Safari (1)

After much bustling about the country (this is an understatement), I finally have the time to sit down and write about my travels.  The title of this post seems self-explanatory; however, in Swahili, “safari” actually means “trip” or “travel” so it was perfectly fitting!

Since there is a lot that I need to catch up on (over three months worth), I am going to make it a trilogy, with the first being the longest.  This is…

PART MOJA – Safi Safaris

The day before my family arrived, I was able to stay at a super swanky hotel in Dar called Tanzanite Executive Suites, which my family paid for.  The bed and comforter felt like I was sleeping in a cloud.  There was even a fridge and microwave in the room!!  [Yes, I have been in Tanzania for a year now, so it’s a big deal.]  It was the first taste of what was to come for the next couple of weeks travelling with family, and I needed to get used to it.  Though, I don’t think I ever really got used to the fanciness of it all, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

My family arrived on June 8th at around 10pm and they had their first experience of being in Tanzania – my aunt Ponnie’s bag was lost and was stuck in Amsterdam [TZ Experience #1].  Just imagine Steve (who was nice enough to accompany to the airport to officially meet my family for the first time in person) and me waiting at the doors of the baggage claim and seeing my family run back and forth as the doors slid open and closed, looking for all their bags.  The second I caught a glimpse of them, I could tell something was wrong, and as expected, it was a lost bag.  After finally accepting the inevitable, my family came out of the doors, gave us great big hugs, and we were able to talk to the airport officials about further arrangements of retrieving the bag later.

I also need to mention that my aunt got stuck in a bathroom at the airport, which was pretty hilarious given the situation at hand [TZ Experience #2].  Don’t worry though, we got her out after several minutes of jiggling the door handle exactly right.  I was hiking up my skirt and just about to kick the door, when my mom and aunt got the door open.  I was a little sad I couldn’t rescue someone from a bathroom by kicking open a door, just like how Stephanie (my sitemate) rescued me from getting stuck in a choo during Shadow Week almost a year ago.  But of course, I was INCREDIBLY ecstatic my family was here in Tanzania, Africa!!!

We got to the hotel, exchanged gifts (I bought us all matching Tanzanian football jerseys, because I know how much my family loves to match on trips lol) and they brought some things for Steve, which he was not expecting.  :)  Another awesome surprise was the Thai food they carried with them from one of my favorite Thai restaurants!  Mmmmm…pad see ew, heaven beef, and sticky rice!  :D  After chatting a bit about updates back home and names of new technology that made me feel like I had been living under a rock, we all went to our very comfortable beds and fell fast asleep.  The next morning we ate complimentary breakfast and Steve waved us goodbye as we got in our airport shuttle to fly to Mbeya via Precision Air.  [Steve was staying in Dar to wait for his friend, Jake, to arrive the next day.  This is a link to his blog of their adventures: ----]

We got to the Dar airport with time to spare and I was able to FLY for the first time in over a year!!!  We got to Mbeya in about two hours, which is about 12 hours less than the amount of time it takes on a bus.  SO CRAZY and unusual for me!  Once we landed at the Mbeya airport, my family got to see firsthand my bargaining skills.  The taxi driver was going to charge us 50,000/= at first and I was appalled, but I finally got it down to half the price after using some Swahili and my village language (Kinyekiwsa).  ;)    When we got to his car, my family hesitated because it was a sedan. He was really accommodating because the first guesti we went to was full, so he drove us to the one where I usually stay at, which fares less both in price and quality.

The next day, we ran errands around town and made our way to my site via taxi Land Cruiser, which was crazy to be in without cramming myself in with 14 other people.  Luckily, I made arrangements with one of my good Land Cruiser drivers beforehand because my dad was having major issues with his back and had to lay down on the bench seats the entire way up the mountain.  After a relatively painless trip, we all made it back safely and unscathed to my house.  Everyone in my family was so thrilled to finally set foot in my home!  A quick tour, home-cooked grub, and a few bucket baths later, we were all fast asleep.

We took the next day for our rest and recuperation period.  My family pampered me by making me delicious food (Thai food mainly, yum!) and doing my laundry.  I love them.  :)  I’d never really done that much laundry before, so we had to jerry-rig a line outside to take advantage of the sunny day.  Although I would have liked my family to just relax, asking my family to just sit around is like starting a meeting in this country on time – it just doesn’t happen.  I was thankful for it though, because I got to teach my brother how to start a charcoal jiko and they were able to experience the simplicity of my life here.

The next day was when we went down to my school and my family got to meet my headmistress, second master, and the school financial advisor, as well as the Form II and Form IV students taking “tuition” during the break.  [The Form II and IV students were required by the Ministry of Education to continue with studies during their long break since the NECTA scores last year were horrid.]  They were more than thrilled to meet my family.  The girls were especially going gaga for my brother.  LOL!  My mkuu gave everyone Mwatisi shirts and we took a picture with everyone that cared to stay.

Over the bridge and through the forest, off we went to Kandete village to see my village family, the Mwakibambos.  We greeted some people along the way and even stopped in the sokoni [“market”] before getting embraced by my Baba and Mama Mwakibambo.  Steph was already there, and they were so incredibly welcoming to everyone in my family!  There was a smorgasbord of traditional Tanzanian cuisine (ugali, plantain meat stew, kachumbari, cabbage, beans, soda, and yogurt milk).  It was more than I could ask for to show my family what it’s like dining in a real Tanzanian home.  And if that wasn’t enough, they got my parents gifts!  My father received a hefty looking spear and my mother a scythe/sickle of some kind.  I still have no idea how I’m supposed to bring that home for them…  But seriously, SO COOL!

After some pictures and some small talk, my Baba asked me to translate something to my family – a Swahili monologue, if you will, of how blessed he felt to meet my brother, mother, father, and aunt, as well as how thankful he was to have Steph and me as his daughters.  It was so overwhelmingly sweet and I was so happy my Swahili was good enough to translate it.  That was a big step for me, as a Swahili speaker, as well as having a family here that accepts the family I came from.  It was a wonderful night and they walked us back part of the way home.  That evening, we made some more Thai food and got ready to head out the next day to Mbeya to fly to ARUSHA!

We arrived in Dar in about two hours, had a quick layover at the airport, and another 1.5 hours later, we arrived in Arusha.  Oh, how I missed the efficiency of flying!  We went straight to the Impala Hotel and I got my first taste of fancy Tanzania.  The hotel even had a spa run by a Thai lady!  All of us were so surprised and took advantage of the opportunity to pamper ourselves each with a Thai massage.  IT.WAS.GRAND.  :)  The next morning, we started our true “safari”!

At this time, I should probably mention the fact that my family loves to wear matching clothes, especially when we go on a big trip.  I knew this, so before they arrived in Dar, Steve and I bought all of us identical blue Tanzanian football jerseys.  Therefore, to mark our first day of safari, we all wore our shirts with pride.  The first day was to Lake Manyara National Park, where we’d be staying at a tented lodge.  Our tour guide, Haji, took us to the lodge first to drop off our things and eat, then we were on our way to see the animals!  I could tell my family was anxious to go into the park entrance and finally see some wildlife, so we all ate as quickly as possible.

 

As luck would have it, we ran into Steve and his visiting friend, Jake, at the park gate!  Just as they were leaving, we were going in.  It was such a nice surprise, since I was disappointed I missed Jake when he arrived in Dar.  After a short meet and greet, we were off into the wild!

The first animals we saw were monkeys hiding in trees.  But THEN, a little ways into the park, we saw elephants!  They were so close to the car, and my family was so excited.  One down for the Big Five!  Of course, I told them that we’d be seeing so many elephants and monkeys that we’d probably get sick of them.  I was still happy for them though.  :)

Lake Manyara is a very small park – you can usually traverse the whole lake in just a few hours, and that’s exactly what we did.  I had also read on the plane that Lake Manyara was known for their tree-climbing lions, so I was constantly looking into trees during our game drive.  Unfortunately, we did not see any tree-climbing lions,  but we did see a herd of water buffalo , lots of antelope and some exotic birds.  Haji even drove us to the edge of the lake and let us get out of the car to take a family picture, that is with Haji, as the sun was setting.  Haha.  Our first safari sunset of the trip!  [Notice how he surrounds himself by us gals lol.]

It wasn’t until we were on our way out of the park that we encountered some excitement!  My mom sighted a giraffe off in the distance and Haji got us a closer look at the family of giraffes!  My aunt was SO excited because she LOVES giraffes.  :D  And THEN, we were road blocked, first by a huge group of blue balled monkeys cleaning themselves in the middle of the road, which was pretty funny to see their different personalities, and then by a herd of elephants.

One of the males in the elephant herd was staring at us, and I was momentarily cautious of what I would need to do if it charged.  Luckily, we passed by safely after some time, but man, they were REALLY close!

Note: This picture was taken without zoom.

On our way back to our lodge, we stopped by Steve and Jake’s campsite.  Theirs was a much more normal and typical way of camping while on safari, so I wanted my family to get to see the other options.  The campsite had tents big enough to fit two small bed frames and mattresses, as well as a community hot shower.  Haji was super nice to wait for us to look around a little bit before we headed back to our lodge for a delicious dinner (I had lamb!!!) and sleep.  After our first day, we saw two out of the Big Five – not bad!

The next day, we drove a couple hours to Ngorongoro Crater and started Day 2 of our safari!  Before we got to the Sopa Lodge, we stopped at the viewpoint that overlooked the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area.  The lookout was at the edge of the crater and we were able to take pictures while Haji explained some history of the area to us.  We got to the hotel lodge, checked out the gorgeous view, ate our three course lunch as quickly as possible, and got in the car to get down into the crater.  Steve and Jake were already in the park and they told us they saw lions!!  I could barely hold in my excitement because I had yet to see any lions in country so far, even after going to Mikumi National Park in Morogoro during my PST.

This time, the first animal we saw was an ostrich, followed by water buffalo, gazelle, something that looked like the cross between a roadrunner and crane, warthogs, and zebra (crossing).  [<—see what I did there? Here in TZ, street crossings are called “zebra crossings” and we actually saw a zebra crossing the street!]  On our way to a bathroom break, we stopped at a hippo pool!  They were pretty shy, but we did see a few of them pop their heads up.

The main event, however, was when we finally saw a SIMBA [“LION”]!!!!  He was HUGE and was passed out in the grass, by the side of the road.  I have never been so close to a lion before, without protective glass between me and the lion, so I was pretty darn stoked!

He looked pretty skinny to me, but this was because he and a lioness were in a mating bout.  When lions mate, they copulate for just a brief moment (less than a minute) for 20 to 40 times a day.  Often times, they forgo hunting or eating, and so when they aren’t copulating, they just sleep to rest their energy.  This lion did give us a little show by waking up to yawn and walk to another bush to lay back down hahaha.  He must have been VERY tired.

Although I would have loved to see lionesses hunting down some prey, later that afternoon we did end up seeing a couple mating in the distance, literally for 30 seconds or less, walk a few paces, and then fall back asleep.

After seeing three of the Big Five, we were all pumped to go further into the heart of the crater and readied our binoculars for other sightings the day may bring.  I am pretty sure I strained my eyes the whole day looking out for something new, though lo and behold, it was worth it!  We saw a couple jackals, some resting hyenas, and  what I thought was a small leopard, but was actually a serval!

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see the black rhino that some other safari cars were talking about, it was an all-around great day of more unique, exotic animals!  We were all so pleased, and so ready to head back to our safi Sopa Lodge to watch the sun set and eat delicious food!

This was the view from our lodge into the the Crater.

The next day, we were on our way to SERENGETI, but not before stopping at a Maasai village in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area grounds!  The Maasai are a semi-nomadic ethnic group that resides mainly in Kenya and Tanzania.  They stick with their old ways instead of adapting to the western-influenced development of the rest of the country.  Typically, they live in huts made of cow dung, clay, and grass, are polygamists, and their diet is composed mainly of meat and blood (often for medicinal reasons).  Not all Maasai live like this, because they are also seen around the major cities as well, but the ones that do mainly get their income from tourists near national parks.

We paid an entrance fee of 30,000/= per person and got a whole introduction, tour, and pictures of a particular Maasai tribe in the Crater.  The chief’s son, who was very adept in speaking English, Swahili, and Maa (the Maasai tongue), put us in Maasai clothing and ushered us to watch a tribal jumping dance, that my brother also got to participate in.  It was amazing how high they can jump!!  Lol.  Then, after a tour of a typical home, we were highly encouraged to buy Maasai handmade crafts and jewelry.  I knew how ridiculously expensive the asking prices were, so I did most of the haggling for my family.  We still ended up overpaying for a couple of things, but we did get what we wanted and I was mostly content as we were leaving the village to get to the Serengeti gate in time for our park fee to be valid.  [Park fees last for 24 hours, so if you are still in the park for more than the allotted 24 hours, you have to pay for an extra day – NOT worth it if we were late!] 

We get to the gate right on time, eat our boxed lunches, and take pictures at a viewpoint while Haji is getting things in order at the gate.  What a great way to spend Father’s Day – at Serengeti National Park!  :D

 

 

 

Serengeti comes from the Maasai word siringet, which means “the place where the land runs on forever” or “endless plains,” which is incredibly appropriate because its plains are so vast.  Once we got into the park, it was a while until we saw our first animals, the East African crowned crane and the topi, a type of antelope.  As the day progressed, we saw about four more different types of antelope, lots of exotic birds, vultures, elephants, warthog, water buffalo, hippos, ostriches, zebra, flamingos, and quite a few lions!  On our way to our lodge for the night, we took a detour to a watering hole, where there was a sleeping lioness and her grown cubs waiting around for prey.  I immediately wanted to stay and just camp out until something happened, but Haji was trying so hard for us to see a black rhino, so he moved on, assuring us that nothing would happen for a while.

On our search for the evasive black rhino in the Moru area of the park, we instead saw herds of elephants of all different generations and instead encountered something just as interesting - our first group of wildebeest and zebras that were on the move as part of the Great Migration.  Wildebeest and zebras tend to migrate together, using each other’s attributes to protect each other, especially their calves – wildebeest are bigger and have a great sense of smell but have poor eye sight, while zebras are more agile and have a keen eye for predators.  We were there during the end of mating season, so it was the first time I’d ever seen so many young wildebeest and zebras.  It wouldn’t be until the next day’s game drive that we would REALLY experience the Great Migration.

As the sun was setting and we realized we were not going to see a black rhino, we headed back to the lions at the watering hole, saw they were getting closer to a group of gazelle, and waited.  We waited until the last possible moment that we could before we had to go to our lodge, when there was a shift in the wind and all of the gazelle were spooked.  Alas, the lions would have to wait for another day to get their kill, and I would not get the chase I so desired to see.  Another day done, and still two more of the Big Five to go…

…what will happen next on this great adventure?  To find out, read on in the second installment of Safari!

Shika

--begin transmission--

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Dar es Salaam for a training.  Unlike other Peace Corps trainings, this was for a small, select group of Peace Corps Education Volunteers called Shika na Mikono.  “Shika na Mikono” literally means “hold/touch with hands” in Swahili, and it is a group of science-teaching Ed PCVs that is designed to go and train the new class of Education Volunteers in teaching science subjects (physics, chemistry, and biology) in an interactive and creative way.  Our initiative is to show that science in the Tanzanian classroom or laboratory is more than just theory, but should be hands-on science!  This year, there are four of us selected – one for each science subject and one A-Level person.

Biology – Ryan Early
Chemistry/Physics – me
Chemistry/Physics – Ben Savonen (aka my brother)
A-Level – Willie Blackmon (Physics)
[what a great group, right?!]

Less than a year ago, I was a bright-eyed and new volunteer myself, and although my assigned subject was supposed to be Math, I knew I wanted to also teach Physics and/or Chemistry as well.  Since my first exposure to the Shika na Mikono group during PST, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.  I always love being involved in the training and programming processes of large organizations, and if I get to combine my love of training others with science, then how much better can it get?!  [Note: Shika is basically a formal excuse for me to be incredibly nerdy, while still being educational at the same time.]

Though apparently, it can get better.  As of yesterday afternoon, I was officially selected to be one of the Welcome Hosts for the new Ed PCT class that will be arriving in Tanzania on July 5th!!!  That means that I will be one of the first (out of three) current Peace Corps Volunteers that the new PCTs, or “Baby Eds” as we call them, will meet their first night in country!  Needless to say, I am completely ecstatic to be chosen!  :D  My other cohorts will include two other SoHi (southern highland) volunteers: Jerome Gately (2011 Ed class and extending into his third year at site in Mbinga, Songea) and Ronald Meyer (2011 Environment class, who is warden of Njombe with his wife).  Anyway, not only does that mean that I will get to be the first to meet the new class, I am quite sure they will get quite sick of me, since they will be seeing me during their “Week Zero” and during their PST and most likely IST, as a representative for Shika na Mikono!  The only unfortunate part of all this just means that I will have to miss a little more school than I planned.  I’ll just have to make it up on Fridays and weekends when I get back, which won’t be a problem at all since students often come to school on Saturdays anyway.

These next couple of months are going to be jam-packed full of fun and craziness, so I’m definitely glad my school year ended last week and I was able to get all my grades turned in before I left!  So here’s the rundown of the itinerary from now until mid-July:

~ Now until June 8th – chill out and hang out in SoHi until I meet my family in Dar! [yep, that’s right, my brother, parents, and aunt are all coming to visit me for a couple weeks!]
~ June 8th – June 20th – travelling with my family until they fly out of Kilimanjaro Airport
~ June 21-ish to June 28-ish – in Korogwe, Tanga for ToT (Training of Trainers) for Shika na Mikono
~ June 28-ish to July 3rd – staying in the Dar/Tanga area and possibly going to get my SCUBA PADI certification???
~ July 4th – celebrate with whoever is in Dar and get prepared for the Baby Eds’ arrival
~ July 5th – quick prep and then the ARRIVAL OF THE BABY EDS!!!  [I’m not excited at all…]
~ July 5th – July 10th – Week Zero in Dar
~ July 11th – back to Mwatisi Secondary to teach for a couple of weeks, and then I’ll have to head back to Korogwe for the Baby Ed PST – SHIKA TIME!

I guess my trend of always keeping busy and staying involved that has been my tendency throughout my years of school has even traversed oceans and followed me here to Tanzania.  Classic Belle, eh?  I’m looking forward to it all, and I’m sure it’s going to go by so fast.  I will do my best to keep you all updated on my whereabouts, and I hope the force will be with me in the coming months.

--end transmission--

Jeopardy

This past week was my very last week of classes before the start of terminal exams for Term 1.  It is still unbelievable for me that I have been in Tanzania for over 11 months now, and we are just about done with the first term!!

Originally, Mwatisi’s school closing date was supposed to be the 24th of May, meaning that the last week before school closed (May 17 – 24) was supposed to be our week of terminal exams.  Of course, since this is Tanzania and things rarely ever go according to plan, there was a schedule change and the Mbeya regional competitions are scheduled for that last week and so exams were moved up to May 10 – 16.  Although that means I will be done with teaching earlier and will just be marking test papers the last week, that also means I was short one week of teaching!  Seeing as I already made the terminal exams for all of my classes, I was pressed for time in trying to make sure I covered everything that would be on the test.  It was a stressful couple of weeks, as I was making sure my students were getting the information and entering classes whenever teachers were absent or unavailable (which happens quite a lot, unfortunately).  Just in time, I was able to teach everything that would be on the terminal exams, and even had some time left over for review!

Now of course, I like to finish off the term with a bit of pizazz, so instead of JUST reviewing with my students, you guessed it – WE PLAYED JEOPARDY!  :D  I knew every single one of my students was getting more and more skittish as the days drew closer to the end of term (as was I), so why not make it a little more interesting for them by reviewing for the exams with an interactive game?

For my Form I Math and Form III and IV Chemistry students, I had five categories and three questions (100, 200, and 300 points) for each category.  For my Form III and IV Physics students, I decided to have six categories and two questions (100 and 200 points) for each category.  The math categories were Numbers, Fractions, Decimals and Percentages, Conversions, and Word Problems.  The chemistry ones were Molecules, The Mole, Chemical Equations, Acids and Bases, and Hardness of Water.  The physics categories were Archimedes’ Principle and Law of Flotation, Vectors and Relative Motion, Friction, Reflection, Refraction, and Colour.  For my larger classes (Form I), I split my students up into six teams and they were able to choose their team names, all of which were football (soccer) teams, such as Arsenal, Simba, and Chelsea.  Of course, this was to be expected because Tanzanians LOVE football, especially the premier league.  My Form III had more variety in their team names, though one of the four teams still ended up being Manchester United.  :)  I only have six students in Form IV Physics and Chemistry, so we just went about Jeopardy on an individual basis.

As an incentive, I told my students that whichever team or persons that earned the most points at the end of the game (which was when there were no more questions left) would be the winner and would receive a prize from me.  Instead of giving them a physical prize like candy or pencils, I told them that I would give the winning team extra points on their terminal exam.  They all of a sudden became very attentive to the rules and more enthusiastic than usual.  To be honest, I absolutely loved my last week because it was fun and interactive for me, but most of all, for my students.  The thing I was the most ecstatic about was their enthusiasm!  I have NEVER seen my students so excited to come to class, that when they saw me walking towards their classroom, they literally ran to their seats and rearranged themselves into their teams and sat quietly waiting for my instructions.  I was like a dream come true!  My students even tried to get me to continue the game through their other subjects, but we made a compromise that we would finish the game another day.

Each team designated a scribe and whichever team finished first had to hold up their answer and keep it up the entire time until the other groups finished.  I would award the points to whichever team was the first to have the correct answer.  If no team had the correct answer, I gave the points to Team “Madam Belle” (me).  After the points were awarded for each question, we went over the solutions.  If the students got the correct answer, I had them come up to the board to explain it to the rest of the class (in English).

Form III Chemistry Jeopardy Layout

Jeopardy scoreboard, points, and question

It took approximately two 80-minute periods for each class to finish each game, but it was entirely worth it.  I was able to review with my students the types of questions that would be on their terminal exams and it forced my students to work together in teams and try to answer the question as quickly and correctly as possible.  My counterpart came into watch one of the games and even wanted me to teach him the rules and how to play!  I had a blast, and I cannot wait to play Jeopardy with my students again for other topics next term, but with a new and improved Jeopardy board that I will be making with Velcro!  See, learning can be fun!  ;D

Walden

[Note from the author:  Sorry this took so long to post…but my internet has been quite shoddy lately.  Thanks for your patience!]

I am a huge fan of Walden by Henry David Thoreau.  Although I considered my home as my “Walden Pond” of solitude, I often connect it to my work, purely due to the proximity of my humble abode from the school.  As of yet, the teachers’ duplexes near my house are still unfinished so I am mostly isolated in the woods from other villagers.  Honestly, I like it this way, because I can escape to my oasis that is free from expectations, and I can just be myself…  It is my Cabin in the Woods (not to be mistaken with the horror film, Cabin in the Woods).  Many of my fellow teachers find it difficult to understand how I can be happy and not afraid of living alone, but I just tell them that I like the quiet and independence of it all.  Tanzanians like to surround themselves with friends and family and are rarely ever alone.  Now don’t get me wrong, I also love being around friends, family, and people in general, but it can be overwhelming at times.  I need time to myself as well, and the past week has been especially necessary to relax and escape within myself.

Most days, secluding back into the recesses of my large house is sufficient, but the last two weeks before Easter holiday (comparable to my homeland’s Spring Break) were jam packed full of miscommunication of when sports days and midterms actually were, impromptu lesson planning after I was notified that midterms were not going to be before the holiday, cancellation of classes, unnecessarily long school meetings, and having to write and rewrite midterms for all my five classes.  This all usually wouldn’t be that cumbersome if I was notified of all these things prior to a couple of hours before the actual happenstance, but seeing as I was not notified until the last possible moment, I had to put my adaptability skills to the test.  Once the week was over, I was able to finally relax, but I knew I could not possibly stay at my site without feeling the need to be productive.  Alas, I needed a new Walden Pond.

My goal for this past week was to not plan anything and just follow where the southern winds took me.  The southern highland winds led me to Njombe to a peaceful lake a little ways outside of town.  It is known by a lot of Ex-Pats (Ex-Patriots) as “The Dam.”  A few PCVs who live in Njombe had heard about it before, so Steve and I decided to check it out.  We packed the basic amenities for camping, bought some foodstuffs, and got in a taxi heading towards the lake, not knowing exactly what to expect.  When we got there, we met an Australian family that was just leaving with their boat and we set up camp in the concrete gazebo.  Apparently, Ex-Pats go to the lake every Sunday and no one really stays there overnight, but the Tanzanian that worked there had no qualms about it.  The facility was really nice and there was even a bathroom with a western toilet, though no running water or electricity.

Once we secured our tent safely away from the “siafu” [ants], we took in the scenery.  It was gorgeous and perfectly serene.  This was my new Walden Pond.

 

My new Walden Pond

 

The reflections of the clouds in the lake were just so clear and the size of the lake was not too big, not too small – it was just right.  The crazy thing was that this place was so close to town yet still isolated enough that we were the only two people there for the whole two nights and three days.  Every day, the Tanzanian man that managed the facility would build a fire in the morning, maintain the area near the lake, and rekindle the fire in the evening before he left for the night.  Once the sun set each night, Steve and I were left to our own devices (mainly playing lots of card games and sitting by the warmth of the fire).  It was the most ideal scenario to just stick to the simple things, since that was all we had anyway.  It was perfect and I felt completely refreshed.  My peace of mind was restored and I was myself again, after getting a jumpstart from the life of nature itself.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”     - Henry David Thoreau, Walden

New Year

Mwaka Mpya Njema!!  [“Happy New Year!!”]  :D  I know it has been a long while since my last blog post, but hopefully I can update you on everything that has unfolded in my life.  This’ll be a bit of a doozy!  [If you don’t want to read everything, I have a TL;DR for those that like it dry and uninteresting.]

As you may have noticed, this is the first two-worded post title.  Though not to worry, I am still keeping my promise that I will only allow myself one post per year with a dual word heading.  Besides, it seems only appropriate that this new year is started with a special post.  ;)

The past eight months – holy mackerel, I’ve been here that long?! – have truly flown by and were strewn with new experiences and opportunities.  For the first time in my life, I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and my birthday without at least one member of my family.  THAT was really different for me, but luckily I was surrounded by friends who have become close enough to family and I couldn’t be more blessed.  I spent Thanksgiving with my brother Ben, Christmas and New Year’s with my “mpacha” [twin] Steen, my birthday weekend with Steve, and my actual birthday with my amazing site mate Steph, who surprised me with a delicious cake, flowers, and a lovely earring hanger!  :D

I was curious to see how things were going to turn out after IST because I knew I was travelling, but I was not sure to where or with whom. Fortunately, everything just fell into place and I was able to frolic about the country for a while before heading back to my site one week before school started on January 14th.

I went to my very first Tanzanian wedding in mid-December!  My counterpart was getting married in Tukuyu, so after IST I took a quick hiatus from travelling to stop by his wedding celebration to congratulate him.  Unfortunately, I was not able to formally tell him congratulations at the wedding, but I was able to wave at him and snap a few pictures before the wedding bonanza swept them away to the dancing and ceremonial festivities.  A fellow PCV accompanied me, so I was not the only one being gawked at haha.  The wedding ceremony took place in a tiny chapel off one of the roads a ways out of town.  I missed this part due to the unavailability of transport in the pouring rain, but I did make it to the reception.  The reception was held outdoors, which is unusual for most Tanzanian weddings I think, but still very fun, with loud music and an MC.  The party was so alive when we got there and everyone, young and old, were dancing to their hearts’ content, despite the drizzling that would come and go.  My counterpart and his bride finally drove into the party, literally, and I was whisked off by the brother of the groom to be fed with a few select others that had to leave early.  After we were full of chicken, rice, and soda, they arranged travel for us back to the main village for us to get back to Mbeya town before it got too dark.

Literally being driven into the party

I uploaded pictures to my Picasa photostream, but once again I will not be able to go through them to write captions – I know, I need to get on the ball with going through some of them. Basically, the album called “Peace Corps: Year One (Episode 3)” which I just uploaded shows glimpses of some of my travels between IST and school starting up.  It starts with pictures of puppies living in Tracy’s courtyard, Jeremiah’s wedding, playing with LEGOs and eating pancakes at an ex-pat’s house in Mbeya, Apocalypse Day shenanigans of eating homemade hibiscus wine and cookies made with REAL BUTTER, and a food and fun montage of hanging out with Steve and his bearing gifts (mainly food AND ROOT BEER) from the states!

Gifts from Steve (aka Santa) – It was like Christmas all over again!

To be honest, I have been spoiled since IST and post-IST so it has been difficult getting back into the swing of things (living by myself, cooking, speaking Swahili, school work).  Nonetheless, I have willingly dived into the work and am once again reminded of how much I enjoy teaching.  The start of the term is always a little stressful because students are missing due to inability to pay school fees, teachers are not teaching due to lack of students and order, and the timetable was just a mess to try to figure out since the academic masters created the timetable before I was able to tell them which forms I was teaching.  Apparently, this year there were four streams of Form I, FIVE streams of Form II (because the majority of students failed the Form II NECTA), and two streams each of Forms III and IV. Jeremiah would teach Math Form II, III, and IV, and I would teach Math Form I, Physics Form III and IV, and Chemistry Form III and IV.  (I really wanted to stay with my Form III’s and IV’s because I taught them last year, and I wanted to see them through.)  Needless to say, after looking at the proposed timetable, I was supposed to be in four places at once, and so was my counterpart…

Luckily, being the head of all the science departments and the only science teacher at my school, I volunteered, more like convinced, the academic masters that I change only the math and science classes to prevent from cloning myself and Jeremiah.  He left it entirely in my hands, which I was undoubtedly thankful for, and after toiling away with Excel, sticky notes, and combining streams together, I created a timetable that got his periods down from 52 to 34 and my periods down from 42 to 30, and I don’t have to teach on Fridays!  YAY!  :)

My methodology of rearranging math and science classes

**NERD ALERT:  I actually really enjoyed doing this rearranging bit – it was just like a king size, logic puzzle!  Unfortunately, I had to do it twice because they failed to give me the most recently updated one the first time around.**

With all the possible stressors that were springing up at school and my mindset not quite acclimated to being back at home, I started adopting some new antics to keep me sane – not that I’m on the verge of going insane or anything though – one of which is…WINE MAKING! Prior to leaving for IST I started brewing my own bucket wine!! I made my first batch out of pineapple, orange, and the wild orange berries that grow on the path near my house. It was a spontaneous decision because I had so much leftover pineapple, the oranges were getting very ripe, and I had just had my first berry picking. What else was I going to do with all that? – NOT eat it! I used a recipe from Eric (the PCV I replaced) since he made a lot of wine too, and after a few weeks of fermenting, I was able to filter it before IST and bottle it all once I got back.

Wine all bottled up

The yield was about nine liters of wine and last weekend I finally tasted it. It was great! I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted like a white wine that I would be inclined to buy! It wasn’t too sweet, but you could still taste the pineapple in it and it had a nice bite to it. All in all, SUCCESS!! :D

Tasting of Belle’s First Edition Wine: 42

Another new thing that came with the new year was the first I had ever heard of Baseline.  Baseline is an orientation course for Form I students that happens during the first 6-8 weeks of the first term, which goes over three main sections: Language, Social Science, and Math and Sciences.  Of course, since Jeremiah and I are the only Math/Science teachers at Mwatisi, we are sharing the load of each teaching 16 units to all four streams (127 students) every day, in addition to our normal classes.  Okay, I’m making it sound a lot more painful than it really is, but I do have to say, it is a lot of work!  Instead of having a couple free periods during the week, I currently have to teach Baseline during every period that is available so we can finish the course within the allotted time of two months.  Then after the course, I can start teaching Math Form I and go back to my normal timetable.  HOWEVER, one wickedly awesome thing does come out of this – I have brainwashed taught all of the Form I students to yell FIGHT!! when I yell TEXAS!!, with the Hook ‘em horns, mind you.  It.is.fantastic!  Even my teachers have called me out on it, and they love it too.  :P  My excuse for teaching them is that instead of hearing the drone of “Good morning, Madam.  We are fine,” every time I enter a classroom, I get a burst of energy from my class yelling FIGHT!  I tell them that it is a good way for them to not be afraid to project and use their voices.  So far, it has helped their confidence in the classroom, so I’d say it works!  It also kind of works as punishment too…  If they come in late to a classroom or are disrupting class, I will make those individual students yell Texas!, Fight! with me in front of everyone until they are as loud as me, which takes a while.  On the other end of the spectrum, for my Form I’s that love it, I tell them we won’t do it if they are misbehaving.  WHO’DA THUNK I’d be doing this here in Africa?!

Signing out for now and The Eyes of Texas Are Upon YOU!

[TL;DR – After IST, I travelled a bit and celebrated the holidays with fellow PCVs.  Got back to my site to celebrate my birthday, then school started and I was back in the Tanzanian lifestyle (both the good and the bad).  Currently teaching Math I, Physics III and IV, and Chemistry III and IV, in addition to Form I Baseline.  Lot of mess of timetable, but I got it fixed and now I am making wine, so…s’all good.  See pictures in my photostream.  I taught my students Texas! Fight!]

P.S. Thank you SOOO SO SO MUCH for the birthday wishes, letters, and gifts!  You have no idea how much it means to me to get Christmas cards and letters from home.  It makes it seem less far away.  :]