Njombe

So the last few days I've been in the Njombe area and last night we came into town. I was visiting Steve, an education volunteer about an hour out of town. His site is right in the highlands and is absolutely amazing. I'm really hoping to get placed down here now. Njombe is a pretty nice town too and there are a lot of PCVs in the area. They seem to be a pretty tight group because it's a little bit isolated from the rest of the country, though not as much as some places. The weather here is beautiful. It's not hot and there are no mosquitos. I was actually a little bit cold last night. In just two days I will find out where my site is, so I can't wait. Of course first I have to get through the seven or so hour bus ride I have tomorrow. It actually won't be that bad because the scenery is amazing and we go through one of the national parks. On the way down I saw an elephant, some giraffes, antelope, a zebra, and some baboons. It was my first good look at wildlife here so I was really excited. Unfortunately there was no time for pictures. This afternoon we're going to take a short walk out of town to one of the waterfalls. A lot of the PCVs in the area came to town this weekend so we should have a pretty good group. I really can't contain my excitement about being done with training in a little over a week.

Last night I had a really interesting conversation with a Tanzanian and a couple of PCVs about Tanzania. We were talking about how Tanzania has been so successful in uniting all the different groups of people (an amazing feat compared to so many African countries) but has so far been so unsuccessful at pulling people out of poverty. Grant, the Tanzanian, was very frank about the certain areas where Tanzanians themselves are to blame. For example, many people here focus on providing one day at a time, never looking to go a bit beyond and build for the future. On the other hand, Tanzanians will always share whatever they have with their neighbors in need. In America of course, people tend to look out for themselves and other people's problems are other people's problems (of course, I'm generalizing). We agreed that there must be some sort of medium of doing for yourself but helping others who are in need. Part of the conversation came around to what motivates us to leave the wealthy world behind and come to Tanzania. It's an interesting question. I suppose it's because the wealth of the West isn't enough to satisfy us, and yet more wealth here would make life so much easier and in many cases possible where now it is not. At the same time, the sense of community and of caring for others that exists here would make life in America so much easier and better. I think our two societies have a lot to learn from each other, and I think I'm incredibly lucky to have that opportunity. I am just blown away by how much I've already gotten from this experience even though it has hardly started. Again, I can't wait to get done with training and get to my site! Hopefully next time you hear from me I'll be able to tell you where I will live for two years.

Howdy from Dar es Salaam!

Howdy everyone. Sorry for the errors in the last post, the Morogoro network is a bit unreliable. Fortunately I am now in the bustling metropolis of Dar es Salaam, which I'm really enjoying. It is much nicer and seems a lot safer than I expected. Tomorrow I will leave for three days of shadowing a volunteer in Njombe, which is in the southern highlands not to far from Lake Nyasa. I'm very excited because I love mountains and I hear there are two patches of rain forest and several waterfalls within walking distance of town. Also it is actually very cool there and there are almost no mosquitos. From what I know about it I'd think I'd really like it if that is where I am placed. The only drawback is that it's almost 12 hours from DSM. Monday we will find out where our site actually is. I am very excited and hope that I'm in the highlands, either north or south.

The other big news is that I now have a phone. Anyone who wants to call can because it's free to receive, but keep in mind that I'm 8 hours ahead of EST. The Tz country code is 255 and my number is 787 212 257. I really would love to hear from everyone, so please feel free. Also you can try to send text messages because I can receive them, but I'm not sure how well they work with international calls. Also keep in mind that there are many places in country where service is not very good, so sometimes you may not be able to get through.

In other news I have been having a great time the last few days. Dar has been a lot of fun and it has been so nice to be out of Morogoro and see some more of this country. I also had quite an experience last week because my buddy Wes's host sister had a send-off. This is a big party a bride's family throws a few days before the wedding. My host mama was the "matron" which means she is the maid of honor but in the send-off it is even more involved. She is almost as much a part of things as the bride. It had quite a lot of interesting ritual and was quite a party. Wes, Michael (another trainee) and I even participated by opening and spraying champagne and then running around the room giving everyone a little in their glasses for the toast. It was a lot of fun and incredibly hard to describe. If you ever have a chance to attend an East African send-off, I highly recommend it. I imagine I'll see quite a few before I leave. It was also a very late night. We didn't get back home until 2:30, which was quite late considering we're up with the sun pretty much every day.

I hope the post goes through this time. Thanks for the comments and keep them coming. Hopefully I can post soon after Monday to tell you where I will live for the next two years.

Training is Winding Down