Month One: In the Books!

In honor of it being exactly a month since I stepped foot on glorious Tanzanian soil, God graced us in Tanzania with a MASSIVE rainstorm this afternoon, right at the middle of school.  This is the first time that it has rained during school, and it is also the first time that it has torrentially stormed.  There actually was what I would have before today called a bad rainstorm on Friday, but that storm could not hold a candle to this afternoon.  Ironically enough, this morning I wondered what would happen if it rained during school since the school ‘building’ is a compound in the shape of a rectangular horseshoe, meaning you have to walk outside to go between any two rooms of the school, and today I found out. 

Right when afternoon cleaning/recess/library! time began, the heavens opened and sheets of water came tumbling down.  Children were already playing outside, so many of them got caught smack-dab in the middle of this water show.  I, thankfully, was already on library duty and the P4 boys and I were protected from the chaos in the library.  Sheets, I tell you, of water, puddles galore in the dirt and stones in the center of the school's compound and children running, screaming, sliding.  Some children chose to stay in the rain and later regretted it, as this was not a light nor warm rain.  Children, even the smart ones who took cover as soon as the rain started were SOAKED from head to toe.  Children swarmed to the door of the library, since the option to play outside no longer existed, and it was hard to turn all of the children except P4 boys away.  But, that is just the way the cookie crumbled.  It would have been chaos inside if I allowed every child who wanted to come in to do so, and there was no fair way to invite a small number of other children to join.  So, while the rest of the school was continually shrieking, running and tossing water every which way, my P4 boys and I enjoyed a quiet, calm 45 minutes of reading, coloring, BINGO, Play-Dough and Legos. 

I can’t believe it has been a month already.  On the one hand, I feel like I have learned so much: my Kiswahili is coming along, I am familiar with my surroundings, the driving on the other side of the road thing no longer fazes me, Teddy and Inno (and the rest of the lodge staff) have really become my family, I am now a ‘go-to’ person at the lodge when different aspects of Tanzanian culture to need to be explained to arriving guests, I have gotten the staff to allow me to clear my own dishes when I am finished eating, I can brush my teeth with water out of the tap (Mama, I promise it is okay), the tone in my classroom has been ‘set’ so now it is just straight teaching, the structure of the school day - tea included - is routine to me now. On the other hand, I still feel like an outsider with so much to learn: my Kiswahili is coming along – it is in NO way there yet, I have not been outside of Moshi besides the airport, waterfall and hot springs (see below), Teddy still will not let me take the dala dala, I have only eaten outside of Stella Maris once, I have not yet walked home with any of my kids, I have not yet made ugali with the cooks, I have not yet climbed Kili, and I met someone the other day who is a volunteer like me but who has been here for 1.5 years and she knows sooooo much more!

It truly has been a remarkable month. I cannot imagine still being in New York running through the motions of what has become my regular routine there.  There is nothing wrong with that routine, and let me not forget how blessed I am to have such a stable, consistent, challenging routine in an awesome city with remarkable NYC friends, but I don’t miss it.  Sorry.  And, it will be right there waiting for me when I get back.  As I reflect on the last 30 days, here are some highlights of the first month that I have not yet had the chance to share:

1.     We, the lodge, have a washer and dryer! It actually arrived before I did, but now it has been installed and hooked up to the water/electrical sources.  We, Teddy and I, are still in the process of figuring out exactly the best cycles to use and such, but it is still very exciting.  Washers and dryers are extremely expensive in Tanzania and are very rare; having one at the hotel will make the work of load of the staff significantly easier (once we work out the kinks).

2.     I have now been to the ‘club’ in Tanzania.  A couple of weeks ago, Inno and I went to Glaciers, the local hang out spot in Moshi.  Let me tell you, it was so fun!  It is an outdoor club, with a large concrete slab covered by a tiki-ish hut roof in the middle of a large, grassy area.  The grassy area has lots of plastic lawn chairs, the most common chair ever in Tanzanian (and Ghana), found at funerals, churches, restaurants and even clubs, and there is even a grill selling some delicious meat. Plus, since wazungu frequent Glaciers quite regularly, I saw the most white people I have seen since I arrived in Tanzania at the club, there are also a few stands selling souvenirs.  The music is a mix of American, reggae and Tanzanian music.  There is even a Tanzanian equivalent of the Wobble so you know I am all over that!  And, I got a great laugh out of the fact that the American Sex on the Beach beverage has been changed here to Sex on the Mountain, appropriately enough. 

3.     Yesterday, I invited myself, chuckle chuckle, to join a group of volunteers who were visiting Moshi for the weekend, and in my defense whose 48903 questions about Stella Maris, Moshi, my braided hair, etc I happily answered, on their trip to the Boma hot springs.  Well, they kinda invited me.  They all were really awesome, and it was really nice to be able to chat with them the way one can with people from home.  We drove about 45 minutes off of the main paved road to reach the springs and it was worth the bumpy ride, which felt more like a roller coaster due to the speed of the driver.  The hot springs were so beautiful, and it literally looked like the type of oasis that resorts around the world try to create.  Nothing like the God-created, unaltered real thing.  The "Lion King", forgive my ignorance, trees created a natural canopy around the springs and the crystal clear water was a blend of vibrant, stunning blues.  The temperature of the water could not have been more enjoyable AND they had a swing to jump into the water from.  The big kid in me was elated, and I think I jumped about 50 times in two hours.  Heaven on earth, I tell ya.

Oh, and how could I forget: I kinda scheduled my Kili climb! I am going this weekend or next weekend, which will be finalized by this Wednesday.  This girl cannnnoot wait!

Bring it on, month two! I'm ready and excited for you!