Habari za siku nyingi?

For the month of May my goal was to spend the whole month at site. At the end of April I went to visit Mike in Newala, where we made amazing Chili, rearranged his house a little, saw weird grasshoppers, and took in the view of the Pit of God. Then I biked back to site the last day of April to start my one month at site. My first week found me as teacher on duty (TOD or as the teachers call it TOaD) again. I think I described this a bit before but basically you tell the kids what work needs to be done and make sure they do it: such as cutting grass, getting fire wood, etc. Also, you are supposed to taste the food before the students just in case it's poisoned by the cooks. Just kidding, sometimes the students complain about their meals so we taste them to make sure they are all right. Mostly it is. The kids get ugali and beans almost everyday. If you remember my recipe section for ugali it's not easy to stir. Well, when the cooks make it for the students they cook it in a 200 liter drum. No kidding. To stir this both cooks use 3 foot wooden spoons (or oars, as I like to call them) and dip them all the way down then turn clockwise pulling up on the spoon. They must do this in a synchronized motion or else...THE ENTIRE BATCH MUST BE THROWN OUT. Just kidding, we're not on a reality TV show. They just have to stir constantly to make sure the ugali doesn't burn too much.

Also, I noticed a few people go to Geofrey and Peter's to exercise using their 'gym'. They have a bench with 2 sticks forming Ys at the end that they put a bar and weights on. They also have a small bar with a paint can filled with cement on each side and 2 small dumbbells made the same way. I also noticed, besides Peter, they can't really speak any english so I decided to start working out with them to pick up some language. After the first day my arms were sore and my Kiswahili exhausted.

Unfortunately my one month at site came to an end when I got sick. I self-diagnosed strep throat but decided to see a doctor. First I went to the local dispensary where I was given pain killers equivalent to Vicadin. While I'm sure this would've made me feel great had I taken it, I didn't think it would exactly cure me. So I decided to go into Masasi to the hospital. When I got there I explained to the doctor, who spoke wonderful english, that I thought I had strep and, if so, needed Erythromycin not Amoxycillin because I'm allergic to penicillin. Rather than, oh, I don't know, examine me, the doctor wrote down three drugs for me to get (there are no prescriptions here): Erythromycin, a pain killer, and cough syrup all of which I purchased for under $1.40, without even taking a look down my throat.

Of course what would be a trip into town without an exciting ride? The only car going in that day was a small Land Rover. And since I'm the only white person for 30 square kilometers everyone knew I was going to the hospital and so must've been pretty sick so I got to ride in the front. While in this luxurious, cushy seat I was able to make a list of driving tips from our trip: 1. Since the price of gas has gone up over 300 Tshs. since I got here saving gas is a must. What better way then when traveling downhill? Just turn off the engine and let gravity do the work. When you reach the bottom you should have more than enough of the speed required to get the car started (remember they're all push starts here). 2. When traveling through a treacherous mud pit and your door comes ajar (a common feature standard in most Tanzanian vehicles) you may not be able to take your hands off the wheel. How should you close the door? Fishtail of course, and when you swing back and forth with great force your door will collide with the frame to create a semi-safe cab of the Land Rover. 3. When carrying 25+ people up and down steep hills it may become necessary for them to exit the vehicle to reduce weight so that the car may reach the summit of each peak. You should work out a signal that indicates when the riders get on and off. This is usually 2 hits on the side of the door a mere second before the car goes speeding up or down a hill. So don't be slow to exit or enter the vehicle or you may find yourself walking 30+ km to town. 4. If you come to a water/mud pit and are unsure whether to pass on its left or right let the road decide. It has seen many cars...wait, we're in Tanzania, a few cars pass before you and should guide you in the right direction. Just take your hands off the wheel, punch the gas and get ready to steer as soon as the road pulls you one way or the other. If it decides. 5. Probably the greatest lesson we can learn from Tanzanian driving is never be afraid to give or receive help. Those other tips, as you should know, are jokes but this one is serious. Yes, at times it's harder for 2 or more people to make a decision about something but it's not about what the best way to do something is, it's about relationships. And if you build relationships, eventually you will reach the best way to do something. It's something, as Americans, we don't accept well-the giving and receiving of help. Don't be afraid to give help or accept it, even if you don't need or want it because you may get something greater-friendship.

On the way back from town I took the same car, riding in front again, and we went on two wheels...twice. I can't believe we didn't flip, I thought for sure we would.

At the end of April I had planned Movie Night for the second weekend of may. I invited almost all of the Deep South volunteers-about 10 people-thinking not all could make it. And I was right, 9 of 10 were coming. I asked Steph to come a day early to help me prepare food for Tony, Mike, Marisa, Michelle, Erica, Josh, Jen, and Thais. Steph made an amazing Banana Cake Cockaigne while I made Chocolate Doughnut Holes with Vanilla and Mint glaze. For the main course we cooked Makande, spicy Chick Peas, curried vegetables, and cut up cucumber. For snacks I had M&Ms and peanut butter with bread I made from scratch that has been turning out real good these days. At dusk I took everyone to my phone service spot overlooking Masasi and we took lots of pictures. Also, we went to the football (soccer) field where some kids were playing and formed a human pyramid with them. Then Steph made popcorn and we watched 'Clue' all packed in a tiny room together. Then the hard part came: sleeping arrangements. I have one 5'x6' bed and two 4'x6's. But my 5'x6' is a string bed so you can take the mattress off and sleep on the string kind of like a hammock. So we had 3 on the string bed, 3 on the mattress, and 2 on each single bed. The next day 7 left on a small Land Rover, the same I rode into town to go to the hospital, and it DID tip over. Luckily no one was seriously hurt and they all made it back to site with only a few bumps and bruises.

Marisa and Josh stayed an extra day, and so were lucky not to experience tipping over. Where did we go that day? The Mwiti River of course. We decided to go upstream since I had never been that way before. We found 3 mini rapids and raced watermelon rinds down them. And there were many sink holes about for us to fall into. On the way back I found one of our rinds and decided to follow it down some slippery rocks. Bad idea. I fell, not too bad but it still didn't feel good. Once we got back to the house we exchanged guitar playing ideas since we all play guitar. Also Marisa broke out some no-refrigerate cheese...or so she thought. Turns out it was cream cheese! 'If only we could get bagels,' I said. 'I don't know about getting them but we could make them,' Marisa replied. So we made bagels and scrambled eggs with peppers and onions to make bagel sandwiches for dinner. It was awesome. Marisa left the next day and Josh and I just hung out. Then Josh left Tuesday and I found myself with the task of cleaning a well used house for an awesome-fun weekend. One of my two couches had broken on two separate occasions with just me sitting on it. I banged it back into place with a hammer that is now broken-it was cheap and the head came off when I was trying to remove a nail. When all 9 guests were here it completely fell apart and still lied in pieces as I tried to clean up. One day later I had a clean house and all my laundry done-there are advantages to concrete floors, but still a broken couch.

Next I taught my last three days of class before exams. And I thought I'd mention two 'supplies' here the students bring. 1. A pen AND a pencil. The pen is for notes and the pencil is for diagrams. But if the student cannot afford a ruler he uses his pen for a straight edge. 2. A 'compass'. No compass? No problem. Just get a small piece of paper, fold it so it had some length and little width, poke two holes in it, and steady one hole with your pen for a center and use the other to draw a circle with your pencil pulling it around your pen. So you students out there realize how lucky you are to have supplies, more than one notebook, a notebook at all. These kids really want to learn but it's not easy for them.

We started exams on the 18th of the month. They have two 3 hour exams each day for 5 days. Our secretary types up our exams. But she doesn't know English so there are a lot of spelling mistakes. Also, it's done with a typewriter so you can't draw graphs or fancy Math symbols. I was supposed to get a copy of the typed exams before they went to the printer so I could draw graphs and such but I didn't. Also, the copies are very poor...often not aligned correctly and smudged, pages missing, etc. I was supposed to get to review the copies of my exams but I didn't get them until 20 minutes before the exam. And there was a lot of information missing so I ran home to look at my original and write graphs and symbols in it for the teachers proctoring so they could at least put the information on the board. That was a little frustrating.

The classes are really crowded and unfortunately some cheating occurs. Also, you don't proctor your own exams. So I had a rule with each class I proctored: no talking or looking at other's papers. One warning then I take off 5 points every time I catch you again. For the most part once I make one or two warnings they don't cheat. But I did catch cheaters in Form IV. I had already warned this kid right in the front who was obviously looking at another kid's paper. And you can't move the kids...all the desks are taken. While other kids were handing in their exams and I was stapling them (we do that because the printers don't have staples) I caught these two kids passing papers. I immediately got up, took the paper, analyzed the handwriting, and sat back down with the paper in my hand. When these 2 kids passed in their exams I set their papers aside for them to see so they knew I was going to turn them in. One kid, the one who I caught looking and was passed the paper, came back in begging me not to report him. He said once he was caught he did not answer the questions. True, but not good enough. He said he was afraid. True, and he should be. He'll get marks taken off and this is his final year. Up to this point we had been conversing in Kiswahili for about 15 minutes. Then he said something in English that shocked me: 'Please sir, beat me. Don't tell the teacher I cheated. Beat me, sir.' I was amazed. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I told him I couldn't and wouldn't. He had to be punished for cheating by getting marks off his exam. So as you can see corporal punishment is not effective if the kids prefer it over getting points taken off an exam.

On May 26th we closed the school and made the students go home. We had the Baraza or closing of the school. It was quite exciting. The students all congregated in the dining hall which is at the end of one of the two outdoor school hallways. As we turned to walk down this hallway the students started a rhythmic clap and we entered and sat down. Then every teacher made a remark to the students who clapped and the Second Master (our headmaster was at a meeting) went over the term and our expectations for next term. Afterward one lonely coaster (medium sized bus) came to start taking students down to Masasi. It was a long day for them.

The last few days of the month were really hard. I had too much time to think about how I haven't yet met my expectations for being here as long as I have, friends that I really miss at home, and friends here that are so far away. I decided to go to church the last sunday of the month and was very glad I did. It put me in a better mood and helped me get through the last few days before I would leave site to see all the PCVs from my training group for In-Service Training (IST) starting the 4th of June.

I dressed for church, grabbed my english bible, a few shillings and off I went with Peter around 9:15am. We arrived at a small church just off the main road and were 2 of 5 people there. A few minutes later a man walks in in tennis shoes, jeans, and a collared shirt, greets us, and then sits down in front of us. More people start to come in and then this man goes to the front and starts singing in one the most beautiful tenor voices I've heard. He is accompanied by a single drum, wood blocks, and crude chimes. The congregation joins in. It's absolutely beautiful. We sing for about 20 minutes. Then my second master, Bwana (Mr.) Chaula, comes in with a guitar and we sing some more. Bwana Chaula invites guest, i.e. me and a few others, to introduce themselves and explain why we've attended this day. Then he conducts the sermon for about an hour. I can translate chapters and verses and follow along with the Kiswahili well enough but am more content to listen to the sermon in Kiswahili and try and follow the lessons Bwana Chaula is teaching. It was quite an experience. THe sermon is followed by more singing and then it's over-I hope to go back.

Justin