this and that... creative i know

7-03ish
Its funny how things can change so quickly. I started writing this post about an hour ago. I was ready to pull my hair out after struggling with my brain for hours. It had taken a vacation, with little intent to return. Kiswahili lessons just werent sticking and I didnt know why. I tried to relax a bit as I took the short walk back to my house but I wasnt even able to find responses to simple hello's and hows the news. So that left me more frustrated and I entered my house to find some company that I had to interact with as well. After failing to say anything coherent in kiswahili I felt like an infant. Even after playing catch/soccer with my Kaka (brother) I still wasnt balanced. Maybe it was my blood sugar level or just my attitude but after eating, my whole aura changed. As I sat in near silence with my Baba (dad) eating simple rice and cassava, my body cooled. We exchanged simple sentences about our day, tomorrows plans and even what we are going to do this weekend. I understood nearly every word and his calm demeanor extended to me. So they day is near end and I finished the day like I started it, excited for what is to come and knowingly blocking out the obstacles that I will undoubtedly encounter in the days, even hours ahead.
Training has been pretty amazing so far. My host family has had some medical issues and tonight was the first night they have all been together in our house at the same time since I got here a week ago. Everyone is healthy now (including me Mom) and they are really making it easy for me to learn from them. They know few words of english but they talk slowly and clearly. To understand them I do 3 things. 1. I actually understand the words and know what they mean. 2. I can figure out what they are talking about using non-verbals, etc. 3. I repeat it back to them slowly with a confused look on my face, say Sijui (I dont know) shrug my shoulders and laugh. I have survived so far using those 3 things and it is only supposed to get easier right?
As far as our actually training we are in the language and culture phase. We have language lessons with our group of 4 volunteers and 1 language and cross cultural facilitator in our village. We learn kiswahili from 8 AM to 4 or 5 PM. With breaks for Chai and lunch, and of course we take random walks when our brains freeze from lack of english. It is a process... A long process but totall immersion has to be the best way to do it?
OK so back to my family. I will try and put it in American family tree terms because otherwise no one would understand anything. In other words you would be like me for the first couple days here. Wondering who is who while trying to tell how they are all actually related. Simply, Tanzanians have extened family circles and blood ties just dont matter some times. So day 1 I am pretty sure I met everyone who actually lives in our house. Mama and Baba, 4 girls and 3 boys. When I woke up Mama was gone with one of the girls. Of course I didnt notice this in my flustered state. I found out later that day that one of the young girls, actually the first born of the second daughter, so my niece, was moved to the regional hospital not far away due to malaria and other complications. So I tried to talk to Baba about how she was doing on a daily basis but it isnt common to describe someone as unhealthy so I didnt get the real scoop on her condition. So in Mama's absence my 3 Dada's (actually my sisters) were left to make sure i didnt starve and kept myself clean. There are also 3 Kakas who roam the grounds. 2 younger boys who are the second youngest daughters children. The oldest kaka is the son of the oldest daughter who lives in the regional capital. Baba and Mama also have an older son, whom I met while visiting my niece in the hostpital last sunday. So to recap.... 2 parents, 5 children (3 live here) 1 niece and 3 nephews.



So im posting multiple posts at once. saving some shilingi and some computer life. Get used to it. I probably wont know how regularily I will be able to post until september or something after I have been at my site for a while. Cell phone is coming and if you send me snail mail I have plenty of time to write back.


7-16
Well I have officially lived in Tanzania for a month now. I havent seen any cool animals save for a couple of monkeys, a dead python, a millipede and tons of lizards. I have sweated in the night as the temp wavers in the 80/90s? and I have worn a jacket during the day because the rain and clouds wounldnt warm the air enough. I have washed my clothes by hand and put them out to dry on the line only to have it rain later that day. I have pooped into a hole. Showered with a pitcher and a bucket of water. Brushed my teeth with no water to spit. Eaten countless oranges immediatly after I had just picked them from a tree and peeled them with my knife. Been delivered mangos by boys who I met earlier in the day. The only words I could put together were "I like to eat mangos". I then peeled and ate them on my porch as the sun set behind the house and the lantern lit the pit and the peel as it lay on the dirt. I have shaved as I monitored my face in a mirror no bigger than my outstreched hand. I have ran before dawn on a dirt track as the sun quickly rose over the mountains.I have sat on the beach looking at the waves of the Indian Ocean as I drank a beer. Played euchre with real people not on the internet. Tried to use the internet as I managed a couple of emails in an hour. Although and hour of internet costs not even a dollar, I am more mad about my wasted time. I have stared at the sky as stars emerged, foreign to my eyes yet old as time itself. I have shook the hand of people with no teeth, people with a couple of teeth, people with less than 10 fingers, people with no shoes on, people with no shirts on, people with suits and ties on, people who know 3 languages, people who dont even know 1, children who are afraid of white people, diplomats and poor farmers. I wish I could tell you more about all of those people but presently language is my crutch. I have fallen asleep at 8, fallen asleep at 11 and some nights not even fallen asleep at all. I have been awoken by rain on my tin roof, people arguing, loud music, trucks on the highway in my front yard, cries from native burial rituals, dogs barking, and roosters before dawn. I never know what to expect from day to day and that is why I am here. I learn something new everyday and somedays I have to relearn things I have forgotten from the day before. I have wondered about friends and family, on this continent and others. I have laughed a lot, at myself as much as others. I have cried. I have not loved every minute of it but I have more good stories than bad.