Moving In

September 13...

Some time has passed since the last update. I've found that since I have such limited internet access my posts will most likely be a compilation of events from my time here in Tanzania. It'll be a hodge-podge of happenings. Come to think of it, that would be a good title for a blog.

Since I last posted I have successfully moved into my accommodations at St. Michael's Secondary School. It took the better part of day, with all the packing in Iringa where I was staying, then the hour long drive to Kilolo and St. Michael's, and then unpacking and setting up. All in all, I was very tired when it was all over! Andrew was incredibly helpful in the moving process – he is one amazing packer. Seriously, if there were car-packing Olympics I think he'd be a serious contender. And I know good packing technique when I see it. Having lived with parents who enjoyed spontaneous furniture rearranging and were always helping others move house and home (wink to Michael Penney) I have seen packing a car at its best; and its worst. Andrew would definitely make my short list of movers. It really was incredible how much we packed in and on top of, that Land Cruiser.








When we arrived we began unpacking and setting things up. The Wingfields were gracious enough to offer me some unused furniture so that I now have a seating area, a bookshelf, a writing desk, a wardrobe and anything else I could need; including a solar shower. More on that in a bit.

Andrew also set up my SODIS table. SODIS is a method by which I purify my drinking water. The process is dead-easy and 99% effective. First you fill a clear water bottle (about 1 litre) with water and shake vigorously about 20 times. Then you fill the bottle to the very top leaving no room for air bubbles. Then you let it sit in direct sunlight for one day (or six hours on a very sunny day) or two if the conditions are cloudy. After that you can use the water to drink. I should mention that the water I have access to by outdoor tap comes from a spring, and is then filtered (by me) and then goes through SODIS. So when it's all said and done, it's very clean. It has made me think more deeply about the ready access to fresh, clean drinking water we have in Canada. I think when I get back I will be even more concious about how I use (or misuse) water.

The there's the shower. It's a solar unit that Andrew is letting me use. It's really not high-tech. It's basically a heavy-duty plastic bag painted black on one side that you let sit in the sun all day until it's warm. Then you hang it up and let gravity do it's job. It's all right, but I'm really going to have to experiment with it to get it just right. Adding hot water from the kettle works – but I think showering is going to become more of an art for me. Everything is! Even getting breakfast now takes at least ½ an hour. Though I did really enjoy the porridge I made myself with oats. Really life without electricity is a challenge, but I'm sure I will come to appreciate it. Well at least I hope I do. My first night without electric lighting I went to bed at 9 o'clock! That's the first time I've done that since I was eight! And I was awoken the next morning by the rooster that lives 5 feet from my bedroom window at 6.00 in the morning. The sun hadn't even woken up yet. And yet there I was. Earplugs in and doing nothing against the auditory onslaught of bird that has serious issues. I was tempted to tape it's beak shut but I'm sure PETA wouldn't like that very much.

The people at St. Michael's are lovely. They are very friendly and always willing to help. Most of them however, want to speak English making the task of practising my Swahili rather difficult. And I had Ugalli for the first time. It's basically the main bit of the meal and it looks like mashed potatoes but has greater structural integrity. And believe me, mashed potatoes does have some structural integrity. I know from experience since I was dutifully dubbed “the potato man” by my Nana Read. Anyway, with Ugalli, you just scoop the the rest of the meal up with the Ugalli and put it in your mouth; sans knife and fork. Just be careful you don't have cut on your finger like I did. Who knew beans could irritate a cut so badly.




I met with the school administration. I know that I will teach grade 10 Geography which they call Form II after the British system: Form I = grade 9, Form II = grade 10, Form II = grade 11 and Form IV = grade 12. They also have Form V and VI which I think are mandatory if you want to go to University. Anyway, I'll be teaching Geography and helping the Form IV and V's with essay writing which should be fun. I'm happy to teach Geography but am scrabbling a bit to get resources to prepare for my first lesson on Thursday or Friday. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I will sit in on some classes and see how teachers at St. Michael's teach and how students learn (both being incredibly complex things that really can't be fully understood in two days). When I met some students on Friday in the classroom they all stood up at attention and were incredibly well mannered. This is something that will take some serious adjustment on my part. Hopefully we can come to a compromise in formality and they will call me Mulimu-Jason; which means teacher-Jason. I can dig that.

That's pretty much all that happened this week. Tomorrow I'm going to a village church with Andrew and Miriam and we're going to sing a song for them. I hope it goes well! I also have been using a prepaid cellphone and having to learn how to text people. That is not going well. At least, it's taking me forever! And I simultaneously love and hate automatic word creation on the phone. I wish I had studied under the masters of texting (i.e. Everyone between 15-25 I know) before I left. But all is well. I will learn along with a whole whack of other things!