Update on Life in Morogoro, Tanzania!

Things are going very well for me in Morogoro, Tanzania. I feel as if I am becoming more cultured each day. I have gotten used to having food constantly given to me, and consequently, have gotten really good at saying “Asante, nimeshiba sana” “Thank you, I am very full”. My host family is great. There are 2 children, a boy named Muwya (8years old) and girl named Mercy (4 years old) and a few house girls who take care of chores and help with cooking since Mama and Baba (dad) both work full time jobs. As I have said before, the food is awesome! For breakfast, we will have some combination of chai tea, chapati (Kind of like a tortilla), uji (porage), andazi (similar to a donut), ndizi (banana), and chungwa (orange). Lunch and dinner are usually similar and consist of maharage (beans), ugali, wali (rice), viazi (sweet potato), mhogo (cassava), chicha (spinach and greens mixture), and maybe more chungwa. We rarely have meat, and if we do, it is generally kuku (chicken). It is also very common to eat with your hands. For example, I just had a lunch of maharage, ugali, chicha, and pili pili (pepper, very spicy) without any utensils! It is also required to wash your hands before you eat, but this is generally done by mama or a house girl pouring water over your hands with a bowl underneath to catch the water. You also NEVER see a Tanzanian eat (or make social interactions) with their left hand. I encourage you to google this to find out why. In short, the food is fresh from the garden or tree, it is delicious, I am very well fed, and I am slowly becoming a cultured Tanzanian!! When in Rome…

Earlier today, I did laundry for the first time on my own in Tanzania. A housegirl taught me how to properly wash my clothes by hand. It took forever and my knuckles are raw after working with the clothes so much. The clothes are nice and clean though!

My Swahili is improving a little each day. I have gotten good at all of my greetings and self-introductions and am developing a better ear for hearing the language as the locals speak. At first it sounded as if they were just rattling of a whole lot of nothing, but now I can hear words and make sense of them here and there. I frequently use “sema polepole” or “sema tena tafadhali” “speak slowly” and “say it again please”. It is important that I get as good as possible with my language, because the Tanzanians love it when a foreigner can speak to them in KiSwahili. Yesterday, for example, I was talking to a mama (lady) and I greeted her and spoke a few sentences, until I was at my limit, but she was so excited to see that I was not just your regular “Mzungu” walking the streets. I also like to say “Mimi si mtalii, mimi ni voluntia!” “I am not a tourist, I am a volunteer!” This will usually conjure a laugh as well, in which case you follow the previous sentence with “unanicheka??” “Are you laughing at me?” Joke’s on you!! Then everyone has a good laugh. All of the locals really are extremely nice and it is so important to greet everyone, so as to not be seen as rude. Essentially, it is really easy to foster a good relationship with people if you put forth the effort to greet them and use as much KiSwahili as possible. I am excited about the prospect of becoming fluent enough to be able to have a meaningful conversation with the locals… Especially when I get to my site in a little more than 2 months.

On a side note, it was very funny this morning as I was sitting on the porch and my host family had the radio playing American music. “I Swear” by John Michael Montgomery came on the radio… I swear I was laughing! Who would have thought you would hear some silly country song playing on a Sunday morning in a far away village in the middle of Tanzania!

I am still able to run on some very nice dirt roads, but I usually have to get up early in the morning to do it. Generally, I will wake up at 5:15 to run, and then leave plenty of time for my bucket bath, getting dressed, and chakula asubuhi (breakfast), before I have to leave for training or class. I feel as if I am just living life. The worries are minimal, if you keep everything in perspective. I have a nice bed to sleep in, good food to eat, plenty of nice roads to run on, and lots of people to talk to. I don’t have to be overly worried about time, no one is rushing here or there like in the states, and there is just a general sense of well-being. Maybe I will get sick sometime and be upset about that, but I expect it so I will deal with it when it happens. I have an awesome medical kit that the PC gave me, so I am set with any medication I may need. I can see why many PCVs say it is difficult to re-adjust to the American lifestyle after PC. Africa is a very different place, especially in the village, but not in a bad way. It is very interesting that many Americans (me included) might think or have thought that they have it bad here or they are lacking in so many areas and we are so much better off in America. After only being here for 11 days, I do not hold that sentiment at all. Everyone seems so happy here. Few of them have internet, cars, A/C, running water, or electricity, but it really doesn’t matter. It is a part of the lifestyle and you embrace it as such. When I just typed that last sentence, it was honestly the first time I realized I do not have running water right now. I also do not miss always having access the internet, my car, or having my iPhone attached to me at all times. It just isn’t a part of the normal lifestyle here. Once you realize that and live as a Tanzanian, you are happy. Safi! Hamna shida! (It’s cool! or good! And There is no problem!) I miss all of my friends back home, and wish I could hang out with you all, but the other things aren’t an issue. I am not trying to be philosophical here, but it is just a way of life that I am living now, so these things aren’t essential. I bet once I go back to America, I will have all of these things again, but that is because the fast paced American way of life almost demands it. We will see, though. That is 2 years from now.

If you haven’t checked out facebook lately, I posted a few pictures a couple days ago of the area where I am training and living, so check them out! Also, I am betting that I won’t be able to upload very many pictures because the internet is too slow and it uses all of my internet time/data. So, I will have to share a large portion of the pictures once I return, or when I have access to good internet. I will continue hand selecting a few good ones to post from time to time, though, so stay in touch! I hope all of you are still doing really well back home, and I will talk to you all soon! Also, below is my phone number, now that I have a phone, so you are welcome to call me if you find a cheap way to do so, just bear in mind, that I am 8 hours ahead of central time. Maybe skype or another online calling service will suffice for making cheap calls. Poivy is pretty cheap, so google it and check it out if you want.

I generally have my phone on and in my pocket, as it is an easy way for us PCVs to stay in touch. Plus it is free for us to call each other and free for me if YOU call me! Sorry that I cannot call you all because it would break my (very small) bank very quickly. A day’s salary will get me about 15-20 minutes of talk time, so that creates a big problem! Also, you can mail things if you want to the address in my earlier post ^^^ Peace Corps will deliver it to my training center here. Take care, have a nice day, and talk to you all soon!! As the Tanzanians say: Hakuna Shida! No worries! (this is more common than hakuna matata, I am sorry to say. The Kenyans say Hakuna Matata)