I miss my Enyoito kids already. I forgot to mention that one of my favorite moments with them was when we were taking pictures and they wanted to look at them (one of the greatest things about digital cameras…instant gratification for people who will not actually get to see them later). They started scrolling through my photos, and I had some old ones still on there that I had not deleted, including some of myself from after the zombie walk. The kids thought it was hilarious, and laughed at me for about five minutes. I was laughing too; those photos were ridiculous, especially for people who do not really have a conception of dressing up.
While the first two weeks of day camp at Enyoito were great, I am honestly going to be happy when this third week at Arusha Meru secondary school is over. Right now we are working more then 40 hours a week and I get up at 6 a.m. each day – it is getting kind of old to wake up with the roosters every morning. Couple that with the fact that only a few hours of daylight remain after school because dusk is 6 p.m. (and if I do not want to take a taxi, I must get home before dark), and it explains the lack of time to do much in town. Although I did stop by the craft market yesterday, and it was amazing! I will definitely go back several times. Anyway, next week I start doing HIV/AIDS community trainings, which will be much less intense. Mondays we will have off, and Tuesday thru Friday we go from 10 – 1, so I will get to sleep in a bit and also have time to do things in the afternoons.
Yesterday the jua (sun) finally came out again! My first week in Tanzania was stellar weather-wise, sunny and in the 70s. But since then, it has been rainy and chilly…I know it is winter in the southern hemisphere, but I am basically on the equator so I was not expecting this. Even the Tanzanians are complaining that it is colder than it should be. I am now wishing that I had brought more sweatshirts. Thanks to Ruth for suggesting that I bring some at all.
Last evening I finally took a dala dala alone, mostly out of necessity…it was 6:15 and I was still a 30 minute walk from home. It turned out to be interesting when these very intoxicated guys got on. Luckily we were only 5 minutes from my stop at that point, so I ignored the fact that they were blatantly talking about me right through me (just because I am white does not mean I am completely oblivious). Then they REALLY got a kick out of me when I told the conductor I wanted to stop…I correctly knocked on the side of dala, said “simama” (stop), and poked his arm. They started exclaiming about the fact that I could speak Swahili – they could not believe it. I guess they were too drunk to entertain the idea that someone can know how to say “stop” and “thank you” without actually speaking the language. This is becoming a recurring theme even for sober Tanzanians though. Now that I have all of the myriad possible greetings and proper responses learned, and can successfully engage in the long customary exchange of pleasantries, many people assume that I can speak Swahili. When they start going off in their native tongue, I can only apologize for having no idea what they are saying and ask if they speak kingereza (English).
As usual, my dadas more than made up for any not stellar things that happened throughout the day though. I came home to Rachel and Durcas and my mama’s friend’s children (7 and 3 years old) who have actually been staying at our house for a few days now. I walked up to the gate and heard them exclaim “Mary!” and they all ran to the door and gave me hugs, and then Durcas asked if I would play outside with them. When Gamma, my kaka, got home he was going to go into the house even though his sisters asked him to play. But I implored “Gamma, njo!” (come), so he actually played with us for awhile…which was awesome because he is the shiest of all of my siblings and usually avoids interacting with me. I think this Saturday I am going to attempt to make no-bake cookies with my dadas – we will see how that goes. I am keeping my expectations low.
My teaching partner, Clare, and another GSC volunteer, Conner, are leaving this weekend (Clare home for New York, Conner for a semester at the University of Dar es Salaam). Also, the volunteers doing the health program are leaving Arusha for Moshi, so we are all going out for one last dinner together tonight at an Indian restaurant. Afterward, we are going to a club, Via Via, where there apparently will be live music. I am super excited to hear what Tanzanian music will be like…I think it is supposed to be rock or something…I will report back. Meanwhile, my one pair of jeans that I brought over are disintegrating. I spent the evening sewing up the various holes that somehow developed since I have been here. It was actually a relatively successfully endeavor – I am so domestic. Although I am thoroughly enjoying not doing my own laundry for the first time in seven or eight years. I do not think I could do it here anyway, they do it by hand without any sort of brush even…it looks complicated. Maybe at some point I will get up the courage/will to actually attempt to help.
CRAZY, my time here is almost halfway over. Eeek.
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