Top 10 Activities for a Weekend in the Village

(In no particular order)

Piga Hodi (visiting other people in the village). "Hodi" is what you say when approaching a Tz household to say hello. I can't think of an English equivalent in a single word. This pic below is a mural painted by the children of my neighbors on their wall. There are no other decorations. The family is not well off at all, and its the kind of house where the chickens bunk in as well, but they have tons of love, and I thought it was so cool that they had written "one love" in english on the wall.

Coloring with the neighborhood children. Thanks to various gifts from my mother and Aunt Bonnie of coloring supplies, every child in the village of mshewa knows the subtle yet important difference between royal and navy blue. We have a good time, for sure. Here below are Neema (4) and Navuella (2) who are sunday afternoon regulars.

Getting Lost in the Mountains. Even after a year of hiking I still get nervous when 4pm rolls around and I am five mountains away from home. The hiking is beautiful, COME VISIT AND SEE! I always run into extremely nice people, occasionally students home for the weekend, and almost always primates. The last time I went I ran into a very old very drunk man who thought I was chinese and spoke beautiful english. Also a mother who supports her 8 children by making sugercane ale (thus explains the drunk man) and a couple of grandmothers who gave me pictures of their sons and told me to pick one. That's what i call a good day!

Science Club with star students. Below are Margreth, Mary, Zaituni, and Monica who are very intellegent young women from my 3rd year physics class. They, along with other students, are currently building and doing experiments with the very cool Solar Powered Fuel Cell Car thank my Uncle Pete so generously supplied (Thank you Uncle Pete! A letter of thanks is on the way!). At the end of the term they are going to make a presentation for the whole school, poster and all, about how it works, and I'm stoked at focused they are on this project!

10 Ducklings! They are adorable but the mama is very, VERY protective. As it turns out, duck bites do not hurt that much. I of course make her angry by holding them all daily, and am hoping they get used to me. Although, it is probably not a good idea to get attached. In celebration we are eating the non-laying-egg female duck tonight for dinner. I will most likely cry while chowing down, but it least it is not beans.

Teaching Guitar to students on the weekends. We don't get very far, and usually end up with me playing and them singing various Bongo Flava (Tanzanian Pop) songs. I only know two, but boy can we rock out. Still, its a good time, and if Mozart helps increase brain power, Bongo Flava has got to have some benefit, right?!?Teaching computer using the one that Ma sent me (thanks ma). It is the most durable thing ever, and has already been christened with: water, chai, tomatoes, pasta, candle wax, dirt, and probably other stuff I don't know about. But its still up and running 100%, and the kids have gotten really into it, using the word program to write stories about their families and lives which I will have to post here sometime/translate into english.

KILLER ANTS. I kid not. This threat is real and terrifying. The rainy season just started and there were more ants than grains of dirt. Have you read the Poisonwood Bible? It was like that. They eat chickens, for the love of Mungu, and perhaps small children, so we had to elevate all fowl for a few days. One morning I awoke to find that ants had taken over my kitchen and couldn't go in it for a couple of days. I would have taken a picture but I was too busy FREAKING OUT (the pic below is of my and a neighbor, Baraka). Thankfully, with the help of my neighbors and some bug spray left by Betty and Peter (thank you thank you thank you) they were expelled from the house. Cooking and hanging out with my neighbors. This is my favorite thing to do when not teaching. Below is Mwanaidi, my neighbor's housegirl. They rarely let me help cook (and if you have tasted my cooking you know why) but I have other uses including chopping wood, fanning the fire, and spontaneously breaking out in song. This is the core of most cultures: food and conversation. Tanzanians do it well.

Remember family back home. I had the joy of going back and seeing people for my sister's wedding (doesn't she just look beautiful) but it made me more homesick than ever. Luckily, I have tons of pictures which I enjoy sharing with neighbor's and village guests, so if you come visit they will already know who you are!