Sikukuu (Holiday)

Happy Holidays folks! You know it's Xmas here when you smell pilau (spiced rice dish) spices from the jirani (neighbors). It is a food made here during the holidays. As I walked out of my flat to buy maziwa (milk) from the soko (market). The smell hit me in the face..in a good way. And as I walked I asked people Habari za Xmas? Which means literally news of Xmas..or how is Xmas. And prices for things go up here during Xmas instead of the sales that you get in the US. But I was still your happy little volunteer feeding my fellow jirani cookies and cakes (it was mango bread made with pilau spices). A few days prior some volunteers came over my place and we cooked lasagna and mango crisp (mangos are real cheap..5-10 cents each here..yup be real jealous..pineapples are 50 cents) on a kerosene jiko (stove) as there was no umeme (electricity). But do not be too jealous of the awesome fruit prices, as making lasagna here is a major feat in itself. It requires making ricotta cheese from scratch (boil milk and add lemon juice), making noodles from scratch(yummy in my tummy), and making the sauce from scratch. The only thing we had to buy was grated cheese (which almost tasted like the ricotta we made). We also went over the home of a Canadian gal who runs an NGO out here in Mbeya for a mini Xmas party complete with Secret Santa exchange. But umeme has returned and with that a volunteer who is from Korea whom I have been hanging out with. I also have met an awesome TZ gal who lives in the flats next to mine. We had some pretty interesting conversations about poor in TZ vs poor in US. Which is a foreshadow into my next topic about an interesting book I am reading which I received from a local PCV during a book swap called the Working Poor by David Shipler..about poor in America. It is interesting as they make comparisons about how poor kids in other countries can play with a tire for fun or other creative toys like taking bottles to a stick and adding wheels (which yes I have seen here in TZ) and us in America we need our Barbie dolls and Hotwheels no matter the income bracket. I am still reading the book but it shows that it is harder to be poor in America as most people live beyond their means in the States and most people have things (like cool toys, cable TV, etc) which in other countries they don't have these things even if they are middle class. Also that there are poor in America and that working hard does not necessarily mean that you get alot of money. Though being in TZ, at least I appreciate the fact that the US govt tries to help poor people with some assistance programs, they don't over here or if they do I don't see it. Anyways I am not done reading the book yet so I may be a bit premature in my assumptions as to the point of the book..but it is written really well. I do recommend it. I am going down to Tukuyu in Mbeya region for New Years Eve..till then have a great rest of the year!

Za leo?

Greetings are so important here. Most are surprised when I start talking to them and some of them don't answer back because they are surprised. A funny thing happened on the way to the market. I was walking with another Tanzanian and I said shikamoo to an old lady. She didn't respond so the Tanzania told her I said shikamoo..she looked up in surprise..because I knew that word. Yesterday on my way back from town I had many conversations along the way back home. Most of them ask where I am from and where I am teaching. The best conversation was when the security guards at the college started talking to me and trying to teach me Swahili. It was funny because the stuff they were teaching me I already knew but I tried to appease them by listening and pretending that I was learning from them. At the same time it can be time consuming to greet when you have to get somewhere fast. I feel impolite if I don't say hi because in this culture it is the thing to do..to say hi. Or when I need to get an answer fast, then I also have to take time to greet even though I want to ask a question and get a reply immediately. A totally unrelated market incident. I walked into mud so my feet were dirty. At the dala stop the woman selling fruit were so ashamed for me that they wanted to give me water to clean my feet so they offered me water that the fruit was in to wash my feet. It was a funny experience..you had to be there. Such sweet ladies. :)

The Stash..Viungo..

I found the stash..of viungo. Indian spices to be exact. If you are in Mbeya and want to know..let me know. :) I can buy toor dahl, dosa mix, etc. I am so happy..I don't have to make a trip to Morogoro or Dar to get these things. Of course finding Italian spices like basil still remains a chore. :) And I also found the Hindu temple here! An affair that is much smaller than that in Morogoro..and I thought Morogoro's temple was small.

Tools of the Trade

The man said to me, "Americans use machines for everything, in Tanzania we don't have them so things take longer". As I sat there amazed as the fundi (contractor) tried to drill a hole into cement with a hole punch (it is basically a tool that you pound a hammer on to make a hole), I found that we take drills for granted..well alot of things for granted. The simple act of washing clothes can take hours here since we do them by hand and in the States we just throw them in the machine and they are done. Why don't they use machines here? For one machines are expensive and secondly umeme (electricity) is expensive as well. So not using machines for things makes creativity important here. How can you get the job done without tools you used to rely on? Makes you think a little bit...at least for some things.

Project Engineering 101

I bet some heads perked up at this title. Yup..I am using stuff I learned in project engineering here. So what kind of things? Making sure things get done and on time, people meet commitments, they are enough resources and tools to get the job done, etc. Here in TZ they say sasa hivi which means right now..but really it is not right now as we Americans think of it, right now could mean 30 minutes to an hour later. The culture differs and the pace is different. Unfortunately I still have the American view of time as being important, but I hope to change that to adjust with life here. To learn patience and to slow down a bit..which is one of the reasons I am here out of many.

Whack on the head...

I do realize now that many things that I used to think are important or not so important. Priorities have shifted a bit..I have gained perspective. I know now that I can live simply and be happy. We want alot but we can live on what we have...which is common sense but sometimes we need a good whack on the head to realize that it is true. And this I have learned from umeme..the whack on my head so to speak. :)

The return of Umeme

So umeme (electricity) has return to my humble abode in TZ. Humble is not really a good description as my abode rocks. I spent Independence Day and Eid going to the local market in Ikuti, talking to the bibis (grandmas) at the sokoni (market), visiting jirani (neighbors) in my flat complex, learning Swahili, and visiting a co-worker's home. Most of the teachers here have gone to mark exams so I am left here all by my lonesome. I found that Ikuti has nice cheap produce but for alot of produce the markets in Uyole is much bigger and cheaper. Parachichis (avocados) are cheap here but nazi (coconuts) are expensive compared to Morogoro.

My new address

This is the school address but I can receive mail here, please start sending mail here:

Anita Ramamurthy, Peace Corps Volunteer
MIST
P.O. Box 131
Mbeya, Tanzania
Via Air Mail

Remember to keep the weight to under 4 lbs and use padded envelopes..the smaller the package the better..no custom fees!

Why I haven't yet communicated...

Went to Dar and walked around. Saw the Hindu temple there as well as the Indian district. Spent Thanksgiving dinner eating Lebanese food in Dar..had a good falafel! Next day took the long bus ride (12 hours) to Mbeya and arrived to no mattresses in my new home. Instead I got to stay at a safi hotel for the night called Paradise. Next day went shopping in town for some things and then met another volunteer who lives nearby for a Thanksgiving dinner. We didn't have power in all of the Southern Highlands (Mbeya had not had power for a week!) and all of a sudden the power came on...we had alot to be thankful for on a belated Thanksgiving day. Had a tour of the place where I work met some PhD's in engineering. Everyone is so nice and friendly, hope it stays that way. Living here has a nice feel with the kids playing outside and the mountain view from my new flat. I will post pics up as soon as I get more furniture. :)

Now there is no power again. It is amazing how much you can do with no power- we won't get power back for a whole month (a transformer is down and it affects the whole Mbeya region) which means I have to have help carrying water up 3 flights of stairs, I use candles during the night time, and that I use a kerosene stove for cooking. We have a generator at school so I have a place to charge my cell phone and very rarely use the internet. The staff that I work with is amazing full of such smart people and the families of the apt complex have been taking care of me. They really want to let kids from neighboring schools tour the facility to encourage them to grow up to be engineers. I really enjoy everyone I work with so far. There is the most amazing mama there who is full of life..she is like a mother to me already. And 2 16 year old girls who have become my friends. People here seem to have two jobs..the farm and their present job as teachers. Nearby there is mchicha and matembele growing (2 types of greens which people here eat). They have given me furniture to use and I wake up each day with the beautiful view sipping chai. Tanzania has an independence day on the 9th of Dec. So I will return back to school on the 10th. Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season. We all have alot to be thankful for. Kwa heri.