Tanzania Entry 4

Habari!

Wow, this week has flown by. We have been practicing, practicing, practicing all week. Thankfully the children are responding to the strategies which we hope will fuel the teachers for the hard work ahead of them. We will make work tasks tomorrow afternoon then meet with the teachers. On Friday we do a wrap-up.

My recovery has been marginal. Today is the first day I am feeling good. I am feeling very lucky because when I came home from school today there was both warm water and AC. Chinese food is on the agenda as soon as I send this e-mail off. A woman from the community brings in African food every day for the staff at school for lunch. It is always a hot meal involving rice, beans, cooked spinach and something (this varies) in gravy.

Alia’s aunt Salma has taken us under her wing and has been an extraordinary resource in helping us navigate the hidden curriculum and Tanzanian system. She has extraordinary executive functioning skills which come in very handy when you live in a community where you constantly have to adjust your plans according to rain, electricity, traffic and availability of a driver. This is, of course, all intermixed with an extended family network where everything is dependent on something else. It’s amazing to see her in action. She organized our trip to Zanzibar and has slipped in several little shopping excursions this week. We went to a little artists village this afternoon where they had old African artifacts. Very cool. I managed some restraint and came away with only one mask, one doll and two carved containers used to carry valuables while traveling. They had some old Dhows in the yard and I got a close up look but decided not to buy one. There is a 50 lb per bag limit.

We will be leaving for Lushuto on Sat morning. Salma is taking me to get our ticket tomorrow morning. We are meeting with a friend of hers after school to try and make arrangements to Bagomyo after that. Everyone keeps telling us how cold it will be in Lushoto. We are so looking forward to the cold as well as some hiking and relaxing. It takes a lot of energy to take care of everyday tasks when you are in a foreign place even with all the help we have received. I am thinking of you and looking forward to catching up.

Kwa Heri