Recovery

Thank you all so much for all your love and support on my health! I hvae just finished taking antibiotics for my "chest infection"...not malaria of the heart, not TB.....Im still feeling a little tightness, but I have a check up in 1 week, so hopefully they can tell me whats up before I am shipped off to my site. I have just finished my classes at Uluguru....the name of my school. The teachers threw us this wonderful goodbye party, to thank us for being guest teachers and for coming to their school. They all said some nice things, and then we had some 'bites' to eat-us Americans decided to spruce up the party a little and we introduced Nutella to the teachers. I think it may be their favorite thing in the entire world now! We have just been reviewing our Kiswahili b/c this coming Wed is our final written exam, and then we all leave for our shadow visit-I get to hang out nearby Moshi(in the north) and kick it with a volunteer who teaches Chemistry. i am so stoked to see what it will be like! and all the volunteers that I have met so far might be the coolest people I have ever met(besides all my friends, of course). I have had quite the week, playing catch up from missing a week of school due to illness, but this weekend has been WILD! Thursday we all went to an NGO to see what other organization do in TZ, and I was amazed at this program called Faraja we went to! They want to be self sustainable so they can stop asking for money from gov'ts b/c govt money always has strings attatched-first its was "teach HIV clientele the ABC's of life", now its only abstinence..ABC's meaning Abstinence, behavior and condoms...we talked about all the programs they offer, the things they did in the community-very amazing, and possibly the most successful NGO in TZ...Friday, our group got together to discuss how we wanted to present our thoughts to the larger group at CCT day(when we all learn about issues like PC policies, etc). We ended up just drinking some beers and talking about all of our experiences. It was a nice way to end the last day of school. So, we then all decided that people should come over to my house that night for a littel get together. 9pm rolls around and 9 friends, lots of beer and some snacks arrive. We play cards, teach my shagazi how to play circle of death and P&A,(card games for you adults who dont know what those are), drink beers, listen to music....then my baba comes in with an entire case of 24 beers, some sodas and mandazi(fried donuts like things). It was awesome! Then we moved the furniture around in the living room, had a dance party until 3am, then sat up talking with my family in kiswhili until maybe 430 or 5am....we all had breakfast made by my shangazi-fried eggs, mandazi, chai ya maziwa(tea with milk)...it was GREAT! Went to CCT, where I got in trouble for having a party. I look the director right int he face and tell her I am doing exactly what they want....we have integrated into our community, I consider my home MY home, my family MY fmaily....and my family ASKED all my friends to stay lae. Quite frankly, the director of our training HATES me because of my personality. she looked me in the face and told me I needed to contain myself b/c people were attracted to my charming personality and that they would end up depending on me. and that causes me to be emotionally immature. bite me. I told here to treat me like an adult, that i didn't mean to be a mkorofi(trouble maker)and that I respect here, but I think she is getting the wrong impression of what happened at my house. I have now nominated myself as the 'naughty girl' in my training class, and have formed a small group of others....
so, party at my house friday, get one hour of sleep....will remember that night forever...and then the next day, play football on some feild(and girls usually dont play sports here....)so we have a little audience....b/c I'm playing in a skirt....then had some juice at my favorite little touristy place, played some pool, then went home, helped cook, then went out AGAIN with my baba and shangazi to listen and dance to African music...again, WHAT A BLAST! the way people dance here is so funny-lots of stiff upper body movements, pelvic thrusts, and just the continuous shuffle of feet....stayed out too late again, and got up when the roosters crow.
I'm going to the saba saba(market) with my aunt(shangzi) to get fabric so I can get an african dress made fro my swearing in ceremony. I will hopefully b able to send pics soon....Love you all, please write!
If you are sending a package or letter, you might wait until I know my permanant address, otherwise I might not get it for a couple of months. I will know soon! Letters take about 2 weeks to get here, so the latest I would send a lettr would be the 15th to the training site.