Week One

So far things have been good here in Lushoto. The school's been good and my students seem excited to have me there. I'm getting along well with the other teachers and even adjusting well to life without electricity. It's quiet and peaceful here, which is nice, but I will miss the more things to do Mwanza has to offer.

One encouraging thing is that my school seems to have a lot more resources than my old one. There is a well-stocked library as opposed to a pile of a couple dozen books. And perhaps the most shocking, almost all of my students have a math text book. Before in a class of 50 maybe two or three would. I don't have to tell you this makes things for me and my students much, much easier. I suppose that the difference is that now I'm at a Catholic school instead of a public one. Even at a good school like this, though, they struggle to get enough teachers. Perhaps because it's not right in town. Anyway, so far it's been great and I'm excited to be at Kongei.

Today I made the walk to the road and it was very nice, except for one disturbing incident. Apparently a truck hit and killed a child and there was a big crowd around the stopped truck. Some women were wailing and many of the men had knives and machetes. I've heard a lot about mob justice here, even for accidents like someone getting hit by a car, so I really didn't want to stick around to see how things turned out. The hardest thing to deal with here is how common a child's death is. If it's not malaria it's a car accident. It's also disturbing that it's so common you almost get used to hearing about the death of the child or grandchild of someone you know. Life goes on though.

Lushoto

A lot has happened since my last post. Last Wednesday I got a call from Peace Corps. They told me that at 9 the following morning I'd be getting on a plane for Dar es Salaam and the day after that I'd drive to Lushoto. Needless to say Wednesday was a hectic day of saying goodbyes, packing, and giving away stuff that wouldn't fit on the plane. I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone, including my students, which I really regret. It's just the way these things go sometimes.

In Dar I had a good time because a lot of PCVs were in town. PC was also good enough to reimburse me for a lot of my losses in the theft. I didn't expect that so it was a nice surprise. After a crazy night at the weekly "Thirsty Thursday" hosted by the US embassy contingent of Marines, I left Friday morning for my new home.

I'll spread my impressions over several posts as there are so many. First of all, it is incredibly beautiful here. Lushoto is in the Usambara mountains and my school is in a beautiful valley filled with maize fields and banana trees. The school itself is beautiful and well-maintained. It is a Catholic girls' school and much of the staff are nuns. They've been very helpful, as has my second master. He even brought me into town on Sunday and bought me things like cooking utensils for the house. It was a very nice gesture. I'll be teaching math again, and should start teaching tomorrow. Today I had to come into town so I can open a bank account. It's not too hard to get into town from my site, but it's certainly not as easy as it was at my last site. Really though, I have to say overall I think I'll like this place more. It's certainly safer, it's quiet, and the school is really supportive so far. The only down side is that for the first few weeks I'm sharing my house with a couple of other people. It hasn't been a big deal so far, but having my own space to relax was pretty important to me at my last site, and I'm sure it will be at this one. A few weeks won't be bad though.

There is so much more to say about the new place. In my next few posts I'm sure I'll elaborate more. By the way, new address:

Kongei Secondary School
PO Box 61
Lushoto, Tanga, Tanzania

I'll have a lot less internet time than before, so letters would be appreciated. In fact, letters always make my day. I may be able to update this weekend.

Waiting

Well, Kenny and dad have left, so I'm back on my own. There isn't a whole lot to report about my impending move, but I'll write what I know.

It still looks like I'll go to Lushoto. One school PC was looking at didn't work out, but another looks like it will. I should know in the next day for sure. If I do go there I'll be close to some other volunteers and not far from town. If it is indeed my new site I'll post some more details about the school.

It is possible however, that this school also will not work out. If it doesn't then I will probably be send to the southern highlands. There are a lot of PCVs down there, so that could work out too. I did visit Njombe down there in November, and had a good time.

So basically it's all up in the air. Hopefully I can post again this week to write something definate. Meantime, thanks for all the comments.