Week One

Jambo! Hello all! So I have been in Tanzania for one week now, and I have lottttts to tell. This entry will probably be ridiculously long, so feel free to skim. Here we go...

Sunday, 4/6

I landed in TZ on sunday. Once the plane landed, I realized that one of the other volunteers had been sitting right in front of me the whole time. We introduced and walked into the airport together. Her name is Megan and she lives in Chicago and she is my age. The airport is very small, just three rooms: (1) entering room/visa application, (2) baggage pickup, (3) meeting point/exit. The application for a visa was just a small card with basic info (name, age, nationality, etc) and a $50 fee. We got our bags and met the Global Service Corps (GSC) representative right afterwards. We also met out driver, and we were off to Arusha.

First thoughts/impressions:

1. the streets are very dark, there are hardly any street lights
2. you drive on the right side of the road
3. even though it is 10 PM and the beginning of fall, it is very warm outside
4. you can see so many stars!! I don't think I have ever seen so many, and its pretty amazing.
5. the radio plays american music and the station playing is called KISS! It has hardly any commericials and I quite prefer it to the KISS FM I know back home.
6. Speedbumps occur in random places, they seem to serve no purpose
7. There are NO traffic lights whatsoever. Despite this, the traffic is quite organized (even now, after being here a week, I can say that there are no traffic lights anywhere and that the traffic somehow manages itself).
8. Everything is only one story high. The only exception to this are some hotels, which often seem out of place.

We arrive at the hostel. It is pretty basic. It has several small buildings all close together. The main building has a dining room, lounge, kitchen, and bathrooms. The other buildings are the rooms where we will stay. Me and Megan are sharing a triple room. It is pretty large, with its own bathroom (most of the rooms don't have a private bathroom). The toilet is normal, but the shower is just a shower head (no bathtub, no curtain, no door). We also meet Sumeet, the last volunteer. He is an Indian-American (not to be confused with an American Indian!) and is 24. He lives in Atlanta and will be applying for medical school once he goes back.

Monday, 4/7

The day starts at 7:20 AM. Wake up, get ready, eat breakfast (eggs and toast). At 830 AM, a GSC worker comes to pick us up. Her name is Rita and she is around 17/18 (just finished high school) and is a bit shy. Rita is one of the "counterparts" which just means she will be helping us and translating for us when we give our HIV lessons. The GSC office is about 20 minutes away, and I get to see the town for the first time in the daytime. It is more or less what you would expect. The roads are paved, but the sidewalks are not. There are lots of people walking and riding bikes. There is a lot of green: trees, grass, bushes. A lot of people say hello to us as we walk down the street. Despite the fact that there are virtually no trashcans in Arusha-town, the streets are surprisingly clean.

The GSC office is pretty nice. White paint and tan wood, it gives a very clean appearance. We meet Genea, who will basically be in charge of us on a day-to-day basis. She is a mizungo (white person), from Montana, young, very outgoing, lighthearted, funny, and pretty outspoken. I like her.

The first thing on the list today is Swahili class. We will have two hours of class for the first three days here. After this, the itenerary is as follows:

1. swahili class
2. introductions of staff
3. rules/expectations/questions
4. walking tour of arusha
5. lunch in town
6. health/safety
7. get weekly allowance, 15,000 shillings (about $15 dollars)

I will only talk about the more interesting parts: the tour and the lunch.

The town is a little far from the office; walkable, but takes about 25 minutes. We take a dala-dala to get to town instead. A dala-dala is basically a large minivan which is made to fit about 14 people. But in reality, there is no limit to how many people can fit into a dala-dala. During rush hour, you can see about 25 people in there. It is madness. Once in town, we walk around and see the restaurants, landmarks, post offce, banks, internet cafees, futbol stadium, and market. It is me, Sumeet, Megan, Genea, and Rita. Despite the fact that it is a holiday (first president's birthday), the town is quite busy. Not surprisingly, everyone tries to sell us something.

We stop for lunch. All the restaurants serve pretty much the same thing: fish, chicken, meat, rice, beans, french fries, vegetables, bananas. You can mix and match these as you see fit. The fish, chicken, and meat are all fried. There is no such thing as grilled fish or chicken here. I get fish and rice. The fish comes in its entirerity: head and tail (eyes removed) and you have to spit out the bones as you go. It is actually quite good, and I am pleasantly surprised to find that my expectations of TZ food was too low. The rest of the day is pretty bland, and we head back to the hostel around 6 PM. After dinner, I go to take a shower. You are supposed to press a button which turns on the hot water, but this button is useless and I end up taking a VERY cold shower. Not fun at all. Shortly thereafter, there is a blackout. (Blackouts are very common here, they happen almost everyday. Luckily, they usually only last a couple of minutes.)

Tuesday, 4/8

Schedule for tuesday:

1. swahili class
2. "living positively with HIV" lecture
3. lunch
4. overview of healthcare system in TZ
5. history of TZ
6. dinner

Tuesday is actually a pretty boring day. The living positively with HIV lecture had the potential to be really interesting, but it is instead almost completly useless. The HIV+ speaker (Mama Betty) runs through a LONG list of symptoms and then gives an even longer list of natural medicines which can help these symptoms (garlic, onions, carrots, nuts, fruits, etc etc). The healthcare and history lessons are similarly boring. For dinner, Summet, Megan, Genea, and I go to a italian restaurant (there are a handful of mizungo resturants here) to eat pizza. It is very, very good. We take a taxi back to the hostel and are asleep shortly thereafter.

Wednesday, 4/9

Wednesday was a big day because we moved into our home stay families. Also, we did a home visit (details coming next).

After our last swahili class, Megan, Sumeet, Rita, and I went to the WIA office. WIA (women in action) is another non-profit organization which focuses on helping women with HIV and other chronic dieseases. GSC works wtih them sometimes, and so we went. MIS visits very sick patients at home and provides basic services: change sheets, clean wounds, feed if necessary, provide counseling/company. We went on one of these such visits.

The home we went to was in a full-on slum. It is hard to capture what the place looks like without a photograph, but I will do my best. The "neighborhood" is behind a clay wall. On the other side of the wall there are some low-quality shops (fixing shoes, selling beads, selling fruits, whatever). Inside the wall, the floor is dirt and muddy. There are very small kids running around everywhere, in rags and usually barefoot. The kids are very excited to see white people, and they come up to us and shake our hands and say hi over and over. I notice that the adults, oddly all women, do not look so thrilled. The "houses" are just one room, with a very low ceiling, no lights, no bathroom, no kitchen. Basically it is a bed, a couple plastic chairs, a small table, and a bunch of random crap everywhere else (laundry, clothing, soap, towels/rags, food). The door is just a piece of hanging fabric. You can hearall the neighboorhood noises (screaming, babies, dogs). The room is quite dark (no windows) despite the fact that it is sunny outside. The room is about 1.5 X 2.5 meters.

The person we are visiting is named Joyce. She has AIDS. She went to the hospital yesterday for high blood pressure but they coule not do anything for her, and sent her back home. She tells us she feels very sick today( with Rita translating). We learn she lives in this house with her 13-year-old daugher and now her sister who is helping out. You can tell she has little strength to talk and sit up, so we don't stay long. It was very intense.

Skipping ahead (the rest of the day is negligable), we went back to our hostel around 5 PM to get our bags and move in to our host family homes. I was very nervous! We met and had tea at the hostel before departing. As could probably be expected, at first it was a bit awkward; but it got better quickly.

My mama is Mama Chaula. She is pretty old, probably around 70. She is short, very dark, missing her two bottom front teeth, speaks english but with a very strong accent and very quietly, smiles and laughs a lot, and seemed geniualy excited to meet me and have me stay in her home.

Also with her is 13 year old grandson Kevin, and her son/Kevin''s uncle Edward with daughter-in-law Karyn. Kevin knows all sorts of western things (MTV, Lion King, Superman, gameboy) and asks if I want him to call me dude. His english is very good and he is very obdient of his grandma, as far as I can see He has already asked me to buyh im a gameboy, toy race car, and soccer ball. Him and I have good conversations because he talks plenty, is funny, knows about everything, and I can understand everything he says.

Edward talks A LOT and sometimes I get quite tired. His english is also good. Karyn is pretty quiet and doesn't talk to me much except for hello, goodbye, good morning, etc.

Mama Chaula has 7 kids (5 boys, 2 girls). The husband and at least one son has died (didn't quite understand). I am taken aback when she tells me this, since I just met her an hour ago. Excluding Edward, all her kids live in Dar es Salaam. I have no idea why Kevin lives with her and not his own mother.

A couple tidbits about the house:

1. To get to the house, you walk down one of the four main roads and then turn into a little dirt road. A car can only go so far on this road because 1) it becomes too narrow and 2) it is blocked by banana trees. Luckily this little dirt road only takes about a minute to walk through (important if it is nighttime!).
2. The walk through this dirt, surrounded by trees, gives the impression that that house will be very run-down. However, the house is quite nice. On the outside, it looks like a little cottage. Inside, the house is simple but neat and well-kept. 90% of the decorations are religious. The rooms are surprisingly large, but have no closets. My room is about the size of the guest room back at home.
3. The most exceptional thing about the house is the bathroom. It is split up into two side-by-side little rooms: toilet and "shower." The toilet is down on the floor, like in Japan. The shower, however, is nonexistent. There is merely a drain. To bathe, you heat up water (in a rice cooker, no less), put it in a bucket, and pur the water over yourself with a large cup. It is not too much fun.
4. Helen, this one is for you: When I first arrived at the house, Kevin turned on the tv. To my amazement, the tv showed the Nsync HBO concert from circa 1998!! It was vey nostalgic and surreal.

Thursday, 4/10

Nothing too excited happened today. We did HIV training from 9 AM - 4 PM (excluding an hour for lunch). Basically Genea gave us the lessons that we will be teaching starting next week. The curriculam is pretty basic: what is HIV/AIDS/Immune System, methods of transmission, prevention, treatment. We also talk about "life skills" such as communcation, decision making, and self-confidence.

After this we get our cell phones (!) and Sumeet and I decided to go to town to explore some more. We got calling cards, used theitnernet, went to the supermarket, and generally just got to know the town better. By the time we were done, it was nearing 7 and starting to get dark, so we decided to get a taxi. Our taxi got lost taking me home and I had a mini-panic attack when I realized that I didn't know where we were. But we called GSC and got everything straightened out.

I got home around 7:30. Literally five minutes later, a DOWNPOUR of rain started. I guess I was pretty lucky! Had dinenr with Edward and Karyn (Kevin and Mama Chaula were still out). Then there was a kidogo (small) blackout. Me and Edward talked a lot this night and I found out that he used to be a soldier and then a DJ and is now a miner. When he was younger, he won several town competitions in disco dancing, karate, tennis, and squash. He also plays guiter and drums and supposedly can bench 100 kilos despite being pretty skinny. I told him he was a renaissance man (after explaining the meaning). Upon telling these stories to Sumeet, he said that maybe Edward was just a compulsary liar. I guess you never know. Edward also has an 8 year old daughter, but I have no idea where she is in the world.

Friday, 4/11

We finished learning our HIV lessons today, and gave practice lessons. We were done with work by noon, and didn't have much to do. Sumeet and I decided to go to town again to try to figure out something to keep us busy. We went to McMoodys (a burger joint and a internet cafe) for lunch. Afterwards, we stopped by the futbol stadium to try to figure out when the next game would be. When we got there, we realized there was a game going on, so we paid 500 shillings (about 50 cents) to go in and watch the game. The soccer itself was really poor, it was a third division game; but it was cool to see the atmospere. I was pretty much the only girl there.

Saturday, 4/12

All the volunteers were supposed to go hiking at Mt. Moshi today. In addition to Sumeet, Megan, and I there are two more girls who arrived here 2.5 months ago: Tai and Michelle. Sumet and I are both doing HIV prevention, so we live close to each other and will be working together. Megan, Michelle, and Tai are all doing Agriculture (teaching farmers how to farm better), and so they all live in a smaller town about 20 minutes away. T ai is going back to America after next week. Michelle will switch into HIV with Sumeet and I soon. Anyways, we didn't get to go hiking because it was raining much too hard. Typically it rains here from 10 PM until 10 AM, and then stops during the time. This is a good thing because if you can't go out during the day, you get bored quickly.

Since I didn't go hiking, I slept in until 10ish, when the rain stopped. Mama Chaula said that she and Kevin were going to a wedding and that I was welcome to come. I was pretty excited to see a Tanzanian wedding. We took the dala (the minivans) into the next town to go to the church. A band was hired and when the wedding started, there was a lot of music and everyone was dancing. All the street kids came out to see what was going out and they started dancing too. Everyone seemed to be having fun except the bride. I noticed that the bride didn't really smile throughout the whole affair, and I found it very weird. So the band played a lot, then there was the church ceremony, then more band playing for a while. Then everyone got into cars (Mama Chaula, Kevin, and I got rides with family friends) to go to the reception. The reception was basically just a big room with plastic chairs lined up and facing three tables. On one table was the family of the groom, on another was the family of the bride, and in the middle was the bride, groom, best man, and maid of honor. The Dj said a bunch of stuff and there were some short speeches (I, of course, did not understand any of it), and then it was dinner time. For dinner, we just go down a line and people put stuff on our plates. Dinner was rice, noodles, meat, fried bananas, watermelon, some other kind of rice, potatoes, and cake. The rice and noodles and potatoes were good. The meat was not good (very tough and fatty) , and I don't like fried banana. I couldn't eat the watermelon b/c raw fruits are a no-no unless you peel the outside (like a banana).

During the reception, the power kept going on and off. A couple of kids would stare at me and wanted me to take pictures of them. One girl in particular, Flora, kept following me around everywhere. It was a good experience though, and I'm glad I got to go!

And that was my first week in Tanzania!