Bats in the Bellfree

There were several times that we had chances to speak with current Peace Corps Volunteers over the last couple weeks. The one thing I always asked was if there was a specific time that they just sat back and said, "Wow, I really am in Africa." To which there was a varied response; some good some bad. Some people cried because they couldn't speak to their host family, some struggled with washing clothes in a bucket or they were homesick. Some when they saw a lion, or an elephant for the first time did it really hit them that they were living in Africa. My realization came all too soon.

So I have been here for a couple days and I have been putting off pooping in a hole. The place we stayed at last week had western toilets, so I would always just go in my room. No big deal. But here at the homestay we don't have that luxury, it is literally a hole in the ground. So last night I proceed to take my first of many, many bucket baths. It is pretty much just a bucket of warm water and a bar of soap, nothing out of the ordinary. So this bathing takes place in the "bathroom." A roofless room on the side of the house with a door made out of palm frawns. The evening was particularly amazing, the stars here are beyond words, I don't know if it has to do with less pollution, or lack of electricity, or whatever, but the night sky is so sick.

Anyways, so here I am, getting naked, starting my bucket bath. I move the cover off the poo-hole because I figured since I was in there I might as well releave myself. I decided that tonight was the night I was going to become a man and poop in a hole. I begin to pee and since im doing this all by flashlight I realize this hole is pretty intense. It's not just a hole into dirt, but a hole that goes down into what looks like a big ass cavern. I admire the hole and begin to prepare myself for my first ever poop in the wild. Just as I am about to squat over the hole... A BAT FLYS OUT@! Yes, the hole I am supposed to be squatting over! A fucking bat. I quickly cover the hole, as to prevent further creatures from coming out, Turns out it couldn't have been more of a mistake. The bat lived down there and wanted to get back in, but couldn't because I covered the hole! He just keeps swooping in at me trying to get back in. All the while, I am freaking out, because other than my flashlight it is pitch black, all I can see/hear is a screaching bat swooping in for the kill.

So here I am, completely naked, covered in soap suds, swatting and screaming at a rabid homeless bat in the middle of nowhere. All while trying to bathe from a bucket and poop in a hole!

I don't know what else to say other than, "Wow, I really am in Africa."


Cheers,
Jayce

Homestay Sweet Homestay

So my journey has finally begun. As I am sitting here, I am writing this post via lantern amidst the noises of donkies, cows, chickens and of course, my family. I have now been at site a week now, and it has been nothing short of amazing. My homestay. I had no idea what to expect. I guess I thought there was going to be a lot of dirt and poverty, and thats about it. This does hold true, but my village, however, has taken my breath away.

My village, Kilulu, is located in the hills of the most beautiful forest you have ever seen. I live in Washington and you do not see green like this. The forest is straight out of Jurassic Park. Huge palm trees, bushes, covering rolling hills and mountains. This is about as descriptive as I ever get, but there are no words, this place is absolutely breathtaking. I love it here. My Swahili is coming along Pole Pole as they say, (slowly), but I am loving every minute of it.

The family has completely taken me in as their own. My Baba (dad) is a 35 year old farmer, and badass. I barely talk to his wife (mama) as she is always in the kitchen. They live with their mother (Bibi), their son (kaka) and another girl, I have yet to figure out if she is a part of the family. Haha. The family doesn't speak any English. My dad speaks a little, so as I am learning Swahili Pole Pole, he is learning English.

The children in the village are awesome. They have all learned my name and run around screaming it whenever I pass by. They all huddle around me at all hours of the day, even though they can't say anything in English. It's great. The especially love it when I kick their friend's asses in checkers (which they play with different colored bottle caps BTW).

So here is my typical day... 5:30 Wake up from the animals outside 6:15 Get up with the sunrise 6:30 Help sweep the house and clean up 7:00 Kick it with the villagers 7:30 Eat breakfast 8:00 Class 10:00 Tea break (chai) 1:00 Lunch 5:00 Done with class 6:15 Sunset 6:30 Kick it with villagers 8:30 Dinner 9:00 Bucket bath/Bed

Thats my routine 6 days a week. A ton of class, and not really any free time to do my own thing since the sun pretty much rises and sets at 6:15 everyday, and I don't get out of class until 5:00. But whatever, I'll figure out what I can do to get an escape. I am hoping to have much, MUCH better pictures a little later, when I get some free time to do some hiking and exploring and uploading. Untill then...

Cheers,
Jayce

As Soft as a Placenta

Well things have been going great here. Yesterday we finally got to leave the convent and explore the city of Dar es Salaam. I really didn't know what to expect. My initial thought was that it was going to be more of a underdeveloped city being that I am in Africa. Before I left, however, people insisted "No, it's going to be fine. There's going to be McDonald's and Starbucks, being that it is the largest city in the country. They couldn't have been more wrong.

The city itself reminded me of some Mexican cities that I have been to before; very impoverished, homeless people on the street begging for money, very unkept roads. For the most part, the city was very run down. Granted, it was a Sunday, and most things tended to be closed, it was still a sad sight to see.

After we had gone though the city's street shops, very similar to Mexican street vendors and such, we had lunch at a nice place. I had a toasted sub, which was alright. But let me get to the good part.

After lunch the PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who were helping us out, took us all to this beach resort just outside of Dar. This was amazing.

It had white sandy beaches, little cabana tables, a bar, music and of course, the Indian Ocean. I couldn't have been more stoked. We all immediately ran into the ocean and began to frolic for the next couple of hours. The water was so nice and so warm, it was a great escape to what we had been enduring.

We ate, drank and hung out for the rest of the day. It was very surreal because we were all there ready to start such a huge adventure in our lives. We all had no idea what was to come for the next 2 years. It was one of the moment's in life that you never want to forget.

Tonight we are packing up and tomorrow morning are heading out to our home-stays. I found out who my parents are, but I have no idea if they have children or not. I am hoping that they do, not only to pass the time but I heard that hanging out with the kids is the best way to learn Swahili because they are so excited and enthusiastic about teaching it to you.

I probably won't be by a computer for a couple weeks, so this might be my last post for a while. I'll try and get to one, but you never know how that'll go.

It's weird to think that I have only been here for a week. We have learned so much already about this country and it's culture. I can't imagine what the next 9 weeks of training is going to be like.

I can't express enough how much of an amazing time I am having and I know this is only the tip of the iceberg. I can't wait to update you guys on my new family and village!

As always, here are some pics of the last couple days.

Who doesn't love placenta lotion?

A look at all the cabanas we were sitting in.

Did I mention I rode a camel?

Taking it all in.

The PCTs.

Cheers,

Jayce

Mailing Address

Hey guys,

We have our official mailing address in case you guys feel the need to send me some love.

It's on the right hand menu of the blog.

This address is going to be in affect until August 19th, 2009 when we get sworn in as volunteers.

Mail here is preetty sketchy, so as much as I would love it, don't send anything expensive! haha.

Just an update!

Cheers,
Jayce

H.U.M.I.D.I.T.Y.

MAMBO! Well I haven’t really had a real Swahili lesson yet, but I heard that’s hello.

I made it. I survived, but man alive is it humid here. They don’t have the weather readily available so I’m sure you guys know better than me, but let me tell you it has been a hot and sweaty couple of days.

So right now we are staying in a hostel just outside of Dar Es Salaam, the biggest city in Tanzania. The hostel is run by nuns, so I like to call it The Convent, some people call it the compound, but you can call it whatever you want. Bottom line is we aren’t allowed to leave. So for the next week we are stuck in this place getting fully indoctrinated into the Peace Corps life.
We have guest speakers, going over rules, and of course (on Friday) are more shots. Always a fun thing. We actually had an hour and a half presentaion on diarrhea. Did you know it was actually an illness? I just thought it was a little case of the trots.

Anyways, after this week we head to our home-stay host families. We are headed to the Tanga region which is up north-east, pretty close to the Kenyan border. We will be living with those people for the next 9 weeks. This is where we have our intensive language classes from 8-6, Monday through Saturday. Funn.

Those are all the logistics, as far as life is concerned I am having a great time. Aside from the fact that it is super hot and ridiculously humid, things are cool. The hostel has a toilet and a shower in our rooms. But don’t be fooled, its not the 4 Seasons. When you flush the poop doesn’t always go down (you have to pour water into the toilet to help it on its way) and the shower is freezing cold water through a clogged up shower head.

I think this will be a great way to assimilate us for what is to come. You gotta start with baby steps!

The food here has been nothing but amazing, I am actually loving every bit of it. Lot’s of beans, lots of rice, but also great meat and potatoes as well. Unfortunately at dinner tonight they gave me a little switcharoo. I loaded up my plate with what I thought was steak. I proceeded to take a huge mouthful, turns out it was the gizzard of some animal. Granted, its not the craziest thing to eat in the world, but definately caught me off guard. Lets just say I ate a lot of rice that meal.

Where im staying right now...

My toilet/shower. Probably the best I'll see in a while.

Where I'm sleeping...

Well thats all I got for now. Take it easy guys, I miss you all and I cant wait to start living the dream with the home-stay family.

Oh and did I mention that a beer only costs 1 dollar!? One dolla Bob!

Cheers,
Jayce

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Tanz, Tanz, Revolution!

Well boys and girls, its about that time!

I'm writing my last blog post from the states. Staging went great, all the forms got approved and we are good to go, if anyone knows my situation, that's saying a lot!

Out of our 36 person training class, 6 of us are from Seattle. What the EFF! The lady running our staging was saying that's unheard of. My roommate for the weekend was Keith. And sure enough, he lived in Greenlake all last year, again, what the EFF!

The people all seem pretty cool, there's a good amount of hippie-type people, which should be good because I'll probably depend on them to show me how to plant seeds, haha. There's also a good amount of recent college grads, some around 30, and one older couple, I'm not sure how old.

So I'm sitting here in my hotel room with my roommate waiting to leave. And we're trying to wrap our heads around our schedule tomorrow. We meet at 6:30am, and get tons of shots at 7:30. Then drive to the airport.

Drive to airport- 4 hours
Wait for flight- 2 hours
Fly to Amsterdam- 7 hours
Wait in Amsterdam- 3 hours
Fly to Kilimanjaro airport- 10.5 hours
Wait in Kilimanjaro airport- 1 hour
Fly to Dar Es Salaam- 1 hour

estimated time- 28.5 hours

So that's my day tomorrow. Let's hope I don't go crazy.

Here are some quick pics to keep you guys satisfied...

My training class. Half health, half environmental.


Last dinner in the United States. Some people ordered steak, some crab cakes, I ordered the garlic chicken. Good thinking because when's the next time I'm going to have chicken, beans and rice!? Smart.


Before.


After.

I cannot wait to get this adventure started. It is going to be such an amazing experience. The people I have met are great, and I think there's a good group of people that I can really get along with. Also there are people who speak worse Swahili than me, so I'm already off to a good start!

I am so happy and I can't wait to update you guys from in-country. I probably wont be able to update my blog for a couple weeks but just know I am thinking about you guys and having the time of my life!

Cheers,
Jayce
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