8 April 2012
Sorry for the delay in blog posts. It’s been a crazy fun time here lately. We just finished our in-service training and I had so much fun. It’s amazing how great it feels to see all the other volunteers, speak English, and eat American food! All the health and environment volunteers in my class met in Morogoro for a two week training. We learned different technical trainings, such as making fuel efficient stoves (yup I mixed cement) and making fruit jams and peanut butter, figured out how Peace Corps grants work, learned more nutrition and HIV/AIDS stuff, and shared all of our first three months experiences. The second week of training each volunteer’s counterpart came for a week-long training. I was so excited to have my mama/counterpart get out of our village, learn more about Americans and the Peace Corps, and take home some of the trainings as well. We did another permagarden training with our counterparts, which I was really excited to do since I have started my own garden and incorporated a long of the permagarden aspects, but it’s been difficult explaining the entire process in Swahili. Anyways, a few men volunteered to help out at first and then I nominated my mama to jump in, which she literally did jump right in and started doing what she does best- farming. She was so enthusiastic about helping with making the beds and mixing in compost that at one point she even pushed a man out of the way to “do it right.” Ha I was really proud of how excited and dedicated she was to learning about new farming methods and I know her participation will continue in our village. We also learned about a program that incorporates soccer teams and health education with our counterparts, which involved a lot of games and was fun for everyone. Overall, I think the counterparts learned a lot about Americans/cross-cultural differences, the Peace Corps, and many valuable lessons/trainings that will be very helpful to bring back to our villages. It was also great to show counterparts (such as mine who don’t know any English) what it feels like to be surrounded by people constantly speaking a foreign language. Ha However, my mama did a fantastic job of participating and we are both very excited to take home our trainings and share them with the rest of our village members.
After training, a bunch of us went on a hike in Morogoro to a waterfall. It was so beautiful!! We hiked with amazing views and swam in the pools under the waterfalls. It was awesome! (Pictures are on Facebook). After Morogoro, a few of us headed to Iringa for a couple days. I got to see giraffes, elephants, water buffalo, gazelle (not sure whether gazelle antelope or what), and baboons on the bus ride! It was super fast but a cheap “safari” through the Mikumi National Park. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to really do a safari since that was exciting to see those animals. In Iringa I got to eat pizza and ice cream J My stomach hated me the next day since I never eat dairy now but it was so worth it! We also went on a short hike to “Pride Rock” which was an awesome view too but it was raining quite a bit while we were climbing up the rocks so didn’t stay too long. After Iringa, the Mtwara crew headed back to Dar, where we had our last safi foods- pizza again, Indian food, burritos, and ice cream. So good but my wallet is ready to go back on the rice and beans diet. I figured the bus ride down would have a good story to blog about for you all, but it actually was a relatively easy trip back down to Mtwara. The road was still super muddy and bumpy but we didn’t get stuck in the mud or pop a tire like last time. So this trip was 9 hours versus the 15 it took us the first time we drove down to Mtwara.
It’s been weird transitioning from “America” back to our sites. I’m preparing for a difficult time mentally after such a high time with all my friends and electricity and familiar foods. However, I really do miss my village and I’m excited to begin projects and working with community members. On the bus ride home, a very frail, sick man was carried off the bus at a stop near a main hospital and once then got him out of the bus, a sheet was placed over his head and a woman started crying hysterically. It was hard to see and hit me emotionally, but it was a quick reminder of where I am living for the next two years, and that although eating pizza and going to bars with friends is amazing, there are so many more important opportunities for me here to impact the people in my region. When I return to my village, I plan to create a project committee and get some community groups formed to start preparing for projects. So far it looks like a water project and animal husbandry projects will be a main focus in addition to permagarden demos and increasing health education. I should also begin teaching English at the primary school in a couple weeks after I get back from a Malaria conference with Peace Corps. Although I know things will continue to move very slowly, I am very excited to begin work and projects.
Well, there’s a short update on my last few weeks here. Ill hopefully add some more photos soon and since this blog was pretty dry, I’ll add some more fun culture notes and funny stories soon too. I love and miss you all tons and I’m looking forward to going to the post office after being away for so long to get letters and packages! J PS this week will mark 6 months in Tanzania- longest I’ve been away from home but I am excited that it’s only the beginning to many great things to come! Although it’s hard being away, I have made such amazing friends within Peace Corps and so many great relationships with Tanzanians, and your love and support from home has been amazing. Thank you! Xoxoxo
