Beware of the fisi

Russ attended a Permaculture seminar in Dodoma a few weeks ago and had a great time learning about biointensive gardening. Hopefully the rains will come soon to our region and we'll be able to start a garden using all that we've learned to teach others about different methods of gardening that they may not have heard of. I heard the People magazines (thanks mom!) and Apples to Apples card game were big hits. Also at the permaculture seminar Loni adopted a hedgehog, Prisilla, as a pet when she saw some kids throwing stones at it. Prisilla is doing well surviving on termites in Loni's courtyard.

The week after Russ was gone, I went with Becky and Holley to Dar es Salaam to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Peace Corps. A few of the very first PCVs to come to Tanzania (back then it was called Tanganyika) in the 1960s were flown all the way here to meet Tanzanian diplomats and current PCVs. I enjoyed talking to them and listening to them speak about themselves in the newspaper articles. They remember their days as engineers and nurses quite well and even visited the sites they worked on more than 40 years ago.

Memorable moment in Dar: I went out with some PCVs to Addis in Dar, an Ethiopian restaurant. The atmosphere was awesome and the food spectacular. On our way out the door, Megan (first in line) scooped some crystal candy-looking things into her palm and popped them in her mouth. In some restaurants there are mints or candy things with a spoon next to the door to "freshen your breath" as you leave. Becky popped some into her mouth as well then I put some in my hand all the while the man behind the counter said "It's not for eating! It's incense!" Luckily I didn't put the incense crystals in my mouth but Megan and Becky spit them out and we all cracked up laughing as we exited the restaurant.

Internet is back at the TTC where Russ works - hooray! And there are now 10 new computers there as well - double hooray! There's another mzungu in town, Angus, a VSO from the UK who will also be working at the TTC incorporating computers into teaching methods.

Big news in town: One night a man in a nearby village heard something attacking his goats so he went to check it out. He came across one fisi (hyena) and managed to fend it off but lost a chunck of his head and two fingers in the process. The fisi was killed later and people suspect that because there was only one fisi, a witch doctor raised it (to ride on at night like a witch with a broomstick) and it escaped. So everyone in town uses caution when walking outside at night, especially when there is no moon and it's pitch black.

Russ and I did a dry run of cooking pizza for Christmas and it was awesome. We made the crust and sauce, put some cheese and pepperoni on them and stuck them in the oven for a few minutes. They were really good! So, pizza party at our house this Christmas! All are welcome - seriously! Does the picture convince you to come? ;)



Besides that, the teaching term is coming to an end. This week I'm creating a final exam for my students and continuing teaching. We'll be doing a lot of traveling in the next few months as we have to attend workshops, use vacation days while there's no school, and participate in a conference.

Village Visits

David visits
David, Russ's dad, visited our site during our week-long fall break. We sent M. to pick him up at the airport in Dar the evening he arrived. The next morning they boarded the bus to our town. The whole day, Tuesday, myself, Russ, our mzee house help, and six women from our dancing group cooked food at our house. I helped make sambusas, Russ did bread, and the women made every Tanzanian dish you could think of - ugali, rice, pilau (spiced rice), mrenda (a wagogo dish), vegetable stews and soups, beans, and chipsi (fries) with a tomato salad.

David arrived at our site in the afternoon and we greeted him at the bus stop with hugs. Our dancing group welcomed him with drums and songs at our house. A welcoming performance was the first act followed by a rap by the youth and then lots of singing and chanting by the older women who wore kangas and decorated their ankles with bells. Russ and I joined in when the choir sang two songs and then it was time to eat. David said grace and Russ translated it into Kiswahili and then the mass rush to the food began. I was shocked at how fast the food disappeared considering the ladies made food for what seemed like 100 people when there were only 30 at most!

The next day we took it easy showing David around our town - the school, ttc, post office, market, shops, etc. The day after that we walked to a neighboring village where Loni lives. We walked about half an hour before we met the well known crazy man. He yells nonsense words and follows people. Being white, we stand out pretty well in a crowd. So he followed us for an hour and a half until we reached her house. On the way we'd stop and he'd stop as well. When we started up he began to walk a little ahead of us. He was always smiling and was wearing a pink shirt inside out with shoulder pads which David said resembled angel's wings. At her house he continued to yell and circle the house for a few minutes until he got tired then left. Russ and David continued onto the next village where James and Christy live, two more hours, while Loni and I climbed up the mountain behind her house. We visited the secondary school in her village, talked to some teachers about the differences between their village school and my school, then waited until the guys returned from the village then headed home quite tired!

Over the next few days we went on more hikes, watched some birds, and showed David where Russ works. His time in Tanzania was short but says it was worth the trip and had a fabulous time, as did we!

Teaching
So my primary assignment continues... As the Form 3 students don't want to bother with math and the Form 4 students are done half way through the term (they take national exams mid-term) the only forms left to teach are 1 and 2. Since the former Form 1 math teacher, who also taught chemistry, and was assistant academic master, has left to be the headmaster of another school, I get to teach his Form 1 students. The math teacher who teaches Form 2 is said to be leaving for university soon so I may take over Form 2 by the end of term. We shall see...

But I like my "new" students. They are the equivalent of 9th graders and I actually see them smile in class! Of course I try to do silly things to ease the "pressure" of studying math. Unfortunately the pressure is on me because out of the 12 topics the Form 1 students need to study this year they have only covered 5. I wondered what the teacher did for the last term and a half for them to be so far behind. But I soon got my answer when I showed up for class Tuesday morning first period to find only two students. The others were fetching water for the kitchen. Form 1 happened to be the "form on duty" that day so they were responsible for fetching water for the kitchen if it needed it. Sometimes the water from the town is turned on but lately (since it hasn't rained in months) the water doesn't run as often. So I didn't teach that day and I found out later that there is a mandatory all staff meeting the next day at 8:30 am - right in the middle of my teaching period. So I taught one period (7:40 - 8:20) then went to the meeting, which went all the way until chai (10:20) so I didn't teach that day either. And to put even more pressure, in the meeting we were told that the term will end in early Nov. I was under the impression that it would end at the end of Nov. So a few weeks left to cram everything in!

Kicking butt
So I was invited to play soccer for the teacher's training college staff team. They were playing the student government and needed players - so Russ and I stepped in. It was a cool day after the rain - the first time in months - and probably the last time for a few more months. I was the only female on the field so a lot of the attention was focused on me - and I knew it. I was injured in the first few minutes - I twisted my foot - an injury that I can't say I have had before in all my years of playing soccer. But I covered the pain and continued. There were many people watching and cheered me on whenever I touched the ball. At half time lots of people congratulated my on being able to play. One person asked if this was my first time playing soccer and I jokingly said "yup," and I think he actually believed me for a second. Many women were impressed with me and see me as a strong woman figure, which is why I played through the pain. In the second half on a corner kick in our favor, the ball went over head and I turned around near the keeper to get it and he pushed me. I didn't even have time to put my hands down and I slid on the dirt/gravel field on my right arm. As I got up the blood started oozing so I was subbed. We got a free penalty shot and scored from my injury as the "medical staff" put on rubber gloves and used water then iodine (OUCH!) to disinfect my arm. We ended up losing 3-2. All I wanted to do was take a warm bucket bath but the power was out that night. So Russ was nice enough to heat water on the charcoal stove for me then make dinner as I was useless with my bruised foot and bleeding arm.

Village Visit
So there was a medical student in town from the UK and a gap student (taking a year off before going to university), also from the UK, in town and we met up with them. Every Tuesday and Thursday they go to a village with a few Tanzanian nurses from the clinic and weigh babies, give vaccines, give birth control shots, and examine pregnant women. I wasn't doing anything Thursday so I went along with them to a village not too far away. When we arrive there was nobody really there. But as soon as we went to the "clinic" (a mud hut) women and their babies started forming a line. Each mother had made an overalls type thing with extra long straps for their babies. The scale was a meat weighing scale that hung from a rafter and had a hook which the mothers used to hook the straps on to weigh the babies. Some babies just dangled in the air looking awkwardly at me, some started kicking and laughing thinking it was a game, but most started to cry until we read the number then told them to remove the baby. I helped to write the weight of the child and plot it on a growth chart given to each mother by the clinic. Many children were under weight and when I plotted it I asked the nurses what to do. They told me to ask the mother why her child was under weight. The usual response was the child was sick with malaria. Then I had to tell them to feed their children more nutritious food. To which they nodded their heads. I knew times were hard now and they were probably luckily to even get food, let alone nutritious food. This was the hardest part for me and I tried to pass this task to the Tanzanian nurses. I didn't watch as the nurses gave vaccinations as I get woozy watching people give/get shots. That day we weighed about 200 babies.