The Peace Corps Training Chronicles: Part 3

So... another update.  A couple things have happened since I last wrote: there was a cool trip up Mt. Morogoro on the 17th, followed by an awesome safari in Mikumi National Park this weekend.  It's not really worth describing these trips without pictures, so I'll try to upload some whenever I have time.

In any case, life has kind of settled in training.  Teaching, while originally a bit daunting, has slowly become easier, and I have gradually started incorporating my Kiswahili into the lessons to ensure that the kids get it.  Cheese, while originally the holy grail of food, has slowly become more accessible as I figure out ways to procure it.  Dagaa (sardines), while originally intolerable, well... still are kind of gross, but they aren't as bad as they used to be.

Regardless, here are a few tidbits about my life in Tanzania at the moment:

1) Apparently, I drink an ungodly amount of water.  I go through about one 10-gallon ndoo (bucket) every few days, which means that I usually have to spend a full night boiling water whenever I want to fill it up again.  This is a tremendous pain in the ass, since I have to spend hours hunting around for scrapwood to fuel the fire, not to mention hours boiling enough to last me for a little while).  Moreover, the water filter doesn't really get everything out... what this means is that I've effectively been drinking mud for the past few weeks.  Sterile mud, but mud nonetheless.

2) I feel as if we're in a never-ending, losing struggle against the relentless vumbi (dust) in the area.  There are no windows in the house---only screens---and the wind here blows constantly, meaning that nearly everything I own (not to mention me) is covered in a thin layer of rust-colored dust 24/7.  In other words, I am filthy: I wake up filthy, teach class filthy, hang out with friends filthy, and go to sleep filthy.  Whenever I mop my room, it remains clean for about 45 minutes before more dust blows in.  Whenever I wash my clothes, they get dirty again almost immediately when I hang them out to dry.  Bucket baths, while an efficient use of water, are laughably inadequate to clean all the dirt off my body.  I don't know, but there's something so beautifully ironic about cleaning a dirty room with dirty water, or picking out dead spiders in the water you shower with (or later boil into drinking water).  There's really not much I can do about this... I guess the solution is simply to alter my perception of "clean."

3) Every time I enter or exit my house, I have to pass through a gauntlet of barking, snarling dogs.  Tanzanians tend to mistreat dogs, either by locking them in a tiny shed all day or beating them whenever they're around.  Interestingly, Tanzanians are also deathly afraid of dogs, meaning that many of the better-off families keep them around as guard dogs to deter thieves.  My family is pretty well-to-do---their house is in a walled compound---so every day they let loose the eight or so dogs they own to prowl the premesis to ward off criminals.  Unfortunately for me, the dogs DO NOT like me, and I've had some pretty narrow escapes whenever the pack has found me, be it by vaulting over the gate or sneaking out an opening in the back part of the wall when they aren't looking.  I've recently found that screaming obsceneties at them in Kiswahili while wildly waving my backpack around kind of works, although doing this every morning is getting a bit tedious.

4) If I've learned one thing this week, it's that cheese that doesn't need to be refrigerated is not to be trusted.

5) Occasionally speaking in Kiswahili during class will do wonders for teaching here.  I'm currently teaching pressure in solids to Form 1 students, and I've been trying for a week-and-a-half to drive home the point that a large area means small pressure.  Just yesterday, I finally got fed up and shouted, "AREA KUBWA, PRESSURE KIDOGO."  Instantly, everyone laughed, and---more importantly---understood the concept... I can see now that it's really the language barrier that's holding these kids back, not the material.  In either case, it was awesome to have a connection with the kids, and they're really starting to grow on me.  I really have to do better at memorizing their names.

Anyways, life is good here... this is really starting to get kind of fun.  I know there are going to be lows here as well, but for now, I'm really enjoying myself.  Can't wait till I find out my placement next week!