I've been in Tanzania for about a week in Dar es Salaam doing our initial training week. So far I am having a great time and so excited to be here! I have 41 new friends from my training group who are either health educators or environmental workers like me. Everyone is so fun and we are all getting very close! We have been living in a nun compound in Dar, but it has been a very easy transition from life in Cali. We all have our own rooms that have a full sized bed, electricity, shower head, sink, mirror, and a fan. The food has been pretty good: lots of rice, wilted greens, potatoes, chicken with pretty much no meat, tons of fried dough, and lots of chai. We have had a lot of vaccinations, training in safety, some cross cultural classes, and a little bit of Swahili lessons.
Tomorrow we leave for our homestays in Muheza that is in the Tanga region. I'll be living with both a mama and baba but not sure on how many kids or other relatives there will be. They will most likely be a Muslim family. I'll be living with them in my own room, but will most likely have no electricity, no running water (yay bucket showers!), and a family choo (pit latrine). I am really excited to see what village life is like and try more traditional Tanzanian meals. I am really excited to learn Swahili as well since I only know greetings right now (Greetings in Tanzania are the most important thing and include a serious of different ways of saying hello and asking how your day, morning, chai, family, life, children, chicken, etc. are doing). We will be living with families that probably don't know English and will be in Swahili class from 8am-5pm 6 days a week so I should start improving fast. I'll be in the same village as two girls and one guy, but once every week the whole group (41 people) will meet for a day. The Peace Corps staff is amazing and I am looking forward to getting to know them more, especially my language and culture teacher.
I probably won't have much access to internet within the next couple months while at my homestay but wanted to post one last entry to say I am safe and happy! I am sure the next time I write I will have tons of wild stories of miscommunications, learning how to use a choo, and living with a new family. Thanks again for all my letters and pictures everyone gave me before I left!! I promise I'll try to send out some letters soon so you can get them eventually :) My address will still be the one posted on this page and I would love to read about you guys! Love you all and miss youuuu xoxo
Stephanie wrote me an email today:)
ReplyDeleteShe is doing very well and is having a wonderful time. Her computer is ultra slow so I am forwarding this message for her. She said to tell everyone hello and that she misses you. Contact me if you want me to send emails to you. I can be reached at lanettann@cox.net
Thank you.