Internet time is hard to get in Africa and it is about to get harder so here is my first little update about my life:
I am about to be inducted to the Peace Corps- I have been training for the last 2 months. Living with a Tanzanian family. But it was fairly posh for what it could have been. And life is going to get harder. I am going to be far up in the Pare Mountains.
Life was good I spent the first few weeks learning Swahilli 8 am till 3 pm and I have spent the past few weeks learning about volunteer life and technical things for the future. The next few months though I shall be living in a town learning about the local life and trying to figure out what to do with the next few years. And what they want to work for themselves.
So at the moment I am back in Dar. I am at the PC headquarters using an adequate internet capable computer. The joys of africa.
Tommorrow I and all the rest of us go to the Ambassador's house and become PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) so that is also exciting. Then on Thursday we pack everything back up into a nice landcruiser and drive back north, to drop off volunteers in Muheza, Lushoto, and hopefully make it to Same that same day- where I shall be dropped off with 2 other volunteers. The next day after meeting the locals ie present PCVs in the area, we meet the local officials both at the district (kinda county sized) officials and the local ward and maybe town officials. The local officails will then take us out to site. Maybe there might be a welcome party - if there is Im going to call it my B-day party, (just 1 day early). After that there shall be a week of waiting and figuring out more (pretty much everything) about my village.
I am going to be in the same ward but different village than my next closest PC neighbor, Mary. But from the only person that we have found that has been to site, said the villages are kinda the same, just one big mountain town. Some of the locals back in Muheza said that it shall be a great town, with pretty much everything, all fruits and foods and peara as big as parachichi. That is guava as big as avacados - which there can be as big as an American Football. Oh but also the road is fairly poor. For the 102 km drive to town, it took 3 hours in a PC landcruiser- must be slower by local public transit, there is even 10 km alone that takes upwards of a full hour to negotiate -itll be fun in the rainy season. So thats my future.
My past is that a week ago I learnt about Permaculture, double digging, and general ways to stop erosion and trap water. Which my village is in no great need of -nice moist mountains. Then general testing of Swahili and Tech knowledge, ( I doubt it but I am aleggedly an Advanced-mid Swahili speaker - just below Adv. High and Superior). After that we wrapped up the sessions in village and the town even threw us a party. Which was an issue with Mary and my families as they did not want to go in fear of witchcraft and potential hexxings. As well my Babu (grandpa) was having a party for Mohammed (the prophet), and my Baba (dad) needed to attend. In the end he was the only parent of all the volunteers not present at the party. But at least he is not hexxed.
The party was fun. plenty of speeches about how nice it was to have volunteers and Mungu Akiependa (god willing) we should return. Then a little present presentation I got 2 pants and a shirt all store bought (my family was rich). And then we all ate some rice and beans with our hands. It was oddly normal to sit with all the town officials and share a plate of rice and beans squezzing into Rice Balls and trying to keep my pants and fingers clean. But the town was nice and sincere. Then the next day was my last with my host family, we went and harvested corn at the farm. Which was about 15 km away, they are able to own good land and harvest it because my baba owns a car and one of his coworkers (he is a driver) dropped us off and later a hired truck came for the us and the Harvest. (as I said my family is rich) Then drove back to town on top of a truck, all the villages we past stopped and stared at the Mzungu on the truck it was nice except for the rain.
Now I am late for lunch, I sacrificed for internet time. But it is just Rice and beans, hopefully tommorrow will be the good American food. Burgers and Pizza. So I am off. Enjoy.
