hey hey hey! All's well by me here in the southern hemisphere (i'm now used to orion and the big dipper being upside down -- actually, the night sky is quite simply GORGEOUS, if it were warmer here i'd sit outside every night and enjoy them). School is going well, except that I found out recently that my students didn't have a math teacher last year -- another teacher helped them out sometimes, but they weren't taught much. So that helps to explain the 12% average on the national exam and why so many have such a shaky grasp on fundamentals. My good students probably got tutored. But it leaves me in a weird place rethinking what I should be teaching... I started having review sessions after school, so maybe I'll have 1 each week to re-teach last year's stuff and 1 where students can ask me questions. About a quarter of my students showed up to the first session, which was very exciting! But then they asked me questions that I completely fumbled -- though I have now taught myself to use log tables, antilog tables, and to do calculations by changing numbers into logs and using said tables. fun! Still not sure how to use a slide rule, though...I'm also getting started on health education (I've talked with 2 other teachers about how/what/when to start), and I'm spending a few periods a week with the older students (forms 5 and 6) to help them with English (they have no teacher) and anything else they're interested in -- I'm hoping that'll include cross-cultural discussions and HIV/AIDS education, but we'll see. So, this has been a great week at school because I feel like I'm being effective!

My 2 weeks of PC training in March were great -- some of the sessions we had were really helpful, my counterpart (a teacher who came to most of the training) now knows more about me and where I'm coming from and what type of work I want to do so he can better help me and advocate for me, and it was lots of fun to have so much time with friends! Of course there were a few frustrating cross-cultural moments, including some that made me furious, but oh well... Then I was at site for fewer than 2 weeks before we had our Easter holiday. Those 2 weeks were frustrating because the students hadn't done all of the work I had left for them (notes to copy, problems to try) and they seemed especially unmotivated. Plus I had all these ideas of things I wanted to do but it didn't make sense to get started until after the school break, and then on top of all that I was super excited to see my family!!

I spent my break in Barcelona with my parents and sister, and we had a wonderful time! Delicious food and wine, incredible architecture, and lots of linguistic confusion. I used tribal greetings when I was in Dar, Kiswahili in Spain, and odd English with my family. But it made for some fun stories! I was able to (for the most part) successfully compartamentalize my life here in TZ and my vacation, so I focused on enjoying being with my family and didn't convert any prices into Tanzanian shillings :) I mostly felt at home in the 1st world, and certainly felt at home returning here. I think it'll be very different going home for good, not just for a visit, but one thing I realized I'm going to LOVE is people not automatically assuming I'm a foreigner/outsider. Maybe people in Spain could tell I was American (I could certainly pick them out), but people didn't stare at me as I walked down the street, didn't treat me differently from everyone else, didn't make ridiculous assumptions about things I know or don't know, and I didn't make any little kids cry! But as frustrated as I get here, it felt good to come back. And 1 kid in my village who used to stare at me for about 40 seconds before starting to whimper and finally back away, crying and reaching for his mom, likes me now! He was part of a group of 4 kids who followed me to and from the store, all the while talking (well, babbling) and smiling last week!

Not so much has changed -- I teach, have my ups and downs, visit the orphanage, see other PCVs, rarely cook, read, write letters. I'm healthy, happy, and even clean sometimes :) Still a vegetarian, still love nyc, and still a chocoholic. I also still love hearing from you all; packages, letters, emails, phone calls are always appreciated! (1 thing that has changed, I'm trying to stop using the phrase 'you guys' after reading an article from Bitch magazine that pointed out how it's used interchangeably for male, female, or coed groups but 'you ladies' or another all-female equivalent is never used for either a male or coed group. And I occasionally wear pants to school -- and use the opportunity to talk with teachers about sexism. Recently, I had 1 teacher promise me she would wear her nice trousers to school one day!)

I hope you all are doing well, and thanks for reading about me!

I'm happily living in my HUGE house here in the southern highlands of Tanzania. I have plenty of bucket space to collect rainwater, which I'm very happy about as it means I don't have to carry water or coerce my students into carrying it for me (it wouldn't really be coercion because students do whatever teachers say, except do hw it seems, but I wouldn't be comfortable having the students do my chores or run errands for me). I'm very glad for my electricity because of my electric kettle -- it means I can have a hot cup fo tea when I get cold and I don't have to worry about starting my charcoal to boil my drinking water or make oatmeal! The only thing I really wish for is that they insulated buildings here; I already get cold inside and the cold season doesn't start until June. I know layering and drinking hot tea will keep me warm, but I'm not used to that as I haven't been at home with my parents much in the winter when they refuse to turn up the thermostat. A teacher recently told me that in the cold season it gets hard to teach because your hands are so cold it's hard to hold and use chalk...Anyways, school has started and I'm glad becasue I had begun to feel restless without anything to do except eat, read, write, visit neighbors, cook, and do yoga. I teach all of one grade, which works out to 4 80min blocks 3 days a week. Mon-Wed I'm really busy and then thurs and Friday I sit around the staff room grading, journaling, reading, writing letters, and using the school computer (to type emails, blogposts, etc. like this!). Teaching that much is more exhausting than I expected, but since I teach the same material (though at different paces) my prep time isn't bad. I think what's most exhausting is when it feels like I'm talking to a wall. 2 of my classes participate, even occasionally ask questions, and are fairly engaged, but the other 2 drive me up the wall with their blank looks and refusal to answer even simple questions. A part of that is cultural, as the education system and teaching style here is based almost exclusively on lecturing and rote learning/memorization. The teachers also barely participate during staff meetings, and in general people tend to keep their heads down and mumble (if they talk at all) when an authority figure asks something of them. I do get frustrated and have started setting an alarm to be to sure I don't sleep late, but sometimes I leave the classroom considering teaching at home and sometimes I leave swearing that I'll never teach in an official capacity after PC. I recently gave a weekly test and felt really demoralized after grading them because of how little so many of them knew, plus how many of them made the same mistakes they had made on HW that I had so strenuously pointed out were wrong. But another time I finished a class early and they kept me for 40min asking questions about the US and the world, etc. It was great! But as for the math...well, the average grade of my 170 students on the national exam they took last year was a 12. Yes, 12 out of 100. 12%. So, few of them should even be taking what I'm supposed to teach, but the rules changed recently so that even if a student fails all of her/his exams s/he can still move on. Fun, eh? The highest average on any of the exams was a 59%. A part of me wants to start teaching the form1 material and just see how far I get -- and I'll probably teach the same students next year so I'd be trying to do 4 years' worth in 2 -- but I'm just not sure if that's a good idea or not! I mean, the first time I stood in front of a class was about a month ago, what do I know?! I think some type of review class for everyone would be ideal, but I'm not sure how to set that up or even if I'd be able to hand that much extra effort! Discipline isn't really a problem, a few students come late or ask to leave or fall asleep/don't take notes, but nobody's been disruptive so far. Few did the HW I assigned, so I decided to stop assignin it because grading's so much work and they don't put any effort into it -- not many hand anything in and most that do just copy. I make up optional problems and an answer key for those students who want to do it. I've threatened consequences for various offenses, but I have yet to actually give any out. There's no way I'm going to be the cause of physical abuse, though maybe I'll assign physical labor (technicaly corporal punishment). I'm currently trying to organize detention for about 50 students but their schedules are so regulated that it's tough to find a time other than after dinner -- time that i'm not sure i'm willing to give up! Overall, though, I'm happy and excited to be here. I'm hoping to start a math club for the handful of my students who do their work and are invested in math/school in general -- I'm thinking we could look at who uses math in real life as well as just doing fun math and logic puzzles. I'd also like to do some health work, either a club or some events to talk about HIV/AIDs, nutrition, hygeine, and other aspects of health. A PC suggestion that sounds good to me is to work directly with older students and then have them teach younger ones and/or the wider community. Some kind of forum for students (and maybe teachers, too) to ask me about the States and get them thinking about the wider world in general would be awesome, but I know I'll have to pick and choose since I can only do so much. My last (so far) idea is to try to get grant money to start a computer lab, and then work with both students and teachers so they can learn basic skills. Many students see a computer for the first time when they go to secondary school (we have one for teachers and the secretaries to use, what I'm using to type this) and have never used one. Tanzanians are amazed at how fast I type, but at home it's nothing special. Oh, and I've been asked to help get books for the school library -- though I've been trying to organize the books they do have since school opened in Jan but it has yet to be "cleaned" so I haven't been able to start.I recently learned that I can eat student food, so I've gotten lunch at the kitchen all this week. Previously I had been told that I couldn't eat there, that I could but it was bad food so I shouldn't, and that the teacher on duty was required to eat there and nobody else could. Turns out that I, and any teacher, can eat there anytime, but most teachers don't out of pride. There's porridge for breakfast and ugali and beans for lunch and dinner; once a week there's rice, occasionally there may be meat, and a few times a week there are vegetables mixed in with the beans. Since beans are the most annoying to cook and, along with rice, are my main source of protein, I am extremely happy to lunch at school! The only problem is that when I'm faced with free food (not literally, because there's no such thing as a free lunch =) but free of my labor, time and money) I want to take advantage of it and so I've pretty much been stuffing my face. Some days I've had a bit of fruit for dinner (apples, pineapple, mango, peaches, pears), but my stomach is fine if I don't eat until the next morning. I think I had lost a bit of weight (or washing my clothes by hand simply stretched them out) but now I may follow the trend of female PCVs gaining weight at site. Oh well, as long as I'm happy and healthy, hamna shida! I also started getting milk delivered twice a week, which is delicious for rice pudding, hot cocoa, or just heated up (I was recently taught about putting some honey in warm milk and that is DELICIOUS). It'll definitely take time for me to readjust to skim when I get home, but at less than 50cents a liter (approximately, as I'm not up to date on the exchange rate) for fresh, organic milk from my neighbor's cow, I wont complain. And if that isn't enough reason for you to visit, then I don't know what is...Wearing skirts hasn't annoyed me nearly as much as I thought it would (though last week I put on jeans and a tank top, found American music on the radio, and danced around my house sining all afternoon in my own private rejection of Tanzanian culture and its pervasive sexism). As a white foreigner and a teacher I am usually given a lot of respect, so I've seen more than experienced the overt sexism here. However, I have been in situations where I had to resist being rude and sarcastic, using unncessarily large words, or giving in to the desire to try my hand at being a charlie's angel. In other news, my spelling ability has gone from bad to atrocious, which I blame on phonetic Kiswahili. And I frequently speak incorrect English with odd intonation these days, to make it simpler and easier for those around me to understand, so I apologize in advance if my writing or speaking makes you cringe. The entire country seems to have learned some grammar and phrases incorrectly, which is hilarious on the one hand but frustrating as well as a shame on the other. But since students learn English from non-native speakers who are not usually competant themselves, it's no surprise. I was able to watch Obama's inauguration, which I was VERY happy about. My neighbors had invited me over to watch it (they have satellite... though no comedy central), but the morning of the inauguration the electricity went out in the whole village. After school, I sat at home reading and bemoaning the fact that the internet cafe in town doesn't let you watch youtube videos. I went over to my neighbors' at 6pm (10am EST) even though the electricity wasn't back, because that's when I had heard coverage would start. I sat in the dark with my 6year old friend for an hour and then just after 7 the lights flickered on! We found a Tz channel that was broadcasting CNN live, so I got to watch both Bushs, the Clintons, and a few other VIPs walk to their seats as well as hear the speeches and oaths. The house being built next door to me is almost finished (exactly the same as mine, will also be teacher housing), and a few weeks ago they were putting on the tin roof... i didn't realize this and walked outside in my SMALL travel towel to go take a shower...oops. i just ignored the guys on the roof, and while i hope they did the same, my white thighs may have made an impression. I'll be going to a conference center for some more training with a bunch of other pcvs in a few weeks, and i'm looking forward to seeing lots of friends but am wondering how we're all going to deal with being around americans all the time as well as losing the total independence we've had for the past 3 months. We'll see!Thanks for all the letters, emails, packages, cards! I love it all, so please continue to spoil me! **if you don't write pcv or peace corps volunteer on a package then i have to pay customs fees.... so please remember it, thanks!!**

Happy New Year!

The past month has been fairly uneventful, school opens this coming week so I've been spending my time integrating into the community. It's been an interesting mix of easy and hard -- friendly, welcoming villagers and neighbors but I feel awkward just going to a house to say hi because the conversation runs out pretty quick and I know I'll be offered a soda, tea, food, or all 3. If I do that one day, I don't want to the next because I don't want them to think I'm taking advantage. This all means that some days I only left my house for the self-imposed obligatory walk to the village stores, when I'd either buy some food or invent another errand for myself (1 day I spent a long time searching for baking powder because I figure you never know when you'll want to make pancakes). But I'm enjoying this extended vacation in Tanzania, although it's really been since my last examin May, and am not sure how I feel about school starting. I'm excited but also nervous, and a part of me would enjoy just living here and hanging out on the PC dime! It's a safe set-up, to use Kiswahili slang (safi literally means clean but is used as good/sweet,etc.) I have been getting a bit restless recently, though, so I think it'll be good for me that I'll have a (somewhat) set schedule and work to do from now on.

This past week I met a bunch of people at the mission, through someone who works there and stopped me on the road to ask if I was PC because he knows another volunteer in the area. He introduced me to the orphanage, the Father of the mission, other brothers and sisters, and the sister who makes sausages and cheeses, which I'm excited to buy (only the latter, don't worry). I've spent some time at the orphanage and hope to still be able to spend some time there after I start teaching. Since it's run by the mission and the Tz government appoints/sends kids (all under 2years) there, it's a well-run place and the kids are very well looked after. They're chubby and (mostly) happy, have some toys and plenty of clothes and cribs. They're also all HIV positive who's parents died from the same. They're so cute and there's always at least one who wants to be picked up -- so I can easy get my fill of playing with kids! Plus I can practice my kiswahili with them (although none of them talk coherently) and the nurses/caretakers. Too bad I only found out about going there the week before school's opening because it would've been less lonely for me! Although, really, I've only recently started to feel restless, which comes from a feeling of uselessness and running out of books I want to read (I'll go get some more today), so the timing's not bad at all.

I really enjoyed the holidays -- except the teasing I got when my family forgot to call me on christmas day, the day after christmas day, and the day after that... but I still love them and miss them! Anyways, I got together with some friends and we did a potluck for xmas day dinner -- and it was delicious! So much food I haven't eaten in months! And then the leftovers made for wonderful brekkie/lunch, too. I made bread, oatmeal honey and tea masala (a spice mixture I dumped in to give it some flavor, basing it off of the North African Coriander bread my dad and I make that's heavenly), and it was darn-tootin' good if I do say so myself! Not having a mixture was no problem, and even my "oven" (a pot balanced on 3 rocks inside another pot and lid) worked out ok. My first loaf cooked for an obscenely long time because my coals weren't hot enough and so even when it aws completely cooked it wasn't brown or golden at all. And then the honey oatmeal didn't rise enough... but hey, they tasted good. So, while I, of course, missed my family and friends at home over the holidays, I enjoyed myself with friends. It was so different that it didn't feel much like christmas, except for all the carols! But it turns out I don't know very many xmas carols so that didn't remind me much of home, either. I taught soem people dreidel and we even played a bit (thanks Rebecca, for your packages!), although without hershey's kisses, M&Ms, or anything to bet with it wasn't quite as much fun.

My house is slowly getting furnished; I'm keeping in touch with PCV friends and my homestay family; I'm writing letters to the states (send me your address if you haven't and want a letter); reading a lot; bathing every so often; staying healthy; eating a lot of bananas and peanut butter; practicing kiswahili; talking with lots of tanzanians; loving the packages and letters I get; and preparing to teach. Here are a few stats on Tanzania...

literacy (English, Arabic, Swahili) -- 62%women, 78%men

primary school enrollment (age 7-13) -- 97%

secondary school enrollment -- 21%

pre-univeristy/A-level (US 12th, 13th grades roughly) -- 1% of prior 21%

Fun times! Thanks again for all the communication and for keeping track of me!

ps - I've been told my someone who knows a bit more about churches than me that the church bells I hear are probably calling people to mass, not telling time... but Tanzanian time is definitely an entirely different ball game.

Kamwene! That's the traditional kibena greeting, kibena being the native language of the area I'm living in. I arrived safely at my village and house, a full-fledged PCV! Woohoo! My house is right by the school and a short walk to the row of stores that make up town. I have electricity and no water, but for probably half the year I'll be able to collect enough rainwater so that I don't need to walk down the road to the water pump. Everyone's been very friendly and a number of students have come by to say hello and chat -- we communicate fine between my limited kiswahili and their limited English, but it's clear to be that I'll need to do a fair amount of explaining/teaching in kiswahili in the classroom. And I'm sure I'll learn a bit of kibena, too.

My house is huge -- a big room, 2 small rooms, and my bedrooms. Then I have a concrete wall around my very own compound, in which I have my choo, "shower" room for bucket baths, a small storage room, a kitchen room, and a roofed 3-walled area for outdoor cooking/doing other stuff. One set of neighbors has been extremely welcoming and keep telling me to "feel free" which means to come over, ask questions, say hi, discuss problems -- pretty much don't worry about bothering, just ask! The mama started referring to me as her daughter, not just sister (which everyone uses), so I really feel welcomed! Her mother-in-law seems to be worried about my eating habits, because she's offered to have me over to show me how to cook some things, sent me home with two cabbages and flour, and told me not to eat too many bananas because they'll make my stomach hurt. She also offered to take me into town to help me get curtains! That was supposed to be today but it didn't work out, although I'm they'll help me later. The school gave me a kitchen table with four chairs and a twin bed with a mattress -- so it feels really empty, but I've ordered a sofa and 2 chairs from a local carpenter so then I can have people over for chai! I've also ordered a bookshelf for my clothes, books, stuff in my room, and I'll probably get a bigger bed from the school workshop. That'll take me over my PC settling-in allowance, so the rest will come little by little. Soon I'll be thinking about deocrations and (hopefully) painting the walls pretty colors! Speaking of which, next time you write me a letter, please feel free to include a favorite picture (of us, perhaps? or maybe an artsy one? or a funny sign?) for me to put on my wall! I brought a lovely photo album, courtesy of Lys, but I figure you can never have too many pictures. I just finished putting some photos up yesterday, and while it kinda reminds me of middle school, I like it! If you're desperate to send me something now, any food that is ready to eat or only requires adding boiling water would be appreciated! (Ex - oatmeal, hot cocoa, mac&cheese, veggie soups) But just a letter would be fantastic! I've asked my parents to send along all of the math and science books I collected from my HS for my school's library (we do have a library building, but it's pretty much empty), so help with that or collecting/sending easy English books (children's or early chapter) would be useful, too. Eventually I plan to contact my HS's community service club and tap into my mother's extensive social network to help collect and send books, but I've got enough on my plate now. Also, PCVs are often approached by students for help with school fees -- so if anybody's interested in sponsoring students, either who's parents can't otherwise afford it or those who have been orphaned (usually due to AIDS), hopefully I'll have more info on that later! But that's all on the sidelines, as my primary focus here is teaching and cross-cultural communication! (woot woot 3 goals of peace corps!)

The electricity was out/keeps going out for the past while and there's no telling when it will be on, so for the past 2 days I've been going to bed early than usual (it gets dark around 7pm and I've been getting in bed to read or listen to music anywhere from 8-11), and then I woke up before dawn without being tired... although of course, being me, I did roll over and daydream/sleep until about 6.30, when I usually get out of bed. I've definitely caught up on my sleep. My days are filled with reading, cleaning, wandering, and desperately trying to light my charcoal stove -- kerosene makes it easier but still takes a while! And what we call charcoal here is not what we call charcoal at home. Anyways, I've got plans to spend the holidays with friends in the area, and hope to make latkes! I haven't seen sour cream or applesauce anywhere, though. I'm hoping to start my garden soon, gather ingredients for wine-making, and I have a dream of building a brick oven.... we'll see where all that goes.

So, my village! There's the main (dirt) road that runs throgh it, and we have 1 roundabout where the road splits -- one way it continues as the only road in that direction and the other it runs to the entrance of the large Catholic Mission. I have a few funny stories about explainging that I'm Jewish, a myahudi; they mostly center on people then telling me where the Presbyterian church is so that I can pray there. But I've gotten across to a few people that we're still waiting for Jesus to come. (Dad, I took you at your word and claimed that both my parents are Jewish, since more than that might blow their minds.) There are some rundown shops along the road and a few set back among houses. It takes about 5min for me to walk from my house to the end of the shops at a pace somewhere between Tanzanian and NY. "Sasa hivi" is the kiswahili equivalent of "ahorita" and to give you an idea of the sense of time here, even church bells are often 10-15minutes after the hour. Anyhoo, most of the stores sell basic food stuffs and oil, soap, stuff like that. There are a few carpenters, shoes and used clothing places -- but keep in mind that none of these is anything like US stores. Actually, nothing like any stores I saw before coming here, not even Peru. Aside from teh Mission, my house is by far the best-looking edifice -- yay for integrating!

I'm grateful for this time to get settled before classes start. It would be a lot to handle if I were trying to furnish my house, get oriented, meet people, and start teaching. At least some of that will be over by mid-Jan. Overall, I'm really excited and happy to be here; of course I've been bored a few times, but I've always found a cure in reading, cleaning, yoga, writing, or wandering. I've read a few good books, including 3 cups of tea, water for elephants, and orphans of the sky. Defintiely check out 3 cups of tea!!! I've also enjoyed the newsweeks, new york, and times magazines Lys sent to me... although the food in NY sections made me a little homesick.

Much love and thanks again for emails, letters, calls, and texts! I love getting them and am sorry I haven't responded individually... give me time and a long letter or email will appear! (send me your address!!!)

Julia Meyer/Peace Corps Volunteer

Uwemba Secondary School

PO Box 241

Njombe

Tanzania

Training is nearly over and it has flown by. Swearing-in is Wednesday the 26th and the day after we start traveling to our sites! Let me back up a bit, though…

PC Staff were so accommodating about watching election results – they arranged for us all to get picked up at 6am and taken to a hotel in town that has satellite tv (and thus, the international CNN channel) so we could watch in real time. Unfortunately, it started to rain after Virginia was called for Obama and the signal was lost; but some people had computers and so we were able to check results using the hotel’s wireless, plus a few of us got phone calls and texts with exciting news! (Thanks Lys, Dasha, and Mom!) I was giddy all day, jumping around and smiling nonstop. Then I wore my Obama shirt for a few days straight…

The next big part of training was shadow visits, when trainees go to visit current volunteers to see what life at site is like. I went with one other volunteer (who’s awesome) to a village south of Moshi in the Kilimanjaro region; it was a great experience and the volunteer we shadowed was very welcoming. He lives in a fishing village that’s on a lake in a desert; we could see Kilimanjaro when the clouds weren’t in the way, but it was super hot and the vegetation was really sparse. We took a small bus (daladala) out to his village, but to the only buses that go back into town leave between 3 and 4 in the morning so we decided to bike it instead. Instead of taking 3 bikes and then the volunteer having to worry about getting them all back to his village, he and a Tanzanian friend rode the bikes while the other trainee and I sat on these little shelf-things on the back of the bikes. It was a 1.5-2hr ride in the hot sun and slightly uphill most of the way. I enjoyed it because I was just sitting there, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the breeze, but the people riding the bikes were incredibly sweaty and tired by the end. We also went to another volunteer’s site close by to have the opportunity to see another placement. She lives in a tiny village in the Pare Mountains, but it was such a beautiful place! She decorated her house and really made it into her own space, which made me excited to make my house into a home! (I hope to paint, put up pictures from home and PST that I printed, and maybe get maps or posters or art stuff to hang on the walls.) Everything about her site was radically different – the house, climate, topography, school environment, etc. So it was really neat to have the chance to see both sites and talk to the current volunteers about their work. Some other volunteers also met up with us, so I got to talk with a number of PCVs and learned a lot. Then it was back to Dar, where the main event was site announcements! Before that though, I realized that I’ve already made a few really strong friendships – I didn’t particularly miss anyone while on shadow and I had a really great time, so it was a pleasant surprise when I got to Dar and got so excited to see my friends! I hadn’t realized how close I had gotten to some of the other trainees, and now that pressure of making lifelong friends here is fading... But about site announcements…

I can’t post specific information (feel free to contact me, though!), but for the next two years I’ll be living in the SW of Tanzania, in the southern highlands. It's an area with lots of PCVs, and I'm one of the less isolated ones. It’s kind of mountainous, one of the colder regions of Tanzania, one hour bus ride outside of a small city/town (where I can buy cheese, apparently), and there will be plenty of vegetables and a fair number of fruits available. Lots of great people will go into the big town about once a month to use the internet, go to the bank, etc., so I'll have a lot of chances to see people – plus there's a volunteer placed just a few km's outside the town so I'll be able to hang out with her very easily. And one friend I've gotten really close to will only be a few hours south of me so that will be nice! I've got so many plans to visit other PCVs, as well as specific places around Tanzania – it's very exciting! Another really good friend was placed way up north and it'll take 2 days to visit her, but I'd go even if the the region wasn't supposed to be gorgeous and have delicious fresh fruit. My school is coed, mostly boarding, and has an incredible teacher-student ratio for Tanzania; about 1:30. I doubt it actually is that good, but even if some teachers have left that’s still fairly incredible for Tanzania! The school is O- and A-level, but only has History, Civics, Geography, and Language A-Level combinations so I wont be teaching anything above about 11th grade. My main breaks will be December and June, although I will have a short break in March as well as a few other vacation times so let me know when is best for you to visit! They’d like a volunteer to help with Math, Physics, and Chemistry, but I doubt I’ll be comfortable teaching Physics and I’ll have to see about everything else! I’ll get my own PO box once I move in, so hold off on sending me anything until I post my new address. (Plus I may come up with holiday/birthday requests.) If you use the Dar address I will still get whatever you send, but it will take longer plus headquarters doesn’t want to be spending all their time sorting volunteer mail.

I’ve read a few books (including Everything is Illuminated, Hannah, which was awesome) but have picked up more than I’ve given away. I'm excited to do lots of reading, and to cook for myself. So, Tanzanian food: mostly ugali (picture boiling porridge until it gets almost solid and play-dough like), beans, rice, bananas (raw, fried, cooked like a stew), and leafy-greens (local spinach variety and sweet potato leaves). Onions, garlic, and tomatoes provide most of the flavoring and vegetables are very very rarely eaten raw except for a cucumber, tomato, and onion salad that's common. I hear the meat is very fatty and often unidentifiable, since they eat all the parts that we don't eat in the States—I've heard a few memorable stories about colon and liver. Carrots, peppers (sweet and hot), potatoes, and eggplant are readily available at big markets but not used all that much. Food is usually bought in big open air markets or small stands, although larger cities usually have at least one western style grocery store complete with Cadbury's, Twix, and Corn Flakes (super duper expensive!).

I've gotten wonderful packages and letters -- thank you so much! I love reading about what you guys are up to at home, although it's weird to think how you are all living your normal lives, starting/continuing jobs in the work force or still in school. Anyways, asante sana na karibu tanzania! (thanks very much and come to Tanzania!)

I stepped on my first cockroach last week – accidentally and barefoot, but at least I got that first time out of the way. Last night I was woken up by a cockroach for the first time… crawling on the side of my face. I didn’t know what it was at first and I just brushed it off; then I felt something again so I brushed it off and turned on my flashlight (that’s part of my phone, by the way!). I saw the cockroach, jumped out of my mosquito net, and thankfully saw it crawl off my bed. I got back in bed, tucked in my mosquito net more firmly, and tried to convince myself that no more roaches could get in so that my heart rate would slowdown to a normal pace; it didn’t really work, but I fell back asleep anyways.

I started my internship teaching two weeks ago and this week is my last one teaching during training. I’m doing a geometry review with a Form I class twice a week and statistics with a Form II class once a week (both between 40-50 students). I was never all that excited by either angles or histograms, but oh well. My Form II class talks a lot more than the Form I, but it’s still frustrating to ask questions (including “do you understand”) and get no response! I’m not sure whether they’re too bored and they think the questions are too easy to bother answering, or if they’re lost and don’t understand. I often feel like I’m beating a dead horse and think I kind of understand/forgive professors who just couldn’t explain basic topics because it’s hard to fathom not understanding some topics after giving (what seems to me to be) a simple explanation! So, that’s fun. I also had forgotten, until a friend pointed it out, that I learned how to take notes in HS; so the students only write down what I specifically tell them to, and if I don’t write it on the board there’s no way it will show up in even one student’s notebook. I’m enjoying the actual teaching despite the frustrations, but I am looking forward to starting from the beginning and have more control over the class and the material. My school doesn’t do much corporal punishment, but it does happen. Tanzanian law recently changed so that only the discipline master at the school is allowed to do it – but that’s not really followed and each school does metes out different amounts and types of punishment. The whole attitude towards it unnerves me (“students expect it, it’s all they know and so it’s the only thing that works…” and yet if you make them stay late or miss part of chai break they’ll often ask for cp, a few whacks on the hand with a stick, instead! It’s clearly the easy way out, for both students and teachers, that’s why it’s preferred! Also, the entire country has chai/tea breaks in mid-morning, one of the more lasting colonial legacies.).

When I’m not teaching I’m still learning Kiswahili, as well as education/learning/teaching theory and about the Tz education system in general. Here’s a bit of Kiswahili: Mimi ninaitwa Julia, ninatoka Marekani jimbo la Pennsylvania. Ninafanya kazi PC/Tz na mimi ni mwalimu wa hisabati. Sasa ninajifunza kiswahili na baadaye nitafundisha kwa miaka miwili. (My name is Julia, I’m from America, state of Pennsylvania. I work for PC/Tz and I’m math teacher. Now I’m learning Kiswahili and later I’ll teach math for two years.) It’s about the halfway point in training and I’m still pretty much in the honeymoon phase. I’ve had a few maddening experiences with sexism, in which my perceived inequality to the male PCT math teacher in my group was made clear, but I try to talk with Tanzanians outside of school about sexism to balance that out.

In other news… have a farmer’s tan! And I haven’t minded wearing skirts as much as I expected to – although when I’m hanging out at home after school and on weekends I usually wear shorts with a khanga (big piece of pretty fabric that sort of acts like an apron) wrapped around me. And last week I wore loose, long shorts above the knee in public! But don’t worry, that was only because I was in a big tourist area – Mikumi National Park. It’s a small park relative to the others (ex. Serengeti) but still seemed big when we were there! 31 of us smushed into a bus for 1.5-2 hours and went on 2 safaris in that same bus. We saw elephants, giraffes, baboons, water buffalo, hippos, warthogs, guinea fowl, zebras, and more! Just chillin, living their lives in the wild. No lions (simba!), but I was/am still very excited. The scenery was beautiful by itself, and then seeing animals in their natural habitat made it an incredible experience.

Every Friday our whole group gets together for group training sessions, and last week my smaller language group all wore clothing that we had made! 3 were given outfits by their families and we all decided that the other 3 of us should get clothes made and then we would all wear it together. The original 3 all had animal prints (giraffe, hippo, elephant) so that was our theme. My skirt and top outfit is bright green material with zebras on it – I LOVE IT! There’s absolutely beautiful fabric here and I’m excited to get more clothes made. A number of the designs are still weird to my American mind… large, repeating patterns of umbrellas; spoon, fork, and knife; Grecian-looking water jugs; peppers; and more.

My family is still wonderful, helping me with Kiswahili, teaching me to cook, and helping me to do chores the Tz way. I made chapati from scratch this week, it was fun! Yesterday morning I made pancakes and “syrup” (sugary water, as it turned out) but the pancakes were delicious! And 2 weeks ago I made fried rice… well, I planned to make fried rice but the western supermarket that sells soy sauce was closed. So I went to the market, bargained for my veggies (but was apparently still charged double) and picked up a packet of garam masala. So I made Indian fried rice. My mama was a bit skeptical as she watched me pour in the spice mixture; actually I think they were all worried about how much I put in (they don’t use many spices in their cooking). But they wall said they liked it and it seemed genuine to me! I liked it J I also sauteed garlic and carrots in oil (thanks Aviva!!!), which I find absolutely scrumptious, and my mama LOVED them. She kept taking just one more… so I felt good about that.

I’ve been able to watch all the debates (anybody catch the PC reference) and I mailed in my absentee ballot! Most of us want to watch the election results, so we’re planning how/where/when to do that, but I know something will work out. It’s a bit odd to watch that stuff here, because I simultaneously feel very removed from it but also very passionate about it.

Some random side notes…. The phillies?!?!?!? Traditionally dressed masai walking around town with knives in their belts and talking on their cell phones. Eating rice and beans with my hands and then watching a pirated Russian copy of Fever Pitch (my dada here has seen a lot more American movies and tv shows than I have). I got my first marriage proposal the other day – I’m going to have to remind myself to brush it off… More on that some other time!

I’ve still got a bit of chocolate left, thanks to Lys because she sent me some! And I’m enjoying the food here, so while there are some things I miss eating I haven’t had any serious feelings of withdrawl. More about food next time…

Hamjambo! (How are you all?) I am extremely well -- very excited, loving my homestay, and learning tons of kiswahili every day. Staging was good, although since it was in Philly I didn't feel like my PC journey had begun... and then we all piled into a bus and went to JFK, so I felt even more at home and less like I was embarking on this big adventure. But I eventually left the NYC skyline behind and flew to Amsterdam, where I got some of those delicious sugary waffle cookies (shared the rest with my host family a few nights ago and they loved them! I was sorry I had only gotten one pack). My next flight was also uneventful - I spent both either sleeping or watching movies/tv (flight of the conchords, arrested development and the office). I didn't get to see much of Dar because we pretty much just drove back and fort from headquarters to where we were staying, but the info sessions were helpful and I got to hang out with all of these awesome PCTs! We're all math and science geeks (my training group is all math and science education volunteers) who want to do something to help/make a difference, care about the earth and are environmentally conscious, and are socially liberal. I'm really excited to be with them and am looking forward to getting to know them better! A lot are from the midwest and south so it's interesting to hear about the different places people come from but it's weird being 1 of 2 jews and not having my se/asian, hispanic, or pacific islanders around (i miss you!). Some of them had never heard of okra or cassava... strange. That was an adjustment I hadn't even thought about (side note -- a Filipina soap opera that's dubbed in english is hugely popular here along with 2pac, beyonce and other american music). Members of my host family like the above along with kanye, neeyo, john legend and daddy yankee to name a few -- not that to mention that I heard avril lavigne and smashmouth songs coming from the living room yesterday . Oh yea, and my kaka (brother) wants to learn spanish so I was teaching him spanish as he helped me with my kiswahili. We started off with basic greetings and then he asked me what "dale" meant... and then "lo que paso paso;" yes, my tanzanian bro wants to learn spanish because he loves and listens to tons of reggaeton. (ybi, you would be doing what i'm doing so much better) This kaka is pretty much fluent in english, which has been wonderful because it means I haven't had major miscommunications, have had real conversations with tanzanians, and have had a personal tutor/teacher!

Culturally, extended family is important so in addition to my dada (sister) who's the only child living at home full time, my mama, and me in the house there are a few other kakas who are actually cousins that are at the house a lot. They are all so friendly and I'm the 5th volunteer they've had so they know all about the program, what I need to do, what they need to do, and xc exchanges. They all greet me and ask questions slowly with vocab they know I know, as well as much me to learn knew vocab and wait patiently as it takes me 2 min to process a simple question and respond. But when I look through my notebook or simply realize that I had my first kiswahili lesson under 2 weeks ago it's incredible how much I've learned! Family and community relationships are very important, so it really is like I'm being adopted into the family -- I'm really excited to keep in touch (cell phones!) with my tanzanian family and hope some of them visit me at site. It'd also be awesome for them to visit the US so that I could show them I'm not usually as inept at taking care of myself as I am here!

Pretty much I'm just learning kiswahili and hangout out -- in a few weeks I'll teach a few math classes in form 1 or 3 (roughly grades 8 and 10) but I'm trying not to stress about that too much. My small language class (6 other PCTs and one language instructor) is awesome and my mwalimu (teacher) is hilarious and wonderful. I wish you all could spend a day with me because I can't fully get the experience across -- friendly people, red/brown dust everywhere, vivid colors, gorgeous mountains, incredible poverty, incredible people, cartoon network, charcoal stoves, rice and beans, ps2, sleeping under a mosquito net, being asked if all white people do something i did, sexism, booming laughter, huge smiles, latrines, bucket baths, house helpers, filipino soaps, US presidential debates, live chickens walking around the kitchen, nigerian movies, american music, bongo flava!

My address wont change until the end of November when I move to site, so feel free to write me a letter! The best way to send packages is to use a padded envelope and have it be under 4 lbs or to use the media mail (?) one size boxes. Also, if anyone who has lots of american music wanted to make me a mixed cd to share with my host family that would be awesome! I am so glad that I am here and really excited for the next two years. Ask my mom or sis for my cell phone number (free for me to receive texts and calls) and check out noblecom.com for good rates! much love and hope you're all doing well!

Please email me your address to that I can send postcards and old-fashioned letters!

julia.k.meyer@gmail.com

I'm almost completely packed and am pretty much ready to go, my last big project is putting videos on my new, shiny 160G ipod! Thank you so much Lys, Aris, Sharon, Amy, Diep!

I cut off most of my hair (www.locksoflove.org) and then enjoyed the surprised looks from friends and family :) I also went on a last trip to NYC (being in an airpot does not count as being in that city) and had a wonderful time; lots of good food, good friends, and good memories. Sad goodbyes, too, but I wont dwell on that. I was able to see so many people -- thank you thank you for making time for me! Plus, I WENT TO A TAPING OF THE COLBERT REPORT.

Staging (US training) begins in the afternoon of Sunday September 14, and then I fly out of JFK with all of the other PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) the evening of Tuesday September 16. I'll have my 3 months of training in an unknown location, but during which I can receive mail at the address below:

Julia Meyer/PCT

c/o Peace Corps Director

P.O.Box 9123

Dar Es Salaam

Tanzania

I don't think I'll be in Dar, but PC staff will make sure any mail gets to me, so feel free to send away :) Thanks to my generous HS teachers and parents, I know I will be receiving textbooks for any class I could be asked to teach -- the books include conceptual physics, lab manuals that don't require many supplies, chemistry, geology, physiology, astronomy, biology, anatomy, algebra 1, algebra 2, geometry, pre-calculus, and calculus. I carried a big box plus a full bag down 3 flights of stairs and across the school. Then I asked my mom to pick me up right where I was so I wouldn't have to walk an extra half a block.

I'll have my phone right up until I get on the plane, so give me a call if you'd like to talk before 2011!

16 September 2008 -- leave the States, arrive Tanzania

My first 3 months will be spent meeting other PC Tanzania volunteers, learning Swahili, living with a host family, studying cultural norms, and doing placement training. Then comes 24 months at my site, where I'll probably be the only volunteer and will teach math, and possibly science, in English at a secondary school. Side projects may include HIV/AIDS education, general health seminars, and women's empowerment work. Odds are I wont have electricity or indoor plumbing, and I'll most likely travel to a larger village about once a month for internet, phone, and mail – although there’s always the possibility that there’ll be a cell phone tower nearby and I’ll be able to receive news from you while I’m hanging out sans plumbing. As the only Peace Corps volunteer at my site, probably the only westerner, and almost surely the only redhead, I know it will be nothing like anything I’ve ever done; I’ll provide all the necessary information for you to send me snail mail and packages, and will probably shamelessly beg for books and chocolate more than once. Let me know if you're in the Tanzanian area; remember to postpone weddings, kiddies, and things until I'm back in December 2010; and don't spoil The Office seasons 5, 6, or 7 for me.

much love, take care, keep in touch!