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.

slang.

i have picked up on several words and phrases that many speak here in African / British slang. they often make me laugh.
here are a few:
______________________________________________

will you tick my paper? = will you check my paper?

please go put on your swimming costume = please go put on your swimming suit/trunks

off you go! = go get started!

i left a note in your pigeon hole = i left a note in your mail box

you need a full stop at the end of every sentence = you need a period at the end of every setence.

please, may i use the toilet? = may i please use the restroom?

orphanage.

i hiked an hour to an orphanage today. i was able to play with 30 children between the ages of 1 and 2. children were beating one another with sticks and pushing each other over onto the ground. it became quite obvious that even at a young age it's every man for himself in this place. these children are so defensive as a result of learning how to get what they need in a building where food is slim and housing compacted.

i removed dirt chunks from their mouths. taught them ring-around-the-rosie. held them when tears streamed down their face. and had to turn around to shed tears of my own when i saw them being beaten with a shoe for having done something wrong.

my swahili is not fluent enough to have made any conversation with them. but perhaps the smiles, hugs, and kisses were a greater glimpse of love to them, even without words.

Lord let these children know Your love in their lifetime.

play dough and other class activities.

we are currently working on a science unit and doing a wide variety of experiments. creating things. making things explode. figuring out what a procedure is. today we made play dough. it was quite messy but the kids were quite amazed.