Unasikia baridi? That's a big yes.

Right now most schools in Tanzania are closed, but we're still open to tutoring for Form II and Form IV students because they have their national exams this year. Most of my teaching is in Form II so these are the students I've become closest to and will often refer to as "my girls." It's a bit of a drag to be around when most of the other volunteers are taking vacation, but if I have to be at the school, at least my girls are too. They've been constantly expressing disappointment that I'll be gone in five months, and I must admit, if it weren't too late to make such a decision, I'd probably cave at some point and agree to stay another year. It's all for the best I suppose.

I actually am starting to think about going back home now that's getting close. Unfortunately I have few plans. I'm excited to be back, but I know that readjustment can be pretty difficult. I think the best thing will be to find some kind of job, even if it's one I'll only want to keep for a year or two, to at least have something to keep me occupied. Well, there's still lots of work to do here before that comes up.

In other news, it's cold (the title to this post asks, "Are you cold?"). In the mornings you actually see your breath. I live just a few degrees from the Equator. This isn't supposed to happen. Of course, most of the time it's really nice because we don't experience the oppressive heat of most of the country. In fact, I do kind of enjoy this weather because it isn't horribly cold, and it's fun to tell shivering students stories about snow and ice and to let them know that they don't really know what cold is.

I've had a lot of visitors recently. Patrick, my old buddy from the Lake Victoria region, came with his lady friend for a few days. Josh, Laura, Isaac, and Krista, all volunteers here in the Tanga Region, have been up at various times as well. It's been a lot of fun having visitors, and it's always quite exciting for the students.

Another event not too long ago was our big Memorial Day Party. Nine of us gathered in Korogwe, a transit town down the mountain where Dan lives. We got a goat and paid some guys a couple of bucks to kill it, skin it, and gut it. They also got to keep the liver, so they were pretty pleased with the deal. Then we pit roasted the whole thing. It was pretty fantastic. Goat meat is actually quite good. Not surprisingly, it's a bit like mutton, though usually tougher. The pit roasting worked quite well to keep it nice and tender though. The people around were pretty shocked at our cooking methods though. Over here the only way they ever cook meat is to hack it in bite-sized pieces, then fry it, boil it, or grill it. Unfortunately the cuisine here is normally uninteresting (quite unlike Ethiopian food, which is amazing), so cooking something good and sometimes very elaborate is always a big part of any Peace Corps gathering. I've actually become a pretty good cook and I'm looking forward to having real kitchen facilities and easy access to a lot of ingredients that are pretty hard to come by over here, like a lot of spices. It also will be nice not to have to pick rocks out of rice, beans, and other things like that before you cook them. As far as material things go, probably the top ten things I miss from home are all related to food.

As usual, time is money in the internet cafe, so forgive my fast, unedited typing. If all goes as planned, five months from today I should be back on American soil. Remember, tasty things to eat and drink make the best welcome home presents.