Acclimation

When we got to Tanzania a little over a year ago I thought it was hot. Any time I left the house I would sweat and when I was at home I sat in front of the fan. I could not believe it when I realized that we came in the cool time of the year and it was only going to get hotter. February was probably the worst month. I do not know if I ever stopped sweating. I had started to think that I would never be cool again. But we have amazing bodies that slowly started to acclimate to the temperature.  

This July we had been in Tanzania for one year. Last year I thought it was hot, but this year I thought the weather was really nice. This year I could go a whole day without sweating. Even the days that we walked to school I would not sweat. I also stopped sitting in front of the fan all the time because I would start to get a little chilly. Even though the temperature was the same in July 2012 as it was in July 2013 it felt very different. It really amazes me that we have been given the ability to adjust to our environment.  

-Lauren

Missing

There are many things that I miss from the States. Here are a few of them.

1.      My family -- even though we get to skype, email, and talk to our family it is not the same as getting to spend time with them in person.

2.      Mass in English -- even though I know what is going on during the mass I feel like I never completely understand.  It is hard to fully give yourself to prayer when you are trying to focus to translate what is going on. I can fully understand why the mass was changed from Latin to the local language. 

3.      Having a car -- even though we are able to get anywhere we need to go it is not the same. I miss being able to just hop in the car and go where ever we want. 

4.      Super Markets -- I miss being able to go to one store to get anything I could possibly want. Now we have to go to multiple places for our weekly shopping and there are still things that we want but cannot get. 

5.      Air conditioning -- even though we have fans once it starts to get hot there is really no way to stay cool. When it is the hottest part of the year we just have to accept that we are going to sweat all day long. 

6.      Hot showers -- there is nothing better than getting to take a hot shower. I am thankful that we have running water, but sometimes the water is so cold that it is hard to appreciate it.

7.      Restaurants -- I miss being able to go out to eat if I ever did not feel like cooking. Now we have to cook if we want food.

8.      Speaking English -- I feel like everything is easier when you do not have to worry about speaking another language. Simple task are made more challenging when you have to worry about translating.

9.      Quality -- In the States when you buy something you can choose good quality items that will last a while. Here you can buy something that is brand new and you can have problems with it breaking from the very beginning. 

10.  Sidewalks -- I especially miss sidewalks in the rainy season when you have to trudge through the mud to get anywhere. 

-Lauren 

A Little Piece of American in Tanzania

We were able to celebrate the Fourth of July here in Tanzania. Some other American friends invited us to this restaurant by the ocean. The restaurant let us bring food in as long as we bought our drinks there. There were ten adults and two kids there. Our friend who had planned the get together had gotten stuff for the fourth. So we had an American flag, red, white, and blue balloons, and an American tablecloth.  We even had sparklers! It felt like a little piece of America in Tanzania.

We had veggies and dip and chips and guacamole for appetizers. We had grilled fish and shrimp tacos, a salad, and a fruit salad for dinner; with cookies and marshmallow treats for dessert. It was so nice to get to relax and celebrate with other Americans. When we were all done there we went over to one couples house that has a fire pit in the backyard -  where we sat out under the stars around a fire drinking coffee and eating chocolate.

There were no fireworks but we were able to see a couple shooting starts.  It was beautiful.

-Lauren

Break Adventures

We have a month off from school. We have been taking that time to relax and to enjoy the nature of Tanzania. 

We had a beach day. We road our bikes out to the beach and had a picnic lunch of pb&j, chips, raisins, and juice boxes. 

Then since it was low tide we walked 100 meters over tide pools to the ocean, where we went snorkeling. There are all different types of coral reefs with all different types of sea creatures. My favorite were these bright purple and yellow fish that were as long as my hand. I had never seen such bright fish that were that big. 

Father Mwaya, Sr. Maureen (our headmistress), another sister, a teacher, and us went to the border of Tanzania and Mozambique. There is a river that is about 1.5 miles wide that separates the two countries. Since it was low tide we were able to walk most of the way across from Tanzania to Mozambique. The deepest part we had to walk across was knee deep, but for the most part we were just walking on sand. It was a cool experience, and very beautiful. 

We went out on a sailboat with some of our friends. We met at the fish market and got on a small sailboat that is used for fishing. We then sailed around the Indian Ocean for a while. It is beautiful out on the water. The water is a greenish blue color and is very clear. Even in the water that was 15ft deep we were still able to see the bottom. 

 -Lauren

A Day In The Life...

At 7:15 a.m. I begin my mile walk to school.

By 7:30 a.m. I am at school. Our school day lasts from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

On Monday and Friday we have morning assemble from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. where we read the gospel for the day with a short prayer, sing the national anthem, and hear announcements. After midterms and finals it is also a time where we reward students who have done well on their tests.

Most of my day is spent in the library. We have one of the nicest libraries in the region, with about 8,000 books. Most of the books are textbooks, but we do have a few novels to read for fun. Many of the students love to read, and will read anything they can get their hands on.

The library is open to students from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and from 2:50 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The students are also welcome to come if their teacher is absent.

From 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. is tea time (Tanzania was a British colony). At school we call it uji break after the thin porridge that is served with the tea. During this time you can buy various fried snacks such as a chapati (like a fried tortilla) or vitumbua (fried rice cakes).

On Thursday and Friday I teach classes after uji break. I teach Bible Knowledge for form one and three. My biggest challenge in teaching is that for the form one students this is the first time they are learning in English (primary school is taught in Swahili while secondary school is taught in English). I have about eighty form one students. In the beginning I was confident that ten of the students understood the majority of what I said in English. To help them understand better I have tried to incorporate artwork with the Bible stories we were reading in class.

From 12:40 p.m. till 1:30 p.m. we have a lunch break. For lunch we get a vegetable, beans or meat, and rice or ugali (flour and water mixed together, that looks like mashed potatoes but has no taste). My favorite combination is cabbage, beans, and rice.

On Thursday and Friday I teach classes after lunch break. My form three class is much better at speaking English, and we are able to have discussions in class. For form three we cover The Gospel of Matthew and Acts of the Apostles.

On Wednesday we have clubs from 2:50 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Many of our students are very artistic, but they do not get many chances to express themselves. There are no art classes and art supplies are very limited. This semester I have started an art club. The last couple of weeks we have had a former student come and teach us how to draw Tingatinga, an African style of abstract animals.

By 4:00 p.m. we are headed home from work. When we get home we have some time to just relax. I enjoy spending a lot of that time reading. The Kindle was one of the best things that I brought to Tanzania. Now I will always have a book to read. In the last ten months I have read seventy-eight books. It is nice to have the free time to read. I have always been busy with my own school work that I have never had much time to enjoy reading things that were required for class.

Around 6:00 p.m. I start making dinner. I have not learned how to cook any Tanzanian foods, so our meals our Western style. Pasta dishes are the most common meal.

After dinner I get on the computer to check my emails and Facebook. We are fortunate to have a USB internet stick that works most of the time. It tends to work best if we raise it on our lantern.

Around 9:00 p.m. I am getting ready to go to bed so that I can start all over again tomorrow.

-Lauren