Back in Sin-City.... Finally!

First, I never thought I would say this.... I am so glad to be back in Singida! I travelled around the country for the past few weeks, had an awesome time, but was very exhausted upon returning. It was great to see other wazungu (foreigners) and to be able to speak english. The first two weeks were spent in Morogoro for training. I was glad that I was able to see some people, but a little sad that they broke the training up into two groups depending on regions. The first week of training was about our experiences thus far and ideas for future projects and support. Also we did a lot of activities concerning gender empowerement and activities for orphans and vulnerable children ( I hope to become very active in these areas). Each volunteer was required to bring a counterpart ( a Tanzanian from the school or community) who would benefit from the seminar. I chose my Tanzanian Momma, she is a fellow teacher at the school. I was so happy that I brought her because she was very enthusiatic about learning about what WE can do to help our school! (Many times the communities only see the volunteers as "banks", so I was very glad she doesnt.)She is very proactive and a wonderful woman.

So we were in this women empowerment meeting and working on an activity about relationships and what we want from them and another volunteer's counterpart said he wanted his partner to be obedient... My Tz momma stood up and she was heated (let me tell you), she asked him if he wanted a housegirl or a wife! You might not understand the magnitude of this statement but I (and alot of other volunteers were shocked! Women in Tz don't speak this way to men... (sidenote: in some areas when women greet, serve food or speak to a man they must bow down to do these things... or if a man in sitting on a couch, a woman can not sit there, she must sit on the floor... I'm not critiquing, it's not my culture. I was just pointing it out.) So needless to say he looked a bit shaken and retracted his trait to be honest...haha, oh how I love my counterpart! She is great!

Also we learned about permaculture... hehe, can you even imagine me gardening. I guess you should. I'm planting some mchicha (spinach) and maybe some other things this weekend. (When I came back a week after my counterpart I found my backyard double-dugged (technique we learned at training) for a income generating project one of the students groups were doing... talk about sustainability, I didnt even have to be there!

The next week was about the AIDS. We had this highly intelligent, blunt, amazing female doctor come in and talk to us about AIDS. She was great because she was real, upfront and direct about the reasons why AIDS is spreading like wildfire in Africa! She was an inspiration and I just hope that I can bring her in to talk to my girls one day. ( It is widely believed here that AIDS is spread by women). Another volunteer told me about a debate where the students argued if women were the cause behind the high numbers of AIDS in Africa.... sadly the team that believed this was true won the debate. Not the fact that women have little or no power in this culture... but I digress. Also an interesting tid-bit of information that I learned from Tanzanians... There are 4 basic needs not 3 (like the rest of the world believes...lol): 1.Food 2. Water 3. Shelter and 4. Sex! One man even equated the neccessity of sex to food... he said if you go without it too long, you will die.... Oh Tanzania

So after all of training I traveled down by the southern coast of Tz to the beach to relax for a few days with some other volunteers. It was so much fun. One volunteer's site looks out onto the beach and honestly, its like looking in a travel brochure. It was absolutely gorgeous. We walked on sandy white beaches and swam in pretty blue water... I loved his site but Im glad I dont live there because I would never do anything but swim and eat awesome cheap seafood! (which would probably get me kicked out...haha... plus its way too hot there!) We walked along the beach and brought huge shrimp for like 10 cents a piece and big, tasty, yummy fish for 50 cents. I also bought a whole grilled octupus for 1 dollar and ate it while walking down the street. Ummmm... good times.

But now I am back in Singida, just finished the week of classes. Still have yet to finish grading mid-term exams (only 300 to go!). It's just kind of depressing grading tests that are 20 and 30 percent. Makes you wonder if you are even making a difference or serving any type of purpose. But I guess you cant expect change over night, it's a gradual process. My self-confidence was furthered shattered by this Tanzanian man that told me my swahili sucks for me having lived here for seven months...but then he started speaking english and my crappy swahilli trumped his ridiculously bad english! But he did motivate me to improve my swahilli... Now I am refusing to speak to anyone in English, hopefully this will help!

Funny Tanzanian quote of the week: "You look Tanzanian, but you cant be... you're too fat!" haha, and this is from a guy that was trying to date me... Oh the sweet talking men of Tanzania!

I miss you all and hope everyone is doing well!

Congrats to my sister for bringing in my new beautiful neice into this world! Hope all the other "preggies" are doing well...haha

Keep the mail coming... I miss hearing about the first world!