September is over, wow, my time here is coming to an end. I have one more month of teaching.

This month was rather busy. I got back to Masasi from COS conference on the 2nd. I biked back to site the morning of the 3rd and made it in time to teach my classes that morning. We only had a week of classes before our one week mid-term break. I was planning a meeting for our Peer Education group (Peer Eds) and Masasi's People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) group during the mid-term break so went back into town that weekend to try and finish planning. I worked with Emily, the health volunteer in Masasi. She's done a few things with the PLWHA group. We decided to try and have the meeting on Friday the 14th at Emily's home. She's friends with her Mama-neighbors who we thought might enjoy being a part of the day by cooking chai (food and tea break) and lunch. In one day we got everything wrapped up by mid-afternoon, except food details. We went to the Mamas to get prices and that's when we remembered that Ramadhani (a Muslim holiday where they fast for one month) started Thursday or Friday depending on the moon. This meant half of our participants, the Mamas who were cooking, and myself (more to come) wouldn't be able to eat. So we decided to try and move the meeting to Wednesday the 12th. The next day Emily confirmed it with the PLWHA group and I got permission from the school. So it all worked out.

Monday and Tuesday of that week I met with the Peer Eds to explain the goals of the meeting and the schedule. Wednesday came and we all boarded the village car. I think I mentioned they've been working on the road to Chidya. Well, the driver thought this meant it was just as good, if not better than, a gravel road and proceeded to drive most of it at speeds reaching 80kmh (that might be an exaggeration). One quick double turn had people screaming. I looked at my students and Samweli looked back-his mouth smiling, his eyes full of fear. Which of course made me laugh-what else can you do?

We safely got into town and to Emily's house around 8:30am. The goals of the day were simple: to share stories-the PLWAHs their personal stories of testing and learning they were infected, how they've changed their lifestyles, and what their new life goals are; the students their opinion on stigma still present in Tanzanian schools today, if HIV/AIDS has personally effected them, and how they behave to reduce the risk of becoming infected. The second goal was to come up with ideas for a sign board that would grab people's attention to learn more about HIV/AIDS, especially those who think they are at risk of having HIV/AIDS but are afraid to test. Remember, many Tanzanians don't graduate into secondary schools and some don't even complete primary education. They've all heard of HIV/AIDS but may not know much about it. The board has the contact information for the PLWHA group, called Tupendane.

The students and group talked for about 3 hours with Emily and I steering the conversation only a few times. Steph also happened to be in town and pitched in as well. The students had really good questions and the group was very energetic and entertaining. Then they split into groups to come up with slogan ideas or pictures for the sign. Once we collected the ideas, Geofrey lead us all through the process of choosing one. We chose two different slogans-one for each side-and that the Tupendane logo be on each side. One side says, "We have tested and identified ourselves as PLWAH and we live with hope. Have you tested??" And the other, "Know your health. Test for HIV. And break the stigma for the sake of those infected." Unfortunately, the village car was leaving before the students could see the board being made. I stayed in town the next 2 days and we found an artist to paint the sign. On Thursday we carried it from the PLWHA office and put it across from the only bank in town, near the main filling station. Dancing, singing, and pictures ensued.

Thursday morning, at 5:50am, I was awoken by a text from my friend Kassim informing me that we would being fasting that day. No food or water from 5ish am until 6:30pm. I decided to fast because I realized that 4 out of 5 of my closest friends are Muslim and I wanted to really share Ramadhani with them. Everyone, Muslim or Christian, dresses up and has a big meal at the end of Ramadhani-it's a national holiday. But I really thought it'd be interesting to share the entire month of fasting with them. Thursday and Friday I stayed in town with Steph and Emily and they were kind enough not to dangle food in my face. I was able to eat a lot after the first day but the second day I felt a little too full after a big meal. Saturday was very difficult-I biked back to my site that morning. I was able to get in before the sun became too hot but it was still over a 2 hour bike ride up the plateau and doing it with no water wasn't easy. But I survived the day with only a minor headache and a dry mouth. Since then it's been easy-I'm used to it. But I can no longer eat a big meal. I eat a normal sized meal and drink lots of water. This usually gets me up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and I try and bake something that I can eat a little of when that happens. But sometimes I don't wake up.

Most of these days muslims have a special type of meal called Futari. One version is sweet potatoes and beans that I put in the 'recipes' section of the website. But I've since learned beans are less common. Most of the food are starches. Cassava, sweet potatoes, irish potatoes, noodles, chapati za kumimina (also in the recipe section), and who could forget ugali? Usually with spinach. Also, most drink uji which is like a porridge. I like a mixture of wheat, peanuts, and rice ground up. Just add sugar.

I was invited to eat with Kassim and his family one night. He has 3 children, two small ones. It was communal and I felt it'd be rude to lick my fingers. We had sweet noodles on one plate and a mixture of cassava and potatoes on another. The noodles were particularly sticky and so I sort of held them above my mouth and lowered them in as to not lick my fingers. In hind sight this probably looked rather ridiculous. But Tanzanians are used to the irregularities of white people and so Kassim and his family didn't say anything. I learned that the next night Mai (short for Maimuna), Kassim's 5 year-old daughter, imitated this to the amusement of the family saying she was eating like "Uncle Justin." I'm laughing about it as I type this.

Back to the meal though, the uji was really good. Mama Mai (Kassim's wife-once a woman has a child here she is know as the 'Mama' of that child. Kassim's first wife passed away and his second wife's first child is Maimuna so we call her Mama Mai) ground up pepper and put it in the uji so it was sweet but had a kick to it. Kassim's youngest, Omari, grabbed one of his father's muslim caps, put it on and started dancing to and singing Bob Marley (although he doesn't know English). Kassim and his family are very laid back and have a very good sense of humor so it's always fun to hang out with them.

The next week was my last week of teaching a full schedule. The week was full of student leader elections, praticals, and soccer matches between the different Forms. The students stopped playing volleyball though. Most of the students that play are Form IV and they start their taking the National Exams in October. So they're busy studying. I hope I can get students playing again once the schedule settles down.

The last week of the month was busy. Form II took their mock examinations-exams that are supposed to reflect the national exams they'll take starting Oct 31st. They did well but still just over half failed. Also, I was TOD for the last time. But what consumed most of my time was my battle with fleas. For the past week or so I had been getting bit at night. I thought it was bed bugs so washed my sheets. But I kept getting bit. One morning I found a few tiny black bugs on me. I picked them off and squished them between my fingers. Still alive. So I used my fingernails. Then I looked at it. A flea! I found another and it jumped away. Yup, fleas. From where? Well, my mice seemed to have left-haven't heard them, seen them or their droppings. Did the fleas need a new host? I also did lots of yard work since the wind we've been having is very strong a knocked over my grass fence. I cleaned it up but it required picking up the grass and piling it up. Maybe they came from there.

I went to the locals to find out what to do-3 days of leaving my mattress and pillows outside, washing all infested clothes and sheets, spraying insecticide in all infested rooms and washing down all surfaces. My greatest fear was that they had infested my closet. Luckily all my clothes are hanging or on the top shelves. I put my hand in the closet and waited to see if any fleas jumped on. None. The first 2 days of fumigating went well but the second night the wind was very strong and moved a lot of dust. I found one in the kitchen and many in my outdoor storage area. I washed all the cloth material in my kitchen and found dead fleas in the washing water. So we sprayed the kitchen and in the infested places outside. As I write this, I'm still not sure if the problem has been solved. I think I've successfully found their homes and we've treated all the areas. Let's hope so,

Justin