This month has been very hectic. Lots of things have happened but first...

I'm extending here for a third year and am getting married in December of this year!

So...I have a lot to catch you up on. As you know Anna and I have been dating since last year. We both love it here and so applied last month to extend together as a married couple at Anna's site. We found out in the middle of this month that we were approved. There were only a limited number of spots for volunteers wishing to extend and we are very fortunate to have been given the opportunity. We have had great experiences here but it's sometimes difficult being apart. We're very excited to be able to share these experiences living and working here together next year.

What's Anna's site like? Her school is a day school with boys and girls. My current school has a reputation for hard working students and gets a lot of applications. Since it's also a boarding school it can be very selective so my students are in the top percentile. The school I will be moving to will have students from around the area since it is a day school so I will be challenged to teach a different level of student. But Anna already knows the ropes and I'm sure will help me with teaching ideas. Her house has no running water or electricity. I'm very excited about this. Why? Bragging rights of course. Just kidding...sort of. Less distractions. I've been to her site several times and it's nice when the sun sets because people stop working, sit outside and cook, some people sing. And her main town is Dodoma which is the capital of the country. That means markets with more than tomatoes, onions, and potatoes for vegetables and bananas and...yeah, that's it year round for fruit here (mango season is VERY short). They have carrots (my favorite vegetable), peas, green beans, and cucumbers year round!!! And avocados, pineapple, and apples!!! Plus, reliable internet. So it'll be back to monthly updates instead of quarterly (hopefully). This will be our home next year but for now I'm here until November. So what's happened here?...

Anna came to visit at the beginning of the month. We got to see Mike, Steph, and some others in Mtwara where she flew in. On the ride up to my house we passed a herd of cows and goats. No big deal. All the sudden the herder started yelling. I leaned over the side of the car to see the front tire roll off a young cow. Barely alive it moved a little until the back wheel put it to rest. Poor cow. We think the driver had to pay in compensation.

Once at site we just relaxed during Easter Weekend, made s'mores and ate Easter candy Anna's mom sent us. I had school that week and enjoyed not having to do everything around the house. Anna cooked most of our food-crab cakes, lentil burgers, chicken alfredo, pumpkin bread, and, the always gourmet, popcorn for a movie. I'm no stranger to the kitchen so helped prepare and cooked up some Chimmy Changas while Anna made the guacamole-we found avocados in the market! They come into 'season' (meaning 2 or 3 small baskets worth a week) for about a month. As usual the week went by fast and we headed back to Mtwara. This was also an interesting ride. It had rained a LOT that week and so the road was very bad. Our travel time almost doubled since we had to go so slow. At one point (but not the only time) we ran out of gas (both times we ran out of gas were on the main road). Once our conductor had gone and returned with fuel the driver cranked the engine. Nothing. Uh-oh. The conductor got out, opened the hood, got a hoe, and hit a certain part of the engine with the blunt end as the driver tried the ignition and, vroom, it started up. Amazing, hilarious, and awesome. Never give up on your car, it CAN be fixed.

There is a talented artist who works in Mtwara and does carvings so Anna and I selected a few that we'll take back with us. Although the week was relaxing we knew Peace Corps was having its meeting to select extending volunteers and so we were nervous. Anna left on Saturday and we got the good news on Monday.

We also had sad news this month. My good friend Mike returned to America for medical reasons. He has only gone back for 45 days but his return is doubtful. Mike and I have been close since the first night in country. We roomed together and spent the night unpacking and repacking and sharing stories and getting to know one another. During training we became good friends and then we were placed in the Deep South (Mtwara region) together and saw each other once a month to hang out. He's also a good friend of Anna's so it was hard for both of us. We all rafted the Nile together and got to meet Mike's brother TJ who was a PC volunteer in Bangladesh in 2003-2005. They kept us laughing the whole trip. We miss you Mike.

The rest of the month has been busy between school, up-keeping the library, ordering books for the grant, teaching remedial classes, and teaching Peer Educators. We'll be finishing up the term next month, until then,

Justin