an african glimpse.

i have attempted to take pictures of the town life and landscape here in tanzania. however, this comes at a great risk, as many Tanzanian people ask for money if you take a picture of them and will become aggressive if you take pictures without asking.

here are a few i've managed to collect yesterday while riding in a car.

many gathering for a football (soccer) tournament in the streets.

a view out onto the main road in town. a small street view of the market. landscape driving from moshi to arusha.

it's all quite lovely.

an African thanksgiving.

our African thanksgiving was quite complete.

many of us shared a large meal, all coming from different parts of the world.

due to a turkey costing nearly $150 U.S. dollars here in Tanzania, we opted for chicken rather than splurging for the sake of tradition.

i attempted a homemade apple pie with no recipe in mind for the contents or the crusts. considering the altitude factors and small camper sized gas ovens which cook all sorts of uneven, it turned out well.

due to the lack of turkey itself being had at this Thanksgiving, we opted to throw a hand-drawn turkey on the cake in honor of the holiday.

a grand dinner, far different from the usual rices and beans left all of us roommates feeling quite full and content.

although i miss gathering with my family in these days, thanksgiving was well celebrated in the tropical heat of Tanzania.

Happy Thanksgiving from Miss Conlee's class to you.

Happy Thanksgiving from a few of us in Miss Conlee's class!

having only a few students also from America, i introduced Thanksgiving as a brand new holiday to many.

we read about Clifford's Thanksgiving visit to his big red mom.

we sang songs about being thankful.

and we practiced cutting out shapes to make turkeys.

paper everywhere. glue in my hair. creations that look far from a turkey. we celebrated.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

last day.

today was my last day with my P 3/4 class.

this is what i have come to learn about them all:

1. they all pick their noses.

2. they smell like turtles after recess.

3. they prefer to eat glue after it has dried.

4. their listening skills have not yet developed.

5. their awful cute.

here's to you P 3/4. you've been fun.

good morning.

i pass a young boys hostel on my walk to and from school each day.

generally in the mornings they are all being filed into line formation at the gate, dressed in white button up shirts, navy blue sewn trousers, and tennis shoes.

inspection is had by the adults over seeing the hostel. assuring their white shirts to be tucked in just so. standing up straight. shoes tied. eyes looking forward.

i seem to pass by every day at the same time. it has become routine that they look for me and i look for them, lined up in a row facing forward. each day, without being caught by the adult holding a whip, the boys near the front always mouth and sometimes whisper, 'good morning!' in my attempts to keep them out of trouble, i softly mouth back, 'good morning to you!' simple words. perhaps only the few they know in English, but upon exchanging greetings, these six and seven year old boys light up with smiles wide.

it has become my new favorite thing of the morning.

shanty town road.

i took a walk down a near by local road yesterday. it's incredible how just a walk away life looks completely different. people making their living by selling fruits and vegetables under a piece of tin held up by limbs.

trash can be found lying in the middle of the road and is eventually raked to the side where it is burned. this is only one large pile i found in passing.
there were many local shops. saloons. dukas. all keeping the town alive.

and on my way back a rainbow stretched in the sky. perhaps a promise and a hope for abundant life over the people in this place.

living simply.
making me once again thankful for the simplicity i'm learning here.
wearing mosquito repellent as frequently as deodorant.
laying my head down at night on a pillow case filled with my dirty clothes.
using a towel for a blanket.

living with little and finding i have enough.
it is well.

science.

we've been conducting science experiments of sorts. learning the steps to the scientific process and the various states of matter. today we had a science exhibition where students displayed their practiced experiments for their parents.

it was grand chaos.
mwoleka even managed to vomit in the midst of it all. due to my teacher's weak stomach at such a sight, i had the pleasure of conquering the clean up!

before all was said and done, we had an experiment for the parents to complete: who could build the tallest tower of bubbles using three different types of soaps and the utensils they were given. they found it quite comical and competitive.

fun was had by all.

laughter.

i was walking home from school yesterday afternoon when a group of seven Tanzanian children ran up behind me and huddled around. they were so hovering i couldn't walk any farther. dressed in hand sewn purple uniforms, all seven of these children were shouting at me in swahili while staring at me with their big brown eyes and gigantic smiles. they began tugging on my arms. all of them repeating the same phrase which seemed to ring as a question.

if only i could have understood what they were saying.

in an unexpected moment, all of my learned swahili seemed to be far off. i managed to spill out a phrase in swahili translating to, 'i don't speak swahili". at that exact moment all of the children stopped and simultaneously errupted in laughter. they pointed at me and made comments to one another. i began laughing with them. having no idea what was being said, and most likely aimed at my unknowing American self, but apparently it was funny.

and so we laughed.

they walked me to my gate. i nearly thought they were going to follow me inside. we said goodbye and off they went. bookbags dragging on the ground and laughter still being shared.

_________________________________________

today was a rather long day of school. i was ready to breathe when the bell rang at 1:05. i rushed to the bathroom shortly after before heading to lunch.

on my way to the duka where i buy my lunch, one of my students approached me in search of her mother. while walking with her, a woman ran up to me. she sputtered off a few sentences to me in German, speaking in a rather frantic state. i was unsure if she thought i was kidnapping the child or what she perceived. thank heavens for hand motions and sign language. after several moments of misunderstanding, i finally gathered from this woman that my skirt was all sorts of tucked into my underoos.

across language barriers we laughed while i secured my skirt and i'm sure turned red in the midst of a courtyard filled with students and adults.

laughter.
it's good for the soul.

a random list of slightly funny happenings.

1. it has rained here the past couple of days. it's almost instantaneous when it rains that the air becomes flooded with moth/mosquito looking dragon flies. i attempted to ask my Tanzanian roommate what they were called. he couldn't think of their name but he said, "OH! those are SO good. we look forward to the rain season because we catch a bunch of them and fry them up for a meal. their a really great source of protein, but just hard to catch!" he's holding out for another rain before i leave so he can force me to try them. gross.

2. i spent half of my sunday afternoon snapping green beans i bartered for at the market yesterday. i cooked a few carrots with a few string beans and called it a meal. delicious.

3. i have taken up a pet lizard. he likes to play hide and seek underneath my bathroom sink. lizards generally cover my walls and any crevice on the floor. he's quite friendly, but a bit shy.

4. this is the staff room where our tea time occurs. daily.

5. i had two cockroaches bigger than the palm of my hand taking up residence in my bathtub. i decided it was time to rid of them. i did so without any assistance. i was proud of myself but it was gross.

6. this is a flower i picked up on the sidewalk today. it was soft and smelled a lot like lemon. the kind people wear behind their ears in hawaii. quite lovely i must say.

7. my friend mika is having a difficult time fighting off the neighborhood monkeys. they like to catapult themselves from a nearby tree and jump onto her tin roof. as you can imagine the noise, the monkeys do a great job of waking her up at early hours. in attempts to save her garden from becoming rubbish and get some sleep, she chased after them, only to find that they chased after her!

8. i gave in. i got a cell phone. i didn't want one. i have enjoyed not having one. but with everything being a walk away - you can often walk to meet someone and in the time it took you to get there they have moved. it happens often. so now i have a british phone. i've somehow managed to finagle it to the english mode. my phone number is 078 5659 926 if you'd like to call. (hahaha!)

conversations and waiting....

Friday:

last night Mula, one of my roommates, and myself made a gourmet dinner of rice and beans. over such a meal we found ourselves conversing for nearly four hours.

Mula has recently graduated from the American International School here and is applying to universities in the states and Canada. in attempts to even picture what the American life looks like on a daily basis, Mula asked many questions. concepts of carpet, microwaves, vehicles, fast food, and education seem so unfathomable to a 22 year old guy who has never been outside the border of Tanzania.

he shared stories of his family. growing up in Tanzania, and the way of life he has come to know so well. coming from a family of six, Mula is the only member of the family, including his parents, who has completed a secondary education and attained a diploma. there were days when Mula begged his father to go to secondary school, with a glimmer of hope that furthering his education could somehow benefit his family and village in years to come. Mula's immediate and extended family compiled their resources of money (each making nearly $1,000 U.S. dollars per year) to make his secondary education possible, without a hint of jealously that they were unable to be educated just the same. Mula shared that his family and village never expected him to return, simply because the entirety of the people in his home village would be less educated than himself. he has since done differently, and returns home often.

Mula continues to have a strong desire to attend a university in the states or Canada to attain a degree in chemical engineering. he desires to return to his family and village to somehow create a better life for them with a greater knowledge of how to best provide and live in Tanzania.

how often we take for granted the concept of education. and even as i complete my degree now, and carry on with becoming a teacher, my view of education is not the same as Mula's. may i come to know it as an opportunity. to have attained such an education for myself and to provide much of the same for children to come.

Saturday:

waiting.

i'm beginning to realize how much Americans lack patience when we live our lives at such a fast pace and complete task in much of the same manner.

living in Tanzania has required my life to slow down in every way.
today i walked to town with a couple of friends.
we wandered the market looking for the best fruits and vegetables.
we walked to 'the coffee shop' and had lunch in an outdoor garden.
our waiter brought our drinks one by one.
and even our meals came one by one, while he proceeded to talk on his cell phone.
we asked for our drinks after completing our meal, and they soon arrived nearly 20 minutes later. our total time at 'the coffee shop' compiled to approximately 2 hours.

in between all of the waiting, Clive and Meryl, two old souls from church joined us at our table. conversation was embraced and before leaving we managed to be invited to their home tonight for tea and a game of crochet. how lovely!

we managed to find a lift to the bread shop and local grocery store across town, where we then waited for a taxi to drive us back home. bags full of fruits, vegetables, and breads, didn't seem quite fitting for an hours walk uphill. our taxi arrived 30 minutes later and through the rains we managed to land at home only six hours after leaving.

waiting.
learning to enjoy the experience while gaining patience.
now it's off to tea and crochet!

halloween.

today was halloween in tanzania. a week late for most, but we run on African time here.

i was told all of the students would be wearing their costumes throughout the school day. i showed up as a ladybug. antennas. face paint. the works. only one of our students dressed up, and i was the only staff. i was congratulated on my confidence level after being here for only two weeks and completing the whole school day in my costume as nearly the only one.

i led a group of 1st and 2nd graders around to trick-or-treat at various houses on campus. people here put a lot more emphasis on the TRICK than the treat. kids had to dig their face into a pile of flour to find their treats with their teeth. ghosts jumped out of doors. kids had to share a trick before getting a treat. their tough here!

these are a few of my students looking quite scary.

Olivia was a pretty pretty princess.

Alya, my only student from the United States dressed up as Obama. t-shirt. stickers. and all.
i laughed pretty hard.

the night was complete with a disco (disco in Tanzania::// small cd player busting a few tunes to semi-upbeat music in multiple languages while kids run around making more noise than the cd player itself.) hot dogs, and a bonfire. fall bliss!

happy halloween!

random of sorts.

there have been a random of sorts happening within the past several days in tanzania.

we haven't had water at our house for 3 days.
temperatures are nearing 100 degrees during the afternoon.
i have 39 mosquito bites. those are only the ones that itch!
i've been asked to play the flute for worship at church on sunday.

the skies were clear this morning and walking to school, i had a perfect view of mt. kilimanjaro.

mercedes handed this note to me - in the middle of my teaching today. i stopped long enough to laugh and thank her for such a compliment

.

markets and pineapples.

kale, anne, and i walked to town today to hit up the market. it was quiet interesting. rotten what not thrown everywhere. you could buy rice from a burlap sack. barter for your vegetables.

upon our return anne and i took up the art of balancing fruit on our head.

we're still perfecting the balance without hands.