Mwezi wa kumi na mbili...

This month I spend half of it at home! I can't believe it! Besides that I met the new volunteers, they seem cool and I am sure they will be great teachers. I finally got to climb Mt Rungwe and the view from the top was beautiful..was able to see all the way to Lake Nyasa (aka Lake Malawi). We were lucky to have a clear hiking day in all the rainy days here since currently it is rainy season. It felt good to hike again, haven't been in a long time.

India and TZed

Reading this article in the NY Times I am seeing the similaraties between India and Tanzania. When I first arrived to TZ I thought it was similar..but now I am sure..the culture is the same which is a good thing if I plan on going back...I am already adjusted.

NY Times Article

Thanksgiving

Today is thanksgiving and there is alot to be thankful for. A great site, being here one year, not getting too sick, not having any major problems, and of course making the move of quitting work to be here in TZed. I think I made the right choice and I am on the correct path in life.

I have been in Mbeya for one year and I remember the first time I came how there was no electricity for weeks. I also remember how it was to meet all the previous volunteers and now these same volunteers have left. I can imagine now how they must have felt a year ago as we welcome new ones to the region. And at the same time I am trying to imagine how sad they must have felt leaving. How would it be to leave my site? I can't even begin to describe the feeling but it is like leaving a home that you may not come back to. It's not like when I left the States knowing that I would see my mom in 2 years to come (or even sooner now that I am visiting home). It's going to be different because I don't have a blood-related family to come back to, but at the same time I have the family that I created in TZ. The neighbors that treat me like their daughter, the kids that treat me like their sister, and the students and fellow teachers that treat me like their friend. I hope to come back to see them after my two years, but I don't know what the future holds for me after this commitment. And that is scary.

But for now living in the present I don't have to think about that thankfully as I have a year left, and for that I am very thankful.

Balozi

The new US ambassador to TZ came to Mbeya region! :) He had only been here in TZed for 2 weeks and already was traveling outside of Dar to the Mbeya region. He was here to see the Walter Reed foundation which is an excellent organization partnering USA and TZ to fight against HIV/AIDS. The other reason was to visit the Peace Corps volunteers in the region. On Sunday we met him and showed him a presentation of some of our work here in the region. He seems like a nice person and very enthused about helping with non-profit work which is awesome. He came to my site on Tuesday and the people at my institute liked him alot. He saw the department where I worked and met some of the heads of schools. MIST is trying to expand so they were honored that their institute was one of the few visited in the ambassador's time here.

Bday TZed Style

So for my bday my department got me a kitenge. I was laughing the whole time they sang me happy bday..it is funny to see men singing happy bday in English..they even added in the how old are you part..I think that is part of the song here. Then at night celebrated with my favorite TZ family so far..the mama carried me in her arms like I was nothing..it was a sight to see.

The Prez Has Come

So us volunteers down south have spotted the president of TZed as he makes his grand tour. Some got to meet him, me not so lucky..but I did get to attend a "beer" fest..that is some South Africans have opened a beer factory near me. Funny 'cause I don't like the stuff..but great for friends that visit! :) Maybe some day I will get a tour of the place. :) Anyways, I got to see the president speak but it was mostly about how this modern technology has come to TZed (there aren't really any manafacturing plants or industry here in TZ). Having industry like this is good for TZ because it imports most of it's processed food from Kenya, and it makes mechanical and electrical engineering students obtain jobs more easily. Here in TZed people with an undergraduate engineering degree don't make much money, those who do studied arts or business. I think it is the opposite of America. But without engineers there is no innovation in technology, so this could be a great stepping stone for Tanzania in the global market place.

Also, had some interesting forward thinking conversations with some fellow co-workers about how to budget money, which is a strange concept here as most people spend their money on day-to-day stuff without saving. I think the modern educated Tanzanians are forward thinking and that this country will prosper in the years to come.

Send-Off Party- Wedding Celebrations TZed Style

Recently I attended a send-off party in Tanzania. This happens before the wedding and after the engagement/kitchen party. It is equivalent to the time before a wedding in an Indian wedding. They had dancing (mostly to religious songs), presents, food, speeches/introductions of the families, they also had something where the bride searches for the groom, etc. The wedding traditions here seem to emulate that of Indian weddings more than American weddings. Of course with western culture coming into Africa there is a combining of the two. In wedding celebrations there is a engagement party, a kitchen party (similar to a bachelorette/wedding shower), send-off party, and the actual wedding. A kitchen party is where women get together to advise the bride of martial responsibilities and give gifts of that nature.

Umeme again..new books to be read..

So now we have increased to 3 times a week so about every other day I have no power from 9 AM till 11 PM. It doesn't hinder me too much as I try to get everything I need power for accomplished on the days I have power and before 9 AM on the days I don't have power. But besides that it forces me to read books instead of being on the computer all day. Of course as usual I visit my neighbors. Some books that I have read: Three Cups of Tea, Into Thin Air, Zahir, and various others. I am trying to look for more upbeat "junk" books but right now all I have is the well-written, somewhat philosophical variety which is nice to expand the mind but tends to leave me a bit sad.

My Community is Awesome!

Everyone is so loving and supportive of me during this time of stolen stuff and police investigations. I definitely feel the love of my neighbors, fellow co-workers, and students. And despite everything happening I am still optimistic and love working here..so I need to constantly tell them not to worry..that I am not going home. :) The first few days were a shock but I am getting back into the swing of things again, hopefully gaining momentum..you never know what life throws at you but you got to deal with it and keep on moving because it gets better. And everything falls into the past. I think that is why I am all about memories and not about material possessions. I would rather have experiences than physical objects-because of this value system it helps me recover in times like these when physical property and money are stolen. 'Cause when I look back in life I want to feel as though I have fulfilled what I wanted to accomplish. But for this to happen, of course, everyone must have their basic needs met and I feel as at least my basic needs are met.

Harusi

There is a wedding at the institute so I helped in cooking food yesterday. It was awesome to feel the energy as we used wood and big pots to cook food instead of electric stoves that most people have here. I think it was due to the fact yesterday was a non-umeme day. But at that moment I felt how it probably feels to live in a village..I can say I totally like the community feeling. I visit my neighbors alot when I am at site and actually like doing that but I have always been like that even back home in the States..it's my personality. And I enjoy cooking with everyone..cooking should be a social event. :)

Tangazo..

So for two days a week I have no power from 9 AM to 11 PM due to shortage of electricity here in TZed. It is the end of the dry season and until the rains start we probably won't have constant electricity (we use hydro-electric power here). It's nice because I get to make consistent use of my kerosene stove finally...

But on a better note the institute is planning to install water tanks so that we can get constant water instead of water just 3 times a day. I don't mind getting water only 3 times a day but when I have guests it tends to be a problem.

I Feel Like I Am In A Mystery Novel...

It's a combination of alot of things but I feel like I am in a mystery novel. Maybe it's the old James Bond movies I recently watched or the dealing with the stolen laptop. It's horrible to be suspicious of everyone that you love with your heart. I realize in going through this experience it is not getting the stuff back that is most important but for me it is the questions that I have... What is the motive? How did they get it done? That is what is fascinating me right now as I try to contemplate many scenarios. And I recently discussed with my friend to be a good theif you must be a good planner, and planning is something that I like to do so how the criminal mind works interests me. Of course it would be nice to get the stuff back...

My Life at this Moment

Teaching computers to bachelor level and ordinary level students, getting the ICT conference off the ground, dealing with stolen laptop/money, getting rid of rats in my home, preparing to run the Moshi Kili Marathon in Feb 2010, and preparing to take the GMATs sometime next year. Also hanging out with neighbors & attending various student events like New Student Day, Graduation, and various sports competition.

A-Town and Iringa

I visited Arusha before my climb and I stayed at Ujamaa Hostel near Fire Road. I totally recommend staying there, it is very homey and the people are awesome. In Arusha a good pizza place is Albero's- they had a wood fired oven. And Meat King has cheese and also sells Pesto. There was also some good veggie samosas at a Raha's veggie snacks place in Arusha. I took the Hood bus from Mbeya to Arusha to arrive at 2 AM in A-Town...it was a long journey so on the way back I stopped over in Iringa. I stayed at VETA in Iringa which has nice rooms for cheap and then went over to Neema Crafts for good food- veggie lasagna and passion fruit ice cream and some stuff to bring back home in Dec. Also got some quilted kitenge bags aka Iringa bags for 5000 TSH each. :) Iringa and Arusha has some good dairy yogurt products.

Climbing Kili..I passed the test!

So I made it to the top of Kilimanjaro though it wasn't without some struggles. Here is the following info about the trip and tips too. I hiked the 8 day Lemosho route with Duma Explorer. It is not easy due to altitude and I don't know if I would do it again. But I am glad I did it (I don't regret it) and am proud of getting to the top.

I took with me hiking poles (recommended), 3 fleece shirts- Old Navy, 3 pairs of Patagonia capillene long underwear (top/bottom)-midweight, 2 fleece pants- Old Navy, 1 set of wind/raingear (top/bottom)- REI, 2 short sleeve running t-shirts, 1 pair of quick dry hiking pants- Patagonia, fleect hat- Old Navy, fleece scarf- Old Navy, fleece neck gaiter- Old Navy, 3 fleece gloves- Old Navy, 1 waterproof mittens- Old Navy, 5 pairs of wool socks- Smartwool, 1 pair of backpacking Gortex boots- EMS Summit GTX Women's, 1 pair trail runners- Gortex Salome, Petzl Tikka headlamp, extra batteries, digital camera, GU Energy Gel (for summit night), Diamox, daily contact lenses, 0 degree down Women's Sleeping bag (Marmot), Down Jacket with hood-Mtn Hardware, and other stuff. I used all the clothes I brought during the 8 day hike. I used the trail runners the first 4 days of the hike and on the last day. I used the backpacking boots all other days including the summit attempt.

I took Diamox 125 mg twice a day starting the day before the trip. Took it for first 4 days and then started taking 250 mg twice a day and took the last dose the night of the summit attempt. Took it during breakfast and dinner- experienced nausea, dizziness and slight tingling of fingers during the days I took Diamox. Summit attempt got a bad headache but once I started drinking more water it went away. Tried to drink at least 3 liters of water a day- normally I never drink water. Took lots of Chocolate flavored caffeine enhanced GU every 1-2 hours during the summit attempt till the sun came out and then I had energy again.

The hike overall is not too bad in terms of technical difficulty. There are some parts like Barranco Wall with scrambling and some parts where short people really need trekking poles to go up and down. The major difficulty is altitude and you really need to force yourself to go slowly to acclimatize. On summit night the major difficulty is exhaustation (not enough sleep during the day) and altitude. The going is steep but you are going slow so you don't feel your muscles hurting as much.

Preparation wise I ran 3 times a week about 5 miles each time in hilly terrain and I live at 1700 meters. The 2 months before I did not do any physical activity but living in Tanzania you are forced to walk everywhere so I think this helped. Also the fact that I had good physical fitness previously (I am able to run 13 miles without stopping and ran a marathon the previous year) helped even though I didn't run as much. Also I didn't get to do any day hikes on the weekends.

What really helps if you want to reach the top is doing a longer climb to acclimatize, and having good guides who set a good slow pace and give you help if needed during the climb. Diamox helped as well at least for me and drinking lots of water. Having some basic level of fitness is also important.

Climbing Kili..

So this is it..next week I am put to the test. I have to admit I didn't study hard for this test. Hopefully I'll pass and make it to the top with no problems. I will let you know the results in 2 weeks. Wish me luck!

It's Been Awhile...

yes it has...alot has happened..but just want to let you know that I am still alive and having fun. :) In a few short weeks I am climbing Kili the Lemosho route..wish me luck. And in December I will be back in the States for 2 weeks. I can't believe it has been a year! It sure has gone by fast since I first came to TZ...

Zambia- Victoria Falls

Went to see Victoria Falls this week 8/3-8/7. Took bus from Mbeya to Tunduma/Nakonde border. Took a Juldan Motors bus from Nakonde to Lusaka and then boarded a Muzhandu Family Bus from Lusaka to Livingstone. Stayed at Jolly Boys Hostel. And had good Italian food at Olga's Kitchen (an Italian NGO teaching local boys Fundi type skills)- totally recommend the restaurant.

Victoria Falls was an awesome site to see. Also went on a Sunset Cruise which was alot of fun and very pretty along the river. We saw some giraffees and hippos. Zambia is more developed than TZ but I think that is because it is a part of Southern Africa and the places we went were more touristy. Though I will have to say the buses are definitely nicer in Zambia.

Girls Conference and Other stuff..

I haven't posted much about our girls empowerment conference which happened at my institute from June 14th-20th. It went well with 63 girls coming from over 7 schools. We taught them about HIV/AIDS, computers, income generation, goal setting, confidence building, etc. Nothing went horribly wrong though there were some major challenges along the way. And some of the volunteers made the national news (TV and newspaper). All in all it was a success! :)

In July I travelled around TZed because I had to attend some meetings for Peace Corps, so I got to see my host mama in Morogoro again and that was great. Also spent a few days in Dar- still don't know it well but had some amazing experiences along Kisutu St (Hindu Temple Street).

Msimba

Just went to a funeral this past week for a worker from the institute. He was one of those who always teased me in a joking way about the way I pronounce certain words in Kis. So it was sad that as I pass the halls I will no longer hear his voice. Apparently he died of heart failure but there is rumors that he was also HIV positive. Funerals in Tanzania are attended by all, man and woman are seperate for the procession and before the procession. Before the procession women gather in a room crying and singing and men gather seperately doing what I don't know as I am not a man. Men wear normal clothes but women cover their lower body by wrapping around a kanga or kitenge(a piece of cloth) over their clothes (whether they are wearing pants or skirts underneath). Wrapping it like a sarong of sorts. And some also cover their heads. There is no wearing of black clothing- that is a Western tradition. On another note HIV positive men in TZ tend to be (but not always) those with money as they can afford to obtain certain things certain ways- which saddens me as some of these wealthy men prey on innocent girls who can't afford school fees (these men are known as Fataki). It is the opposite of the US- those with education and power here tend to get the disease. Which strengthens my stance on the girls conference coming up in a few weeks.

Love is in the Air

Spring is a time for love and same with summer..but alas it is not spring nor summer here but almost winter. How I forget that! It is funny when talking with Tanzanians I reference June, July and August as summer and they look at me strange, then I realize my mistake..ha ha. :) It is winter here! It is getting cold!! And coming home to the States in December I will be missing a part of summer here and heading to winter again. :(
On a brighter note...the girls conference planning is going well..we just got our conference uniforms..periwinkle blue! :)
I just started teaching a short course to fellow teachers about basic applications hoping to get them to start grading their final grades using an Excel spreadsheet. And of course creating webpages, creating lectures using PowerPoint, learning Matlab, and typing faster. :)
And I realize how much the sound of our voice is due to the language we speak..the tone the inflection..I try to sound Tanzanian..but I still sound American. :)

Curriculum Review and BarCamp Mbeya

Last weekend I participated in a Curriculum Review at the institute..it is interesting to see where the institute is trying to reach in order to be competitive in the global world. I had to present current curriculum changes to the group and then a bunch of us got together to talk about a new curriculum for ICT. It is also great to see that teachers here are into research..one of them is interested in tele-medicine. And great to network with different groups around Mbeya. Doing this sort of networking opened up our eyes and we plan on hosting a BarCamp Mbeya August 22nd at the Mbeya Institute of Science and Technology. Karibu MIST!

Mei Mosi

Labour Day was fun! It was great to be part of a celebration and interesting to exchange the fact that in America Labor Day is celebrated in September. They were surprised that not everyone celebrates Labour Day on May 1st. I saw my first fire truck demo and first fire truck for that matter that day. It was from China which prompted me to ask about an emergency 911 type system..they apparently have it but no one knows the number. And that day I was Tanzanian. And even now more and more of my community accepts me as one of theirs. It is funny once a stranger called me mzungu (foreigner) and a fellow TZ said she's not a mzungu she is my friend, or some will say daughter. Nice huh?

Right now we are marking exams, which I tend to get done faster but I think it is because English is my first language so I can read the student's exams quicker and thus mark quicker. And I have started to offer short courses to teach fellow teachers such skills as PowerPoint, Excel and even creating Websites so they can use these tools in their jobs. Some know it already but not well so they are open to the fact to learn these tools and it is the best time for such training as the only students left are bachelor's students and they are very few. Also I invited some students to my house for pizza, most Tanzanians don't like cheese so I put very little on their side of the pizza but that is ok because I like it alot. :) And the nice thing is my previous students that are going for summer internships have been dropping by my home or even texting me to say goodbye..makes me feel loved..as a teacher of course. :) And no I am not an easy teacher..I prefer to be tough..but I think I do put alot of effort into learning and I think the students like that. I hope to see some of them in the States one they..I hope they can get there..it would be awesome!

Currently I am busy planning the Girls conference..a month left to go! Hope it goes well..many women in my community are interested in helping out..hopefully they mean it.

Bachelor's Degree

It feels good to be teaching bachelor degree students. They are definitely more motivated and interested in the topic and I like it alot! I am teaching them C programming right now, and will be teaching them C++ or Java in September. Other than that, this week consisted of trying to get the Windows NT Server to act as a router and then also helping out with some JavaScript menus on the institute's website (it is definitely going to be a change compared to the old one).

Next week is May Moisi festival (TZ's Labour Day on May 1st)and will be celebrated at a local stadium in Mbeya mjini (town/city), so we are busy at the institute preparing for that. And we are going to plan more on the girl's conference this coming weekend. I plan to climb Kilimanjaro the end of September and beginning of October using the Lemosho route using Duma Explorer as the tourguide (reaching the summit during a full moon). Hope to make it to the top..we'll see. And I have formally submitted my vacation for Zambia so I am definitely going in the beginning of August.

I am currently looking at my future after I get back..some possible choices: becoming a teacher (getting a teaching certificate), getting a PhD in Engineering and Public Policy, or getting an MBA. I want to focus on international development in regards to education or engineering. Or using engineering to help educate..something along those lines..of course doing this by using computers. I realize that I like the academic environment because I have always loved learning something new, when I am in this type of environment I feel excited. Anyways..that is just what is in my head for now. I don't think it will change too much.

Heri ya Pasaka!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. This past week was spent marking exams and also deciding on whether or not I am teaching bachelor degree classes. Also this coming week is the last week of lecture and next week finals! Though I am teaching bachelor degree classes starting next week, which means no real big break this year except for a week in August (where I plan on going to Victoria Falls in Zambia but have not finalized that yet) and a few weeks in December (where I may climb Kilimanjaro). The Saturday before Easter I visited Matema Beach for the day. It was an interesting trip up where I rode in an ambulance Land Rover (they had room). Along the way the driver stopped to show cocoa pods and palmero (a type of grapefruit). Cocoa pods once you open them up have a sweet, slimy candy like lining around the beans. So I sucked on a few and spitted out the bean. The bean is bitter and did not smell like chocolate. The water was warm, but unfortunately not clear enough for snorkelling though they say during the dry season (from June-Oct) and January/February timeframe has clear water and warm weather. If you ever do stay in Matema I recommend you stay at the Luthern Beach Center (it seemed cheap though cold showers I am told). I had a nice latte and some pizza at the Beach Center. It was great to have real coffee again. To go to Matema take a dala from Mbeya to Kyela and if you arrive before noon you can take a bus from Kyela straight to Matema about 7500 TZ shillings at most one way. The nice thing is that it is possible for me to head to the beach and back in a day or weekend! :)

Don't want to go home..'Cause I am home

This past month I was realizing that it has been 6 months and soon before I know it will be next December! I can't imagine going home, to me right now I feel like I am home. I was trying today to think how it would be to be in the States..how would I remember Tanzania? Would the memory fade eventually? Will I have changed my perspective on life in the States? Would I wander the world for the rest of my life? These questions are unanswered, but at least you know what is on my mind and maybe you can provide some insight.

Busy Bee

I came back to school on Saturday and was thrown into a whirlwind of activity. The day I came back there was a student government ceremony for the newly elected government. My favorite student won the position of vice president! So as soon as I put my stuff in my room, I went to the ceremony. It was all in Swahili so I did not understand most of it, but I am getting better at picking out words and ones I don't know. The good thing about attending such events in Swahili is that it has the potential for me to learn new vocabulary and getting better at listening to the spoken word. Afterwards there was dancing. When I came to use the internet it seemed the school switched to wireless, yet the way they did it was inefficient they should have bought routers instead they bought access points. So now there are only 30 or so IP addresses for everyone!

On Thursday, the Japanese volunteer and I celebrated his 38th bday. We made pizza and had some Konyagi (which is the local gin/vodka made from papaya). And we made passion fruit bread! It is good stuff and while I am in Tanzania I am trying to make things that I normally can't get for cheap in the States (like passion fruit, mangos, pineapples). Though right now it is pear season (they taste crispy like Asian pears found in the States) which means pie time! Also, I went with a Tanzanian girl who works at my school to a local tailor whom she trusts, hopefully the dresses turn out good and I have found a good tailor in my neck of the woods! I know a good one in Morogoro, just not here as this is the first time I am visiting one in Mbeya to make dresses. The few days before that we had to prepare stuff for the party for the opening of the new bachelor programs at our institute

The opening was yesterday (Friday), and it was a big deal and probably felt like a weekend day (and it was the most fun I have had here in terms of at work). The day started early and we prepared exhibitions for our diffferent depts to show to the guest of honor- the Minister of Science and Technology of Tanzania! So I prepared stuff on the webpage design club that we have made for students and others in my dept prepared stuff related to what they were working on. Then we had a ceremony which had a dance troupe that did Cirque de Soleil type acts and did some traditional mcheza ngoma (drumming and dancing). The best part was the minister spoke about how there were not enough girls in technology and how we should encourage girls by going to surrounding secondary schools and primary schools. Which is awesome because that is the point of the girls conference at MIST! And it is also one of the things I would like to happen is for women from the institute to go to local schools, so maybe because the minister said it there will be more encouragement with that project.

Lastly we had good food and they had my favorite peas and coconut milk with a spaghetti flavored with pilau spices. It is funny how everyone knows I am vegetarian by now. :) After that I became team manager for the employee soccer team at school (which mostly consisted of being the doctor, and spraying people with heat spray). So I sat down to watch the soccer tournament of employees vs bachelor/advanced diploma students. I had fun cheering them on, but it was a close game and my team lost. :( The Japanese volunteer played for the employee soccer team and he even scored a goal! Afterwards the Japanese volunteer and I followed some students to the social club at the institute and played table tennis. We also talked to another worker about climbing Mbeya Peak sometime.

Unlike most volunteers I don't get the week of Easter as vacation as school ends the week of April 15th! Originally I was planning on attending a Boy's Conference down in the Ruvuma region but it looks like I won't be able to attend it next weekend. Time is sure flying by fast..it's already almost April!

March pics are up:Pics

IST

We had in-service training at Njombe. This was my first time to that area and I will say it is beautiful. If you are ever in Njombe get the Provolone Cheese at the Duka la Maziwa- pretty good for Tanzanian made cheese. Doesn't exactly taste like Provolene but is better than their other cheeses and is good on pizza (better than the Njombe Mozzerella)! Stock up if you have a freezer, if you don't I think if you are in a cold enough climate it should keep. The Duka la Maziwa is a project between the Njombe district and some Italian NGOs. So if you ever visit that region and you are white, you will be greeted with a chorus of 'Ciao'. A good place to eat pizza that was close by to the Nazareth Youth Center was the A.R.M. Hotel. The Youth Center (where we stayed) was beautiful and nice hot water showers with good pressure..better than mine. They also had rosemary growing!

Besides that training was tiring and long but it was good to see people and to have information on Girls Empowerment, Gardening, and HIV/AIDS. The highlights of training for me were Girls Empowerment, teaching about HIV at a local elementary school, and learning about Permaculture. But the best part of course was seeing everyone from training! For fun we had a Murder Mystery dinner, picnic at a waterfall nearby, PCV brewed wine, and nightly game/movie nights (using the projector or cramming in someone's room).

We did an exercise about HIV/AIDS and it is interesting to see how religious Tanzanians are compared to Americans. They are certainly more religious and don't believe in condoms but they believe in abstinence or being faithful..though in reality most do not practice that in Tanzania..at least from what I have seen. I don't know if the belief in not using condoms stemmed from the fact that the Pope visited and declared condoms ineffective or because they actually believed that. And they also believed that HIV was created in a lab in America. But some of the more biologically educated Tanzanians did not believe such things, but the rest of the educated ones did. Certainly our viewpoints did not agree, I accept that they have different beliefs but that does not mean I agree with them. The funny thing is that they learn about HIV and prevention (birth control) in their equivalent of high school but they don't believe in it; though I guess it is like learning evolutionary theory in biology in the States and some religions in America not believing in that either. Now let us talk about the Pope and his decree that condoms are ineffective. Though I see his point in that abstinence and being faithful are the keys to prevention and not condoms, that is not the reality in Tanzania at least. In Tanzania you see poor girls you can't pay for school fees preyed on by older man who can give them money, you sometimes even see martial affairs being acceptable. So before the Pope makes such a decree I advise him to first see the state of affairs in a country, you can't change culture but you can prevent disease.

Mwezi wa tatu..

I can't believe it's March already! I have been in TZ about 6 months, yet it feels so natural to me. So many things have happened. First we submitted our grant to get funding for the Girls Empowerment Conference. Cross your fingers because I hope it gets approved. So far my school has responded positively. I had to put on my project engineering hat and "grease the wheels" as Rosato would say. So in addition to submitting a letter for the formal processes at the institute, I informally talked to the management to let them know what is going on and they gave their approval. So far the institute has agreed to give us facilities and rooms for 70 people! MIST rocks! Also, talking to faculty here they are very interested in this conference, mostly women but some men as well. Also, have gotten quotes on food and it looks reasonable. Definitely budgeting, resource allocation, stakeholders, milestone/goal setting, etc. is all coming to play here.

And here at the Computer Department we are thinking of getting local orphans to come by to show them about computers. Maybe the vision of a community service club here at MIST will happen. If other teachers are involved it will certainly be sustainable. Maybe IPT (like summer internships) can be done to help the community..a thought. But another thought was that we could use IPT as a way to get companies to come here for a career fair next year. Too many ideas, hopefully enough time to get people interested to make it sustainable.

I had an interesting discussion with the principal of the institute this past week, it definitely feels like an executive's office when I enter his office and when I talk to him. He does stuff with Habitat for Humanity..apparently he is a Structural Civil Engineer and helps that NGO with surveying for available infrastructure. They will be having a project on Zanzibar, I wish them luck.

This past week I have definitely been happy because I love planning things, as one student noticed last night at the debate club (the fact that I was happier than usual). And I can even joke with the students. Though I had an exam this past week and some students cheated again. It breaks my heart. I know they do this because if they fail they have no career and they take 15 different subjects a semester, so they cheat to pass so they can get a job in the future..but this doesn't make it right. They need to learn ethics and consequences, I try to tell them about the consequences but they don't understand (or maybe it's my English). I had an interesting debate on this with some staff in the computer department to learn the other side of the story of why students cheat. And also some debates with some of my smarter, ethically minded students as well. Last night I certainly learned alot at debate club..more about the history of TZ and Zanzibar union, though they were surprised that I knew about it, and cheating at the institute.

Oh and the students had a strike because of food. Which is totally different than the States! Can you imagine college striking because of bad cafeteria food? Every college in the States would be striking. :) Anyways it was pretty funny to me..but it wasn't scary or anything. I think there was a deeper issue than food.

I am going to Njombe for 2 weeks. Don't worry..no news is good news.

I Know This is Home..

This feels like home to me. I can be me- ni kweli- it's true- I can joke with and tease my neighbors using Swahili and English. I feel so comfortable with them and I don't feel like I am putting on a facade. I feel like I am part of the community. I can visit neighbors at any time. When I am sick they care. The old mamas greet me as though I was their daughter- various neighbors have told me I am like a daughter to them..binti yangu..my daughter they call me..some even reference the song "Anita" by Matonya saying Anita wangu..my Anita. I have friends around my age that are Tanzanian. I have mentors in the female Tanzanian professors. Various neighbors want to actually learn how to make cookies and cakes from me. Students are my friends and some of them like a younger brother/sister but at the same time I am their teacher as well. When my neighbors see me they offer me beans from their farms. It is bean harvesting time here, I have so many fresh beans (the beans are in pods) offered by my neighbors that I think I will be eating wali and maharage (rice and beans) forever- which I don't mind as I don't eat meat. If you have any recipes involving beans email them to me..I will try and make enchiladas, chili, minestrone, maybe even some more red bean buns...

Kuwa na Moyo- Have Heart

Even if one needs one will give- this is so true. I was greeting a local farm worker the other day, she knows me pretty well. She showed me a bag of beans and 2 mangos and said "kupe" which means give you. So she gave me those items, I felt so bad as she could have sold them and made some money instead of giving it to me for free. . Later I was hiking Loleza peak with a student and I related my story to him. He said that there is a Swahili proverb about the heart and even if one is in need they give. I don't remember the exact proverb otherwise I would write it down. Tanzanian people here have so much generosity, even if they don't have they give. When I visit people's houses I am not intending on being fed, but they feed me even if they weren't expecting me. You would never see this in the States. You can see here community is important.

Sasa Hivi, Bado Kidogo and other TZ Sayings/Doings

So here in Tanzania they say sasa hivi or bado kidogo..when really it is not right now or just a little bit longer..it is sometimes 30 or more mins longer! Why do they say that you ask? Because they don't want you to lose hope. They feel if they say it is not too much longer than you will think that it will happen at some point and it is not never going to happen. But in a sense you lose hope because you know that it won't happen right now. I am bad explaining this feeling, but you will know what I mean if you experience it. But I guess it is like in the US when we say, "one minute"..instead of something taking one minute it actually is 5-10 mins..kinda like sasa hivi..right now..

We'll see each other tomorrow if God wishes. This is self explanatory. They love to say this to me when we end our day.

Be free. Meaning don't worry about being polite just do what you want to do, we are family so we don't care about formalities.

This one is not a saying but an action. Raising your eyebrows means yes. This is going to get take some getting used to and I can forsee if I get into this habit it will be hard for me not to do it once I get back in the States. Though for now my reaction is to laugh whenever I see this though it confuses the person saying the yes with raised eyebrows. In the States raised eyebrows usually means confusion or asking the question "What?" or "what did you say?"...so when I see it I want to repeat my question when in fact I should keep my mouth shut because they said yes. :)

Kuwa kali kwa sababu wasichana wanaweza!

On the 13th of Feb I attended a NGO meeting that some fellow health volunteers in the region organized. It was regarding HIV/AIDS and what we can do to help the NGOs promote their organization and to help them with teaching prevention to citizens. The other facet was to help people who have HIV/AIDS learn useful skills..this is where I can help..one of the useful skills they want to teach is computer skills in order to help people with this disease get jobs. They want to build a computer lab in mjini in order to teach these skills. I hope that we can do it and I definitely will give any knowledge I have to make this happen.

But the 13th of Feb brought a topic I was totally excited about and knew I could help with: Girls Empowerment Conference. The health volunteers wanted to get the girls around them preferably in Form 1 or Standard 7 (like 6th or 5th grade) to come to a venue to learn about life skills. They plan on doing this in June and I offered the idea as the institute as a place where we can have it. They want to teach them about careers, life skills, and their bodies and HIV/AIDS (many girls in poverty resort to getting money by other ways). We can also let them play computer games as many of these girls probably have very little access to computers. I have spoken to various women professors at the institute and they are excited about the idea and willing to help. My neighbor is one of these women and she is one of 2 female professors that attended a conference on how to counsel young girls so I can definitely see her having an impact. The director of studies (DOS) is also a woman and she is excited to help to get more females interested in math. She feels that math is the simplest of sciences and most gals feel like it is hard but if you can tell them it is not that hard and make exciting activities you can gain their interest. We were talking about involving female students at the institute in these activities in order to let the young girls see girls that they can relate to like themselves. I have written a letter to the principal to request use of the facility and hostels and I think the response will be positive.

Also those two professors and I were talking about starting a women's group here at the institute beginning with a study skills and mentorship session during orientation week to retain female students at the institute- kind of like SWE or WISE. Also about having female students and professors going to local secondary schools in the area to show them that girls can be scientists and that science is fun in order to attract girls to enroll in the institute.

The DOS showed me some research she did on the number of women entering the institute. Apparently they started offering a short course to people before attending the institute to teach people math skills if their math was poor. If they pass the course then they may be accepted at the institute. She was showing me that because of this course there are more female students here, but because some can't afford it they were trying to get some scholarships so they can allow these females to attend this course for free. I am so excited for this positive response from various teachers here. I feel like this will be a sustainable activity because there is this interest and motivation.

I am doing my little part in trying to befriend the various female students around here..though they aren't as talkative to me as the male students are. Hopefully having cooking parties and running with these girls will let them open up to me more. As we pound up those hills and they start to quit because they are tired the Anita Hitler in me (my former running partner Elena G has coined the Anita Hitler nickname in endearment of course :) ) tells them "Kuwa kali kwa sababu wasichana wanaweza!"...be fierce because girls can! :)

Cultural Exchange Through Cooking and Hiking

On Sunday the 22nd, I went hiking with that fellow student in addition to that saying about heart (see a previous post) we talked about listening, respect and tolerance. We were talking about this in regards to the student debate club. The guy was saying that he watched CNN and he was amazed that when they debate that they actually wait for one another to talk before talking (well they do to some effect). At the debate club at school the students try to rile up the debater by interrupting him/her before he/she finishes. This is because in secondary school they did this to have fun, but he thinks in their culture people like to put one another down when arguing to say that their point is right. I told him though in order to be effective at debate, you need to listen to the other person in order to prove their points wrong (you can do this once you know their reasoning behind their points) and in order to come up with a solution or compromise. So we both agreed that respecting and tolerating someone's opinion by listening and not just saying you are right without reason is the best way to become better at debating. And that got us on a different topic of cultural exchange when it comes to being on time as many students aren't on time for these debates. As a different student keeps telling me "There is no hurry in Tanzania". Tanzanians aren't punctual in general but those in the States are. So if someone was doing business with the States they should know that one should be on time. But at the same time an American should be tolerant of Tanzanians when they show up half an hour to an hour late.

On Saturday the 21st I had the students that I run with at my house in order to teach them to cook "American" food. We made egg noodles (from scratch) with pasta sauce, garlic bread, and peanut butter cookies. I showed them oregano and basil and they died and went to heaven when they bit into peanut butter cookies... We also talked, danced, sang, and I got to know them better. I am trying to get the token guy student that runs with us interested in cooking so far he tells me that I should teach him how to make peanut butter cookies. I plan on teaching them to make pizza next! :)

Conflict Resolution Management

I am not a conflict resolution manager or career counselor but last week I felt like one. The head of dept was letting a teacher know about something that he didn't like about this guy's performance. So he calls me into the room with the other guy because he felt like I was a third party and could give objective advice. Myself, though, I felt very uncomfortable because I did not want to offend either party by my advice. But in the end I successfully managed to give advice that didn't offend any of them by telling them that it all boiled down to communication. My advice consisted of the following:

A manager needs to communicate announcements timely to his subordinates and his subordinates should not be afraid to tell the manager when they could not complete a task. If you can't complete something you should communicate and tell the manager you can't get it done instead of not saying anything. If you don't say anything then the manager will think you didn't even start the task and he or she will get annoyed at you or even think you are performing poorly, when in fact you did start the task you just could not get it done. Also one should tell the manager about any problems one is facing so that if one needs help the manager can help find the resources in order to get the task done. At the same time a manager needs to create a friendly environment so that his subordinates aren't afraid to tell him any problems. I am thinking in this case the culture in TZ is to not be direct so as not to offend anyone so I am guessing the guy was afraid to tell the head he couldn't get his task done for that reason. But the head went to school abroad so he has adopted this direct manner of communication so he expected his subordinate to be direct with him. Open, honest communication- it is important in the world. But at the same time understanding culture matters in order to work effectively with one another.

V-Day

We made a Chinese New Year dinner at my house (yeah we celebrated it kinda late) complete with red bean buns, stir fried egg noodles (a la longevity noodles), and spinach/ginger dumplings. It was a definite yummy delight. Later that night we watched as students participated in an English debate club. Hope everyone had a valentine's day filled with friendship or love..whichever the case may be.

Engineering and Science

Last night the mama I was talking to was telling me about how engineers in TZ are not awarded for their hard work so most TZ people end up going into the arts and commerce as it is easier to study and they end up making more. There were more details to the talk, but I can't go into it here on my blog. Today afternoon some other woman was telling me the same thing and that she would like to change that, she would like to see more and more students go into science and engineering. And to that effect she would like the government to encourage this by creating more research opportunities and to encourage secondary students to go into math/science.

On that note I found these opportunities for higher learning institutions to get funds after talking to the mama about USAID, this is especially important here in TZ. The institute I work at might have a computer lab but here they have no where near the equipment that higher institutions of learning have in the States:

http://www.africa-initiative.org/

http://cit.aed.org/center.htm

http://hedprogram.org/

Ndiyo wasichana wanaweza!

So on Monday no one showed up for running except the guy. He apologized and today morning 2 out of the 3 gals (these are the faster women runners at the institute) showed up! We ran about 8 kilometers and it was awesome! I really want to encourage them to keep it up and I really want us to run in Moshi next year. In TZ running is not the norm..it is not like Kenya or neighboring African countries. Women are not running here as there is some stigma with it..I haven't understood it though as it is not seen as a bad thing..just not done. So for that reason I want to encourage these gals to run for health and for competition. Although some of these gals run in jeans or shoes that are too tight. If anyone out there has any old running clothes or running shoes that they no longer use (as long as they aren't broken)..please send them my way! Let me know by email...I think there are flat rate boxes for $11 to send international stuff in. My address is to the right.

On another note, yesterday I invited my neighbor to my house and I cooked us Indian food. I plan on eating with her again tonight as she is staying alone like me (she is a mama..older than me) because her daughter is in boarding school. We had some interesting conversations..she is an electrical engineering lecturer at the school and she raised her children on her own (she has 2). She put her daughter in the best boarding school because she thinks if a girl goes to day school than they can get into trouble (lot of men chase after them)..so it is better for a gal to go to an all girls boarding school so there is no trouble. Like I said this woman is awesome and she is a modern woman. I seem to meet alot of them around where I live but it is not suprising because I teach at the institute.

There is another couple that I visit frequently both have PhDs with a strong woman in the family. The man is so funny because he complains that his wife is so busy working (she has a high position at the institute) that she doesn't have time to cook for him. But he is joking..of course, I can see that he loves her. :) And she doesn't put up with his joking, she is a strong woman and stands up for herself. At the same time he cooks or helps around the house sometimes when she is busy. They remind me of some people close to me in the States...

Pili Pili Sauce

Another favorite of mine. Cut up an onion, a few cloves of garlic, and a small piece ginger. Fry the onions in oil till brown. Add ginger and garlic and fry till cooked. Add a tomato or unripe green mango (I use the unripe green mango for a different kick). When tomato or mango has cooked down add hot peppers to your desired liking. Squeeze a juice of one lemon. Cook for 5 more minutes. Your pili pili hot sauce is useable with all things now. Taste real good with rice and beans!

Pumpkin Leaves with Peanut Sauce

So I really like this recipe and if you can get this at home try it out..it's a recipe here in TZ..but I think it applies to alot of countries in South/East Africa as they eat something similar. Usually you are supposed to grind peanuts but I just dissolve one tablespoon of chunky peanut butter in a cup of hot water (preferably the water you boil the pumpkin leaves in) since I don't have a blender. You need about 5 stalks of pumpkin leaves, 1 tomato, 1/2 an onion, and 1 Tbsp of peanut butter. Remove veins from pumpkin leaves and chop off any tough parts to the stem. Then cut the leaves in ribbons and finely chop the stems. Cover and boil it in water with salt for 5 mins. Drain the leaves. Reserve 1 cup of the liquid and mix with 1 Tbsp of peanut butter. Chop onions. Peel the tomato and chop. In a seperate pan fry the onions in oil when brown, add the tomatoes. When it begins to look like a sauce (tomatoes cook down), add the peanut liquid. Add salt to taste. Boil for a minute and add the pumpkin leaves. Boil until liquid is reduced. Serve with rice..yum!

Research

This weekend I attended a workshop at my institute turns out they want to do more research here so they were talking about writing a proposal, coming up with an idea, collaboration, etc. At the end of the discussion it was our turn to come up with research topics that people were interested in. Some research topics were more like projects like getting a better road to the university (a civil engineering project), but some were very good like sustainable renewable energy...it seems everyone all over the globe is interested in this topic. Some other ones were more social in nature like preventing poverty, having a better infrastructure in Tanzania, preventing HIV/AIDS, etc. As I participated I realized I am not in a normal PC assignment: the people around me are all educated, they all are able to eat meat every night with their meal, they all have progressive thinking and optimism that they will succeed in life and that they can achieve higher goals, etc. In a way my assignment doesn't have the frustrations that most volunteers are facing but at the same time I have the little ones like things not getting done in time, things that are comitted to get done are not always executed, etc. I don't know whether to be happy or sad about this..in one aspect it would be nice to be able to have little and make a big change (though how realistic a big change would be is very uncertain..but at least a small change would be nice)..but in another it is nice to be here and to know that there is this side to TZ..that there exists people who have such thinking to want a better way of life and who are willing to execute in order to achieve their goals. And it is refreshing to see that the stereotype of Africa being undeveloped is not entirely true. If someone told me to live here for good, I probably could do it though I would miss my family back home.

Computer Club

So yesterday I had my first computer club meeting which all the computer engineering students attended. In this meeting I taught them basic html some seemed to get the hang of it and some were slower but eventually caught on. I know I definitely need to slow down the pace of my English..especially when I am excited (in a good way)..when I teach I am excited so it tends to get too fast. I thought I would have problems with speaking in front of 50 kids but really I am very comfortable at doing this, I think part of the reason is that I am teaching not giving a boring presentation and they are all here with the intention of learning..or maybe because it is because I have authority as a teacher..I don't know what it is. Anyways I plan on teaching them Java Script next week. The computer engineering program is new at the institute so these are the first kids to graduate from this program. I will be there for their graduation. They will start learning computer programming as a class for their program next year but I am hoping in teaching them Java Script I can give them a head start in the basic constructs needed in programming (like control statements and variables). The culmination of all this is to have them start a student website for their computer engineering program. We will see where this takes us. For now they need to learn these concepts. I finally had to finish teaching because the electricity went off so with that they left.

On my way home the student who I befriended was so surprised that these computer engineering students actually wanted to attend this class even though it is not required for their program and he was surprised that I was teaching it (he thought I was working too hard). I told him I enjoy teaching but he now wants to learn this work ethic of mine (putting in effort and trying hard). He was surprised that I was not complaining or tired and I was happy to teach. Maybe I can teach students about work ethic by example. I do want to start teaching them a resume writing and interview skills workshop of sorts to help prepare them for getting jobs in the future.

Like I said many ideas..the nice thing about being here is that I can create and execute my ideas without having lots of red tape. As long as they don't require money I can do it, they just require time and I have lots of time to give.

Students Rule..well sorta

So many new things to report. I found a friend in one of the students..too bad he is one of my students but definitely think that it is a good thing. It all started when my running partner who coaches the institute's athletes invited one of the students to go running with us. Well he invited one of the good runners..this boy is fast. It turned out he was the same kid who gave me Obama's speech in my class. Anyways a few days later the same kid wanted me to help out with the English debate club at school on Saturday night. Saturday morning I ran 10 miles with the kid..I totally was slowing him down but he wanted to run with me so I let him. I mentioned to him that I wanted to get some gals running and he said he would try and organize it. I went to their debate club..it was amazing to see students being able to articulate on some of these topics. That night the topic was is the English language a disadvantage to third world countries...or something to that effect. The points and logic that these kids were making were awesome and some of them are such good speakers. One guy in particular reminds me of a preacher..he could probably get a job as one. That night I saw these students in a new light..but I also know that teachers can't be friends..but can give guidance. I know how it feels to be a manager now, you can be chummy but you still have to do your job. Anyways the point on talking about the gals running is that he followed through on it. This week he came to my flat with 4 gals and said they would like to run. We'll see because we start next week. My hope is to either get them to do the Moshi Half Marathon next year or something similar..maybe our slogan can be "Ndiyo Tunaweza"..ha..

On the downside today I gave my first quiz and I caught students teaching. Yup I had to be tough and give them zeros. So this is the downside of being a teacher..just like if a manager caught their worker not being productive. It hurts to tell a student that I have to give them a zero because here they are desperate to get a good grade...but desperation can lead to cheating. And that I cannot tolerate. It probably feels just as bad to lay someone off because you know that they have a family and need the money but they just aren't productive. So yup today was a sad day. Another funny thing is students try to play on the fact that some teachers are lazy. I told them that they have homework due next week. Well they told me is it individual or group? And I said individual but they said to me well if you make it group you will have less papers to grade. And I just laughed at that and said I am not a lazy teacher..this is an individual assignment. Like I said I gotta be tough! But the day ended on a good note. On the upside again is that when a student understands programming it makes me so happy. Today some students got the hang of programming..though I have had to dumb it down for them but to see them get the simple concepts is great! I see the thrill in being a teacher as well as the hardships..and that of managing as well. But I guess all this boils down to ethics.

So let me now talk about ethics. On Saturday we had a teacher's meeting and we discussed the ethics of teaching. I guess some teachers here just give students grades without really marking papers and give easy tests so they can pass everyone. Well we finally got around to discussing the normal distribution curve. And how it is important to be fair not too easy and not too tough because we want students to decide to come to our school so they can learn not so they can just get a good grade. I see how colleges think now..Michigan would say we need to make our tests tough so that the smarter students come to our school..and people who just want to pass and be lazy don't..ha..I could see it because that is sorta how we were discussing things then. And the best part was this "students are our clients, without students wanting to come here teachers wouldn't have a job so we have to provide a good service to our customers..the students." :)

Stuff

I taught full classes this week. Each of my four classes has about 50 students each and it is using a computer lab (the new one). So I taught them basic algorithm development and design..hoping to start teaching them C next week. One of the students printed out Obama's speech and gave it to me..lots of them asked me if I had seen the inauguration. The reason for the late arrival of students last week was due to them having to pay school fees, getting back from Xmas break, and orientations. But schedules here never seem to work.

A case in point: One mama asked me to come over because she was going to teach me to make pumpkin leaves (the various greens here are awesome..luckily I love to eat greens) with peanut sauce..it is real yummy. So I came by her house at time she told me to come and her husband told me that she attends church and won't come home for another hour. So I talked to him about various things, he had taped Obama's inauguration on the VCR because he was at work late (he's one of the school's accountants)so he was watching that. When I told him I did not have a TV he was so surprised. Most TZ peeps here think news is very important and they place a high importance on TV and radio. So he told me that I must get one. Also, he told me that "Africans don't always come when they say they are going to come." Luckily I expected that but some of the people in my apt complex actually are on time so I did not want to assume. She did come eventually and we made the dish..it was wonderful..and we watched the inauguration (I watched it again). I wonder what you all did as I got to watch it live since it was morning in the US when it was night here. Did you all get time off work to watch it or did you all watch it when you got home from work?

Also that same mama saw me in pants and she smiled and complimented me by telling me I am fat. :) See if one heard that in America one would be taken aback but here in TZ it means you have some curves.

On another note today is the first day I saw a lawnmower here in TZ (I saw it at the institute I teach at). They do most of their grass cutting by hand with a machete..it is alot of work and requires alot of people to get it done. It is good to smell the scent of freshly mowed grass. :)

Inauguration

So yesterday I watched the inauguration with other TZs. It was nice that my neighbor actually called me to remind me about it. We watched it live on CNN (most of the people around me have satellite dishes). Some interesting questions were asked about him..mostly involving his race and about what does the word black mean in America. Some questions I did not know how to answer, but it is interesting to known an African perspective or two about the meaning of race. Besides that it was awesome to see his speech..he really does speak well. And his point on making harmony with other countries instead of trying to change them really hits home..especially being in the Peace Corps we are not trying to change cultures but trying to work with them. And that is what America can do in order to work effectively with other countries in this world.

Peke Yangu

I am teaching alone, no co-teacher! I am so happy now..I do not have to coordinate with anyone else and I have sole control over the class. Also I now have 8 hours instead of 4 hours of teaching..so I will actually be a bit busy. I suggested it to the person who was supposed to teach with me and he was alright with it. :) Thankfully.

Touring the World

"Athletes (runners) get to tour, that is the right word yes, tour? They get to tour the world and see places that others who don't run get to see.", said the man I run with to me. We did tour the world alright. Today I saw places that were so beautiful that I did not know existed near me. We definitely ran through some mtns but we started on a paved road running from the institute to Mbalizi and then we went through the beautiful terrain on our way back. We ran a little less than 20 KM (sadly I forget to put on my Garmin GPS) starting at 6:15 AM this morning..the most I have run since Labor Day..but we did so in tough terrain...like terrain I would hike up not run up..but he was inspiring just keeping on running while all I felt like doing was walking. To my credit, I ran most of the time, just a few little spots I walked on.

He also said to me when we finished, "I have never seen a woman like you. Most women can only run a few kilometers and then they start complaining. You could actually run with me without complaining.". Ha..I am nothing..he should definitely see the thousands of runners in the States that do marathons..I am so slow..but I hope to get better. I certainly will get better as here I run at altitude and in mountainous terrain. I think I am more of a social runner when it comes to training, I need someone to run with, to keep me company though I will get competitive with myself during races. He has it in his head that he can train me to compete in some games that the workers here participate in that is put on by the ministry called VETA games..I am not sure if I am allowed to participate as even though I work here I am a volunteer not a TZ resident (at least not yet)..but we'll see. I am totally up to training but I am not sure about this competing thing. He also thinks that because I am a woman and I can run such distance without complaining that I can inspire the woman at this institute to run too. We'll also see about that one. But for now I can just keep on running..it's what makes me feel like I am strong and can conquer anything.

Education is Power

I really like this teaching thing. On Friday I taught that person's class again because it happens twice a week and the person was sick. The students really are interested to learn unlike the classes I am teaching, I think it is due to the fact that these are actually computer engineering students vs the others who are everything but computer students. I have never known students to actually want to be taught and that is refreshing. They asked me to keep the lab open a little bit after class so I did and they asked me if I was there teacher, sadly I am not, and if I would be teaching them any other subject (this year I am not).

On another note, I am a little frustrated at the class scheduling situation here so we are going to try and create a scheduler program here at the institute using PHP and MySQL..when something is broke instead of complaining you should see a way to fix it..so that is what we are going to do..or at least I will try to do. Teachers only teach one or two classes a week leaving their time to do other things..this is one project I will undertake. And another one I was thinking about last night was to take over the school website and make a webpage club to teach students who are interested how to make a webpage and then get them to update the school website. This is just an idea right now it will probably come to fruitation in a few weeks when I am ready, I was inspired by the fact that these students actually want to learn. And of course everyone is interested in the web. Another thing I hope to do is get more females involved with running and engineering..of course that is going to take a bit of time. Maybe create a SWE like thing here? We'll see. I am probably too ambitious..but ambition is good it leads way to new ideas sometimes.

Ninaweza kukimbia tena!

I found someone to run with! You know that sports program I was talking about? Well the man asked me why I wasn't there last week. I told him I was but no one was there..well apparently everyone came..but an hour late! So on Tuesday I showed up at 4:30 PM. We ran around the make shift track (it is basically a path around a field) around the soccer field. And then we did some stretches and short drills. Then I was introduced to this 56 year old TZ man who runs everyday, he lives in the flats like I do. He is the head sports tutor here at the institute. So today I met him at 6 AM in the morning and he ran with me and showed me a route that goes through the back of the school. It is absolutely beautiful and I probably wouldn't have known it existed on my own as it is not near the area I usually go for the market. Also it is good for the knees, somewhat like a trail run but at the same time more packed dirt than a normal trail. There were some short blips (hills) to spice things up. So now I am going to proceed to run with him kila siku (every day). Tomorrow I will bring my Garmin GPS to measure the route, it works here (well at least it did in Morogoro)! We saw his son running too..he definitely looks like a runner..he is a student at school here. I am excited for my new running partner. And I am thinking of taking up soccer...what do you think?

Now some totally unrelated stuff: People here like to get up really early..like 7 AM on weekends! But luckily I am a morning person so I am adapting well. And people like to be real late to things..hopefully it is not a habit I will carry over with me. But things are changing as some people actually are on time but they tend to be the ones who have studied abroad. I found out also that teachers that stay here get a half acre plot to plant whatever they want! No wonder I always see them going to their shambas (farms)! Too bad planting season is starting to end or so they say. Yesterday I found out the TZ gal that I like to hang out with is back from Dar..so I went over her place. She is 25 years old and she quit school young because she was pregnant with her child but she is going back to school. Her kid is the cutest thing! And I love the gal..she is so awesome with her sense of humor and jokes..she is definitely what I call spicy. :) My type of gal..totally..strong minded and independent..

Darasa..Class.

So today is the middle of the week but I thought I would write so that I would not forget as I have finished teaching for the week. Yesterday I taught my first class, there were only a few students so I did a basic introduction to the class. I can't wait to actually get to the meat of the stuff but before I do that I must install the GNU compiler on the new computers. Also I found out that I will have a co-teacher teaching the class with me. He is going to take 2 sections and I will take 2 sections but the bad part is the coordination. Also, we have a new head of department..well you know Corporate America and the meetings we always have..apparently over here they like to have their meetings as well..sometimes at the expense of teaching students! The strangest thing happened yesterday. My co-teacher was supposed to teach the class we taught, but the head told him tell the students to wait because I want to hold our department meeting. I was so surprised! I would have went ahead and taught the class..how can students learn if the teacher won't be teaching..but alas we had our meeting. The meeting was about organization of our dept since it is a new course (which means new subject) here at the institute and about keeping our computer lab open all the time. No one wanted to be the one to keep it open all the time because students tend to steal here in TZ. We don't have this problem as frequently in the States as they do here but that is because we have cameras and alarms, here we replace machines with people (for alot of things). Today one of the teachers was sick and he was supposed to teach at 7:30 AM. I was the lucky one who was here early so the students came up to me and asked me if I would teach their class. I had no idea what I was going to teach but then I remembered this was one of those classes I thought I was going to teach and I had slides prepared just for the introduction...luckily I didn't delete them! So basically I taught this class at the seat of my pants and it was about databases. So I went over the basic concepts (field, record, etc) and then told them to open up Access to play with the sample database a bit. This bit of teaching got me excited for databases! :) I am supposed to work on a database using PHP and yadda yadda to help the school keep track of salaries so in addition to teaching this is something else I have as a project. Yet no more information on this as of yet. I do want to start. And we are supposed to plan an ICT (info communication technology) conference..another thing in the works..we'll see what happens with it. But the real key phrase here is "Be Free".

Za wiki iliyopita?

Lots of things happened this past week. First a professor died so I went over his wife's house with some other TZ peeps from school. After we said our condolensces, we sat in a room full of people (mostly women) who were sharing the sorrow with the wife. Many of them were crying but I could not cry as I did not know the guy but I definitely felt sad for the guy. Unfortunately he was working on his PhD and he died only a few months before finishing at the young age of 40! Pole sana!! :( Some of them also sang some worship songs and I could understand some of the lyrics with the little Swahili I know. School started but students did not show up since they don't usually the first week of school. I asked one of the professors about this and he said that it is because most students are trying to find school fees or are still with parents during the holiday break. Very odd because in the States everyone would be there for the first week of school, but here in TZ things never happen on time so it makes sense that even though it started no one was there. BTW officially I am called a lecturer here not a teacher so I guess my title changed a bit. I went to the post office to get packages from people. Thanks for sending stuff! It is a interesting process here. First I had to go to the post office and pay a fee, then I had to go to customs to open the package and pay a fee. Apparently you don't have to pay a customs fee if you are receiving computers and books. Computers here are very expensive to buy here BTW. Much cheaper in the States but it is because of import/export fees. Next they are starting a sports program at school for teachers but no one showed up but me and the KOICA volunteer. So I just ran with the little neighbor kid and it was fun..he totally beat me! I am not going to do the Kili half marathon this year because of school teaching and other things...going to try for next year. Finally I had a fellow PCV visitor so along with the KOICA volunteers we made brownies and spinach ravioli from scratch! While watching Mama Mia we concoted the brownie dance..'cause brownies are yummy in our tummy! Today is Zanzibar Revolution Day so there is no school. BTW the best time to visit is in January for airline ticket prices and it is very warm here (well not where I am, where I am it gets in the high 70s at most), not yet the rainy season though we still get the occasional rain. Kwa heri! Tutaonana baadaye!

Thoughts on teaching...

Last week I spent most of it trying to figure out what I will be teaching as most things here things happen slowly, but I am getting used to it. Initially I thought I was teaching MS Access and stuff like that, but now it turns out I am teaching C programming to non-computer major students. So I had to change my slides and had to find out the schedule, which I had to rearrange because I have 150 students! I changed it from 2 hours of teaching a week to 8 hours of teaching a week (4 periods vs 1). I hope that will be more manageable as the computer lab is limited in space. They do not break things up into sections here they just have a class and have 3-4 people share a computer, so I made sure that at least in my class they will only have 2 people sharing at most. The funny part is that I am supposed to start teaching this week, yet I had no idea of what I was teaching or of the schedule till last week (most of them didn't have a clue to the schedule either). And I love the name time table master..sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel..basically they are the teachers in charge of making the schedule for the coming semester. My goal is to become time table master for next semester as you know me and my love of making schedules! Here at the institute it is definitely different than college in the States where everything is planned out beforehand. And the schedule can still change till the 2nd week of class!

My goal is to be a tough teacher by giving them lots of homework and quizzes, but at the same time I think tough will help them because in the end I hope that they will pass the final exam. And I hope they will get good jobs..they may hate me during the semester but they will thank me at the end. Can you imagine me being tough? I sure can and if you know me well enough you could too. :)

A word on optimism. Talking to another teacher they told me that the new computer lab (50 students can fit in at a time) should be ready by the beginning of the semester, I told them I don't think so (knowing how things here and elsewhere, like the USA, work). They told me to be optimistic, I told them I am realistic. :) If you think of it if you become too optimistic than you will be pessimistic later in life because nothing will happen on time, it is better to be realistic..a nice middle ground. Of course I didn't explain all of that to them. And right now I am pleasantly surprised the computer lab is not quite ready but I think it should be ready in less than a month which is less time than I was realistically expecting..alright MIST! Unlike schools in the States where they get discounts for computer equipment, here in TZ the vendors charge more to schools and govt because they know they can get their business. I think that really sucks but oh well..such is life.

Can you tell I am excited to teach? This has been a huge research project for me trying to plan out how I am going to execute the topics, come up with programming assignments, and the schedule. Totally my niche as I feel so creative now.

Heri ya mwaka mpya! Happy new year!

My first post of the new year, it better be special right? Ha. I don't care. Anyways can you believe by the end of next year (2010) I will be out of here? I can't..it is going by too fast. I am loving it here so far, who knows what my future holds.
For New Years I went to Tukuyu to visit some PC volunteers, the fellow KOICA (Korean) volunteer came with me too. Tukuyu is 2 hours south by coaster (public bus)and is where the majority of the Nyakusa tribe live in TZ. So I learned a few words in Kinyakusa which is their language, luckily the folks at the Ikuti soko speak that language too so it is very helpful to know. I only know basic greetings (like 5 words) but it is enough to get people smiling and happy that I know anything of their language. It is very green in Tuk but it rains alot so that is why.
On the Eve we baked various American things but on New Years Day we walked down to the Kaparogwe Falls..very beautiful walk with plenty of banana trees and lush vegetation along the way. On our way back we just missed the pouring rain. I also got to see my fellow volunteer's cute kittens..it was a great weekend overall. And along the way back I got 3 pineapples for a dollar in Kiwira! :)