Clubbing it up, amazing food, the fish market and downtown Dar, and chizi ("crazy" in Swahili) police!

Life has gotten so busy in the last few days! It's been enjoyable though!

Saturday night I got to see Ghana kick the US's butt - sorry all you U.S.A fans. I was jumping up and down cheering because Ghana won. The whole wait staff at the Irish pub we were at watching the game was hugging and high-fiving as if all of Africa had won! And in a sense, it has - or at least it did in that moment because beating the U.S. is a huge deal here. I'm hoping Ghana doesn't get creamed by Uruguay, but we'll see!

Saturday night after the football game I went out with my ex boyfriend, Raphael, and we went to Club Maisha ("Maisha" in Swahili means "Life"). I went to it last time I was in TZ in December and January and it had since burned down! Fortunately, the club was rebuilt just in time for my arrival to TZ this time around. Its opening night was on Thursday and although I was stuck on a plane then, I was so happy to go on Saturday! The club is absolutely decked out and amazing. It can host more than 1,000 people at a time. There's a huge dance floor in the middle of the first floor that has light up color blocks all across the floor and a bunch of fog machines. There's a balcony that goes around the entire top floor from which you can look over and see people dancing. The fog machine shoots up smoke so high that they shoot green lazers through it to make cool designs. It's totally amazing to see - and the music is excellent! It's a mix of American hip hop and pop as well as Bongo Flava (the popular music of Tanzania - "Bongo" is slang for Tanzania). I had so much fun dancing! I also got to enjoy my favorite drink in Tanzania - "Konyagi", which is made from sugar cane is sort of a sweet tasting gin. There's a good soda called "Bitter Lemon" (tastes as it sounds) that you can mix with a couple shots of Konyagi to make a stellar drink :). I got home at 5am after dancing and cheering with Tanzanians and other Africans who were at the club with us - it was overall a really great night! It cost 10,000 Tanzanian shillings to get in ($1 U.S. = 1,450 TZ Shillings, so that's about $7.50), but it was totally worth it to go. All the other volunteers were too tired to go out on Saturday night to go out with Raph and I, but I think we're all going to go together this upcoming weekend. I can't wait!

Sunday we had a really nice day exploring Dar es Salaam in the main city center. We went to a great restaurant called "Chef's Pride" where I had amazing chicken curry masala. So good! I love all the curries here! The we visited the Ministry of Education since that's where our WorldTeach field director, Ashley, has an office here. We got really good ice cream - and I mean REALLY good - at a place called Azam and we also got to go to the local fish market right on the coast. It was super smelly and there were workers all around banging bags on fish with mallets and chopping off fish heads (sorry if you're getting grossed out, but imagine walking - and smelling - through it all!...yeah...that's even worse). After that we were so hot from walking in the beaming sun all day (the weather was absolutely gorgeous! It was about 85 and super sunny and humid - just the way I like it!) that we decided to catch a nice cool drink at a fancy Western style hotel called the Southern Sun. I had passion juice, which was really yummy! I love all the juices here, especially the mango juice. Every chance I got while I was flying over with Emirates I ordered mango juice, haha. We caught a bus back to our hostel, which ended up breaking down part way through our trip because the van ran out of gas. That happens a lot here. Traffic is crazy right in the heart of Dar es Salaam so most people shut off their engines to save on gas. I've barely ever seen anyone pay for a full tank of gas at once - mostly everyone is teetering around empty all the time! People usually pay around 10,000 TZS just to make it through their next couple trips. Our driver had to get out and walk a ways to get gas, but sure enough he came back, fueled up the car with the 10,000 TZS we gave him and we made it safely back to the hostel. We were going to go to a fly Ethiopian restaurant for dinner in Dar called "Addis in Dar", but it was unexpectedly closed for some reason so we went to another place called Thai Village instead. The food was some of the best I've had in Dar!! I tried Pad Thai for the first time and it was so good! We shared 7 different meals amongst the 11 of us (we had some of Ashley's friends joining us) while we listened to a LIVE concert by Lady Jay Dee - who is super famous in Tanzania for her glorious vocal talent. It was amazing to be there and listen to her after hearing all about her! We went home after that and crashed - we were all so tired!

Today we got up early to begin out actual orientation for WorldTeach! We went over some of our expectations and objectives concerning just about everything having to do with living here (e.g., what our teaching sites, places to lives, and people will be like, etc.). We then had out first Swahili lesson! Although I've had a lot of informal training from my Tanzanian friends over the past two years, this was my first formal lesson and it was sooooo exciting to have a structured class! Our teacher was fabulous - his name is Benjamin and he is absolutely hilarious and sweet. We have another 7 lessons with him of about an hour and a half each before we head to Morogoro. We had two pages of homework tonight and it was actually refreshing to be able to fill out what I knew in a workbook for once! I'm looking forward to our second lesson tomorrow. After Swahili lessons we had lunch at the beach front restaurant that's about a 10 minute walk from our hostel in Mikocheni (a small suburb in Dar). The place is really nice! We have lunch prepared for us every day at 1:00pm. Today we had fish curry (with the whole fish head included - and I took pictures so hopefully I'll be able to post them soon) with plain white rice, some steamed spinach and uncooked fresh veggie salad, as well as beans cooked with coconut milk - ahhh I love the food here! :) After lunch we got picked up and taken to the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) to get a history lecture from the head of the history department. He lectured us for 2 hours all about Tanzanian geography, ethnic groups, languages, colonization, politics, post independence, etc. It was a super long lecture and we were in a heavily air conditioned (and freezing!) room for the whole time, but I learned a ton and took avid notes so I would remember what he told us. I'd be happy to share any info if you want to know what he talked about :). On the way home from the Uni we stopped at the mall to register our cell phone numbers with our cell phone network (Vodacom). Because most of my TZ friends have another network, Tigo, I got a SIM card with Tigo as well and registered it so now I have Voda and Tigo to switch between. It's way cheaper to text and call people who have the same network you do than it is to cross networks. On our way home our driver, Steven, tried to cut through traffic just before we got home to our hostel and the police caught him and pulled us over. The police have sort of a bad rep here for being corrupt because they're not really regulated by the government. When they pulled us over. One of the two police took a look in our van and saw 9 wazungu (White people) and was like "Oooh!" and high fived his partner. Police really monopolize on taking advantage of usually unknowing and particularly vulnerable and naive tourists (who they assume all white people to be). When they stop someone they usually don't give you a ticket, they just expect you to pay whatever price they name for your crime right there on the spot. They asked us to pay them 20,000 shillings, which is about $17.00 here. Even though that might not seem like a lot, a typical meal usually costs about 3,000 TZS here for a hefty portion, so 20,000 TZS goes a long way! It totally sucked to get ripped off like that, but they were sporting huge shot guns and although they had no intention to harm us, we just paid the fine anyway. Besides, if we hadn't paid them our driver would have been taken to the police station to pay a 200,000 TZS fine or stay 10 nights in jail and that would've been "chizi" (Swahili for "crazy")! We finally made it back to the hostel and had a really yummy dinner here of pea and potato stew and really good marinated beef over white rice (rice comes practically with every single meal here). We had some of the best, if not THE best, pineapple I've ever eaten in my entire life for dessert!!!!! Nothing else compares to the quality of the fresh fruit here. Seriously, New Englanders, we're missing out hardcore. If anyone's interested in moving to the tropics along the beach front with me when we're older, let me know! This is where it's at, albeit the funny things that happen every now and then. You just have to go with the flow, learn to be patient, be flexible and appreciate your time while you're here. That's what I've been doing and that's what I plan to continue to do for the rest of the year! :)

So that's all for now - and I know that is A LOT - but if you have any questions or comments please let me know! Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures sometime soon. I've seen some of the most gorgeous sunsets at the top of our hostel on the terrace that looks over all of Dar es Salaam and I would love for you all to seem them! For now, baadaye (see you later) na usiku mwema (and good night)! Much love again, to you all!

Traveling to Tanzania = Mission Accomplished!

Hi everyone!

So I finally made it to Tanzania yesterday! Not only did I arrive in one piece, but I arrived completely happy and ready for this big adventure to start! I was sooooo excited to land finally - the plane trip over was nearly 24 hours long so it was nice to get out and stretch my legs once we got here. I say "we" because I am accompanied by 7 others in the WorldTeach program who will be teaching here also. Since we got here last night we've had some stellar home cooked meals at a hostel that we're staying at in Mikocheni (right on the coast in Dar es Salaam, TZ), we've been to the beach once, rested a little, been stuck in traffic for about 2 hours trying to go only 15 miles, set up functioning cell phones (I'll hand my number out soon), been to the shops at a couple malls, taken a walk through town, been to some orientation info sessions, and have learned a lot already! I'm about to eat dinner here and then watch the World Cup match betwen Ghana and the USA. Although I do love you, USA, I'm an African resident now for the year, so in lieu of that I'm rooting for Ghana to take the win - Africa needs to kick out butt to keep their hopes up in this thing! Toodles for now, the chakula (food) is ready. Peace and much love to you all!

And so my journey begins!

Hi everyone and thanks for visiting my blog!

During my stay in Tanzania I will be using this site as a place to update all of you about what I'm doing in Tanzania! :) Please feel free to post comments, thoughts, suggestions, words of encouragement (I love positive reinforcement, haha), etc. while I am away! Even though I will be far from home does not mean I will not hold you closely to my heart (cheesy, I know, but eat it up!).

I cannot believe I leave in less than 24 hours from JFK to go to Tanzania - finally! :D It has been such a long time coming! BIG SHOUT OUTS to everyone who donated and also mentally supported me throughout my journey preparing myself to become a WorldTeach volunteer. I would never have been able to do this without you and I cannot thank you enough, honestly.

In case you're wondering what the hell I'll be doing in Tanzania and what the specifics are of where I'm staying, here's an email I received a week ago from the Resident Director for the WorldTeach Tanzania Program, Ashley, who will be taking care of all the other volunteers and I while we're in TZ:

"Dear Megan, Alice and Abby, (the two other American girls who I will be living with!)
I am so happy to give you the good news of your teaching placements! Sorry it took so long, I’ve only just returned from all the site visits yesterday! What a fun trip. J

You three will be placed at Dakawa High School, an all girls school located just an hour outside the town of Morogoro. The environment here is truly incredible- the headmistress, Mrs. Mariam Mtima, is one of the sweetest, warmest, liveliest women I’ve ever met! She is so dedicated to the school, to the girls as well as to her staff. She is keen to improve the girls’ already above average performance and her teachers appear to have strong work ethics, no doubt following her example. Mrs. Mtima is industrious and makes things happen- given budget constraints to build a new girls dorm, for example, she hired local staff to build a dorm using cheaper, local materials. She is a solution-oriented woman! The teaching environment here is going to be really rewarding, I think, and I am so excited that you three will be there.

I placed you here because it gives you the best of both worlds. Morogoro is nearby and has all the typical city amenities- it has internet access, cold beer, a big supermarket (that has cheese, red wine and pate! Hello!) and other urban comforts. The mountains in Morogoro provide respite from the heat and will give you a beautiful, varied geography. An hour away, easily accessible by local bus, is Dakawa. This area is Massai country- it’s full of cattle, nomadic villagers, grassland savannas, small huts, bright stars and peace and quiet. It’s said to be Tanzania’s “breadbasket” because the land is so fertile. Fresh veggies and fruit are abundant here!

The school is located in the Dakawa Development Center, an area run by the Ministry of Education. It’s a total education-focused community. Within its vast grounds is a primary school, two secondary schools, a teacher’s college, a school for vocational training, a health dispensary, along with a football pitch, countless trails and back roads to explore and even a historical site dedicated to the ANC Freedom Fighters. Each teacher and every student from these schools, along with occasional workers like cooks, cleaners and guards, also live on campus. The Ministry has plans to expand this area. It’ll be exciting to see how they develop it.

I thought that Alice, you might be interested in community development projects here, and it satisfies your desire to live in a small town. Megan, you are so close to Morogoro that you will have a taste of city life after a short bus ride to town. Abby, I know you wanted internet access and there isn’t any here, yet. An NGO called NO PC has donated ten new computers and has plans this year to get the school connected. With your teaching experience, Abby, I thought you would really flourish here and that the staff would benefit from your teacher education.

Dakawa has 320 girls, all boarding in nearby shared dorms. The curriculum at this school doesn’t include math or sciences, only languages, geography and history. I met with Mr. Kasembe, the head of the English Department and he informed me that you’ll be responsible for teaching 30-40 students per class in 80 minute ‘double’ periods. Each class is 40 minutes long, and you’ll teach for 80 minutes at a time. You are responsible for 5 double periods a week, teaching both Form 5 and Form 6 students. Their ages range from 17-20.

This school is so on top of things. I didn’t have to ask for a time table, a copy of the syllabus/curriculum or a school calendar. All were posted on the bulletin board. They have a photocopier, administrative computers, printers and a decent supply of books (although more are wanted and needed). They don’t have any audiocassettes though, and you might want to bring a small recording device along with you. The English staff complained that the speaking and listening parts of the curriculum are lacking. The topic called “Listening to speeches and lectures” is skipped entirely because they have no speeches to listen to you and can’t record any of their own. Cassettes also help with pronunciation practice. It’s not a requirement that you bring these things, but it is specifically what the school needs.

In case you are planning on visits from friends or family, I can tell you now the school schedule for the remainder of this academic year: From September 11 until October 11 you have a long break. Then from December 23 to the January 3 there is a short holiday. School closes again on February 19 for a long break. The new academic year begins in April, but they don’t have the dates yet.

Housing-

The teacher housing is spacious- you will all share a three bedroom house. There is a kitchen, bathroom, living room, front porch, running water and electricity (lucky ducks!). Your house is connected to the Deputy Headmaster’s, Mr. Gilangwa. He lives with his three children, and when I visited the house they were blasting bonga flava from their stereo while they washed clothes outside. They have a TV, stereo and a fun atmosphere it seems. The grounds are kept very clean, and they’ve decorated it with a lot of potted plants. The teachers houses are all in the same area, so you won’t be lonely, but you’ll have the privacy and respite of your own house.

You will have to cook each meal on your own. This is the only issue with this placement- it’s not as though the other schools have meals provided for them; each volunteer will have to cook his/her own meals. But, in the case of Dakawa, you will have to buy your groceries from Morogoro. There are no shops/stores in the Development Center. There were occasional men on bikes carrying baskets of watermelon, or pineapples, or onions for sale. But for your main supplies, you’ll have to go to town. The school has a vehicle and lifts to town are a possibility. Otherwise, the daladala passes the front gate of the school so access to transport is right there.

I am so excited about this placement! I think it’s one of the strongest and will be very rewarding, teaching-wise. The staff and students will really take care of you guys!

If you have any questions, please email me or each other. I hope that your last few days in the States are full of fun and good memories.

I can’t wait to meet you next Friday!

Best,

Ashley"

So there you have it - you know just about as much as I do about my placement! I am so happy about where I will be and I know I will be extremely successful and content there - or maybe just down right thrilled. You all know I love smiling, so everyone in Tanzania will have to get used to me doing that for a long time this next year! :) I couldn't have asked for a better experience!

For the next three weeks I will be keeping busy with orientation activities in Dar es Salaam before I actually head to my school to teach for the next year. I'll be traveling around, undergoing an intensive teacher training course, and getting an introduction to Tanzanian society, culture, and language (Swahili). Ashley has carefully prepared sessions and activities to help all of us adjust to living and teaching in Tanzania. Even though I've been to Tanzania twice before, I was only there for brief periods and I'm excited to get a more formal and thorough introduction to TZ (and that's pronounced tee-zed for all of us from America who pronounce it tee-zee," lol).

I'll end my message here, but know that my thoughts will be with you as you embark on the next year of your lives and that I'll still be thinking about you even though I'll be on the other side of the world! :) Keep in touch and please feel free to email me your mailing address at some point so I can send you a postcard! My email is illumiantelives@gmail.com. Much love to all of you and speak to you soon! Baadae! (See you later in Swahili!)