NAFASI THE BLOG

Geneseo kitten- mimi siyo mlevi!!!! napenda kusherekea tu :) Una miaka mingapi?? Wasalimia wote. Au wewe na bibi wa AKPhi mkitaka kunisaidia, nipo, na nitapanga shughuli nyingi katika kituo cha afya, hospitalini, shuleni, na yatima. Kitu chechote kitaweza kusaidia! Asanteni :) So i have furniture now!!!! that is exciting. Also, yesterday there was a funeral for a member of parliament, but it was at MY little village. The president of tz came! i took pics of him. i have a camera now finally!!.. just takes forever to dl onto comp. i went to a funeral for my neighbors mother the other day, it was really sad. all the women sit inside to cry, and some women sing as loud as they can so that ppl cant hear that they are crying. and the men all stand outside. i also went to a send off party, which is the day before the wedding.. theres lots of good food, and dancing, that was fun. the bride to be, walks around all sad and dramatic, and then goes into the 'audience' until she finds her h...

Hellooooooo everybody!!!... I miss America! How's it doing????... Who is "Geneseo kitten" who knows Swahili on my comments!?... Uwasalimie bibi wa Alpha Kappa Phi, na rafiki wote. Nimefurahi ulijibu Blog yangu!!! Ulijifunza Kiswahili wapi?? Sijui kabisa bado. Lakini, nimefurahi mambo New York ni sawa. Nipo sawa hapa Tanzania, ninapenda nchi. Imependeza kabisa!!!!! Karibu Tanzania!!!!!! SO MY SISTER HAD A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jack Joseph Ezziden! 6lbs 12oz! .. He is beautiful! i just saw his pictures... im a little sad that i cant see him in real life... He looks like the cutest baby ive ever seen though! Everyone at the internet cafe here were crowded around his pic congratulating me. The word for neice and nephew in swahili is the same as child... so to say, my son is mtoto wangu.. or to say my nephew is mtoto wangu.... so ill have to diferentiate!.. haha.. but the word for aunt is mama mdogo!.. so i am mama mdogo (literally- small mom) and susie is mama mkubwa...

So I made it to site! I've been living in my house for a week a half now. I got placed in Mbeya Region! It is soooooo beautiful here. It is really lush and mountainous, and rivers everywhere, and farms and gardens everywhere. My house is right next to the primary school, and its split into 2 apts, so i have a neighbor that has been feeding me and taking care of me! haha.. It was pretty much empty when i moved in, actually, it still is pretty much empty.... i have to buy furniture still. But i have a bed at least! My village is called Iyawaya. The bigger town that is closest is Inyala, like a 20 or 30 minute walk. And then the city (Mbeya City) is a 30 minute drive from Inyala on a daladala. (which is this van thing that piles as many ppl in as possible) Mbeya City is awesome.. thats where I am right now, to use internet. Its really nice here, and they have pretty much any food or anything I could want to buy. And theres this Canadian girl who lives in the City, has an awesome house...

I'm currently in Mafinga. we just got off the bus, and are staying here overnight before we get to Mafinga, the village that this volunteer lives in! Kikwete the pres is supposed to be speaking, so we might see him at some point. we stayed in morogoro the last 2 nights, and had a lot of fun!... we got to shop at a real grocery store!.. i got to eat ice cream, and bought doritoes and a twix!.... so much fun!... and we went to this bar and got pizza for dinner!!!... the other night we all did kareoke and hung out at this other bar, and the next morning i had only the 3rd hangover ive ever had in my life! So anyways... now that were done in class, i havent been learning swahili every day, and it feels weird.. we are spending this week shadowing a volunteer, Ross, so im really excited to see how he lives, and his work and everything.... and then after a week of shadowing, we go to dar es salaam, where im going to try to buy a new digital camera, and where we hear our site announcements...

seriously... it was one of the smartest things i brought.... very useful.

Heyyyyy! OK so i haven't been very informative on my previous blogs.... here is a typical day in the TZ. I wake up, by the soothing sounds of roosterssssss right outside my window at about 6:30 every day... then i go outside to take my shower!.. my mama heats up some water and puts it in the stall for me.. i bring my treseme and irish springs soap, haha.. and i take a bucket bath! it is kind of hard with all of my hair.. that may be getting cut off soon... so ive only been washing it like once every 4 days! Sorry Shortinos- its true... but its fine, i dont mind being dirty! :) thennnn i get dressed (in my long skirt and shirt) and my mama has breakfast ready for me- usually a hard boiled egg, kitumbua (these really good fried rice doughnut ball things) and a banana... some chai... then i leave for my walk to school at like 7:45... its not a far walk through my village... passing women with anything imaginable on their heads, kids calling us "whitey" in swahili (mzungu), a...

Heyyyyy! OK so i haven't been very informative on my previous blogs.... here is a typical day in the TZ. I wake up, by the soothing sounds of roosterssssss right outside my window at about 6:30 every day... then i go outside to take my shower!.. my mama heats up some water and puts it in the stall for me.. i bring my treseme and irish springs soap, haha.. and i take a bucket bath! it is kind of hard with all of my hair.. that may be getting cut off soon... so ive only been washing it like once every 4 days! Sorry Shortinos- its true... but its fine, i dont mind being dirty! :) thennnn i get dressed (in my long skirt and shirt) and my mama has breakfast ready for me- usually a hard boiled egg, kitumbua (these really good fried rice doughnut ball things) and a banana... some chai... then i leave for my walk to school at like 7:45... its not a far walk through my village... passing women with anything imaginable on their heads, kids calling us "whitey" in swahili (mzungu), a...

Heyyyyy! OK so i haven't been very informative on my previous blogs.... here is a typical day in the TZ. I wake up, by the soothing sounds of roosterssssss right outside my window at about 6:30 every day... then i go outside to take my shower!.. my mama heats up some water and puts it in the stall for me.. i bring my treseme and irish springs soap, haha.. and i take a bucket bath! it is kind of hard with all of my hair.. that may be getting cut off soon... so ive only been washing it like once every 4 days! Sorry Shortinos- its true... but its fine, i dont mind being dirty! :) thennnn i get dressed (in my long skirt and shirt) and my mama has breakfast ready for me- usually a hard boiled egg, kitumbua (these really good fried rice doughnut ball things) and a banana... some chai... then i leave for my walk to school at like 7:45... its not a far walk through my village... passing women with anything imaginable on their heads, kids calling us "whitey" in swahili (mzungu), ...

i love it here! im at a host familiy, the Bonas... theres 5 kids, they're really great! im a 30 min walk from kilosa, the banking town with the internet cafe. its great!! im learning swahili from 8am to5pm 6 days a week!... im getting there slowly!!! we go to the bathroom outside in a hole called a choo! hahaha... its really dirty and greaaattt.... ... i eat rice everyyyy day. its hot and its winter! will write iin a week!

So I finally made it!!!!!!!!! I loooove Tanzania!! The DC orientation went well. There was 49 of us! And everyone is really cool. The flight took about 19 hours not to mention 3 in between layover hours! But its so awesome to finally be here! I am definitely connected to this culture, and I can't wait to really get into it. For now we have been staying at a hostel compound with all the volunteers, learning about safety and medical help, and we're about to get our vaccinations.. :/ Soon we'll move to Mgorogoro and do another hostel stay, then onto Kilosa, a village we'll stay with our host families! I cant wait!!!!!! ANyways, for now its been really fun getting to know all the other trainees. Everyone is surprisingly just like me... There is a bar INSIDE of our hostel compound! haha... I'm so happy to be here!! The bus is here gg!!

This is weird blogging.