Tanzania: Back to Kibaha

1. I love not having internet because it lets me focus on my here-and-now and allows me to really take in this experience. That being said, I can't stand not being able to give you folks a play by play. Every time I have access to internet and can sit down to write, so much time has passed since my last post that I forget all the great details! I suppose in a way that's good; the posts are shorter!

2. I love Kibaha. As in L O V E. I don't know what it is about this second week. I think I was able to hit the ground running. I got back here on Wednesday morning from Dar and fell right into a rhythm. It was so exciting to reconnect with the kids. Ally ended up staying in Zanzibar and changed her ticket to leave Tanzania early (she left yesterday) so they all asked me where my "mzungu" (white person) was. It was sweet. I have started teaching my own English class every afternoon. It's primarily a creative writing / conversation class because I find the children here are too scared to think outside of the box in any language which (in my Montessori-influenced opinion) is the root to all academic problems. Fear is just no bueno. Ever. Anyway, it's been fantastic! I'm teaching Form I, II, and III boys in the afternoons after lunch. The kids have no school on Sundays so I told them they could have the day off as well. They insisted on showing up anyway! It was great. I'm also finding that these kids don't have nearly enough fun in the classroom. Learning can be so much fun. Why on earth do teachers forget that and feel this need to be so tedious? Such a waste of everyone's time.

In one class, we watched a documentary about polar bears. We discussed the video afterwards. Most of these munchkins have never seen anything like snow in good ole heat-country Tanzania so talking about how temperature, water, volume, etc in English was a lot of fun. I'm also picking up a lot of kiswahili. When they feel like they have understood a new English word that we have used or learned in class, they confirm it with me in kiswahili. If I don't know the word, then I learn something new, too! Big bonus. Then, they each pulled out sheets of paper and wrote stories about their lives as polar bears. Now those were fascinating to read. It's also great because they write a piece everyday so I get to see their progress! We also have one large thing in common: we enjoy futbol. I've done two dictations with them (administration's idea; thought I'd try it out) and ended up making them both about futbol to keep their attention. It was fun.

Let's see. What else? I love living alone because it allows me to maintain a solid balance between being around people and being in my head. I feel like either of those two extremes is unhealthy. Traveling with Ally was good because we are both the same way, in this regard. Jabir (the CAO) and Neelam (Volunteer Coordinator) are also growing on me. Well, I liked Jabir from the get go but you know what I mean. I really don't ever feel like I will need to leave. I feel so fulfilled here. This weekend, Jabir's in laws are in town so there's a big party every time we are over at his place. Yesterday, after finishing up work at around 7:30 PM, we all met at his house for dinner as usual. Afterwards, he made us all homegrown coffee and we took a walk around campus in absolute darkness (and occasional spurts of light from Nana Bashir's fancy shmancy handy dandy torch). We got home at about 11 PM and put in Three Idiots (the Indian movie) at Jabir's house on the projector. Great movie, if you haven't seen it. It was my first time. A few of us waited Fajr out just because we knew we wouldn't get up. Then, this morning I had to be up at 8:30 because Chacha was driving to Nairobi and was going to stop by Kibaha to say hi. I didn't want to miss him. Funny, we slept so little but have so much energy! I think that's the definition of fulfillment. Maybe. Still figuring it out, I suppose.

I have a schedule here. In the mornings, if I am motivated to get out of the house, I go to primary for Fajr prayers at about 5:30 AM. Afterwards, I come back home and sleep until about 7. Then, I get up again, get dressed, head to Jabir's for a quick bite (or skip breakfast; those of you who know me well know that I don't find breakfast particularly appealing .. maybe I'm just lazy), and then make my way to the administration building. In the mornings from 8 to about 12:30, I am on paperwork duty - drafting letters, putting together sponsorship proposals, asking for more time on deadlines, putting together end-of-year reports, etc. At 12:30, I usually head home to pray. One of these days, I'm sure I'll be in the mood to go to the mosque and pray. It just hasn't happened yet. After prayers, we all meet at Jabir's for lunch. Then, I come back here to the administration building for my afternoon classes. I am usually all done with class for the afternoon by 4:30 after which I take classes from Primary to the Orphanage for an hour or an hour and a half where we all play futbol, word games, color, etc together. After this burst of energy expenditure, I head to Primary where I pray Maghrib and Isha (evening prayers) with the kids every night. It's so beautiful there. The children are so loving. Seriously, if we all just loved each other a little more in this world, we would go a long way ..

After prayers, I usually take the long road out to Jabir's for dinner. Then, it's off to "Prep" aka Organized Homework and Study Sessions. That usually runs from 8 to 10. At 10, I run a pilates class for the teachers here. That goes until 11. At 11, Nana Bashir and I go out on our nightly walks. If our class gets out early, we start earlier. Both of us prefer the second arrangement but we can't seem to stick to a solid time every night. Anyway, we usually walk for between half an hour and an hour. It's beautiful out here. You can hear the frogs and the crickets and the birds and the wind. And, man, the silence here is heaven. We always walk out to the football fields because there is the least amount of light there, which makes stargazing so much fun. The other day I saw a shooting star!!!! I haven't seen one since we lived in Hatta and I was like five!! So great. I'm usually home by midnight or 12:30 (unless guests are in town or the other volunteers are feeling up-to-something). I usually pull out the laptop and try and finish up what I couldn't finish up in the morning at this time. Then, I turn on a qasida (ode in English? maybe?) and sleep only to get up the next morning and do it all over again. It's fantastic. I think I love having a routine where the variables are constantly changing but the structure remains the same.

Nana Bashir and I want to go walking after Fajr one day. I pray that God gives me the motivation to do something like that soon. I think I would really enjoy it. I just love my sleep, too, you know? Oh, I know you know. On Sunday, we are getting up early to make breakfast for all the kids. There are 1400 of them and 5 of us. It's going to be great. I am excited already. Also, there is a market nearby called Mili Moja (One Mile) because it is one mile from the neighboring county! We went yesterday. It was so much fun! Very typical Africa. I'm getting so used to eating oranges on the side of the street. What am I going to do back in the US when that is not "the thing" to do?! Bah.

Oh, I've also been doing some LSAT Prep. I don't know why, considering I feel like the US doesn't really exist for me nor does my life there. I think I like the logic games although I need to work on my stamina with this current book I'm working in. The problems are so convoluted that, after three, I'm tired. Not going to make a 180 with that kind of brainwave (or lack of) action.

Oh, as for when I'm going back to Dar. I'll be in Kibaha for this week. I leave for Dar on Monday night (a week from today) and get back to Kibaha on Wednesday morning. I just want to be home for Tuesday night which is when I think the night of the 15th Sha'abaan is (big celebration and hopefully khoja-not-Pakistani-style biryani .. woopee!). Then I'll be in Kibaha the rest of the week. I leave here on Sunday morning (the 1st) although I am considering leaving on Saturday night (the 31st) just because I fly out on the 2nd and don't want things to be too nutty for those few days before I travel. We shall see. I can't believe I leave in two weeks. I don't understand that statement. I have been away from the United States for too long to be excited about the prospect of returning. I think of my family often; it will be nice to see them. As for the country, I have totally lost interest. For now, at least. Maybe that will change upon returning to the States.

Okay, I am super late for lunch. It's 2:23 and I have a class at 3 and have not prayed yet. Short story long, gotta go but feels good to write to you all. Hope you are splendid. The internet keeps popping in and out so I am going to hit Publish Post now and cross as many fingers as I can, in hopes that it will post. Until another day ..