May 31: Playing Cards at Home

After our Kerosene lamp-lit dinner last night, we played a card game called Last Card (its kind of like Crazy 8's but with more rules). The whole neighborhood came over and gathered around the family's tiny coffee table in the family room. After I got the hang of it, they asked me to deal. So I took the deck and began to shuffle. Not even thinking I did the Vegas-style Shuffle/Bridge combination. After a brief pause, the family went nuts. I mean NUTS.
They asked me to do it again, and again.

....ten shuffles later it was still funny.

Days 3-7

What I wouldn't give to be able to show you some of the pictures and video that I took on our Waterfall Hike on on Sunday (5-20). It was positively the most breathtaking 8 hours I've ever spent outdoors. We started around 8am and trekked through two villages, lush foothills, a slippery muddy revene, and finally a half mile of moderate rapids to reach our destination: an 8 story waterfall tucked neatly away behind an enormous cavern. It is unbelievable how much natural beauty is in Arusha's backyard. I've never had so much fun in the outdoors.

On Monday (5-21), we woke up early, packed up all our stuff from the convent/hostel, and moved to the dormitory where we spent the rest of the week in SIC Orientation classes and meetings. Orientation is pretty much a crash-course in HIV/AIDS statistics, Cell Biology, Virus Transmission and Prevention, Tanzanian culture and two hours of Swhahili class, all rolled into ten, 9 hour days. What can I say, these classes are super intense, but truly helpful. Next week, we'll start practice teaching, before beginning to teach in the villages the following week.

Speaking of teaching in the villages, on Thursday, I received my village assignment and homestay family. I will be spending the next seven weeks in the village of Shishtoni, in the Aru Meru District, living with a large family and a fellow SIC volunteer teaching partner. Shishtoni is a beautiful mountainside village, with its back to 20 lakes and an African National Park. I can't wait to post pictures.
One of the best parts about the first week of orientation has been the chance to meet and interact with our Tanzania Teaching partners (and future Homestay roommates). There are 13 teaching partners, 10 guys and 3 girls who will teach with and translate for us in the classroom. They are all our age (19-25), and are either attending or have just finished secondary school (in Tanzania, Secondary School/High School is taught solely in English and because there are so few of them, only the brightest Tanzanian Youth get to attend). I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks, getting to know my teaching partner and roommate (his name is Shujah), as well as my homestay family and their village.

Days 1 & 2

Arusha, Tanzania: After two consecutive 10 hour plane rides, and one monstrous 10 hour bus ride, I made it to my preliminary destination here in Africa. I've been staying at a Catholic Convent/Hostel with my group from the states called Students for International Change. We have 8 full weeks ahead of us, as we begin two rigorous weeks of in-country HIV/AIDS Orientation and then six weeks of teaching some of the poorest and most rural villages in Tanzania this important information. In effect, we are bringing an HIV/AIDS Awareness campaign to five small and often neglected Tanzanian villages.

But for now, we're here in the convent, attempting to acclimate ourselves to our new environment. In addition to the radical time difference, (+10 hours from PHX time), Tanzania is much different than I expected:

Preconceived Notion #1: Tanzania will look a lot like the Africa I've seen in movies and on television...lots of sand, dust, and some crazy animals.

Reality: Tanzania is probably one of the greenest places I've ever seen. And as I stepped off the plane, I could tell why... Tanzania is also very humid and muggy this time of year. More so in Dar Es Salaam (the location of the Intl Airport), than in Arusha. Here in Arusha, the days range from 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit, and the nights bring cooling yet brief misty showers, with lows around 60.

Yesterday, we took a walk around downtown Arusha for the first time. As one of the only groups of white people to be walking around, we attracted quite a lot of attention, mostly from interested passersby who shouted out "Mambo," to which we all replied, "Poa" (meaning roughly "How ya doin?" and "Fine") This one woman, who couldn't have been taller than 4'11'' tapped me on the shoulder, then pulled me down so she could give me a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. We continued our walk through the market, and I saw things that I'd previously only seen in movies: women walking with enormous supply bags and fruit baskets balanced on the head, bustling and noisy African Marketplaces, and kids in groups of 5-6 walking around on dirt paths with no shoes. I'm anxious to see what sights are in store for us on Day 3 and beyond.