Holidays

When I never thought it would happen, I was finally able to start my vacation immediately after the Mbeya Ministry training, which I mentioned in my last blog post!

Since the training was on the eve of Thanksgiving, I packed up all the Shika materials into a box, left it at a fellow PCV’s site in Mbeya (Tracy), and she, Siobhan (another Mbeya PCV), and I made our way to Willie Blackmon’s site for Thanksgiving!  We arrived Thanksgiving morning and were recruited right away to cook and prep for dinner (I helped make mashed potatoes).  What a blessing it was to have Willie’s parents visiting from America, because they brought with them treats that you cannot get here, like canned cranberry sauce!  They even got a real live turkey from Iringa or Mbeya, which Rachel slaughtered earlier that morning!!!  Everything was coming together very nicely, and as dusk arrived, we sat together, said our thanks, and dug in!  IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!  Everyone brought something to the table (literally), even Luke, a British ex-Pat who lives by Willie, brought fresh macadamia nuts!  :D

I was SO full and even with the tryptophan hitting me, I powered through it and played Catchphrase and Mafia into the night.  For those that don’t know how Mafia is played, it is a card game where each card represents a different role.  Depending on the number of players, there are usually two mafia members, a doctor, a sheriff of some sort, and the rest are villagers.  The mafia have to try to vote to kill off everyone until they are the only ones left and the others have to vote who to kill so that they kill all the mafia.  There are many variations of how to play and such, but the best part is the story-telling aspect, and Luke was brilliant, seeing as he had an acting background.  I was, of course, the first to get killed off even as a plebian villager!  Although Luke said it was a compliment because people see me as a threat, I still hold a slight grudge at him for killing me off with such brutality…  >.<  (When then villagers and/or mafia kill you off, the story-teller/”God” uses their creative license to conjure up your death, and mine was quite vividly grotesque hah.)  After mafia, we all turned in, and the next morning I was more than ecstatic for cooking the pound of bacon.  I LOVE BACON and was more than happy to cook it all!  Bacon and leftovers for breakfast mmmm…

After we were satiated, we packed our bags and I headed to Iringa with Siobhan and Tracy to meet up with Ben.  I had been planning to go to Ben’s site to help him with water testing at the different water sources in/near his village.  It was awesome, and I loved getting back into some field work that I really missed doing when I was in EWB.  I stayed there a couple of days with him and his site mate, Nick (Baby Ed), and we made some delicious food!

Following collecting the samples, you have to incubate them by strapping them to your body for 24 hours, or in this case, mine and Ben’s backs.  After recording our results, which showed that the well (top right picture above) had the least amount of bacterial contamination, we headed back into town after we recorded our results and got ready for our safari!

Ben and I had planned a trip with a few other PCVs to go to Ruaha National Park in Iringa.  It was soooo much fun especially because this was my first safari tour with friends and I had heard so many great things about Ruaha!  We stayed a little outside the park for very cheap and went into the park one full day and then the next morning.  There were a TON of lions, birds of different species, and elephants!  [More pictures can be seen in my Picasa Photostream.]

We passed over a bridge in entering the park and saw quite a few crocodiles and hippos, but best of all was a cheetah that was SUPER CLOSE!!!  It was lying right under a tree just a few meters from our car!  Overall, the trip was fantastic, relaxing, and full of bonding memories, including our tire blowing out THREE TIMES while in the park!  LOL.  Seriously, our guide is the fastest tire-changer ever (and the coolest)!  :]

Ben and I said bye to the other PCVs once we got back into Iringa town, and we headed up to Dar to both go to AMERICA!!!!!!!!!  We were both pretty anxious to get back, but we knew it was going to be a shock, culturally and physically.  I was going to be going from super hot and humid Dar in the summer to freezing Chicago in the winter!  As for the cultural shock, Ben had been back before, but this was my first time going home since I arrived in country.  People always talk about the reverse culture shock going back to America, and man, were they right!  It was pretty weird at first, but I think the best way to describe it was – overwhelming.  My senses were overwhelmed the second I got into the Dar airport and especially the plane that took me to Qatar.  It was such a simple, but crazy concept to be able to go to the bathroom whenever I wanted, drink and eat however much I wanted, and there was A/C practically everywhere!!!  My mom was so worried about my 9-hour layover in Doha, Qatar and my 6-hour layover in Paris, but I was loving it!  I got to roam around an air-conditioned airport and speak in English (or French when I was in the CDG airport), and sleep horizontally on chairs without a single person bothering me and telling me “you are tired/sleepy.”  [Also, I was SO happy I didn’t completely lose my French because I could still order and pay without using English!]  And to top it all off, I was picked up at the airport by Steve (and a bag of warm clothes) in Chicago!!!  Easiest travel ever.

It was late afternoon by the time my flight got in, so we just went to Tinley Park (his neighborhood) instead of checking out downtown before Christmas.  I got to REALLY experience cold and I was not quite ready for that!  LOL.  Not only had I never been in temperatures in the teens ever in my life, I was coming from a country that never gets below brisk.  We stopped by old downtown Tinley Park, went down and took some pictures, which were all blurry from my hands uncontrollably shaking, and went to his apartment.  We opened the door, and a glorious smell of freshly-baked cookies hit us just as his sister, Christine, opened the door!  It was so great finally getting to meet her, and his mother in person!  And I got to try the succulent Giordano’s deep dish pizza for the first time ever!  My mouth is watering just thinking about it…

That night, I met one of his sisters, her boyfriend, and his mom – I would be acquainted with the rest in time.  I tried to stay up that night and watch more Christmas movies, but with the jetlag and travelling for almost two days straight, my eyelids were starting to close just as I took my last bite of pizza.  I excused myself, showered in the most comfortable shower I had been in since I don’t know when, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The next morning, I woke up to the heavenly smell of bacon and toast.  I popped out of bed, quickly went out to the kitchen and saw Steve standing there cooking me my first breakfast in America – how sweet!  We ate and packed in a jiffy, just as his dad arrived to give us a ride to Midway airport to go to Texas!!

The flight was so quick and the second we landed at Love Field, my dad was waiting for us at the gate, as usual.  I was overjoyed and ran into his arms!  This was Steve’s second time in Dallas, so he let me get my fill of being with my family before he gave my dad a hug.  :)  We met my mom, brother, and uncle down in baggage claim and when I reached my mom, she was practically in tears.  Her baby girl was back, at least for a little while!

Our bags all arrived with no problem (phew!), and we drove to dinner to meet more members of my family, including my twin cousins!!  And where do you think we were headed for dinner??….
TEXAS ROADHOUSE

It had been over a year since I’d had real steak, and that’s what I requested be my first meal back home.  Once again, I was overwhelmed by how happy I was to see everyone and be eating my favorite foods.  It was absolutely delicious, I got loads of hugs and kisses that night, and when we got to my house, it was incredibly nostalgic.  It was like stepping back into a memory that I had forgotten had been my own.  Everything was exactly the same, except for my dog no longer being there.  I was sad at first, but luckily I had come to terms with her being gone long ago, and as I quote Billy Mack from Love Actually, “Christmas is all around you, come on and let it snow!”

While I knew my trip back home would be refreshing, it would not be relaxing.  Every day was packed and our itinerary was filled to the brim with events, venues, and FOOD.  The morning after arriving in Plano, Steve and I did a Peace Corps presentation at my mom’s law firm, which went incredibly well, had lunch at El Fenix (one of my favorite Mexican restaurants), and that evening went to my mom’s friend’s house to a cocktail party to meet the Tanzanian ambassador of America!

Now, how did we do that, you ask?  Funny story, but an attorney at my mom’s law firm, whom I have known since I was a child, had told her sister (another attorney) about our presentation about Peace Corps Tanzania.  Her sister just so happened to be having a cocktail party for the Tanzanian ambassador and other Dallas-local Tanzanians at her house that evening!  What a coincidence, right?!  So once her sister heard what we were doing, she invited us and my parents to the party.

Steve and I were introduced to the ambassador, and it was SO ODD having our two worlds come together so drastically.  We both agreed that it was so nice getting to meet everyone, but we were actually more comfortable speaking Swahili to the Tanzanians there than we were speaking English to Americans.  I guess we really had been living in Tanzania for a while…

We didn’t stay too long because I was still a little jetlagged, but the connections we made were priceless!  And Ms. Melissa, if you are reading this, please tell your sister that we thank her so much for that amazing opportunity!  I still cannot believe there is a Tanzanian community in Dallas, and there is a legitimate Tanzanian food place we could get ugali.

The next day was full of pictures and a family friend’s wedding.  We met the couple when we all used to play badminton together on weekends and they are a few years older than me.  My family, Steve, and I braved the cold and got to their wedding, and were very happy it was inside.  The wedding was very short and sweet but very intimate, and it was so great to see another non-traditional wedding.  I was so happy I was able to make it home in time to be a part of their special day, because I’d known them for a few years.  :)

We said our congratulations, took more pictures, ate very good catered food at the reception, and left so the twins could get home for bed before they got too restless.  I would have liked to stay a little longer to hang out and dance, but I also knew I was waking up early the next day to go to the shooting range.  (Yes, I know there are some things that make me very Texan, and this is one of them.)

Sunday morning, I was finally going to get to introduce Steve to shooting.  He was nervous at first, but who wouldn’t be (other than me)?  He got over that fear very quickly though.  Besides, it is important to at least be familiar with them, just in case (…for a zombie apocalypse).  Once we got to try my uncles’ combined collection of pistols and rifles, we met up with other family members at Twisted Root (a legit burger and root beer joint).  My cousin, Wat, then took us antique store shopping for a couple hours and we got home in time for the official “Belle is back visiting” Party.  That was when Steve got to meet some of my friends, one of whom drove all the way up from Austin just to see us and drove back that evening (thank you so much Michael!!!).  It was so great getting to catch up with them and I was happy Steve fit in with them so well too.  Everyone went home that night with full bellies and doggy bags of extra food and egg rolls.

On Monday, we went to the Perot Science Museum (which was mine and Steve’s favorite and I want to go back again), ICE! (where they had indoor ice sculptures with the theme of The Nutcracker this year), and KOREAN BBQ for dinner!  I think that was my favorite day in Texas since I had gotten back.  When we were at both the Perot Museum and ICE!, I couldn’t help but think how cool it would be if my students were there to see and experience it all.

It was so blatantly obvious now why and how we, as Americans, have had critical thinking and creativity engrained in us even before we were aware of it.  I just wish it were part of the culture here in Tanzania…but it isn’t.  That is why Steve and I love so much being a part of Shika na Mikono, because it gives us a chance to expose Tanzanians to how science and math can be fun and creative and not so scary.  Being here as a teacher has really helped me be so grateful of being raised in a country where education was literally at my fingertips.  I could go to a science museum or planetarium and play science and math games all day just because I thought it was fun.  Enough of my babble, but pretty much, I wanted to say that we loved it!  Oh and Korean BBQ was such a great experience for Steve.  That was his favorite meal too.

Steve was leaving on Wednesday morning to go back to Chicago, so Tuesday was our relaxation day – finally haha.  We went to eat dim sum for lunch, and Steve got to meet two more of my friends that night.  Panar stopped by for a while and we played board games, which was so much fun, and Mylinh came by later.  It was a late night, but so worth it for both Steve and me!  Wednesday early morning, my dad and I dropped Steve off at the airport.  Once Steve left, there was only a week until Christmas, so I tried to see as many of my friends as possible who were in Dallas for the holidays, ate more of my favorite foods, and went shopping for Christmas gifts and things to take back to Tanzania.

Christmas day came and it was CRAZY!!  SO MANY PEOPLE!  Our house was full of presents, babies, and food.  The X-Mas Cup Tournament commenced as usual, and after the games were played and winners announced, we did our annual Secret Santa reveals and watched the kids open their mounds of presents.

The next couple of days I got to hang out with my mom and twin cousins for a full day and my bestie, Mylinh, for another full day, and go see the Chinese Lanterns Festival before I left for Chicago on the 30th.  My time in Texas went by so quickly, but even if I stayed longer it wouldn’t have been enough for my family.  To be honest, I actually missed Tanzania for its simplicity and rawness.  I got to Chicago, which was still cold, and Steve and I went straight to a friend’s house from the airport.  Finally, I met Max Power, the famed dog that Steve has talked about so much, and his owner Alex.  That evening I also got to meet more of his family (his cousins and both his sisters) at their Game Night.  However much my family likes their Texas Hold ‘em, Steve’s cousins love their games even more!  :D  I had so much fun!!  It had been ages since I’d gone to a game night of any kind and I missed it.  His cousins made me feel right at home and they welcomed me with open arms.  I don’t think we left his cousins’ apartment until I have no idea when (almost 3 a.m.?), and Steve and I slept until almost 2 p.m. the next afternoon, New Year’s Eve.

This is Max Power (and his owner, Alex, in the picture on the right).

NYE.  Was it already the cusp of a new year?  We were getting picked up by two of his friends, Ray and Holly, to go to his other friends’ apartment in downtown Chicago for a New Year’s party.  That was when I was introduced to pretty much all of Steve’s closest friends, who are all really awesome and chill.  (I was SO happy this was a chill NYE get-together instead of a full-blown party because I was still pooped from Game Night.)  I got to catch up with Jake, whom I had met in Tanzania when he visited, and met a few others.

It was great company, and even though I barely made it to the countdown into 2014, I made sure to stay awake long enough to say goodbye to the majority of the guests.  Once most everyone left, Ray, Holly, Steve, and I picked our respective sleep spaces at Nick’s apartment, and I was out like a light.  The next morning, Steve and I were dropped off back at Tinley Park to unpack and shower, and had another relaxing day before dinner with both his parents, followed by Ticket 2 Ride, the board game.

We spent the majority of the next day really taking in the sites of downtown Chicago.  We started with going to the Museum of Science and Industry, followed by ice skating at Millenium Park and going to Water Tower Place, and warmed up with some hot chocolate at Ghirardelli’s.  That was my fantastic downtown Chicago day, thanks to my personal tour guide!  I also got to eat (so much) at Portillo’s the next afternoon and more Giordano’s that evening at his cousin’s house for another impromptu game night.  The last day in Chicago and America, we spent doing some last minute shopping, packing, and playing in the snow and making an Olaf snowman (from Disney’s Frozen) – yay!  I had never been around so much snow in my life, so I was super giddy!  Although it was sad to leave everyone, it was good we left when we did because the “polar vortex” was coming in and I was able to leave Chicago right before getting stuck.  Steve left on a different flight going back to Tanzania and my flight left a few hours later.  My flight was only delayed for an hour to de-ice the plane, and then I was off back to Tanzania!  The not-so-lucky few that left in a flight only a couple of hours after me were either delayed three hours or they were completely stuck in Chicago until the next Monday or Tuesday – eek!  Pole for them…

It was a short trip but it was perfect way to reboot!  I want to thank everyone that made my trip home so wonderful and memorable, and it will only be a few more months until I am home again, wherever home will be!

Although my time in America was a vacation in itself, the rest of it unfolds in Tanzania…in the next post!