End of Stage One

For about the past week, since we landed in Tanzania, we (42 of us trainees) have been living at a hostel in Dar es Salaam. This hostel is a little bit out of the main city center and is walled in, so we are in a sort of a haven. We also have running water, electricity, access to the internet, and toilets. These are all very nice things. These, as the Peace Corps constantly reminds us, are luxuries. In order to prepare us for likely conditions during the rest of our training and service, we have been told to expect none of these "luxuries" in our residences going forward.

Tomorrow morning, we will leave Dar and head to Korogwe, where Pre-Service Training (PST) is to be held. It is a 4 hour bus ride from here. We will eat lunch as a group and soon there-after we will be dropped off in various surrounding villages at houses which will become our homes for the next 8 weeks.

I didn't know Swahili when I left the US, as many of you know, and I would still say (other than a few phrases) I do not know Swahili. But tomorrow I will be plopped into a home with a Tanzanian family who likely will know little, if any, English. It's going to get WEIRD! Somehow I am really excited to meet/stare at/smile at/laugh with/point-at-things-and-ask-how-to-say-it-in-Swahili-with my new host family.

Oh! And I will be getting a cell phone and possibly an internet USB dongle (lulz) at some point in the near future. More to come on that soon.

Internet time is up now. Sorry for the short posts. I'll try and get more substance in when/if I have a more consistent connection.