Christmas

December 27, 2013

Being on vacation has been a really nice break from school, an opportunity to get into my village a little more and a great chance to see some other volunteers. But also, this time of year is a time that is usually spent with family back home so I have definitely been missing that. That said, I had a great time with my new friends here over Christmas!

On Christmas Eve I had my first shower in the rain ever. I highly recommend it. Two other volunteers and I got in our shorts and got clean out in the rain as it poured off the tin roof!

I spent the holiday at a neighboring site with about 8 other volunteers. And thanks to some really great planning by our host we had many of the Christmas comforts we would have otherwise been missing: a Christmas tree, stockings, egg nog, Christmas music, puzzles, a gift exchange, games and a feast!

On Christmas we went into the village and watched a soccer game. While we were setting up some chairs to watch the game a big group of village kids came and stood in front of us to watch this big group of white people in strange clothes and a radio blaring "All I Want for Christmas is You." We played some hop scotch with them in the path along the field and eventually drew a new hop scotch....uh...course? pitch? court? whatever it is... behind our chairs so that we could keep watching the game. The good guys won and after a few pictures with the teams (sorry I don't have them yet) we returned to the house and made a fire and had s'mores!

After Christmas I headed back to site briefly and then it's off to Zanzibar for New Years!

December

December 27, 2013

This month I have been off from school. The students have gone home for the holidays and many of the teachers at my school have also gone home to various places in the country. I have taken advantage of the time off to see some other volunteers, practice my Swahili and break into my village a little.

There is a student at my school who greeted me when I came on site visit and has become a good friend of mine since then. He noticed that I set up solar at my house and when he mentioned his family was planning to set up solar at their house I offered to help. As most things here, it took a whole to actually get things going so by the time they asked me to come to town with them to buy the supplies I had thought about it and I added one condition: I didn't want to set it up for them, I wanted to teach this student to set it up himself.

So I went to town with the student's mother and offered a little help in purchasing the supplies. A couple days later I went over to their house and showed the student how series and parallel circuits work, how to hook up the solar panel, how to add acid to the battery, and how to connect the switches and lights. I set up some of the first light, but after one or two he was an expert. Then he installed three more in various rooms in the house.

Many students here fail out of school for various reasons. Some have obligations at home (farming, cooking, cleaning...) and do not have time to study; others have families who do not emphasize the importance of education; some simply do not have lights in their homes and cannot study after sunset around 6. I'm hoping that helping this family get solar lighting in their house will give the kids a better chance at succeeding in school. And even if he does not become an academic, at least he has a trade now. He could probably help other villagers set up solar as a business now.

But in the process of helping this family out with their set up, I did get something in return. They have a small restaurant (really an "mgahawa" or what we might call a little smokey hut with a coal stove and some rice and beans) in the village and they gave me a handful of free meals and about 10 eggs from their chickens to say thank you. Along with the free food, this created a great opportunity to get into the village, show my face, get to know some villagers, and get better at Swahili!

I was in town a week or so ago and my driver told me that I was better at Swahili than the previous volunteer at my site (which is impossible, she was here for two years...). I don't think I believe that, but it is encouraging to hear from the Tanzanians that my Swahili is improving. I'm also getting better at acting like I understand things when I only understand a word or two...which probably isn't super productive.

Let's see... Other December stuff. I started a new batch of bucket wine. Coffee wine this time. I made some mango pineapple wine as my first batch and it turned out alright, but another volunteer made a coffee wine that turned out really well (like  Kahlua) so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'll post about New Years on Zanzibar soon!

Happy new year!

Slacking off...

Sorry guys. I'm slacking. I had an iPod scare for a while and lost a couple blog posts that were saved on it. In short, I had a great Thanksgiving with some fellow volunteers and even a fellow Olympia High School grad. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, macaroni, uhh... lots of other food too. I've been on break this month, we finished with school the first week of December. I've been getting more into the village life as well as hanging with some other volunteers nearby. Also, I went on a little safari with a handful of other volunteers in Ruaha National Park. We saw 5 lions, a cheetah, countless zebras, a zillion giraffes, a few hundred elephants, warthogs (even a couple babies), antelope, dik-dik, hippos, crocs, loads of birds, monkeys, baboons, and other stuff too... I'll be spending Christmas with about 10 volunteers near my site and then it will be on to Zanzibar for new years!

I'll try and get some more details up here when I can. And maybe some more pictures too...

Merry Christmas everybody!

Let There Be Light!

November 10, 2013

I wired up my first light today. It’s in my main room. One light, one switch, plugged into my solar battery. I’m planning to wire another up in my bedroom soon, but I need to buy some more wire first. Here are some pictures

The first switch. I didn’t knock that nail all the way in because the bedroom light will piggyback off of it.

Here’s the light up on a rafter. I also have an LED one. Not sure which will be better for the bedroom and which will be better out here.

A bunch of wires coming from the battery. Solar panel, inverter, voltmeter, and now the light.

Classroom Atmosphere

November 10, 2013

This week was the first week of national testing for the Form IV students and the school’s attention has turned, appropriately, to this fact. If they do not pass this test, they cannot go on to advanced level secondary school, and then to university.

The Form II students have already ended their year after their national exam last month and the Form IV students will join them after this week, so the Form I and Form III students are the only ones still in the classroom.

With the school’s population diminishing, the atmosphere at the school is becoming increasingly relaxed. This shift has made it more difficult to move forward in the curriculum, but it has made it easier to get through to the students on a more personal level. I am still figuring out how to create a friendly, yet focused learning environment. The Form III students, with better English than the Form I’s, have been able to understand my jokes and respond well to some prodding. But just this week, either because of my improving Swahili or the impending end of the year, the brick wall of staring Form I faces has started to acquire some smiles, some laughs, and some much needed interaction. Interaction that I am trying (somewhat successfully) to direct towards learning. Interaction that I feel is creating a safe and friendly environment. Currently my theory is that if I am viewed as a respected, strict but friendly teacher, I can both gain interest from the students and maintain high expectations. Because who wants to let down a friend, right? We will see how that goes. This week seemed to go well, but the real test will be the final exams the week after next.

Here’s a picture of one of my Form I classes.

Eat Like Me [Breakfast]

October 30, 2013

Here’s a breakfast recipe that I’ve come up with. It’s a variation on pancakes with a little extra protein. I cook these every night before the coals die down.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon

¼ cup peanuts

½ cup water

Note: all the measurements are rough. I have never actually measured them but I think that’s about what it works out to.

INSTRUCTIONS

Throw the flour and sugar and baking powder and salt and cinnamon into some kind of bowl. Mine has pink flowers on it and it works well. If you can find one with pink flowers, that might be good. Mix all that up pretty good. Add the water. You’re not dumb. We’re making pancakes here. Make it look like pancake batter.

Add the peanuts. Mix it all up and put a little in a hot pan… ok this is stupid. Look in your cookbook for “pancakes” and keep going like that.

If you really want to eat like me, cook them after dinner and put them in a Tupperware and wait til morning to eat them…cold…with a cup of tea or coffee.

Boom. You might as well be in Tanzania!

Happy cooking.

Up and Down

October 24, 2013

Yesterday was pretty rough. Ok. Really rough. I taught 8 periods (5 hours and 20 minutes) and it was looong. My math classes don’t understand me and after such a long day it’s hard to have much patience for it. I got through it. That’s about as much as I can say. I did gett a little comfort from my second master who told me that even the Tanzanian teachers have trouble teaching Form 1 classes. Days like that I have been telling myself, “just make it to the end of November. Next school year will be better…” but it is hard to remove myself from the current situation. Thursdays and Fridays I only teach the Form 1 Math classes (no physics to break it up), so at the end of yesterday I was feeling pretty miserable about the next couple of days. What could I do but try my best to make things bearable? I tried to think of a way to make things more interesting and maybe somewhat interactive in class. I was feeling uninspired, but I came up with a lesson plan I was comfortable with and then relaxed for a while before bed.

Today, school was great! I got up and got ready for the day. Hopped on my bike and got to school in time for a little mental prep and had a chance to refresh myself on the lesson. I was motivated to make the best of the time I have with these students. I got to the classroom this morning and started the lecture and the kids were attentive and participating eagerly. They jumped on opportunities to come to the board and they responded well to my stupid jokes. The morning class gave me hope for the later classes, but energy is usually running pretty low towards the end of the day. The afternoon classes were not quite as energetic as the first, but they too were much more interactive. I left each class feeling confident that the students understood the lesson, that they enjoyed the class, and that they maybe, just maybe, are convinced that I’m an ok teacher.

I learned something this week. And it wasn’t about geometry. I think yesterday and today showed me the importance of my efforts. It is easy to be miserable in the class. It is harder, but much more rewarding, to find the energy to make class interesting. A little extra effort went a long way today. I’ve been struggling to decide whether or not I actually enjoy teaching. After yesterday, it was looking like a long two years ahead. But today, I really did enjoy it.

Peace Corps promised me that I would be experiencing the highest highs and the lowest lows during my service here. I am just beginning to understand what they meant.

Hike and Stuff

October 22, 2013

This last week a fellow teacher came to town with me to help me buy a bike. I think my Swahili skills have reached a level that I could buy one on my own, but I am still wary of the big purchases. We have been well warned about the “Mzungu” (white person) prices that some sellers will try to get us to pay. I haven’t had any bad encounters yet, and generally they are just happy to see a white person who can speak some Swahili. It also helps that my area does not draw a lot of tourists. Nonetheless, I asked if he would come with me for this purpose and he agreed (maybe it was me offering to buy lunch…).

We went around town, bought some food, posted some blogs at an internet café, checked the PO Box, and got some more envelopes. Then we went and checked out the bikes. As far as I can tell, there is no such thing as a new bike in Tanzania, but we managed to find a lightly used one that works! It has six gears and a little light that can be activated that uses friction on the wheel to light up. I paid about the equivalent of $60 for it. It could have been a lot more without my teacher friend with me. It didn’t hurt that the seller was a graduate from our school. Here’s a picture of the bike outside the door to my courtyard!

It cuts my trip to school from a 25 minute walk to an 8 minute ride. Niiiiiice. My students laugh at me the whole way. Tall white guy, funny clothes, weird helmet, bike a little too small…But I am used to it by now. I do lots of weird (normal in the US) things here.

During our trip to town my fellow teacher and I talked about the village and the surrounding area. He showed me some pictures of some cool places nearby and this last Friday we went on a hike! After school, he hopped on my bike’s rack and we rode to my house. We walked from there through the village and down into a valley. Here are a couple pictures

.

It is relatively barren where my house is other than corn fields (Reed…) and a few intermittent trees. But as we went down, we started to go into more vegetation. Certainly no jungle, but more and more green.

And then…

There it was. Pride Rock.

Well not exactly… But not far off, right? Maybe I’ve been looking for Lion King scenes for too long and I’ll take whatever I can get now. But either way, I know at least my mom’s mouth is watering at the site of these beauties. And right in my backyard!

We got passed by a herd of cows and goats at one point. I felt like Simba(means “lion” in Swahili. How clever…) stranded on a rock in the middle of a stampede (RIP Mufasa). Ok…Done with the Lion King analogies now.

We continued along for a bit and walked through a tomato farm to get another view (tomato in Swahili is “nyanya,” one of my favorite words to say). Here’s the view.

Climbing all the rock reminded me of my hikes in the Olympics over the years. It was fun jumping and climbing around a little after being contained by the classroom all week. And whenever I get a chance to spend some time with the teachers I get a free Swahili lesson out of it. And they get some English practice too.

We got tired of climbing after a while and we walked back to my house. Made some traditional Tanzania style potatoes. I hadn’t had those since homestay! And talked about cooking, cats, and the bachelor life. They get married pretty young here so they’re often surprised to hear that I don’t have a wife, or even a fiancé! I think they want to help find me one.

Ehh…. I think that’s mostly what I wanted to say about that. Here are some pictures of the weird stuff I do.

This is a “jiko” (the thing I use to cook). You put sticks on top, add a little kerosene and toss a match on. Put it in the wind for ten minutes and then you can cook!

This is my iron. I get hot coals from my jiko after I cook and put them inside it. Wait a few minutes and then make my clothes all flat and nice.. But I think there’s some art to it that I’m still trying to figure out…

Fresh Papaya. I like eating this.

I’ve been experimenting with roasting my own peanuts. It’s fun. And tasty. And it isn’t always easy to find protein out where I am. No butchers in my village and beans can be a pain sometimes.

Here’s my dinner setup. Beans cooking on the left jiko, veggies in the middle, and rice just finishing up on the right with a few hot coals on top.

This is my current solar setup. More on this later hopefully. Basically a car battery, a voltmeter (to read how much charge it has), a power inverter (DC to AC), and then to my computer or phone or whatever…