One Month

Tomorrow, Nov. 1, will be my one-month mark here in Dar. In some ways it's come fast, in other ways... well, not so much. To be quite honest, it's like, it's only been a month? But in the next moment I can think, I've been here a month! Strange. It really is. I'm excited to reach this milestone, however, because things can only start to get regular from here. Of course I'll still be going through all the normal ups and downs of transitioning and living abroad (although the transition never really ends), but at least I feel like I'm on my way to living life here.

One major aspect of that will be moving into the second house next Saturday. (God willing.) There are still a ton of items that are nonexistent in the house that qualify it as "unfurnished" or "unliveable," but Erin and the girls and I are praying and planning to push through all that this week. We still need things like a water filter, light bulbs, screens fixed, fuses fixed... just to name a few. Oh, I could go on, but it's unfortunate and not interesting, so I will move along.

This week was our first week back to school since our last day on Oct. 13. Midterm break was long, but good. Unfortunately, the break has sort of mashed my transitions into living/teaching here. Two weeks of school and I was starting to get into the groove (as best as can be expected), but then almost two weeks off put that into a slump. Now, after all that time off, I'm starting adjusting all over again. I'm excited to get a real routine going. I told myself I'd give myself a month before I started a true exercise routine, so I'm actually happy that time is coming up. My posture has actually gotten worse (and I was Slumps McGee before I left), so I'm in need of some yoga stat.

I'm teaching all four grade levels now (9-12), so the curriculum is starting to flow. Should be in full swing by the end of next week. My grade 9 students are quite squirrely, but fun. Last week was my first week with them. Kudos to Heather (English, 6-8) for teaching them up until the break. Lifesaver. One of the best parts of Haven of Peace Academy (HOPAC) is that I am free (and encouraged) to take on anything I want. So far I've mulled over doing a student publication (journalism), a creative writing club (but a lot more "cool" sounding haha), a drama club/student play, a speech and debate club, and... wait for it... a volleyball club. Athletics, I know. Who knew?! This is the place where I can really build my school involvements for my resume and try things that I might not otherwise try--or have the opportunity to try--back in the States. For the creative writing club, I've already envisioned like a poetry reading night (but more than just poetry) where a few student musicians can provide music and the art department (along with the photography club) can showcase student artwork. Can you say interdepartmental? :) I'm excited.

So far I've reached out via email to about four nonprofits in Dar. I really hope to volunteer my time and become involved in a women's issues project (maybe health related) while here. I want to take a step out of my "education" box and learn and experience a different cause that I can be passionate about. I think it would be especially good for me depending on what I eventually earn my master's degree in. (Right now leaning toward international comparative education... or something similar/internationally skewed.) I haven't heard back from any of them yet, so I might just have to go do some door-to-door cold calls. One problem, however, is that almost all addresses in Dar are P.O. boxes, so it's quite difficult to actually know where the offices are. One I found just down the street from me; I discovered it on a walk one day and memorized it's name and Googled it when I got home. Magdala does microcredit stuff for women and women with disabilities. Although I haven't reached out to it yet, Camfed Tanzania is also not too far from where I live on this side of Dar. (Location is SO important, as I have to consider time as well as transportation costs.) My dream job is to work for Camfed. (Its U.S.A. office is in San Francisco; yay West Coast representin'!) It's my favorite nonprofit and I hope that maybe it's "a God thing" that the Camfed Tanzania office is fairly nearby (aka location: commutable). Need to pick a day and find a friend who will go with me on these cold calls. Prayers for volunteer opportunities please!

Yesterday morning, Saturday, I went with Marie to William's village. William is the head of janitorial at HOPAC. Marie drove the bajaj with only a little help from her friend and bajaj driving teacher Abedy. I was so proud of her! Those bumpy dirt roads can be monstrous to manuvre, I can imagine. We got there after about 30 to 45 minutes (we took a little bit longer route so she could practice her driving) and it was a great ride. It felt AMAZING to get out and see more rural aka off the main street people and villages. It felt like I was up by Tengeru and Nkoaranga (by Arusha) again. I felt like I was REALLY in Africa. Loved it. We arrived at a little church and were greeted by William and about four little kids. Marie and William (a great English-Swahili translator, btw) read the kids Jesus' story of the shepherds and the lost lamb. Then we rocked our crayons and colored lambs that Marie had printed out. She had even brought little cotton balls to stretch out and glue to parts of the lambs to make them soft. :) She's so awesome. After that we tried to sing a little, but the language barrier made it more amusing (confusing? LOL) than successful.

We went outside and played a catepillar race game with two lines/teams. (Basically they had to stand in a single-file line and have their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. They then had to jump together toward the finish line without letting go of their teammates' shoulders.) They picked their own team names: Njano (yellow) and Simba (lion). They were so still, quiet and attentive during instructions, but once the race started they were all energy, giggles and smiles. It was adorable and completely awesome. As we did race after race between the two lines/teams, more and more kids from the village started coming over. I think by the end of the morning we had about 15 kids there. (Remember, there were only three when we first arrived.) I look forward to ministering to those little kids in William's rural village every Saturday morning. It's a fun and rewarding time to just show Love.

Friday night I found myself at the first wYLdlife meet-up of the school year. wYLdlife is the middle school youth group put on by YoungLife, a Christian missions agency that focuses on youth. Each "club" (what the youth group is called) has a theme, and the theme for this first gathering was Dala-dala. Dala-dalas are like small city buses that people get jam packed into. It's insane and totally Africa. The kids painted a mural of a dala-dala on the side of a wall at the Larmeys (the home where it's held) and we sang silly dala-dala-themed songs, i.e. "Swing Low, Sweet Dala-Dala." Some lyrics included "I went to Mwenge and what did I see? A goat and a chicken sitting next to me." LOL In fact, we had an empty dala-dala come and we packed all the middle schoolers in there, along with a goat (who jumped out quickly) and a chicken. When they exited, we counted 44 kids we had packed in there. (This particular dala-dala was about a little bigger than a 15-passenger van.) Hahaha It was hilarious. One leader said he put his face up to the open side window of the dala-dala and could feel the heat radiating out of it. Haha

The highlight of the entertainment for the night had to be the skit in which two senior boys pretended to be dala-dala drivers. The short version of it goes like this: The dala-dala driver complains and explains how he works so hard. Long hours, no breaks, tons of heat. Because he gets so hot driving with all those people and sweating in the sun, deodorant just doesn't cut it. What to do? He found a solution: peanut butter. [He proceeds to slop TZ peanut butter all over both armpits; he's wearing a sleeveless shirt.] His next problem is, because he sweats so much, he can never style his hair right. What to do? Well, he found a solution to that too: orange jam. [He proceeds to style a bunch of orange jam into his hair.] One of the drawbacks of being a dala-dala driver is not being able to stop for lunch. Well, being on the go all day, he just brings a chapati (like a thicker tortilla). But you never eat a chapati plain. He's got a solution! [He proceeds to wipe the chapati under his armpits really good to get a lot of the peanut butter. Then he wipes it all over his head to get the orange jam. He folds his chapati in half and takes a few good bites out of it.] Delicious. But of course if you eat a chapati you're going to be thirsty. No problem, he figured out how to handle that. You see, you keep a sponge tucked into your shirt at the nape of your neck, so that it collects all your sweat. [He proceeds to take the sponge from behind his neck and squeeze it's liquid into his mouth.] THE END. The skit was SO gross and SO awesome. Best. Thing. Ever! Oh, middle school youth group ministry, how I do love thee.

Looking forward to school tomorrow. Should go work on a "Jane Eyre" activity now. I have a meeting to go to tonight at another house on the compound. The meeting's for PEACH (Partnership for the Encouragement and Advancement of Comfortable Housing). LOL Lots of moving stuff going on (not just me and my house), so it's about that stuff. Today is Election day in TZ, so we have all laid low. Marie made an abundant and delicious lunch for everyone today. What a blessing.

Until next time, please keep me in your prayers. Prayers for a good move to the new house and support for housing issues; prayers for my health (the tummyache lasted about 9 days, but has since ceased); prayers for adjusting to life in Dar and emotions that come with it. Praise for Skype! And THANK YOU to everyone who has emailed me. Your contact means so much.

Lots of love,

L

PS: Happy Halloween! Hope someone carved a pumpkin for me. ;)