Site in Sight

Mambo vipi, ma rafiki.

Shadow week, or "Spring Break '08 (part III)" as I like to call it, has come to an end. I had an amazing time traveling from Kilosa to Morogoro to the Southern Highlands, Iringa, Dar es Salaam, and back to Kilosa. I traveled in small buses on smaller roads, I jogged over golden hillsides at dusk while rural Tanzanians chased and laughed (I will explain their understanding/lack there of of exercise baaidaye), I baked chocolate chip cookies over a charcoal jiko (stove), met a Tanzanian whose favorite music is "Norah Jones and Louis Armstrong", and shook my wowowo at a disco in Iringa until long after the cows had gone home. I had an amazing 10 days, in which I got to know my fellow volunteers, the people, land, and smells of Tanzania a bit better.

At the end of the week we all gathered at the Peace Corps office in Dar and had the site announcement ceremony. All 46 of our sites were announced to the group with a short description of the area and the people of each site. From the short description of my site I can report that "there are beautiful mountains, perfect for hiking, biking, and general pumzika (relaxation)". The site is located in the Iringa region (Southern Highlands) in Njombe district, right outside of Makombaco. It is a small village, and I am furahi sana (very happy). Of course there will be lots of work to do once I am there, but for now, as the sun sets on my training I'm stuck in a euphoric African haze. I know that in just a few days (next weekend to be exact) I will wake up alone in my Southern Highlands nyumbani (home), and there will be a chill to the air (it drops below freezing at night), and the reality of living alone in an African village will dawn on me...I eagerly await that day.

Aya, I'm off to chai...there is nothing like a fried piece of bread and milk chai in the middle of the morning. Thank you so much to everyone who has emailed and mailed...it brings a giant smile to my face. I promise I will get around to writing back to everyone. There may be a few weeks, or even a month before my next post...but I hear there is safi internet in Njombe. Also, my address has changed, no longer the P.O Box in Dar es Salaam. I will let ya'll know what it is when I know.

Lots of love from TZ!
xxGreta