Journal Feb 15th
Last night – VD celebration…
I was aware that it was Valentine’s day, but was not enthused really for my Valentine was not with me here. Only in my heart. So, to my surprise, Andrew and John, who are Georgetown University students and call me mom, invited all the women of the house out to dinner. Nicola, y 18 year old roommate insisted on dressing me up (she calls me mom also) and I agreed thinking, “Well, if I look like a fool, no one will even notice or care”. But actually, she had a very cute pair of black pants and shirt and even shoes for me to borrow that I would love to own. It was nice to clean up and feel civilized for a night even though I have enjoyed not fussing with all that.
We went to the roof of the Kandaroka Hotel and had a full view of snow capped and really, really tall Mt Kili. It was amazing. We had wine, but the server did not know how to open it and Andrew had to use the corkscrew from his Swiss Army knife to dig it out. Those things really are handy aren’t they – life saving sometimes. We ordered five dishes to share and two and half-hours later, the dinner had not come and Anna and I had to leave because I was expecting a call from Gerry. I had a marathon bar and Pringles for dinner. When the rest came home they told us they did not get what they ordered and it was cold. But, we all said it was a really fun night and an African experience.
Also, on VD, the most touching thing happened. Digna, the woman who had us over for lunch on Sunday gave me a Valentine’s present. It was a clear plastic case and in it was a little glass swan that said I love you Valentine. So sweet. I bought everyone a group gift :Nutella”. If , you don’t know, Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut cream that tastes good spread over everything on earth - and I mean everything. Find me something that does not taste exquisite with Nutella and I’ll eat it, because I won’t believe it.
The day…
Today was actually uneventful considering I am living in a third world country without my family and friends. I really miss everyone, but I feel I am doing some good here and I am enjoying my time. I have also really enjoyed the other volunteers. It is one of those situations where I would probably not have picked them out or come together with them on my own, but when thrown together, find I really am happy to know them.
I am the oldest of everyone here by ten years. Next in line is Anna who is a 37 year cellist and base player from Atlanta, who also teaches these instruments and restores bows. She is really a character and she is as kind and generous a person can be. The next oldest is Julie who is a cosmetologist and Mormon from Salt Lake and she works at the orphanage with me. She is also really sweet and she is totally nuts and cracks us all up. There are several college students who are using this as their study abroad experience. They are all extremely smart and also really nice and fun to be with. Nicola is my 18-year-old roommate and is from San Diego. She is a competitive horse jumper – not the proper terminology – and is going to India for 4 weeks after this to volunteer. Another noteworthy person is Sonja. She was delayed in arriving in Tanzania because she is a Philly Eagles cheerleader and was in the Super Bowl. She arrived three days later than the rest of us. I, in dismay was picturing a dizzy young blonde and much to my surprise and delight, she is a very intelligent, mature and fun person. Enough so that I don’t hate her because she looks perfect and beautiful with no makeup and a pair of sweats. She is a black American (she prefers not to be called African American because really most black people could come from one of several areas which had a slave trade) Sonja is a grad student in public health.
Okay, so that is the other volunteers in a nutshell. Today I was at the orphanage for work and it was a good day because I had fun with the kids and no one peed on me today. I brought out the view master I brought with me and those kids can look endlessly at the pictures – some are naming what they say in Swalili which I could listen to endlessly. It is so cute when kids speak Swahili. I also played soccer with Estomenie and a little girl named Anna, who preferred throwing to kicking, so we switched to that. Also, there is a girl named Lillian who is teaching me to count to 10 in Swahili and I am teaching her to do so in English. She is a very smart little girl with intense eyes. She was also the last to warm up to me, but she I realized she likes to sing and count rather than be cuddled, we have gotten along famously.
Also, I am getting a plan together for guidelines on teaching the young nurses how to take care of children. Also, I want to find some ways to get some steady funding for this orphanage. They are run by the Precious Blood Sisters and they rely solely on donations which have become scarce. There are many people back home who’ve offered support here and I told them I would find out what was needed and let them know. Well, I think this is a definitely worthy cause and it is unique because they have no way of generating revenue. I don’t know how we could get a group of toddlers to do something which would earn steady income (if only pee could marketed in a constructive way).
After lunch, we went to town to change dollars into schooling. The money thing is really weird here. 1,000 Schooling is equivalent to one dollar. So, I have to be careful because it does not feel like real money – more like monopoly money and I don’t want to spend it as such or I may have to work until I’m 80 to make up for my spending in Africa.
We returned to town for Swahili lessons with our teacher Hedwig. Some of these names really crack me up. Hedwig is a 50-year-old teacher who is very intelligent and a great sense of humor. Good thing too, because we have been a little silly at our lessons and she has dealt with it and managed to teaches a few things in the process. Swahili is easy in the sense that it sounds like it is written in most cases – nothing tricky. The only part for me is just memorizing and figuring out pronouns, etc. I figure if I get the basics and a word vocabulary, I will be doing well.
After that, John wanted to go running and I had been shown a really nice route by another volunteer and he wanted me to show him. Unfortunately, I missed a key turn and we went about a mile down the road the wrong way before I confessed that this was not at all familiar. We turned around and were heading back and it was starting to get dark. I would have been uncomfortable had I been alone, but the problem is that the roads are so never the danger was in navigating that without an ankle turn. All of the sudden a man calls out “John”. The person behind the voice was a young man who was a friend of John (Tanzanian Jonn) and Anton who are the local volunteers. It is so funny that we have been here less than 2 weeks and randomly run into people we know. That hardly ever happens to me even in cub foods on Maple Groove. The guy’s name was Gabby and he insisted on escorting us all the way back to CCS. People are so ready and able to go out of their way at any time, no matter what they are doing to help someone out.
After we arrived home, dinner was in progress and we were just in time. Tonight it was a beef and gravy, guacamole, potatoes, cooked spinach and fresh fruit. I can’t believe it, but I think I am gaining weight in a third world country. The food is so good and I am so hungry when mealtime comes around. After dinner, I did some laundry. We have a basin in our bathroom that we hand wash our clothes and hang dry. Washers and dryers are unheard of here.
So now I am sitting in the little living room with the windows open and writing my journal. Tomorrow, we are missing work to go on a CCS sponsored field trip. We will see the Chagga village – they are an indigenous tribe and hike a waterfall. If time allows, we will be able to go to the foot of Mt Kili.