Howdy from Dodoma! We're here for a Peace Corps conference and will be leaving in two days. We got here 10 days ago; that means we've had 10 days of hot showers, tv in our hotel room, TOILETS, fans, air conditioning during our lectures, yogurt, ice cream, and avocados. Wow. I think I've re-gained 5 of my lost pounds (only an American would say that.) It's so nice to be here with all our PC friends, exchanging stories about our sites and catching up on all the PC gossip. It just poured rain and I'm covered in mud right this second because I couldn't wait for the rain to stop before I went to the market to buy avocados. So we're all here together, learning about grant-writing and permaculture gardening (better health through small gardens near your house.) After the conference is over we go home for about a week with a bunch of our friends who want to see our house; then, a group of us are going to Zanzibar for Christmas and New Year! Christmas on the beach=perfection. We are so excited!!
So what's new at our site? Not much. Fence is almost finished, water tank is awesome, garden is planned. We have a lot of ideas for projects in the new year and I'll keep you posted. Our Kiswahili is coming along slowly, but since we've been in Tanzania now for 6 months (can you believe it?), I'm amazed at how far we've come. I am infinitely more comfortable in the sketchy situations (bus stands, specifically) and I'm feeling attracted towards working with at-risk groups (like the sketchy young men who frequent the sketchy bus stands.) We continue to have ups and downs, which I have to believe is completely normal for a "stranger in a strange land." Most important to us is that we are well-liked in our town.
Funniest moment of the workshop: learning to say, in Kiswahili, "This person here, in the toilet, is my friend."
Funniest thing at our site: Zizo, our houseboy/counterpart, was looking especially sleepy one afternoon. We had a lengthy conversation in Kiswahili about his sleepiness. Out of nowhere he said, in perfect English, "I am physically fit and chemically balanced." Out of nowhere.
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Where on earth did Zizo learn that phrase? That's hilarious!! I love random things like that. Thanks for interjecting humor into your stories. I feel like I can hear the inflections in your voice even as I'm reading your blog. Like I'm right there next to you. :-)
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