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.