Dunia ndogo - Small world

We had visitors! So as part of training to become a PCV you get to shadow a current PCV for a few days and we got a married couple from the health sector. S. and B. are great! I don't know who benefited more from the shadow visit as they were thrilled to see our lives as PCVs and we were excited to have our first guests. Well, apparantly we all lived in Minnesota, the Twin Cities, at the same time. We talked about Grand Old Days, Cafe Latte, and Pizza Luce. Then they told us where they worked as it just so happened that we saw a play for which they were the backstage crew! So as we sat in the audience a year ago or so they were backstage working with the props. We even have a few mutual friends. And now we meet in Tanzania in the Peace Corps. What a small world...

Getting Lost in Stonetown

IST
We had IST in Morogoro and it was so nice to see all the people in our training group again. We took counterparts, Tanzanians, with us so they could learn about teaching methods together and to meet other Tanzanian teachers and volunteers. The first day, if I can remember correctly, we were broken up into groups according to the subjects we are teaching. So all us math teachers got together to discuss issues and possible solutions to teaching math in Tanzania. Over the next few days we had other seminars and the one that stood out the most for me was the permaculture seminar. Permaculture (short for Permanent Agriculture) "is a design system for creating sustainable human environments." (Bill Mollison) Permaculture combines plants and trees that are beneficial to each other and to humans and animals. The person giving the seminar explained to us how permaculture could be used to help all people obtain a better and balanced diet, but especially those who are living with HIV/AIDS whose diet is more strict. Afterwards some of us got our hands dirty by digging up the ground and creating a planting bed. We dug about two feet down turning the dirt and adding fertilizer (manure) and minerals (ashes) and creating a nice soft place for plants which will never be stepped on again! You can plant plants close together if you loosen the dirt as far as two feet below the ground as their roots will have a chance to grow down. Roots generally (depends on the plant you're talking about) grow down but often times the soil is so compact that their only option is to grow out (horizontal) where they will meet with other roots of other plants and fight for food. But if you dig down about two feet (yes, it's a big project but once you do it you never step on that sacred ground again and you won't have to dig up the dirt again) and the roots can grow straight down. Hence you will be able to plant plants closer together. Anyway, the Tanzanians learned something from that presentation as well as many volunteers.

The honeymoon we never had
After IST, since everyone was already in Morogoro anyway, many people took off for vacation. Russ and I boarded the early bus and made our way to Dar. The one time we didn't bring rain gear it happens to be raining in Dar. We huddled under the rafters of some buildings until it cleared then walked to the harbor to board a ferry to Zanzibar. Even knowing some Kiswahili I felt overwhelmed by all the people trying to sell us tickets. We have residency permits which gets us discounts - nice when you're volunteering! We boarded the ferry and was on our way to the Spice Islands. When we arrived in Zanzibar a few hours and a sick tummy later (not quite smooth sailing that day) we immediately bought tickets to Pemba for the next day. That night we went to Forodhani Gardens for dinner (highly recommended) and dined on skewers of freshly caught lobster, shrimp, and fish...yum. Then we hopped into a local bar to watch the opening game of the world cup! The next day we took the ferry over to Pemba during which I got sick again. I was given a clove to chew by a man from Pemba who said it helps to ease sickness. I chewed on it a bit and it helped somewhat but that just shows you how nice the people of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Tanzania really are.

On Pemba we made our way to Chake Chake then up to Wete for the night. We stayed with a very nice retired teacher who runs a hostel/guesty from his house. The next day we went to Ngezi forest to look around but couldn't stay long as we wanted to get back to Chake Chake that evening. The ferry to Pemba runs three times a week from/to Zanzibar so if we wanted to spend any time on Zanzibar we had to go back the following day. We bought tickets the next morning for the ferry, travelled to Mkoani and took the ferry to Zanzibar.

We spent two days in Stonetown pretty much getting lost - but that was really so much fun! The alleyways reminded us of a maze so whenever we would enter it we'd say we were going into the maze. We went to the market one morning to check it out then thought we'd make our way to House of Wonders so we started to go through the maze admiring all the beautifully carved wooden doors, children playing football, and little shops. We walked for half an hour turning left, right, etc. and ended up right where we started! We eventually made it to the House of Wonders which is nice and has a lot of history and was the first real museum I've seen in Tanzania. We spent part of a day going on a spice tour (highly recommended) and got to see and taste cloves, nutmeg, and lemon grass right from the plants! Lunch was included in the fee and it used all the spices we saw on the tour and was absolutely delicious.

The next morning we went to the market to buy some spices then boarded a daladala to Jozani Forest to see the Red Colobus monkeys. They are quite used to tourists around and so you can get as close and you want to or even closer than you'd like as they are curious. After watching the monekys for a while took a short walk through part of the forest where our guide pointed out the different plants and their medicinal values. It had been raining heavily so parts of the trails were flooded so we didn't go really far. Then we hopped on a daladala and went to Paje on the east side of the island. That was the honeymoon we never had. We stayed at Paradise Beach Bungalows which was right on the beach. It was quite with only a few couples around compared to the crowded streets of Stonetown. The bungalows are owned by a Japanese woman so we had the luxury of real Japanese food such as tempura and noodles. During our stay of two days we swam in the Indian Ocean, walked along the beach to Bwejuu collecting shells, and walked out along the reef when the tide was out. The next day we had to leave paradise and make it back to Dar so we could catch the early bus the next morning back to our town.

Back to reality
It was still break when we got back so there were only A-level students around. Most of our days were spent in town, at the community dance/singing group, or reading books/magazines received in the mail (thanks!) and our nights were taken up watching the world cup games.

Peace Corps Choir
Well, it wasn't too long until we were back on the road again. The ambassador invited PCVs to sing the Tanzanian National Anthem and the United States Anthem for the 4th of July at the US Embassy. Russ and I were two of the 30 volunteers to make up the Peace Corps Choir and arrived in Dar on the 3rd for rehearsal. We sang on the 4th and feasted on all types of beverages and hors d'Oeuvres. There's another party later in the week so we're in Dar this week because it wouldn't make sense to go home and then back a few days later. Being with other PCVs has been awesome. It's so great to hear stories and have them be appreciated by people who know what you're going through.

Up next...
The next term starts up next week so I am preparing lessons and brainstorming ideas of what to do this term. Upcoming projects that I plan to work on include working with the health club on campus to train the oldest members so they can teach students at the local primary schools and starting an environmental club/school garden using permaculture that I learned at IST.