"right now we're doing language training all day, 6 days a week. our teacher (LCF) is named Jumapili which means Sunday and he's an incredible man. we love him. our classroom is in an empty house just off the primary school grounds so allll day the kids come to the window or the door and stare at us. sometimes it's cute, sometimes it's not. sometimes i space out and stare at teh mountain or the chickens wandering around."
Tanzania Peace Corps Volunteer Jennifer Venecek writes: there are 32 PCVs (peace corps volunteers) in my group. some are environmental some are health ed. we were all together at first and then they split us into sectors and divided us further from there
Thursday, June 30, 2005
[Excerpt]
i apologize for not being able to contact people sooner but if you had any idea of where i am right now you wouldn't be surprised. i've been in TZ for about 2 weeks and have been with my family for a week and a half. so... where to start??????
there are 32 PCVs (peace corps volunteers) in my group. some are environmental some are health ed. we were all together at first and then they split us into sectors and divided us further from there. we are all living in the Kilosa Region of TZ (a 5 hour bus ride from Dar) that included a bathroom stop on the side of the road and many many greetings along the road. there are 4 of us in my village .. Manzese village. some people in the other villages don't have electricity, but i have satellite TV! rock on. my mama is the queen of the castle and i have 2 younger brothers (Ernest 19, and Isaac 14) and a younger sister (Irene 15)... actually Ernest and Isaac are cousins but everyone is refered to as either brother (kaka) or sister (dada), including me. my family also has a house-girl who does all of the cooking and cleaning. she's 15 years old and is such a sweet girl. i have yet to get used to the idea of letting her do things for me. there's also a mystery man who comes over sometimes. i'm not a huge fan of him and last night he ate with us and made me serve him his food. i humored him and told him that "I don't serve people."
my siblings speak some english which is helpful.... mama doesn't speak so much and basically thinks i'm an idiot with my language skills.
right now we're doing language training all day, 6 days a week. our teacher (LCF) is named Jumapili which means Sunday and he's an incredible man. we love him. our classroom is in an empty house just off the primary school grounds so allll day the kids come to the window or the door and stare at us. sometimes it's cute, sometimes it's not. sometimes i space out and stare at teh mountain or the chickens wandering around.
one of the first days we were here we all went to the school and were playing with the kids and at one point Tait and I were surrounded by no less than 50 children. they were all standing in a circle with her and I in the center and they started to sing to us. They were singing in English "when will i see my home again..." and they were just beaming... so proud, so excited.. it was really unbelievable and we both became so overwhelmed...both homesick and grateful and how welcomed we have been and just the moment itself that we were standing in the middle of it all crying. it was one of those moments.
it's impossible for me to make the 2 minute walk from school to my house without accumulating between 5 - 20 children following me. and even less impossible to make the walk without having to greet 40 people along the way. and the greetings just go on and on and on and on. sometimes it's nice and other times i just need to get from point A to point B, but tha'ts not an option. c'est la vie. kids love to shout MZUNGU! at us (foreigner, or white person). i reply with "wapi?" (where?)
throughout training i've become great friends with a fellow PCV (environmental) Jason who is living in a village about an hour from here. luckily the group gets together about once a week so we're able to catch up with each other. he had a health scare last week when he had a negative reaction to his malaria meds and had some sort of convulsions. that happened right as i was leaving him so i had to go back to my village with that fresh in my mind and started to cry when my brother asked about my day. luckily i saw jason a few days later and he is fine and ona different medication. i've had no reaction to mine, not even the crazy dreams that some people get.
i've become proficient in bucket bathing and using a pit latrine. oh joy of joys. my kiswahili is coming along. my group is ahead of everyone else (we're awesome).
we just started out technical training this week. we go to the hospital and learn about the health care structure of TZ. in Kilosa district there is a population of over 515,000 with one Dr. it's a bit daunting to think about.
at some point we will be shadowing a current PCV for a few days. stay in their village, go to their job, see what's up. should be interesting.
sawa.... i'm running out of time. jumapili is on his way so i must fleeeeeeee......
i miss you all. i hope you're all well. send me chocolate. send me shampoo, purell... pictures, letters..........
take care..
