Training Update

Hi all! I just realized today marks the start of week 8 out of 10 of our training - crazy how fast it's gone by and yet it still seems like we've been here so long. But I'm very excited because in 2 days we find out our permanent sites! My host baba has a lot of family that lives in Moshe, near Kilimanjaro, and he keeps telling me he really wants me to teach there. I try to tell him I don't really have too much say in it, but maybe he has some pull within Peace Corps...we'll see. I'm sure I'll be happy wherever I go.

But on Sunday we leave for our week-long shadow sessions. I'll be going to Iringa, which is about a 5-7 hour bus ride from Morogoro I think, so not too far. Some people have a 12+ hr trip ahead of them. I heard it's much colder there (40's or so at night?). Also the volunteer I'm staying with is an environment volunteer, not education, and they tend to live in more remote parts of the country. I talked to her on the phone and she said she is definitely living out in the bush, no electricity or running water for sure, and the closest secondary school is a 2 hr hike from her house. It's gonna be great to be able to see that side of Tanzanian life, at least for a week! I think we'll get a chance to try our hand at teaching at least one day, too.  Oh, and apparently my host volunteer is an amazing cook. She is notorious among other volunteers for making some mean cinnamon rolls. She asked me if there was any food I was missing from home that she could make, and I said I'm from Chicago so if there's anything I'm missing it's deep dish pizza, but that's probably out of the question. But she said she thinks she can make it. I'm definitely stealing the recipe if it works out.

I made burritos for my host family the other day, with chipati, rice, beans, and guacamole. It turned out well, but the chipati didn't quite have the durability I was hoping for, good thing people here are used to eating most messy things with their hands. But they loved the guacamole. I tried to tell them you can eat it with literally anything. And they thought it was funny when I said another name for burritos was taco's, because apparently "tako" means butt in kiswahili. Oh, cultural exchanges...

Tomorrow's my last day of teaching at my school here in Morogoro. We prepared a short speech in Kiswahili to say in front of all the students and teachers to thank them for having us, and they will have a little send-off party for us.

In other exciting news, one of my Kiswahili teachers, Makasi, just had a new baby girl today (his wife, that is). They had been expecting it for a while now, so one of the other trainees in my group, Athena, said if it was a girl he should name it after her. And Makasi said he would, and apparently did, though I'm pretty sure we all thought he was joking. She was really excited. I'm willing to guess they are the only two Athena's in Tanzania.

That's about it for now. Just really excited to find out where I'll be living for the next two years! Thanks to everyone who's been keeping in touch, it's always great to hear from you.