Adjusting to Life in Mkuu

December 11, 2009

I heard "Jingle Bells" playing on the TV in the teachers' staff room the other day, but that is the only reminder that I have had that Christmas is almost here.  No chaotic Christmas shopping trips, no lights, no trees, no sinfully delicious high calorie foods.  I can't say I miss the commercialism, but to me Christmas means being with family and friends, and I definitely miss you all.  I really have no plans for Christmas this year.  I will probably go to church on Christmas Eve and maybe again on Christmas day.  It will all be in a foreign language and I might recognize a tune or two, but I don't imagine I will be belting out any hymns in Kiswahili.  Still, I am sure that if I keep an open heart, I will feel the presence of God.  I may not know the words but I will understand.

Adjusting to life here in Mkuu has been a bit tougher than I imagined.  In Morogoro I went home to a ready made family every day, and they interacted with me whether they wanted to or not.  Now I must make friends on my own.  The teachers and the headmaster are nice but not very sociable.  Maybe like me, they are a bit shy, and I just need to give it time.  Yesterday one of the teachers talked to me in English.  He told me his brother runs a trekking company and takes people to Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Parks.  It would love to go there sometime.  The headmaster's secretary sat at my desk during lunch today and we chatted in English and broken Swahili.  She seemed very nice and she is one of the few staff members even close to my age.  Most of the teachers are the age of my children.  One of the highlights of my day is lunch.  Gaspara, the mhudumu (the waitress) does not talk to me but I think she likes me.  Yesterday she gave me five choice pieces of meat.  At first she gave me the standard two, then she looked at me and put the spoon back in the pot and scooped out a couple more.  Then she scooped again and gave me a fifth piece.  Hopefully I do not look that pitiful, but the meat was

delicious, fat and all.

Finding food is really not a problem here, but I am not sure where or when to buy meat.  There are no grocery stores, so you have to buy meat from a butcher at the market.  The meat hangs on a hook in the open air all day.  I wonder about the flies and the dust and how long it has been hanging there.  I do not have refrigeration either, so I just do not eat much meat anymore.  I can buy eggs from the librarian, but I usually eat peanut butter or small dried fish called dagaa.  They are a bit of a pain to prepare.  You need to snap their little heads off (if you can tell the head from the tail) then you have to wash them three times to remove the sand.  I boil them first and then fry them with tomatoes and onions, maybe carrots and green peppers and eat them with rice or ugali (stiff porridge).  It may not be much of an accomplishment, but my Tanzanian family would be so proud of me.  I cooked ugali the other night "peke yangu" (all by myself).  It was not as good as Aggie's but it was edible and that is all that counts. I rather enjoy walking through the market with my shopping bag every week, chatting in Kiswhahili with the ladies, choosing and buying fresh produce.  I drew a large crowd when I asked a lady how to cook a bunch of green leaves that I had bought (they smelled pretty leafy). The ladies were delighted that I could speak Kiswahili and were eager to give me advice. How little it takes to entertain.

Wednesday was a holiday, Tanzania's Independence Day.  My students told me there was no school so I did not go to work.  I woke up to find both my porches covered with wings of kumbi kumbi (flying ant-like bugs) and many in my kitchen as well.  There was an army of ants marching around the perimeter of my house (as long as they stay outside we can be friends). Apparently the rain brings them out, and they must have lived where my house now stands.  I cleaned them up and "nilipiga deki" (I washed the floors).  Then  I thought I would just relax and maybe take a walk through the banana forests, maybe up the mountain.  However, it poured all day.  By mid afternoon, I was bored.  How much lesson planning can you do for one class of 19 kids?  I decided to play solitaire on my computer and listen to some itunes.  Unfortunately, after 10 minutes the screen turned white and very bad things seemed to be happening to my computer.  I quickly unplugged it from the voltage regulator and turned it off.  After a few minutes I tried to turn it on again and it would not work.  I switched batteries.  Nothing except for some strange beeps.  I tried a few more times and then resigned myself to the fact that it was dead.  That quickly ruined my mood.  I will admit I shed a few tears and said a little prayer.  The rain stopped, so I went out for a walk and watched the crowds try to free the dala dalas (small buses) mired in the mud on the road.  I went home and decided to try my computer one more time.  It started right up!  Hopefully it is fully cured and will survive two years.  I did not realize how much this connection to my friends and family really meant to me.  Writing you these lengthy e-mails not only allows me to share my experiences with you, but it helps me to process them as well.

Yesterday was sports day at school.  Students in green school uniforms seemed to be all over campus all day.  I do not know how they got here.  They did not come by bus so I assume they walked.  Half of my students were absent at the start of class but trickled in after awhile.  (I think that they are enjoying my class and don't like to miss it).  After school I stayed to watch the girls' netball game.  Mkuu needs a bit more practice.  Despite the lopsided score, students from both schools cheered and at the end of the game rushed out on the court to surround their classmates and celebrate their efforts.  Next I walked down the hill to watch the boys' soccer game.  I could have watched it from my kitchen porch but I decided to go down to the field and mingle with the crowd.  The headmaster gave me a coca cola and a student brought me a chair. 

 As I watched the game, I thought of the countless number of soccer games I have played in or watched in America.  All of our players always had nicely matching uniforms, long socks, shin guards and cleats.  You would not be allowed to play without these things.  The game ball would be shiny and new.  Here in Tanzania, the boys just want to play, so they play in whatever they have.  All had similar jerseys, possibly bought by the school or donated by some organization.  A very few had nice looking cleats but most had no shoes at all!  And not a single player on either team wore shin guards. The ball was the same color as the dirt (reddish brown), and as the sun began to go down (no stadium lights), the ball was difficult to see.  Speaking of the field, it is crisscrossed by paths made by people going to the duka, the dispensary, or to school or church.  Women and children trim the grass by hand or with small machetes.  (The grass is used to feed their goats and cows). The field looks a bit patchy but it is playable.  Neither is it lined but the boundaries are known.  I was surprised to see referees.  The center ref never spoke; he just tweeted his whistle until he got his desired response.  The boys played their hearts out. The students on both sides danced and sang and cheered.  This probably would never have been allowed at a game in America, but a group of fans from the opposing school danced over in a line and mingled in our student section.  Students from both  schools danced and sang together.  A group of small boys sat on the endline near the goal just waiting for their chance to go out on the field and kick a ball.  Many had brought their own "bag" balls for that purpose.  The game ended in a tie.  Students celebrated on the field.  The sun began to set and the view of the mountains in the distance grew dim.  I returned my soda bottle and walked up to my house.  It had been a good day.  As I closed the door, it began to rain, again.  (these are the short rains, I wonder what the long rains will be like).

Today I went to work and turned in my midterm exam.  I have only been here for about two weeks but was told to prepare an exam.  I had no idea what had been taught (if anything had been taught) before I arrived.  Hopefully it will be ok.  Next Friday after finishing exams, my students will have a two week holiday break. 

It is nice being back in the classroom and I especially enjoy this new challenge.  How do I teach with no resources?  On my day off, I drew a periodic table on an old plastic sack.  Now I have to figure out how to hang it up.  Tape does not like to stick to the dusty walls.  But the kids were really impressed.  I also bought them each a sheet of yellow card stock last weekend when I was in town.  Now they can make their own periodic tables.  Writing electron configurations is much easier when they can read them directly from the table.  I could see the excitement in my students' eyes as they began to understand.  For homework, I told them to write electron configurations for the first 36 elements, and they looked like I had given them a Christmas present.  They sat in little groups, eagerly discussing their work, while I slipped out.  Teaching has never been so rewarding.