Onward to Muheza...

Greetings again. A little update before we head into the tough stuff.

We’ve spent the days since our arrival isolated primarily in a large compound called Msimbazi Centre. Msimbazi contains a number of hostels, a dining hall, multiple classrooms, a bank, a couple bars and an internet café (which I’ve been too busy to use). The typical day consists of breakfast at 7:00am, classes between 8 and 4:30 with tea (chai) and lunch in-between. After that we’re left to ourselves until dinner at 7:00pm, following which we have more time to ourselves. Not too bad.

If you saw my last post, you know we’ve had running (though cold) water for showers. Despite that, many of us have been practicing bucket bathing given that we’ll inevitably have to for Pre-Service Training (PST) – it’s a far less painful experience than I’d imagined. As well, I’ve hand-washed my clothes for the first time, and my clothes are drying above me on the makeshift clothesline that is my mosquito net. Next lesson: using a squat toilet.

Today is our last day in Dar before we head out to Muheza region for PST. We were let out of the compound yesterday to explore Dar a little via Tanzania’s world-class busing system – they packed about 60 of us into a “bus” (read: large van) built for 40 and off we went. Dar itself is an interesting city; the population is dense and the poverty overwhelming. It’s also hot and humid (and this is the Tanzanian winter). We visited a local shop, an ATM, walked the street markets and ate lunch. I’m battling a bit of a stomach bug at the moment (the first of many, I’m sure), so I didn’t eat much. Nonetheless, getting out of the compound was a great experience and I got to practice some newly-learned Swahili.

Dar has been a luxury compared to what we’re about to experience over the next ten weeks during PST. Muheza is in the northeast corner of Tanzania near the Kenyan border. I’ll be staying with five other trainees in Kilulu, a tiny, isolated village about 14km from the main training hub (furthest village from training) with no electricity or running water. Huzzah! (Three current Volunteers - Chelsea, Chuck and Julie - have been guiding us around during Week 0. As it happens, two of them spent PST in Kilulu.)

During PST, trainees are essentially adopted into a native Tanzanian family. We live with them and integrate into their household, learning to live in the same manner that native Tanzanians must to get by. Oh, and we’re only supposed to speak Swahili. Needless to say, we’ve been warned that the first couple of weeks are going to be frustrating and rough, but in the long run, forcing us to use Swahili as a matter of necessity is the best way to learn on the fly. We’ll also be taking formal language classes along with technical classes during the day with our village groups, and meet once a week at the training hub with the rest of our class for vaccinations (6 shots thus far and counting…) and other discussions.

There is an internet café in Muheza town, so I’ll have the occasional opportunity to post when we’re allowed out for free time. (Not sure what that entails, but it could be worse.) One of my fellow trainees is a Michigan alum, so we’ve already agreed to sit in the café on Rivalry Saturday for three hours watch ESPN.com to refresh every 30 seconds. Loser buys the other a drink – I can taste it already.

That’ll do it for this post. Apologies if my posting has been a bit disorganized thus far. Haven’t blogged in awhile, so I’m just getting back into the swing of it. I imagine it’ll get a little more coherent with time.
‘Til next time (oh, and this is the last time I’m closing a post with that).