Fluffy the Land Tortoise

 

Land Tortoise

For weeks Jane and I have been joking about putting a tortoise in the school garden. I had had a dream that that involved a tortoise (don't ask!) and so it inspired us to get a tortoise. I don't think either of us thought it would happen. But, be careful what you ask for! Last night Ben came strolling in, just as casual as could be, with a tortoise under his arm! He said some kids had found it and were playing really rough with it. Ben bought it from them. Now, we have Fluffy, the land tortoise!

 

Boma Visit – this time with solar power

We have written a few times about visiting student's bomas. These trips are always enlightening and fun. The visit this past weekend was a little different! We discovered a boma with solar power! They used it to power electric lights in one house. It's just surprising to see a building made basically from sticks and mud with this kind of technology.

 

Pregnant Student

We had to dismiss a student this past week for being pregnant. It sucked. This is a common practice in Tanzania. Just to be clear, it is also illegal for the guy to get a school girl pregnant. So, if they find him, he is in big trouble too. But, for this girl, her education is done. Now, this happens in the states too, but the ramifications here are so much greater.

 

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving this week as best we could – we went out for grilled chicken! Thanks to our forefathers who supped with our Native American brethren and brought us this wonderful holiday. Also, thanks to our friends and family back home who wrote about the pies and meats and potatoes they were dining on. We will just stick with our chicken here and be happy campers!

 

Mustaches

All through November I have been wearing a mustache. Just to be clear, it is my own. And, it is not beautiful. In Australia (and possibly other parts of the world) there is a platform called Movember (mustaches in November) where men grow out their best Mo for the purpose of 1) looking like an idiot and 2) promoting men's prostate and mental health. I'll tell you, I feel proud to have done my part to improve men's health. I personally feel I have contributed! As Lisa can verify, this will likely not be a recurring feature on my face due to the itchiness as well as the social ridicule from Lisa!

 

Sicknesses

Despite sporting the mustache for the past month for men's health, I have battling illness for the past two weeks. I will spare everyone the gory details, but it has been relatively serious. In fact, I took my first two sick days ever of my teaching career (yesterday and today). I'm not sure what is making us sick. There are so many possible access points – water that isn't boiled thoroughly enough, food not prepared well enough or just the dirt that just surrounds our lives. Several other volunteers have also been sick recently. So, prayers for health would be greatly appreciated!

Holidays and Corruption

Random Holiday

Apparently there are two random holidays in Tanzania. They are based on the lunar cycle and connected to the Muslim faith. Wednesday happened to be one of those days. The crazy thing with these two holidays is you don't know until just a day or two in advance when they are happening! So, we found out on Tuesday that we were not coming to school on Wednesday! Happy Ede.

Safari and Corruption

Since we didn't have school on Wednesday, Lisa, Jane and I went on a safari. We hopped in with our friends Beth & Deo (you might remember them from their wedding a couple weeks back) and drove to Mtu wa Mbu (River of Mosquitos). We were going to ride mountain bikes into a park and look at animals and then swim in a swimming pool. Great plan!

We headed out on our mountain bikes with our guide ready for animals. We rode for about ½ hours until we could see our destination in the distance. It was a lake that was supposed to be loaded with animals. We could even see some wildebeest in the distance! All of a sudden three park rangers roared up in their pickup and stopped by us. They were friendly enough to us, but called our guide over for questioning. Soon the conversation became more heated and animated. Pretty quick our guide came back, clearly angry, and said the park rangers had informed him he didn't have the proper paperwork to take us on the safari. Our guide then went on to say that this was a lie. His theory was that the park rangers had been hired by the other bike safari company in town to run our guide out of business!

We didn't know what to believe but we knew we weren't getting in to the park. We headed back for town WITH THE PARK RANGERS DRIVING BEHIND US AS IF THEY WERE HERDING US…LIKE CATTLE! About 2/3 of the way back, our guide stopped to fix his chain. He started yelling at the park rangers again. This time, the park rangers got out and actually shoved our guide! Later we found out that he had refused to offer them a bribe. We finally returned to the pool and started swimming until the entire mess could be sorted out.

Our friend Deo acted on our behalf (and the bike company) to go down to the police station and find out some details. He returned to tell us that our company did have the correct paperwork! We got some of our money refunded and just laid in the pool the rest of the afternoon. Who knows what the whole story truly is in this case. But, I think there is a strong argument that we saw blatant corruption in front of our eyes. Nevertheless, it was a great day with Beth and Deo and Jane.

Camping in Kolo

Yesterday we departed at 6 AM for an area south of us called Kolo. There were supposedly 20,000 year old rock paintings that Dr. Leakey had discovered. We found the paintings in several locations scattered amongst these rock outcroppings. It was really interesting…but it didn't take long before our group had seen enough and we returned to our campsite. We set up camp by a dry river bed…just the teachers from Orkeeswa. It was fun to eat hot dogs and marshmallows and play the guitar and sing bad country music!

Gardening with Maasai Mamas and Papas

On Friday, I was greeted with 20 parents of our students. I had them help break ground on our school garden, which I've been helping to organize. I've done a lot of strange jobs in my life, but this one ranks right up there! I was out there in my "professional dress" – a polo shirt and pants, swinging a big hoe listening to the Maasai mamas and papas chatter away! It was great! Plus, we got most of the garden ready to make terraces when the Form 2 students return! Even though I was exhausted, it was a great end to the week.

A Busy Week!

Camping at the "Hot Springs"

If you have ever watched a movie or read a book that referenced an oasis, it probably described this spot. Saturday afternoon we crashed through dusty back roads in the Land Rover and were finally led by a motorcycle driver to some hot springs that someone in our group knew about. To say it was a dusty and rough ride was a bit of an understatement. I think we were all pretty skeptical about there actually being any water in our path. Then, all of a sudden, there was a stream and palm trees and a pool of crystal clear (literally) water! We pitched our tents and hopped in. It was not exactly a hot spring - more of just a spring. But, it was beautiful, refreshing. Plus, it was great to be able to camp with the other volunteers out of the school and just have fun.

Exercise

We got a lot of exercise this week! Monday we did our usual run home from school - about 4 miles. Wednesday and Friday we played basketball. Friday morning we also walked to school from home. Plus, there is just all the regular walking that happens here! I wish I could say I had the physic to prove all this labor...but instead I only have sore muscles and achy joints! Sucks getting old!

Form 2 Exams

The form 2 exams are nearly over. All eduction leads up to culminating tests at forms 2, 4 and 6. If you don't pass, you don't go on. Clearly these tests are a big deal. So, after months of studying and weeks of fretting, the students finally took most of the tests last week. The only one remaining is agriculture. They felt confident they would do well after taking the tests. It is a huge relief to have them nearly over!

Singing with pre-form

Between the Wyoming FFA leadership camp and growing up a Heinert, I have learned some really great and weird songs. So, by Lisa and Jane's suggestion, I started teaching them to our pre-form class. So, great songs like "Froggy", "You Are My Sunshine", "Bold Bad Man", and of course "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" are now being belted out in the Orkeeswa classrooms! My favorite part is there is one boy who really does not like this. So, when everyone else is just singing at the top of their lungs, he is covering his ears and looking like he ate something sour! Oh, the simple joys of life. One day while we were singing, Lisa found him in the library. He said "I'm sorry teacher. I'm just not like everyone else. I just really don't like to sing." I think too many rounds of singing "Lean on Me"with his classmates and I might not like to sing either!

Boma Visit

It is always so eye opening to visit student's homes (bomas). Saturday morning we walked to three student's homes. All had prepared us food. So, by the time we finished shoveling in corn and beans (an extremely filling meal in case you were wondering) I thought I would explode! They also treated us to soda and bananas. After the visit the kids walked us back out to the main road singing, you guessed it "Froggy!" at the top of their lungs.

Ben's Silencing the Lambs

Great news. Ben can cook. OK - we all knew that. But, we didn't know he could cook lamb so well. Oh sweet mother of pearls! I don't think I've tasted anything quite as good as his lamb. Tonight he made lamb curry. So, new rule - there must always be lamb available for Ben to cook for us!

A Few of my Least Favorite Things

I want to say at the beginning of this blog that this is not a complaint session! Especially after the tone of the last blog, you could easily think I was a disgruntled volunteer begging for relief. That is not the case at all! There are so many positive things that have happened this past week I couldn't begin to count them. However, I've been thinking of this blog for some time and wanted to share some of the areas I feel I have struggled with the most since I've been here. I think these struggles are mostly me trying to maintain my own comfort. But, some I think are God saying "pay attention here buddy because this isn't OK with me either." So, here goes. A few of the things that have caused me struggles since arriving.

No water! - I think this is easily the biggest factor on my mind now. It affects everything - showers, cooking, flushing the toilet, etc... Now, keep in mind I live in a house with plumbing which leads to sinks and flush toilets in the first place! And to be perfectly clear, all we have to do is wait for the water to come on and it fills a cistern and boom, we have water. We don't have to go fetch it or anything like that. I also see people driving their cattle and goats looking for water every day. I see people with donkeys with plastic jugs strapped to the donkey's back to go get water. It is just such a basic thing and yet its just a constant struggle.

Housing - our house is great. Many other houses here trash. The walls are mud and dung. And I thought coming in to this, "oh just keep an open mind and maybe it's not so bad." No. They are not good. Now, if you are a 50 year old man who drank away your life, I might think "OK, maybe that guy has earned his way into a mud hut." But, what I see more often are kids living there. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much. People have lived in similar structures, or less, for lots of years. But it gets to me.

Language - This is not a huge thing because most people here speak English. But, its a constant factor to consider. Plus, there are like 57 different greetings here and you have to know which one is the right one. Cripes!

Getting ripped off - You have to bargain for everything here. There are virtually no price tags on anything. So, you always have to ask "how much". Then, since we are white (or mzungu as they would call it), most people assume you don't know what the price should be and jack it way up. Fine. Fair play. However, when I know what the price should be and know they do this, it is frustrating. For instance, last week we were coming home from Arusha after going to church and had to take public transportation (dolla dolla). I knew the price should be 1200 Tanzania shillings (TSH). We paid. But, about 1/4 of the way through the ride, there weren't enough passengers. So, the driver pulled over, we got out, and we all had to hop on another dolla (which was more full). The first driver refunded us 500 TSH, which I later gave to the second driver. Of course, the second driver said this was not enough...I needed to pay 800 TSH. I argued with him for a while in Swahili. Unfortunately, I kept saying "I will pay" instead of "I did pay". In the end, I just gave him the money and sat there mad. Now, if you think about it, it's about 60 cents USD that I got all worked up about! I just don't like feeling taken advantage of.

Slow - Everything feels like it happens slowly. I want some wood for woodworking club. Just 13 boards. I want science equipment. I want a printer. I want scissors, glue, tape, rulers, paper, print cartridges and a nice steamy cup of luke warm mediocre coffee waiting for me in the morning. Come on, is that so much to ask? At home, if I had to wait a week, it was too long. I could run down to the store and buy it. Boom. Done. Plus, if I didn't like the price, quality or any other petty thing, I just went to a different store. Doesn't happen that way here bud!

I was/am so used to things being a certain way. Things I just took for granted that, by my estimation, everyone had or should have. It's probably good that this poor American gets to struggle just a bit with a big healthy dose of reality for how some of the rest of the world operates. As the mural on the side of one of our classrooms reads "Welcome to the world." I do pray for acceptance of the things I cannot change and courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. And, an occasional hot shower.

Don't Fence Me In

E-mails from friends
It has been so good to hear from some friends from home this past week! I don't know why this was the week to write, but thanks if you did! And if you have not, please do! We love to hear about what is happening at home. Or really anywhere!

What does Monduli look like?

I finally figured it out today. The drive to Monduli looks a surprising amount like the drive north to Casper, Wyoming on whatever highway that is. There are mountains in the background, a lot like Casper mountain. The sage brush would need to be replaced by small trees. Oh, and the occasional donkey or camel. But, besides that, virtually one in the same! Monduli itself is quite a lot different than Casper...we are up on the mountain and there are lots of trees. In fact, now there are all these Jackaranda (spelling?) trees that have purple flowers blooming. They are all over the place and it's really pretty.

Where to go?
One thing I have discovered here is a lack of space! Now, don't get me wrong, we live well! We have a three bedroom house with a living room and kitchen. By all means, there is a plenty of space in the house. However, I've been reading a book that talks about a need for solace...just some space and time to get away and be with God. I think that's a great idea and I'm trying. But where! If I wake up early or stay up late there are people in my living room! If I go to my bedroom Lisa is usually sleeping in the mornings (correction, always sleeping in the mornings!) And, I can't really go wandering around in the hills. I'm being a bit facetious, but it really is an issue. Where do you go to unplug? I can't even imagine our students who often live in a one to two bedroom house about the size of our living room. Cripes! Try doing a "quiet time" there!

Netball

On Saturday, most of the teachers went in to a school for an athletic tournament. The girls played netball and the boys soccer (football down here). Netball is similar to basketball, but with several exceptions. For instance, no backboards. Anyway, after a long day of gaming, the girls won the whole things! Lisa was there and said it was a lot of fun watching them in action. Sadly, our camera was stolen there somewhere along the way. But, that's only a small cloud on an otherwise good day.

Water & Electricity
Monduli is situated next to a small mountain range called the Monduli mountains. These mountains provide the water for part of the town up the hill. This is where we live. In fact, we hiked up to the head of where they collect our drinking water and it's quite a good supply from a spring and then fed by gravity through pipes. The rest of Monduli is fed by water piped in from Arusha. Recently we have been without water. This has happened a few times in the past...mostly when our neighbor and landlord's father waters his plants and just leaves the hose running. But, this time was different. It was several days we were without water. Rumors started to spread. The most compelling was that someone had sabotaged the system! It's tough to say and even more challenging to get to the truth in an election year (which I'll get to in a minute!). Anyway, we were introduced to bucket showers (not to bad!) and extra efforts to conserve water. So, poor us, blah blah blah. Now, picture being a Maasai cattle herder in this mess! Granted, it's the dry season and they're used to this. But, literally, where do you go for water? The taps don't have water. The streams and reservoirs don't have water. I think part of the issue here is that traditional watering holes (at least places that would have been reserves during the dry season) are now National Parks. Water is a big issue here.

Ironically enough, the day our water came back on is the day the electricity went out. But, never fear, we have both once again. So now we can look at each other all sparkling clean under fluorescent beams after 7:00 PM - because that's when it gets dark here!

Elections

Today was election day in Tanzania. Every 5 years there is an election. The president can serve two terms. The current president was up for re-election. I have noticed a few things. 1 - no one talks about politics. Not seriously anyway. I'm not sure why but I have a few suspicions that perhaps it's just best to not be overheard. 2 - Rallies! Oh wow, they have these big rallies all over and loads of people show up wearing the caps and shirts and wraps. It is all over! and 3 - the rumors! It certainly has been interesting! I'm thankful to have been here at this time and see the hope that rests on a government in another place. As is sung in their national anthem - Mungu Ibiriki Tanzania...may God Bless Tanzania.

Goat Cake, Hiking Mountains and Quitting Smoking

Goat Cake -

You know how some things just grab your attention the minute you hear them? Well, "Oh, you'll have to come to our wedding. There will be goat cake!" is one of them. We met Beth at our language training earlier this fall. She is from Montana and was engaged to a man from Tanzania named Deo (just like the song...' daylight come and me wanna go home...'). After a few adventures with them we were friends. Last night, we attended their wedding reception. The event was held at a very scenic lodge - lots of green foliage around and a stream running through the property. There was even a full moon last night. We arrived and were seated with the rest of the guests on Beth's side of things. One trend I have found is for Tanzanian's to really draw out the festivities! So, from 5:30-9:30 PM, we rocked out to dancing, speeches, drinks, food and of course the cutting of the cake. People were dressed very nicely - suits, dresses. I just had a white shirt and a tie (in fact I was accused of being a Jehovah's Witness earlier in the evening by some guy on the street....guess I won't dress quite that same way again...) Now, since there was a western contingency, they did have a "European Cake" - a frosted cake just like at any U.S. wedding. After they cut it and fed each other, etc... it was time for the goat cake. Now, the goat cake is a wedding tradition in Tanzania. They brought it out and it was basically a cooked goat. The only thing was the head was still attached with the horns on! The chef brought it out and cut off a few slices. Just like the other cake, Beth and Deo fed each other pieces of the goat cake symbolically serving each other in the marriage. Then, we all got to dine on the goat when we went through the reception line! It was a very welcoming and memorable night. It was an honor to be part of such an event. But, I'm not sure I'll go out of my way to try goat cake again!

Hiking the Monduli Mountains

There is a small mountain range behind our house called the Monduli Mountains. In fact, we hike a portion of them every day to get to our house. This past weekend we took some time to hike a trail into the mountains. We were joined by a new friend from Australia whose name is Matt. We basically followed a trail all the way up a valley to a waterfall which also happens to serve as our water supply to our house. We saw monkeys and evidence of elephants. On the way back we left the trail and decided to go "bushwacking it". Not a good idea. All we found was stinging nettles and ants. Overall it was beautiful up in the mountains and we hope to go back and do more hiking. Although, next time we will hopefully stay on the trail a bit more!

Quitting Smoking

A friend of ours has been trying to stop smoking. He described the feeling to us as "constantly feeling something is missing... and emptiness." Not to be too sappy, but as I was singing in church this morning, I realized that his description really summarizes what I've been feeling since we left home - an emptiness. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about friends, family and situations back home. I'm certainly not ready to come home- I don't think our work is done here. And, I'm certainly not sitting in my room clutching my pillow sobbing because I'm just so homesick (OK, I might do that one!) What I do feel is just a constant pang of emptiness where people who I love used to be. I knew it would be hard to be away from you all for so long. I just didn't realize that this emptiness would be such a constant companion. And, to be honest, I hope it doesn't subside. A smoker longs for the time when they can fill that void with something else. But, I think this longing will just remind me of things that should not be forgotten, replaced or "filled in." So, before I get too sappy here, I'll just end by saying I miss you, my friends and my family and there is a big hole that I'm waiting for you to fill when time allows. So, until then, I think I'm going to go have a smoke. (Kidding).

Teaching at Orkeeswa and Falling in Aardvark Holes

These past two weeks we taught at Orkeeswa. I taught Form 1 (equivalant of Freshman) Chemistry and Form 2 Agriculture. Lisa has been helping teach the pre-Form English immersion. The student's primary concern, by in large, is this national standardized class they have to take at the end of Form 2. If they don't pass, they don't go on for more school. It's really interesting for lots of reasons! First, they want to take notes! Second, they want to have more time to work with the teachers. They also seem, at least one of the forms, to be very resistant to doing in class activities. The perception seems to be that they need very detailed notes that they can go study in order to pass that test. Lisa has also had some interesting times with the pre-form English students. This past week she and the other teacher taught the students words such as fart, diarrhea, etc... You know the good ones! They also showed E.T. this past week... the first movie for most of the students! They were excited, scared and everything in between! They thought E.T. was real and possibly living in the States!

Anyway, we also tried to run again this past Wednesday. If this is going to be a tradition I wish my body would just hurry up and get in shape. We were only about 10 minutes into the run when the Land Rover with the other teachers passed us. Our friend Junior decided to try and "catch" the vehicle on the way by. No one is sure what he really meant to do! But, as he was running up just behind the bumper, he tripped in a huge aardvark hole and fell face forward in a huge cloud of dust! He just hopped right up and said "oh, I think that I made a bad choice" and kept going. I can't remember when we have laughed that hard.

We also went to two students' houses this past week. That is probably best left for another blog. It did offer some great insight as to why you don't assign homework, etc... as there is very little light in the houses and the students also have a lot of work to do.

Last week we attended a track meet at the International School of Moshi in Arusha. Imagine 90 Maasai students and their parents showing up and running/throwing/jumping! We dominated the distance events (go figure), but didn't fare so well in short distance or field events. However, put a spear (javelin) in their hand and they shined! We won the sportsmanship award and received a big trophy. You would have thought we won the whole event - there was dancing and singing! It was cool to be part of the festivities. In fact, many of the parents of the other students from different schools stopped and took pictures of our students and parents!

We are doing well...finding it hard to make connection with family and friends back home due to poor internet connections.