Spiders, Bees and Bats... Oh My!

So thats why I never use suncreen...

A bat that lived under my bed.

Reach for the toilet paper (yeah i actually used some this time) and found a little friend inside.


Dont know what these are but they are huge, loud, and very tough to kill.

I stepped on them like 5 times before they died.

Cheers,

Jayce

Cessie and I at the beach.

Some random guy kept falling asleep on my shoulder during my 12-hour bus ride.

Just Feng-Shui'd a little bit, did you make the cut to be on the picture wall?

Some friends.

Enjoying the hammock.

Cheers,

Jayce

Roads Scholar

So the other night im hanging out with my 50 year old man-friend. His name's Orota andwere just having a beer in the back of his shop.

He invited his friend over and is like, "Hey Jayce meet my friend, Father Lukas, hes the catholic priest of the village"

So I meet him, feeling ashamed that im drinking and hoping he doesnt judge.

He proceeds to start throwing back Safari's like its nobody's business. He ends up getting pretty drunk and as hes about to leave he orders another beer and says (in a very funny English voice) "One for the road!?"

I die laughing and proceed to explain to him that in America we call those drinks "Roadies."

Highlight of my life, teaching the term roadie to a Catholic priest.

Did I mention this was a saturday night and he had to give a sermon the next day?

Halleujah!


Cheers,
Jayce

Breakfast of Champions

So my diet here has consisted of basically, fruits veggies and beans. I rarely cook.

I eat a lot of oats for breakfast but they have been getting old. I was bored one day and I searched around my house and found a bunch of ingredients that I figured I could add.

I was like oh I could add a little peanut butter to these oats and it would be great. Oh I could add some sugar, maybe some cocoa powder and vanilla extract and so on...

So I have been loving life the past couple weeks thinking im so original creating the most wonderful breakfast masterpiece there is.

Then the other day Cessie was telling me about a great recipe for no-bake cookies. And I am like, "no-bake" let me know beacause I can't cook.

She starts telling me the ingredients. "Oh its easy just add oats, sugar, peanut butter, cocoa, vanilla..."

She proceeds to say the EXACT ingredients I have been using.

So it turns out that the reason that I have been loving life so much is because I have basically been eating cookie dough the past couple weeks...damn.


Cheers,
Jayce

Facts of life Part Deux

-I have now become a ruthless MacGyver type person saving anything and everything I find in order to use later. If we go to a restaurant I say "Oh isn't that weird? They wrap the silverwear in toilet paper!" And I quickly grab the napkins and stuff them in my pocket. Or when I finish boiling my eggs in the morning I look and the water and am like,"I could use that for a hot bath." It nuts...

-When meeting people and writing down their names, you can usually right down what clothes they are wearing as well because odds are they will wear the same clothes very soon. Besides being an American, I am sure I am known as the guy who wears khakis and a green button up because that is pretty much what I wear every day.

-People in Tanzania think you are way older than you are. I am constantly told I look 40. They say it is because I have a beard, I say its because of my hairline. Damn...

-People here don't really know what google is. If you encounter someone with an email address, you can bet its either hotmail, or yahoo becuase that was probably the first thing they had ever heard about the internet. Once TZs are set in their ways, it is pretty difficult to change it.

Thats all I got for now. Take it easy folks...


Cheers,
Jayce

Updates...

So life is gettin in to the swing of things. I'm really liking my village, though I don't really have any friends. The first 3 months at site for Peace Corps is supposed to focus soley on learning the language, integrating into the culture of the village, and analyzing what you think you will be able to do over the next 2 years to help.

Right now there is a lot of free time. I'm meeting villagers, studying Swahili, getting a lay of the land, but still find myself sitting in my room with nothing to do. In the past 2 weeks I have read 3 books! Who said I wouldn't have time to learn guitar!?

In my home-stay village I was a celebrity. I was in the middle of town and there were kids everywhere screaming my name. Always something to do. My village now is way different. I am in the health center grounds which is on the side of the village. There are no kids around me and rarely any random visitors.

With this free time leads to a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes I sit in my room and get pretty lonely. It's boring. And you have to find new things to do to either improve village life, your life, or just keep you occupied. Things get tough dealing with the isolation but you learn to deal with it. You think about what an awesome opportunity you have to do what so few people get to do.

Being on the outskirts of town means I just have to make a more concentrated effort to get out there and meet people. So it'll just take time until I get some peeps I can just kick it with.


Cheers,
Jayce

NEW ADDRESS

Holler!

I got a new address. This is my personal P.O. Box in my town.

I have heard nothing but good things about the mail in town but I would still try and be cautious when sending stuff. Try and put educational materials, or religious materials on the box. Just don't put "GIFT" or something like that, you might as well put "STEAL ME." Haha.

But yeah, on the right side of the blog is my wish list. BY NO MEANS is this anything that I need.

Things are great and I am totally fine, these would all be luxury items. So if you feel the need to send stuff, feel free! But don't feel obligated. Nothing is necessary.

Even if you just wanna send a picture or a letter to show me some love, that would be awesome as well! I would love to hear from you!


Cheers,
Jayce