Tuesday, May 29, 2007

First impressions of a whole new world

Ham Jambo!!!!

Greetings from the motherland! I saw the date today and could not believe how quickly the time has passed since my arrival in Tanzania. We move at a different pace here called TFT (Tanzania Flexible Time). Basically, I expect that everything I try to get done will take at least twice as long as it should (hence this email's fashionably late status).

So what can I say? First... I love it here!!! I live in a village outside of a moderately large city. We have a small market place, and one primary school. But it is only a 40 minute walk into town if I need something (like this computer). Tanzanians are the friendliest people that I have ever met. Everyday, the children smile and yell MSUNGU!!! (white person), or MAMBO!!! (greetings) as we take the bus to work. Sometimes they chase the car just because they can. My home base is surrounded by banana trees, and we play futbol or have a beer with the locals most nights after dinner.

My volunteer placement is at an informal secondary school for kids between 10-18 years old. This is a free school for children that are orphans, or cannot afford the $40/year to go to public school. The most important point Im trying to make here is that these are kids that are excited to be in school, and want to learn. They love us and we love them back. We help them with their English, Math, or Geography and they help us with our extremely limited Swahili. It is day 10 here, and I am still trying to get my greetings down (there are so many!!). We are expected to come up with our own lesson plans everyday, and it was a little overwhelming at first. But like all challenges, the payoff is that much more when it's all over and yoiu know you've tried your best. It's truly one of the most satisfying feelings that I have ever experienced.

I have also taken on some extra responsiblity helping women in the community start their own business selling Batiks (different cloths that they make and decorate). We are working on getting a loan from the bank, and I am helping them with basic accounting and micro-financing issues. Basically, Im working on a system that will make sense for added up, expenses and keeping track of revenue. The work is diverse enough to keep me on my toes and it is about all I can handle right now.

Serving the community has completely changed my outlook on how I want to travel through Africa. I realize now that it is not about seeing everything, it is about taking some time and truly experiencing a new culture. I feel so strongly about this that I have chosen to extend my stay here in Moshi by 3 weeks through the month of June. Oh, and I still get to travel on the weekends. I have visited Mt kilimanjaro (not the peak, though), hiked a few incredible waterfalls, and also through some natural rainforests looking for monkeys. There are also plans in the mix for visiting the coast for some world class snorkeling, and fun in the sun with the other volunteers. There is more than enough here to satisfy my every need.

There is so much to write from so little time here that I feel a little overwhelmed trying to get it all into one posting. So expect that there is more to come... I miss you all and there are pics on the way, so keep checking and keep those emails coming. I try to answer every one...
salama
Mike

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Hi everyone,

For anyone that may not have previously known, I leave for Tanzania on 5/17/2007. The idea is to volunteer as a teacher's assistant for the first three weeks, then spend the rest of my time in East Africa heading up through Kenya, and on to Uganda. After about three months, I fly to Ireland to meet the fam for a little vacation from the vacation. A 1st world country and some familiar faces will hopefully reenergize me to get back on the horse and keep going. Then it's on to India indefinitely. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself so I've taken it easy on the planning for that leg of the journey. All I know is that I have a one-way ticket to New Dehli and we'll see what happens. At least that's the plan so far. I kept the itinerary flexible because everything can change in a minute. This blog should be a good means of communicating what actually does happen to anyone that cares without bothering the people that do not.

I've been wrestling with the idea of sending those occassional mass emails to everyone in my address book. But those generic, and sometimes lengthy emails can seem a little impersonal and more like SPAM in my experience. I figure this way anyone that really wants to know can get an update without me forcing it on them. So we'll see how this goes and I'll adapt as needed.

Now it's off to make a buck or two before I go......