Sunday, September 26, 2010

I made it to my village, it's already been a month...
And I am loving it!
I am going to do my best to try and type this, but the computer I am on has a horrible working space bar, so it's not that I don't know howto type! Pole sana(I'm very sorry!)
So, things have been great so far! I want to write so much, butI did not come prepared and once again, I do not have a whole lot of time online. I am within about a 1 1/2 hours busride from the next closest volunteer and so we all stayed the first night together in thetown in between all of our villages. The next day brought some serious butterflies as I loaded my stuff into a truck and headed to my village alone with one of my village leaders, not knowing what to expectat all. He was super quiet, which only added to my nervousness. I wasgreeted by Tumaini, who is now like my Mama, her father in law, Nelson, who is like my counterpart right now, working closely with me to have meetings and get to know my village-he speaks really good English, which is great, but kinda bad because all ofthe time i spend with him, I am not practicing my Kiswahili, which really needs practice. But atthe same time I am learning KiGogo, the local tribal language in my region! So far, I have just gotten the greetings down, and the people justlove that I am able to say even just that!
So my mama and anothergirl helped me mop my house down, clean out my buckets and get water and were with me for most of the day. Tumaini has been great! She has 3 adorable, well-behaved, but kind ofshy children. I spend a lot of time with them, eating ugali and mlenda (a weed thatis cookeddown into the consistency of snot!!! Yum!) Ugali of course is the thick porridge of corn flour and water that is cooked until it turns into a ball that is all stuck together-I am actually really starting to like it-and it's a good thing because some people eat it for every meal! They are always asking me here if I am eating ugali and mlenda and when I say that we don't eat ugali in America, they say, "So what do you do with the corn?"
It was definitely strange, awkward, and a bit uncomfortable being in the village at first, all alone, not knowing anyone or what I should be doing. When I think about that, it seems like it was so long ago because already I am so comfortable to walk all around the village, go the to the small shops to get tomatoes or toilet paper-yes, I can get toilet paper! What a relief! Though I just bought the lastexisting roll in my village-I surehope thatthey restock!!! Also I love to walk around and just beableto stop by any house at any time andbe welcomed in to just chatwith the villagers. There arereally some great people in my village and I have made some good friends already. My village isquite large, about 6500 people, but it is very spread out and so it isdivided into 8 subvillages, which I have started to go around and visit-some a walk away, others a bike ride. We set up a meeting with the villagers to introduceme as the new PC volunteer and they share with me a warm welcome along with issuesthat they believecoulduse some assistance. That is a bit overwhelming becauseof course upon seeing an American, they assume that I have alot of money and that I can just provide them with moneyor materialsto help them. But I think the meetings are good because it givesme the opportunity early on, to establish with them, that I don't have any money really, and that I am here to educate, and to facilitate work of their own doing. Speaking of education, I have started to teach at thesecondary school. I am teaching the form 1 students, which is their first year of secondary school, the kids ranging in ages from 14 to about 18, depending on when they were able to start school, due to various reasons. I am teaching English and so far I really like it, but it's really pretty difficult. I pronounce words very differentlyl from the way that they do and so they really havea hard time understanding me. But we are havingfun together and I am working very hard to build a relationship with them so that they will break out oftheir quiet shell and really tell me when they are not understanding me. I won't be of much help ifthey are just nodding their heads and letting me continueon!!
The region of Dodoma, in Central Tanzania, is extremely dry. Myvillage is very dry, very windy, right now very hot. So far, I have not really had any major problemswith water. There is a generator and pump that the first volunteer in my village got going as a project and it just began to work in full swing shortly before my arrival. I pay about 40cents per bucket of water, andI am lucky that the tap is not too far from my house. So I am able to carry the water, on my head, from the tap to my house. Still,after a month, they all laugh at me asI walk away from the water tap area.I mustjust look really silly!
I have been invitedto church on the weekends, goingthe Roman Catholic and theAnglican,enjoying the experiencesat both, andtheyget so excited for me to join them! Last weekend, at the Anglican, the women made me stand up front with them and dance with them while they sang and played the drums! I'm sure that was a siteto see!

I really can't write anymore now, butbeforethe next time I am able to come to the city, I will better prepare so that I can share with you some more details! I have a new phone number, that you should use only to call +255659298357. My first number +255782496761 is better for texting. the network is really spotty andweird, the reason for the differentnumbers. Rightnow, for temporary, my mailing address has changed to Randi Walsh, c/o Yue Ke, PO Box34 Mpwapwa, Dodoma, Tanzania,Africa.
I am so very happyhere! I miss and loveyou all! Hopeyou are well!
Randi
Nexttime, I will try to put upsome pictures too!