It’s been a long however-long-it’s-been since my mid-PST update, and quite a bit’s gone on since then. This’ll probably be a long-ish post, so let’s get to it.
First off: I’m officially (finally) a capital-V Volunteer. Huzzah! I’m now at my site in lovely Mkululu, a village located in the Masasi district of sunny (read: blistering hot) Mtwara region. More on that later, though; first: the end of PST (pre-service training, for those who aren’t keeping a list of Peace Corps acronyms). I can’t count the number of times I thought I was going to go crazy (or the number of times I may have actually gone crazy), but it’s finally, finally, finally over! Huzzah again! Here’s the play-by-play…
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| The classroom at MATI, our training site. |
The last week in Muheza consisted of finals. We had a written LPI, an oral LPI and a technical exam and I somehow exceeded my expectations for all of them. Granted, at the end of the day our understanding of Swahili is still pretty basic (we’re responsible for growing our vocabulary further after getting to site), but the results were encouraging all the same.
Following finals week, we spent a couple days saying goodbye to our CBTs, our LCFs (language trainers) and finally our homestay families and villages. My CBT threw a (somewhat) surprise party for Asia, our LCF, and that went well. The following day, Kilulu threw a going away party for us and my homestay family gave me an awesome custom-made Tanzanian shirt. We said goodbye to our families the next morning (my Baba choked up, so I choked up) and then headed back to Dar.
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| My homestay family's house. I hit my head a lot on that porch... |
We spent most of our time in Dar at Msimbazi Centre, the
compound where we spent Week 0. We sat through some sessions at Peace Corps
Headquarters, tying up loose ends and receiving final details about living
allowances and such, and we met our site supervisors. We also had some free
time to visit a huge, western-style (i.e., expensive) superstore the day before
swearing in. It reminded me quite a bit of Walmart (because, it turns out, it’s
affiliated with Walmart).
We swore in on the twelfth. The ceremony took place indoors
at the U.S. Embassy, which was nice because the alternative was spending an
hour sitting in the Tanzanian heat in a blazer (summer is just getting started
here). A couple of trainees from our class delivered an excellent speech they’d
put together in English and Swahili, then our class did a Swahili-themed
rendition of “Time Warp” for the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania and the Guest of
Honor (a Tanzanian official with a particularly long title that I can’t
remember). EB (our country director) spoke (and recited my favorite poem, “The
Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost), as did the ambassador (he has a
tremendous presence about him), we were sworn in and took pictures. Then, at
long last, we got to the most important part: cake! Real cake! I was there; it
was real! We ate cake!
After cake(!), we mingled for a while outside before heading
back to Peace Corps Headquarters for a final briefing on the logistics of
installation. Then we headed back to Msimbazi to finish packing for the next
morning. Once that was taken care of, we went to dinner and then spent the
remainder of our time hanging out for the last time as a class. Ever. (Actually,
just the last time until IST in three months; three months apart just seems
like forever when you’ve spent almost every day together for ten weeks.)
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| Swearing in. I'm glaring because I thought the Ambassador ate all the cake. |
The next morning we woke up early (even by Tanzanian
standards) to get to Dar’s main standi (bus stand). Dar’s main standi is
insane – hundreds of buses packed together in ridiculous proximity, all
scheduled to depart at the same time (6:00am). We got to the standi and, after
a twenty minute search, found our bus and boarded. There was no room for most
of our stuff, so Peace Corps arranged for it to be placed on another bus the
following day, meaning we would be spending the entire next day in our banking
town (Masasi). (This ended up being convenient, as it gave us some extra time
to buy the bare necessities to survive the first week or so at site.) 6:00am
arrived and, like clockwork, all the buses rolled out right on time.
The bus ride down was primarily uneventful. Because of the
space limitation, I spent the first couple hours with my 30 lb. (read: stupid heavy) backpack on my lap. Most of the road to Mtwara is paved, but that doesn’t
count for much because they’re constantly doing (never finishing, just doing)
construction. The rainy season’s started, and we spent a two hour stretch
trying to maneuver through standing water and mud. But I was seated next to my
supervisor, Wallace, so we spent some extra time getting to know each other –
definitely excited to work with him.
Three other Volunteers from my class are also in Mtwara:
Amanda, Dierdre and Stephanie (Stevie). Dierdre’s banking town is Newala, and
for some reason still unknown to us, she had to ride down on a separate bus by
herself. The rest of us met my site mate, Stephanie, in Masasi and got rooms at
our favorite guestie (it has electricity!). Then we grabbed food and got
settled. The following day was spent walking around Masasi to pick up the
basics (a mattress, a kerosene jiko, enough purified water to last until we
made bucket filters, cups and bowls, simple foods, etc…). Our stuff came in
that night, and we went in after dinner.
The following day, Amanda went up to her site with Stephanie
and Wallace while Stevie and I went to the bank to exchange American currency
into Tanzanian Shillings (tsh or /=). When they got back, Stevie and I packed
our stuff into the truck and headed to our own sites (we take the same route;
Stevie’s site is about 45 minutes from town, mine’s an hour and a half). We
dropped Stevie off to a dancing group of women, said our goodbyes, and then
headed off to my site.
My arrival was a little quieter. No dancing women, thank
goodness – not sure my nerves would’ve handled that well – I was simply met by
some of the village leaders on my porch. We pulled my stuff out of the truck,
moved it inside, said our goodbyes and the truck, Wallace and Stephanie left.
So just like that, the real deal began. I introduced myself to the group, which included my VEO (Village Executive Officer), the village Mwenyekiti (Chairman), the Duwani (sp?; employed by the district to counsel the ward), a number of the village councilmen and women and the English-speaking doctor who runs the local dispensary where I’ll do a lot of my early work. These are the people I’ll have to develop strong relationships with if I want to get anything done, so it was good to meet them (or re-meet them) right off the bat.
After initial greetings, a couple fundis (skilled workmen;
carpenters in this context) then went to work putting my mattress in the
bedframe (borrowed from my VEO). Then we spent a few hours sitting on my porch “talking”
(I’m giving myself too much credit) before I was allowed inside to cook my first-ever
meal at site before going to bed (Okay, I cheated: it was Chef Boyardee,
cookies and hot chocolate).
My house is bigger than anticipated; right now that only
serves to remind me that I’m alone most of the time. I have a large entry room
that’ll serve as my living room, as well as a sizeable bedroom. I also have two
smaller rooms; one will serve as my jiko (kitchen) and the other will either be
a small guest room, storage or a work room. I also have a nice-sized choo, so it’s
back to showering indoors for me (but no worries, I still get a great view of
the stars).
My house is completely unfurnished thus far, so I’ve ordered
a bedframe, a couch, a desk, a few tables, a chair, a
couple benches and three stools (which will probably serve as small tables). I
think I got a good price, but Peace Corps is working on a budget and only
allots so much for moving in, so I may end up dipping into my American account.
I’ve got plenty of time to figure it all out.
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| My house is actually in the middle of the street. |
The primary goal of the first three months at site is
integration. It sounds simple: just go to your village, settle your housing
affairs, meet and interact with the villagers and become accepted as a member
of the community. Essentially, our goal is to just wake up in the morning, not
be invisible all day, and then go to bed. The challenge is finding enough time for
yourself that you don’t go crazy, but also making time to get to know the
village. The villagers are as friendly as can be, but the social culture here
in Tanzania dictates that you’re going to have visitors even when you don’t
want them; it’s tough to find that balance.
The culture here is far more social than in America. The
distractions that are available to us in the U.S. (TV, movies, videogames, reliable
internet and phone service) don’t exist in rural Tanzania. Here, the
entertainment is, for the most part, sitting in a group and talking. Sometimes
it’s in the shade under a tree, sometimes it’s on someone’s porch, sometimes
it’s in my living room (even though I have no furniture and have only a basic
grasp of the language). That’s about it (although my village also has two
hometown soccer teams that they’re ecstatic about; I’ve already bought jerseys
for both).
In Tanzanian culture, spending too much time alone means
you’re probably either sick or depressed (not necessarily untrue, in my
experience; moving halfway across the world really puts you through the
emotional ringer). Basically, I can count on someone knocking on my door if I
spend more than an hour by myself. In their defense, it’s a well-intended
gesture – like I said previously, Tanzanians are an incredibly friendly people –
but it can be particularly stressful (and annoying) if you don’t feel like
struggling through Swahili at that particular moment or if you happen to be
cooking (as the polite gesture is to then offer food to your guest, and I’ve only
been cooking for one thus far). You have to get out enough to make a presence,
which usually means at least a few hours a day outside. Doesn’t sound that
difficult until you try it, bringing me to the next major challenge…
Boredom. It’s everywhere. A day in Tanzania is not remotely
close to a day in America; in terms of perception, it’s at least twice as long.
I mentioned ‘distractions’ in America above; that term was carefully chosen.
It’s difficult to occupy your mind here. Time is unbearably slow, and the day
begins pretty early in Tanzania – the crack of dawn, really. My VEO typically
knocks on my door at about 6:30am just to make sure I’m not dead, then I get up
and begin boiling water for my shower. I take a shower, make and eat breakfast,
then wash dishes. If I’m lucky (I’m usually not), that takes a whole hour.
Then… well, that’s the problem. It’s up to me to make my schedule, and it’s too
early to make one that encompasses the entire day just yet. It’s difficult to
keep yourself busy at all, more so if you’re trying to do so in a way that’s
conducive to integrating. Getting out can be stressful; sitting inside can get
boring fast.
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| Charlotte and I admiring Treebeard, my favorite tree in Mkululu. |
But sitting in my house can also do more harm than good
(also, one can only swim in sweat so long), so I still try to get out as much
as possible. So far, I’ve spent quite a bit of time at the dispensary trying to
learn the ropes (including an impromptu lesson on how to perform a check-up on
a pregnant woman); I’m trying to go for at least a couple hours each day it’s
open. I’ve also been out to chai a couple times, made daily trips to the
village soko (market), taken daily walks to different parts of the village to
practice greetings and introduce myself, visited one of the local fundis to
order furniture and sat in on a meeting of the village council. I also find
myself sitting in one of the above-mentioned social circles a few times a week,
although it’s typically them talking about me rather than to me – my limited
vocabulary is a barrier at this point (but that will change with time). One of
my better moments so far was running out to help some villagers load cashews
(the cash crop in Mtwara) onto a lorry after a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere;
the villagers got a kick out of it, it killed a half hour and I didn’t have to
take a shower that night. (Huzzah!)
When I do spend time in my house, I typically think about
food. Cooking is nice – it takes much longer here than in America and there’s
the added bonus of hand-wash everything when you’re done – so it provides a
nice excuse to sit down for a bit and collect my thoughts. (Plus I’m getting
pretty good at it.) I can usually get away with going inside around 6:00pm, so
I’ve got a little routine going: I cook dinner, listen to BBC World News in
English (bought a shortwave radio – best in-country investment so far) and then
read my Kindle or watch a movie (if I want to waste half my battery) until I
crash. Eventually I’ll develop something a little less mind-numbing, but it
gets me by for now.
So now you’re up to date as far as site is concerned. Here
are some other tidbits…
*As it happens, Christmas was a couple weeks after
installation. We’re not allowed to travel outside our region during the first
three months (and I can’t during the rainy season anyway; the south gets
pummeled and the roads become mud), so we all met at a nearby Volunteer’s house
and had a gift exchange (I got a book and a phone voucher). It was nice to get a
break for a few days, but the gap between Christmas and the New Year was too
long for comfort. I returned to my site a few days ago and simply slept through
New Year’s Eve. Such is life. (But I’m making up for missing New Year’s by
spending a day in my banking town, hence the reason I can post this. Shopping,
particularly when you don’t have much, is a nice distraction.)
*I attended my first-ever Catholic Mass on Christmas Day. I
have no idea what the sermon was about, but it must’ve been good because my
knees hurt.
*I finally got a dongle (wireless modem), so I can do this
from the safety of anywhere with an Airtel connection (not at site,
unfortunately). Hopefully that means I’ll be posting more frequently.
*I’m almost positive Mtwara is the hottest region in Tanzania.
Highs are in the upper 90s and lows are in the low 70s (and that’s all year
long).
*The rains make for some difficulty travelling, but they
also cool things down considerably. Since I’m not going anywhere for a few
months, bring it on…
*There’s a nifty little mountain a few kilometers from my
village and I intend to hike it sooner than later. It’s not Kilimanjaro, but it’ll
do for a first time. If I can lug my camera up with me, I’ll post pictures.
*I finally bought my first machete. I’ll be taking that with
me on the hike as well, just in case any snakes try to tag along.
*I’ve known about chipsi mayai since I’ve been here, but I
don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet. It’s just a bunch of sliced potatoes cooked
into a bunch of eggs and, if you’re lucky, tomatoes, onions and green pepper.
It’s like a huge omelet, but with tons of potatoes. Easily my favorite meal in
Tanzania; it takes me home every time. If Ohio is a food, it’s chipsi mayai. Why
didn’t we think of this?
Alrighty, I think that’s it for now. Sorry if the post was
long; it’s been awhile and I tried to cover as much as I could. Also, surprise!
This is part of a double post (that’s right, I wrote even more!), so check out
below if you want some tidbits on Swahili.
Until next time, I love you all and wish you nothing but the
best!
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