And the Lucky Kijiji Is.....

Written Friday, July 31, 2010

Today was finally the BIG day everyone in my training group has been anticipating.....Site Announcements! When we first received our invitations to train, we only learned our country would be in Tanzania. Our exact village location for the next two years was undecided until we got to experience TZ and the PC staff got to know us better.

Imagine Christmas morning, your 16th birthday and sorority recruitment Bid Day all wrapped into one day. That is exactly what today was!

After a full morning of sessions, lunch and one more afternoon session, the suspense was bad. But the wait was totally worth it cause PC rocked the announcement process.

We walked from the classrooms over to a outside clearing where people were set-up playing drums and dancing. They got us all up and dancing, but we were still sneaking peeks at a large TZ map outlining who was going where. Each person's picture was covered with a post-it, so we could see how many were going to the individual regions but not who.

The youngest person in our training group got to remove the first post-it to announce where the first person was going. Everyone cheered as that person ran up to the board and then the exact village name was announced. They then removed another post-it from their region and so went the procedure. Once everyone in a region was announced, a description of that region was read. It was all really fun and upbeat!

Plus, we got apples, chocolate and mail. I received a letter from Grandma that included dry powder packets of lemonade and ranch dressing! You can imagine my excitement level was on overload by the end of all this!!

So where am I going? My village will be Mshewe located in the Mbeya Region!!! Located in the beautiful Southern Highlands area, the Mbeya region boasts majestic mountains with the southeastern corner bordering a lake with beaches. Since it is mountainous, the temperature gets much cooler than in the other hot, dry sections of the country.

I am not sure how close I will be to the city of Mbeya but I hear it is a big tourist city for people traveling across Africa. This is awesome for two reasons: I may be able to make use of my professional tourism experience AND Doritos will be near-by! Some American treats like chips and pizza are available for travelers! :)

I am also totally excited about Mbeya because six other fun people from my training group have been placed there. This is in addition to four volunteers already there. We may be a few hours away from each other but close enough for celebrating holidays, birthdays and such!

Celebrating July 4? Yes We Can!

Written Sunday, July 04, 2010

Though I’ve only been in TZ for about three weeks, I feel a certain amount of accomplishment today! One being that it is now July and technically my second month here, and two being that it is my first holiday to spend away from friends and family back home. I know it is not exactly the Christmas of holidays but July 4 has a certain charm of its own. Since fireworks on Paducah’s riverfront or a day at Kentucky Lake is not on this year’s schedule, I am instead doing something else that is definitely all-American….email and blogging!! My group and a second group in Lusanga are taking a dala dala a short drive into Muheza to an internet café.

First…An Update
Things have settled in fairly well. We have training from 8-5 Mon-Sat. This primarily consists of learning Swahili, but we also get some interesting lessons on local government structure and agriculture. I have a nice 15 minute walk from the farm to where our classes meet. Plus, we walk around the village some to talk to people and practice Swahili. On Saturdays, the whole training group meets for sessions at a local PC training center. When I get home, I try to explain what I learned that day to my host family, do homework and eat supper.

Obama-Mania
So I thought it only fitting to use the holiday to describe the Obama-mania we have encountered since arriving in TZ! He is seriously everywhere. Tanzanians are crazy for him. At the center where we meet on Saturdays, I have seen his name written on the backs of chairs. At the duka (aka, market), I have seen Obama bubble gum and ink pens. Even the flashlight I was given to use has his picture on it! The best is something I won't mention yet because someone back in the US may be getting it for Christmas!

EDIT:
As you all probably noticed, I was unable to get on the internet this day. I got settled in with a very slow computer when the electricity for the whole place went out! We still had a blast traveling to the bigger village and celebrated the independence of America with an African beer. :)