Saturday, August 9, 2008
Some random thoughts
How many random thoughts can one type in 13 minutes of Internet time?
-Having a camera makes you the village photographer. And students have no idea how much of a pain it can be to get digital pictures developed. The next day: Have you developed the pictures yet? Where's my picture? You haven't developed it? Well, why not?
-Phone companies constantly change names in Africa too. I was becoming rather attached to my Celtel phone and the rather large amount of Celtel vouchers I was buying each week. They've changed names: now they're called Zain.
-Sharing is expected and automatic. I gave a student a chocolate bar for getting all the questions right on a quiz. Two minutes later, it had been split into six tiny pieces, and five of his friends had a piece (impressive given that my students never, ever eat chocolate!).
-My favorite sign in Tanzania: the sign for MIT at the central roundabout in Moshi. MIT=Moshi Institute of Technology, a tiny school in Moshi. I took a picture of my sitemate (an MIT graduate) there yesterday. Maybe it will make the alumni magazine?
-Having a camera makes you the village photographer. And students have no idea how much of a pain it can be to get digital pictures developed. The next day: Have you developed the pictures yet? Where's my picture? You haven't developed it? Well, why not?
-Phone companies constantly change names in Africa too. I was becoming rather attached to my Celtel phone and the rather large amount of Celtel vouchers I was buying each week. They've changed names: now they're called Zain.
-Sharing is expected and automatic. I gave a student a chocolate bar for getting all the questions right on a quiz. Two minutes later, it had been split into six tiny pieces, and five of his friends had a piece (impressive given that my students never, ever eat chocolate!).
-My favorite sign in Tanzania: the sign for MIT at the central roundabout in Moshi. MIT=Moshi Institute of Technology, a tiny school in Moshi. I took a picture of my sitemate (an MIT graduate) there yesterday. Maybe it will make the alumni magazine?
A long weekend
Yep, there are long weekends in Tanzania too. Friday was Nane Nane (August 8), also known as peasants' day--basically a holiday in honor of farmers. Which also means no school...and a chance to travel!
Now, I rarely travel. My fellow volunteers in Kilimanjaro region call me "site rat" because I hardly ever leave my site. At least from their point of view. In truth, I go to town about every two weeks, but rarely go as far as Moshi because it's a six hour ride, and that's a long way to go if I leave Saturday morning and have to return Sunday evening. Peace Corps groups Arusha and Kili regions together as a single "super-region", but really, Kilimanjaro region is a world away from me. The sites of the Kilimanjaro volunteers are mountainous, green, and full of banana trees; mine is a rolling plain full of cattle and corn.
But this weekend, I realized Friday was free, and I actually had time to reach Moshi. And a great thing about travelling this weekend: there are shadowers here! These are environmental and health trainees who are about to finish their training, and spent a week visiting other volunteers as part of the end of their training. I met 5 of them last night, and 3 more in Moshi this afternoon. After nearly 11 months in Tanzania, it's hard to believe that I was once like this too: excited but also overwhelmed, confused, and often exhausted by the new environment and new language. I'm creeping up on a year in Tanzania now. It's been a while. And still about 16 months to go...I wonder how I'll look back on my current self 16 months from now.
Now, I rarely travel. My fellow volunteers in Kilimanjaro region call me "site rat" because I hardly ever leave my site. At least from their point of view. In truth, I go to town about every two weeks, but rarely go as far as Moshi because it's a six hour ride, and that's a long way to go if I leave Saturday morning and have to return Sunday evening. Peace Corps groups Arusha and Kili regions together as a single "super-region", but really, Kilimanjaro region is a world away from me. The sites of the Kilimanjaro volunteers are mountainous, green, and full of banana trees; mine is a rolling plain full of cattle and corn.
But this weekend, I realized Friday was free, and I actually had time to reach Moshi. And a great thing about travelling this weekend: there are shadowers here! These are environmental and health trainees who are about to finish their training, and spent a week visiting other volunteers as part of the end of their training. I met 5 of them last night, and 3 more in Moshi this afternoon. After nearly 11 months in Tanzania, it's hard to believe that I was once like this too: excited but also overwhelmed, confused, and often exhausted by the new environment and new language. I'm creeping up on a year in Tanzania now. It's been a while. And still about 16 months to go...I wonder how I'll look back on my current self 16 months from now.
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