Almost at Midterm

Hard to believe but after only one more week we'll be at midterm exams. In a way time seems to have flown by. It doesn't seem like I'm about halfway through my first of four semesters. This month has been interesting because we have had nine student teachers from the local teachers' college student teaching at Nsumba. It was nice having these students around. They were all bright at seemed extremely dedicated, which is what I have noticed from the young teachers at my school as well. If I'm seeing a good representation of the younger generation of teachers, then it seems like there is indeed some promise in the future of Tanzania's schools. I certainly hope that's the case.

Unfortunately, my electricity has cut off again. I had none for two weeks, had it for a week, and now for the last few days it's been out again. I kind of gave up on getting to use my electric stove too much so today I went out and bought another kerosene one. Now I can cook rice and beans at the same time! Still, the grading papers by candlelight is not getting any more exciting. Hopefully I'll have it back before too long, but I've learned not to get my hopes up. TANESCO, the monopoly Tanzanian power company, has officially become my representation of all of Africa's evil. I haven't figured out exactly how they are responsible for HIV and malaria, but I'm sure there's a connection.

Last weekend I went up to Musoma on the eastern shore of the lake and spent some time with the three PCVs up there. It was a good time and it was nice to get out of town for a little while. I like Mwanza, but as many of you know, I do enjoy a change of scenery now and then. The highlight of the trip was that Meena, my host in Musoma, is an amazing cook, so I had some great food. She even baked a cake, which is quite a feat in a world without ovens.

Other than that things have been more or less routine. I get up before sunrise, hope there is water pressure because bucket showers are a pain, go to school and teach, go out to the road and buy some food, visit with some friends, cook, eat dinnner, read, and in bed by 10 or so. It's become a pleasant routine, sometimes broken with trips to town, a beer on the lake with PCV Ryan, or a movie and some Korean food at Cha's house (he's a volunteer at my school from KOICA, Korea's version of the Peace Corps). It's turning out to be a pretty nice predictable life. And best of all, no one's tried to break into my house in almost a month. Pretty exciting. I think in a couple of months I'll be ready to start thinking about some secondary projects, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. For now I'll just concentrate on doing my job and staying sane. Fortunately the latter is steadily getting easier.