It's been awhile

My arch nemesis TANESCO, the monopoly power company here, has been beating me into submission. For well over a month there was no electricity during the day, making it ridiculously expensive to use the internet at the places that have generators. A lot has happened since my last post. I don't have too much time for details but I'll give a basic rundown.

I have now been in Tanzania for over a year and I'm more than halfway through my Peace Corps service. This blows me away. It doesn't seem like a whole year, yet America does seem a distant memory. I think the next year will fly by for me. We'll see. I think I've gotten quite well adjusted so I hope that in the next year I can really leave my mark.

I had a great visit from two RPCVs from Jordan who were travelling through East Africa on their way home after finishing their service. They stayed at my house for a few days and came to the school and talked to the students. It was real cool having them around and hearing how different PC service is in Jordan, which is much more developed but lives under the threat of terrorism.

I got stung just below the eye by a Nairobi fly, a rather nasty insect. If you don't know what it is, Google it, no doubt you have more internet time and bandwidth than I. Basically it meant that for a few days I looked like Mike Tyson had punched me in the eye. Fun stuff.

It's now the short rain season. That means maybe once a week it will rain for two days straight and the valley I live in becomes a muddy swamp. I've never seen rain like this. Fortunately a day of two of sun dries it out quite nicely. However, rain at the wrong time can basically cancel any travel plans.

I finish school in less than three weeks. I'm excited about the break. I should get some travelling in. I can't believe I've just about finished a whole year as a teacher. That actually suprises me more than making it a year in Africa.

When the Jordan RPCVs were around I went to Tanga for the first time. It's a fairly large town on the coast. Got some fish, went to the beach. Good times.

In a few minutes I'll be hopping a bus to Mlalo to visit Josh for the night. He has promised pork and cold beer. Frankly I can't think of a better offer. Until next time, remember that just because I can't update very much doesn't mean I'm in bad shape. No need to worry just because I'm in Africa.