Unfortunately the computer I am using today refuses to acknowledge my flash drive. This is unfortunate because I brought some good pictures I wanted to post. They will have to wait until next time.
So the school year is underway. So far it's going well and it has been an easy transition back into things. I have a slightly heavier load than last year, but I don't mind. Teaching seems a lot easier than it did before I think largely because I'm more comfortable in the classroom. It's been great to see the other teachers. I get along well with all of them and have become quite close with a few. In short, as odd as it may sound, I now feel quite settled into a normal, comfortable life. As much fun as I had during the break, I'm glad to be back into it. I can't believe how quickly my time here is winding down. I only have ten more months! I guess some people at home may think that sounds like a long time, but I can't believe how soon it will be over. Oh well, I'm just going to make the most of it and I think I can help my students do well on their exams. Time will tell.
So my life's back in routine, but here's some rather unusual information I've come across lately. You may or may not know that hippos can be quite dangerous. In fact there are many areas of this country that have a bit of a hippo problem. My buddy and fellow PCV Patrick who's over on Lake Victoria not too far from my old place lives in a small remote village right on the lake. They've had a few people killed by hippos apparently. This kind of thing isn't too uncommon. Because of this, sometimes the villagers may decide a hippo is too dangerous and must be killed. As you may imagine it's not exactly easy to kill a hippo. Now, however, I have finally learned the common method for killing a hippo, but it is only real effective if the hippo is in a fairly small pond. If you have problems with lake hippos, I don't think it would work. Sorry, Patrick.
This method takes at least two guys. One has a gun and the other has a very large stick, almost like a log. This method is very dangerous for the guy with the stick. The guy with the stick goes up to the edge of the pond and begins to stir up the water. Apparently this annoys the hippo and it will walk out of the water. Of course if the hippo walks out toward the guy with the stick, it's bad news. Anyway, once the hippo is out of the water they guy with the rifle shoots it. Hippos, though, are quite large, and one bullet seldom does the job. Irritated by the bullet, the hippo will return to the water and the process much begin again. Sometimes it can take half a dozen shots or more to finally bring the hippo down. There are no hippos around here, so I haven't seen it firsthand, but I wanted my faithful readers to know how to protect their loved ones from a dangerous hippopotomus.
That's all for now, hopefully next week there will be pictures.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Holiday Fun
New Year's on Zanzibar was a good time, which really isn't a big surprise. Going to a tropical paradise with a dozen or so good friends can't really be a bad time, can it? What was just as good, and perhaps more interesting, was Christmas.
As I mentioned before, the nine new volunteers in the Tanga region and I were celebrating Christmas at Rachael's house. Rachael is one of the new ones. Her house is on the edge of town and big, so it works well as a meeting place. I'd gotten word that some nuns in the area had a turkey they wanted to sell, so Neil, one of the new guys, and I went to the their farm to take it off their hands. The turkey was big. It was a little bit awkward carrying it back to Rachael's house, but we got it back and put it in a dog house that for some unknown reason is in her front yard. We nailed some boards across the door to keep the turkey in there until the next morning, Christmas, when we had to do the deed.
As before, Neil and I were on turkey duty. Early on there was a little trouble as we disagreed on the method of slaughter. I was in favor of cutting the throat, but Neil pointed out that the PC cookbook tells us to kill chickens by shoving a knife through its skull. After some debate, we decided we could do that. Neil took the knife while I held the turkey. The first stab did not get through the skull. The second did, and we were relieved that it was stabbed through the head and dead. Or so we thought. I let go of the bird, but then it jumped up, spread its wings and squawked with the knife sticking out of its head! It was like some kind of bizarre horror movie when the monster jumps up after you think its dead. Fortunately we acted fast. Neil grabbed the bird and I started cutting its head off. Unfortunately the good knife was in the turkey's head. Our backup knife wasn't exactly what you'd call sharp. After much hacking and sawing we finally got the turkey's head off. Neil and I were slightly traumatized, but better off than the turkey I guess. After that Dan helped us in the long process of plucking and pulling out all the innards. Once all that was done, it actually looked like a big old Butterball. Fortunately, it just fit in the oven we had. We made stuffing, gravy, biscuits, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable quiche to go with the turkey. It was an amazing meal. The turkey and everything else was delicious. I have to give the credit for the great food to Christa and Clare, two girls who have a Mama Clark-like flair for food.
Other than the moments when I found out how much of a killer instinct I don't have, Christmas was great. It's real tough being away from home, but I like the new group of volunteers a lot and it was nice getting to know them a little bit. In less than two weeks I'll be teaching again. I'm real excited, I feel like the next 10 or 11 months will fly by. Before all that starts though, I have mid-service conference where I will have a host of extremely thorough medical exams. I'm feeling pretty good about my health and even think I'm parasite free. We'll find out soon enough.
The other interesting incident was yesterday when I tried to go back to Lushoto. Turns out a bridge on the only road that heads up that way from Dar went out and it was impossible to travel. After waiting by the side of the road for hours, it turned out our options were to walk past where the bridge was out and hope we could get on a bus on the other side (talk about a leap of faith) or we could turn around and go back to Morogoro, which wasn't too far back. We have some friends in town here, so it seemed like the better option. So here we are. We'll be down here until our conference because at this point we'd just have to turn around and head back once we got home.
That's all for now. I hope everyone's having a happy new year. To everyone at home, remember I'm coming home this year. Seems pretty hard to believe.
As I mentioned before, the nine new volunteers in the Tanga region and I were celebrating Christmas at Rachael's house. Rachael is one of the new ones. Her house is on the edge of town and big, so it works well as a meeting place. I'd gotten word that some nuns in the area had a turkey they wanted to sell, so Neil, one of the new guys, and I went to the their farm to take it off their hands. The turkey was big. It was a little bit awkward carrying it back to Rachael's house, but we got it back and put it in a dog house that for some unknown reason is in her front yard. We nailed some boards across the door to keep the turkey in there until the next morning, Christmas, when we had to do the deed.
As before, Neil and I were on turkey duty. Early on there was a little trouble as we disagreed on the method of slaughter. I was in favor of cutting the throat, but Neil pointed out that the PC cookbook tells us to kill chickens by shoving a knife through its skull. After some debate, we decided we could do that. Neil took the knife while I held the turkey. The first stab did not get through the skull. The second did, and we were relieved that it was stabbed through the head and dead. Or so we thought. I let go of the bird, but then it jumped up, spread its wings and squawked with the knife sticking out of its head! It was like some kind of bizarre horror movie when the monster jumps up after you think its dead. Fortunately we acted fast. Neil grabbed the bird and I started cutting its head off. Unfortunately the good knife was in the turkey's head. Our backup knife wasn't exactly what you'd call sharp. After much hacking and sawing we finally got the turkey's head off. Neil and I were slightly traumatized, but better off than the turkey I guess. After that Dan helped us in the long process of plucking and pulling out all the innards. Once all that was done, it actually looked like a big old Butterball. Fortunately, it just fit in the oven we had. We made stuffing, gravy, biscuits, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable quiche to go with the turkey. It was an amazing meal. The turkey and everything else was delicious. I have to give the credit for the great food to Christa and Clare, two girls who have a Mama Clark-like flair for food.
Other than the moments when I found out how much of a killer instinct I don't have, Christmas was great. It's real tough being away from home, but I like the new group of volunteers a lot and it was nice getting to know them a little bit. In less than two weeks I'll be teaching again. I'm real excited, I feel like the next 10 or 11 months will fly by. Before all that starts though, I have mid-service conference where I will have a host of extremely thorough medical exams. I'm feeling pretty good about my health and even think I'm parasite free. We'll find out soon enough.
The other interesting incident was yesterday when I tried to go back to Lushoto. Turns out a bridge on the only road that heads up that way from Dar went out and it was impossible to travel. After waiting by the side of the road for hours, it turned out our options were to walk past where the bridge was out and hope we could get on a bus on the other side (talk about a leap of faith) or we could turn around and go back to Morogoro, which wasn't too far back. We have some friends in town here, so it seemed like the better option. So here we are. We'll be down here until our conference because at this point we'd just have to turn around and head back once we got home.
That's all for now. I hope everyone's having a happy new year. To everyone at home, remember I'm coming home this year. Seems pretty hard to believe.
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