Hello Friends!
It is good to hear from some of you. Things are well here. The best way I can describe being in Tanzania is that it's like falling in and out of love over and over. That probably sounds overly romantic but I mean it in the way that every emotion you feel here is amplified...probably because as a foreigner I am fairly vulnerable. So when things are beautiful and you feel confident it's like being in love because you're so happy but in a moment you can feel alone or lost or miss home or find out someone you love probably has HIV and suddenly your heart is broken again.
Anyway, it is hard to believe I've been here just over a week. Time moves slowly in Tanzania...that may have something to do with the fact that you wake up around 5am! Every morning I can depend on the THREE local Muslim temples blasting the morning call to prayer every 15min for an hour starting at 5am. Then the rooster that perches outside my window notices the light and screams at me until I force myself out of bed around 7am...if only to make him shut up. If that thing didn't contribute the livelihood of the family I'm staying with I think I'd have to shoot it.
Speaking of the family I'm staying with...they are wonderful! Mama Mercy takes good care of me and is an excellent cook.
Last Thursday was a very interesting day. I was invited to take part in a curriculum development meeting. The project I am working with developed three new courses and this was a meeting of the stakeholders to review them and make changes. It was so exciting to read the syllabus and participate in forming some really great courses. I kind of wished I could attend the classes! Wendy Russell would be proud of me because I recommended an entire section on ETHICS be added to the information and communication course. They approved! haha...I suppose my mark is now made! It was very exciting to see such development happening though!
This week I am trying to collect information on the project members with Dr. Mongula out of the country...this should be interesting.
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don't kill the rooster.
ReplyDeleteyou'd probably feel bad if you did.
instead, think of it as me - coming to say hello in my most annoying and abrasive manner. :)