, close friends and family MIGHT know when you're sick or have some big problem affecting you, but usually if you hide in your house for 2 days no one will be the wiser.  People here are sometimes more interested in my personal business than I care for (e.g. a few weeks ago I had a Canadian girl visit who is doing her grad research here on Pemba.  I showed her around town one afternoon, and the next day everyone was convinced that she was my wife, fiance, or "special friend").  But sometimes that interest is ok- around here I never feel that I'm invisible or that no one cares.  It's a feeling we've all had at some point, and it's not one I miss.

Just read online that the Aggies beat Sac State to close out their season!  Woot!  Congrats to all the Aggie Band officers who are finishing up their year!

Beach Corps

If I go to Hell, it'll probably be for gloating (it's sorta like Pride, so it could be one of the seven deadlies), and with this post I may just be digging myslef a deeper hole. 

I could use this post to complain about difficulties I'm having adapting syllabus topics into a more teachable order, but why bore you when I can make you jealous?  So out with it:

I live on a tropical island.  It's awesome.  Every night there's a beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean a mile from my house.  In the past few weeks I've been to a two amazing beaches, complete with white sand and turquoise water.  Vumawimbi Beach is on the North end of the island and is sequestered from society by a surrounding forest preserve.  The only way to get there is on a narrow dirt road which is usually waterlogged and is being encroached upon by the jungle.  And then there's Misali Island.  A small little oasis in the ocean; you can walk around the island in an hour.  It's open for day trips only, so it's wildlife and coral reefs are well preserved.  The coral is just about 50 feet or so from the water's edge.  The peeling sunburn on my back is proof of how much my eyes were glued to all the life on the ocean floor.

To avoid sounding like a stuck up jerk, let me frame it this way:  You chould come and visit me.  All of you.  Don't think about the cost of a plane ticket.  Think about the white sand and turquoise water.  Just do it.

In case you need further coaxing, here's pictures:

Juanito strikes a pose at Vumawimbi

Vumawimbi Beach

These fine gentlemen landed a boat, unloaded, and soon had their goods on a truck heading inland.  Smuggling business alive and well on Pemba....

The road through Ngezi Forest to Vumawimbi beach

Justin, Doug, Laurie, and Dave (not me- were you confused?) about to board a boat for Misali Island

Out on the water, island in the distance

Misali Island!

Landing at the beach

Snorkling! Dave (my twin, not me, dagnabit!) and Justin are ready to go

Jungle Life?

It's been raining buckets the last few weeks here, and although that makes running errands and getting around town difficult, I love sitting at home and listening to the wind and rain in my neighbors' banana grove.  When I say "Jungle Life," I admit I'm exaggerating a bit, or maybe co-opting my friend Justin's experience.  He lives in the counrtyside about 15 miles away, while I definitely live a town-life.  It's a 30 minute walk to Justin's place from the main road.  The rutted sandy road leading to his village winds through small farms and groves of coconut and mango trees.  Coming from a town full of grey concrete buildings, I find all the lush greenery very refreshing.  Sometimes I crave a more rural experience like his, but I also realize that after adjusting to our new homes, a lot of new volunteers start to feel some "grass-is-greener" site envy. 

I've been at site for 7 weeks now.  As one might expect, a lot of the novelty has begun to wear off; things that seemed strange and exotic are now pretty standard fare.  But this is ok- it's fun to notice myself doing little things automatically that would have seemed very foreign when I got here.  Islamic greetings are starting to roll off my tongue.  Handshakes here can last anywhere between 15 seconds and two minutes, and I've come to prefer them that way.  So prepare yourself- I may shake your hand for an uncomfortaby long time when I get home.

Last week I was riding one of the local truck-buses.  As usual, passengers were packed hip-to-hip on the benches in the back.  Children aren't as closely guarded by their parents in public as they are in the States; it's common for a woman to hand her baby to a stranger without comment while she boards the bus.  Kids end up in laps of strangers all the time when it gets crowded, and tend to get moved around a lot to make space for adults.  On this particular ride I found myself taking a little boy by the arm and pulling him tight against my side to make room for a new passenger to sit.  It was weird to notice myself doing this so naturally, and I had to wonder how quickly I'd get smacked in the States for manhandling a stranger's kid on a bus.

In other news, I haven't worn shoes in almost a month.  Gotta love the Muslim dress code here: a good pair of leather sandals is as good as any pair of dress shoes!

In other other news, I met my Evil Twin.  His name is Dave.  He lives here on Pemba.  He's 6'4", is from California, went to UC Davis, and passes his spare time here playing Ukelele. Even we get ourselves confused.

Lastly, the other other other news.  Teaching is going alright.  I feel very settled in at my school.  I've got some frustrations about the syllabus I'm teaching from- it doesn't line up with my students English learning needs, but I can't abandon it completely because they are going to have to pass a national exam based on the syllabus.  So I have to pull off a balancing act as I lesson plan. 

That's all for now!  Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Dinner with Dave and Justin, two of my Pemba Peace Corps buddies. Having homemade cake with nutella for Justin's birthday.  No kitchen table?  No problem.  We'll kick it on the floor like the locals do...

Dave (not me- everyone gets us confused!) and Justin walking on the path from Justin's site

Jungle! Woot!

Need a soccer goal?  Three trees works great!

View of my school and the surrounding neighborhood

One of my classrooms

Island Update

Two weeks at site and counting!  Very eventful so far, let's see if I can boil this down to some key points....

My home:
I have a great living situation.  Very classy by Peace Corps standards.  Some of my fellow volunteers are living in huts with no running water or electricity (the steotype many of us imagined before we came here), but I've got a nice house with water, elecricity, and plenty of space.  Very comfy.  Great neighbors too!  It's good to be surrounded by friendly people.

My work:
I started teaching at the teacher's college this week. Shaping up pretty well so far; the students are here are fairly high achievers, and the staff are friendly.  It's a very different experience than I had when internship teaching during training.  The subject matter is more advanced (which is a difficult adjustment for me; I'm very comfortable teaching basic English, but the teacher college syllabus calls for fairly advanced grammer and theory.  I've just had a taste so far, we'll see how things pan out over time.

Pemba:
I'm quickly finding out about the differences between Zanzibar and the mainland.  (Quick technical interjection for those interested: Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania, made up of two islands, Pemba and Unguja.  Sometimes when people say "Zanzibar" they are referring to Unguja only, which is the larger and more famous island.)  The islands' population is about 98% Muslim.  I arrived at the end of Ramadhan, so I got to see two faces of the culture here: the subdued time during the fast when lots of businesses are closed and the pace of life is slow, and the vibrant celebration at the end of the month.

Eid Mubarak (the four days following the end of Ramadhan) was a great time to be here.  It's almost like a combination of Halloween and Thanksgiving.  On the first day family's get together and prepare an amazing meal.  I was invited to join my schoolmasters family for the feast.  Immediately upon arriving home, my neighbors insisted I take part in a similar meal of their own; basically I ended up getting two Thanksgiving sized meals within 2 hours.  It was amazing and challenging at the same time. =)   I was struck by the hospitality everyone showed me.  Each night of the festival everyone in the community hits the streets until about midnight.  Everyone wears their best clothes; quite a colorful celebration!  The kids pester the adults for candy and loose change which they use to buy toys and candy at shops that stay open most of the night.  Lots of fun- I arrived just in time to enjoy it all!

My colleagues:
There are two VSO (Volunteer Services Overseas; similar to Peace Corps but it draws volunteers from all over the world) workers here in my community.  Juanito is from the Phillipines and Les is from England.  They're both great people and we're becoming friends quickly.  It's been good to have some friends who know the community to help get me situated.  And I have been repeatedly subjected to Juanito's amazing cooking.  It's really tragic.  ;)   There are also three other Peace Corps Volunteers on the island, which is only about 75 kilomiters from North to South.  Quite a volunteer community in a small region.  Can't complain!

Last minute addition:  Last night a Zanzibar ferry capsized in the Indian Ocean.  A lot of people have died; reports are still coming in.  Just in case you see this news in the states and are worried:  I'm ok!  The type of ferry that sank has notorious safety record (but offers cheap tickets), and whenever I travel from the island I'll either be flying or taking the more expensive (and much safer) ferry.

Some pics from the last two weeks:

Indian Ocean!

With my new VSO buddies Juanito and Les

Everyone out on the town for Eid Mubarak

Kids crowding the shops to buy toys after Ramadhan

This is the Pemba version of a daladala (small public transit vehicle). On the mainland they use large vans, but here on the island it's trucks with a roof over the bed where they can tie down luggage.  I rode one today with 25 people in the back, which is pretty standard.

Last Day in Morogoro

Me with my homestay brother and mama.

Swearing is is getting close!  Today is my last day living in Morogoro.  It's been an eventful two months; it's hard to believe how much Swahili I've learned since showing up here.   Going to Dar Es Salaam tomorrow for a few days of logistical stuff, then swearing in as an official Peace Corps Trainee on Wednesday.  Then of to Pemba on Thursday!  There will be a lot of settling in to do; I'm sure my first few days will be occupied with meeting neighbors and buying stuff like water buckets, kitchen necessities and maybe some furniture.  Here's to settling in for the next two years!

Pictures from Steve and my week shadowing Kenzie

Kenzie's house

Steve in the hammock in the dining room.  From the look on his face, this is quite possibly the happiest moment of his life. 

Lunch time!  Guacamole an chapati (delicious Tanzanian tortilla like thing)

52 kids came to Kenzie's small courtyard to shuck corn.  We worked with them for a couple hours.  The corn belongs to their school and is going to be sold to raise money to buy chickens for the kids.  A lot of them survive on little more than corn, so having eggs to eat will be a pretty big deal.

Shucking corn with the kids.  Also you can check out my new hair!  Cut it all off for convenience; no more bed head, and most Tanzanian haircutters don't know how to handle hair like mine.

After the kids left we decided to bury Steve in the corn.  Gotta have fun somehow!

Excellent sunsets like this pretty much every night from Kenie's front door.

Ginger snaps!

Deep Dish Pizza and Western Guilt

Just got back from a week of shadowing a Peace Corps Volunteer.  I barely know where to start; there was a lot to see in just a few days.  This is a bit of a long post, but I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of the past week.  Good thing I've got pictures to fill in some of the gaps!

Shadow is a chance for trainees to see a volunteer in action at their site.  Steve (one of my fellow trainees) and I got assigned to visit a volunteer named Kenzie in the Iringa region.  She lives in a rural area that's pretty arid and is colder than a lot of Tanzania (lows in the 30s and 40s at night).  Most of the people living in the area are subsistence farmers.  Corn is the most common crop and makes up most of the local diet.

Kenzie was great person to spend a week with.  She's an environment volunteer, which means that her work is MUCH less structured than mine will be as an education volunteer.  When I get to site I'll have a schedule of classes to teach, whereas environment volunteers build their projects and activities from scratch.  Kenzie has a wide variety of projects going; she does everything from teaching life skills classes at the secondary school to helping villagers acquire milk cows.  I really can't do her work justice in the space of this blog.

We cooked and ate like there was no tomorrow.  Creative meals, and dessert every night.  Kenzie has really mastered the art of cooking with limited resources.  With two small charcoal stoves and an array of pots and pans we were able to make:
    Pineapple upside down cake
    Tacos ("Tako" means "butt" in kiswhili.  This is a source of constant amusement.)
    Stir fry and rice
    Chocolate chip cookies
    Ginger snaps
    Deep dish pizza
    and much more.... we were pretty proud of ourselves

One day we visited an amazing woman in the village.  Her husband died a few years ago and she has several children.  She knocked our socks off with her huge smile and big heart.  She's one of those people that makes you feel like the sun is shining on you when you're with her.  After leaving her house, Kenzie told us that the woman was HIV positive.  She had almost died the year before, but was able to pull through and recovered very well after getting access to ARVs (which is not as easy as it should be).  It was pretty sobering to hear this about such an awesome woman; at the same time it was inspiring to see that she was still so upbeat. 

HIV is hugely stigmatized in rural communities; it's not talked about at all, and anyone who is sick with it claims to have malaria (although there are basically no mosquitos in such a dry and cold area).  There are a lot of orphans in the village, and AIDS is the main culprit.  Most of the orphans seem to float between different homes that are willing to share a little food from time to time.

It was an odd experience to be faced with all the sober reality of Kenzie's village.  Despite all the suffering in the community, at the end of the day we could retreat to Kenzie's house, cook decadent meals and make juvenile jokes about "tako" vs. "taco."  Sometimes I felt guilty for all the fun we were having- a part of me screams "Dave, how dare you sit back and enjoy pineapple upsidedown cake while there are hungry orphans living down the street??"  But I have to take a step back and look at the bigger reality here.  Kenzie does a lot of work to help the village, and Steve and I were just visitors for the week.  At some point we have to allow ourselves to continue our lives; to close the door and have a little version of America in the kitchen.  We'd go nuts here if we constantly compared our lifestyle to the poorest around us.  I could spend my whole Peace Corps allowance trying to feed the village orphans, but it wouldn't root out the problem, and I'd be gone in no time.  We have to be okay with the fact that we can't fix everything while we're here, and remember that we need a deep dish pizza once in a while to keep ourselves going mentally.


I want to upload some photos from the trip, but the internet is a little stubborn right now.  I might try to start a new post and see if I can make it work.

Pemba!!!!!!

Crazy news!  I know where I'll be living for the next two years!  I get to live on Pemba, a small tropical island off the North coast.  It's just North of Zanzibar, it's better known sister island.  Apparently the island is lush and and has a vibrant Muslim community.  There's currently one Peace Corps volunteer there, and there's another trainee plus myself starting up there at the end of the month, so I'll have some friends I can visit.  Lots of planning and learning to do, and in a couple days I'm of to the Iringa region to shadow a current PC volunteer for a week.  

Here's some pictures for y'all!

Josei- the boy who I played guitar with a few weeks ago.  He's also a gymnast in his spare time.

My internship teaching group- we all went to the same secondary school 4 days a week for the last month to get teaching experience.  Left to right are Tyler, Marielle, Majid (our Kiswahili teacher), Becca, me, and Brie

A typical Tanzanian classroom.

My street!

My house!

My homestay brother Jimmy.

Movin' Along

Just finished up a big week!  Halfway through internship teaching, took my mid-training oral and written Kiswahili exams, and got a weekend vacation to Mikumi National Park.  Where to begin?

I guess with teaching.  Our training class of 39 has split up into groups of 4 or 5, and each group is assigned to a local seconday school near Morogoro.  Monday through Thursday Tyler, Brie, Marielle, Becca and I each get to teach several classes, and spend most of the rest of our time learning Kiswahili with our language instructor, Majid.  It's a good group; everybody in the training class is getting to know each other, but the five of us are especially close.  I've been teaching two English classes and one Math class a week.  Teaching here presents challenges different from those in the States.  Most classes are bare except for desks, chairs, and a chalkboard.  The classes are open air buildings, which makes them subject to outside dust, noise, and smoke from burning trash piles.  Many of the students here are very bright, but they have generally not been encouraged to use critical thinking skills in school, so trying to involve them in interactive teaching takes a lot of conscious effort on both my part and theirs.  Still, internship teaching has been building my confidence a lot; I feel much more prepared to go out to my site than I did a few weeks ago.

Speaking of site, the day is drawing nearer all the time!  Site announcements are next week.  All 39 of us will know where we'll be living for the next 2 years!  A month from today I'll have been sworn in and I'll be heading to my site with my school's headmaster.  Lots of buzz and excitement as we get close to the date.  Lots of different places to possibly end up; the Southeast can be arid and very hot all year, the Southern central highlands can be pretty cold, some volunteers get placed near Kilimanjaro, and there's even one or two on the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.

And then there was this weekend's Safari!  (In Kiswahili, Safari just means "trip."  But we actually went to a park to see wild animals, so it was a safari both in the Kiswahili sense as well as the romanticized version that most of us English speakers think of).  Saw tons of animals!  Giraffes, baboons, zebras, wildebeest, birds, impala, hippos.....  But the real kicker was coming upon two female lions who were eating a giraffe.  Got great pictures too!!  It was really nice to get away from training responsibilities for a day or so, and a good chance to get to hang with all the other trainees.  All in all, awesome weekend!

The Morogoro Training center we meet at every Friday and Saturday.  Awesome mountain view!

Hungry Hungry Hippos

Giraffes!

Zebras

Baboon up close!

OMG lions!!  Look in the back of the photo:  lion #2 is lunching on that downed giraffe.

Morning sun over Mikumi National Park