Pictures!!! Finally

So here are some of the pics I've taken so far. I apologize for how terrible they are but we really try hard to not look like tourists, so taking your camera out can only be done occasionally, and these are just some pics I snuck in. Also, it takes about 5 min to upload a small pic, and i don't have that kind of time! I do hope, however, that it gives you some taste of Tanzania. Enjoy!

Dar Es Salaam and Arrival:

Our (very nice I realize now) hotel in Dar Es Salaam. It had toilets and everything.....


PCT Laura with a huge plant at the safi PC compound in Dar.


MOROGORO:


Its hard to see, but its the biggest spider I have ever seen just chilling out at our training area. Water bottle for comparison. It was about the size of a hand....and of course they are all over (I discovered after this). I shower with about five of them lookin on....


The Uluguru Mountains of Morogoro which we are NOT allowed to climb! People always get mugged apparently when they climb them, but they taunt all of us every day. Was the sky always this big?

Training session with some of our lovely Language-Culture Facilitators (LCFs).

This is Kihonda Secondary, the school I have been student teaching in. It has about 7 of those buildings, with no electricity and open-air classrooms. The dust from the field next door leaves a quarter-inch coat that the girls have to clean off each morning from EVERYTHING: the floors, the desks, everything. The boys just look on. Its a pretty nice school though, one of the best in Morogoro.
The Neigborhood kids I'm trying to teach guitar. On the right is my sis with our little brother on her lap. We are in my fam's living room.

MIKUMI National Park:
The lions that were "on honeymoon" as the guide put it. They were no less than 10 feet away and it was so tempting to just step out of the vehicle...but, oh wait...they would eat you. The male also growled as us a couple times which was amazing to hear.

Most of the PCT's I've been training with. I'm on the right with my chicas a little shadowed. Notice the nice rainbow in the background!

The Elephant that kept the drivers foot on the gas ready to book it.

MOROGORO again....:
Eliza, my sister. She comes from a shamba (farm) in Singida and I think is sending all of the money she makes by working in the house to support her family of 6 back home. She's 16, great sense of humor, excellent cook, and loves to sing Bongo Flava. She gets up at 5:30am to start cleaning and pretty much runs the house, while babysitting our 18 month brother. I help when I can, but I'm in utter awe of her resilience (sp?) in life. Her fav thing to do lately is laugh at my attempts to cook and things, but I'd pretty much do anything to keep that smile on her face.


My mama on the left and Mama Mdogo (mama's younger sister...but really cousin. Families are big here...) and me in clothes I got made. Not my best pic, but we were in a huge rush to get to a kitchen party (women's party before a wedding where they tell the bride-to-be about family planning, AIDS, what to expect on the wedding night, and what to do when your husband cheats). We are always late, and I rarely ever know where we are going until about 5 minutes before we leave but its always fun!


The Saba Saba market, or at least a small part of it, that I go to on Sundays. Think the worlds biggest thrift store, with the fun of bargaining thrown in. Its great!