Moving on Up.....

Moving on up…..

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful week. I am having a great week, so far. The Swahili is moving along….I think I got left at the station but the language is still moving…..LOL. Remember Ku Ku, my little friend, well he is no longer little and I think he’s a she. Man you think you know someone, anyway we are still friends but she has been spending a lot of time with the birds next door so I’ve decided to give her the freedom she needs. I’m still not eating chicken but I’m also not eating a lot of other stuff, I am tired of rice, beans, cabbage, rice, beans, cabbage, rice, beans, cabbage, rice…well I hope you get the point. What I wouldn’t give for some nachos from Chili’s or some fries from McDonalds…..OMG…..a slice of pizza from Bottom’s up in Richmond. I would even pay top dollar for a pack of ramen noodles! It’s so bad that I saw a mirage the other day while I was walking 45mins to Muheza to use the freaking internet, I could have sworn I saw a Wet Willie’s sign…I’m serious! I know I saw it…..I would give my next meal of rice, beans, and cabbage for a “call a cab” with a splash of sour apple on top *sniff sniff*
Speaking of freedom, I wanted to talk about my Ba Ba situation. It’s hard for me to explain it to you, but I will try my best. The host family that I am staying with for the next 2 months is comprised of a Ma Ma, Ba Ba (father), Da Da (sister), and Ka Ka (brother). The Peace Corps has instructed the family to keep the volunteers secure while we are here in the village completing our training. I think it’s a wonderful situation and so far the Ma Ma has taught me how to cook Tanzanian food, the KaKa has shown me some of the games that the children here play, the Dada has been helpful in my studying Swahili, and my Baba……he has taken top flight security to another level! I can’t do shiznit without him being at least 5 feet away. My own Dad isn’t even that protective. I can’t walk to school by myself, All of the other kids at school can go play but me, I have to come straight home. Even when I try to sneak away, 40 mins by foot to the next village, I will be damned if he doesn’t appear out of nowhere on a bicycle asking me what’s up in Swahili…..wth! To make matters worse, he’s the chief of a village up the road, the same village I was trying to sneak to with the other trainees. The other trainees laugh at me and make jokes about my BaBa hiding in the bushes. When I come home late from class he asks “Unlichelewa kuwenda shule, Kwanini?” In English, “Yo, Why u late coming home from school?” I act as if I don’t understand what he’s saying and I just smile…..actually I do that a lot because most of the time I don’t know what he’s saying. It’s bad enough that he speaks no English but he also stutters. So imagine me trying to decipher the few words I do know in Swahili while someone is speaking a mile a minute and stuttering. I’m so lost most time, and I’m sure my facial expression shows it. The family is really nice though, honestly I don’t have to do anything, they cook for me, heat my bath water, clean my room, help me wash my clothes, they take really good care of me. I just can’t go anywhere without a security guard, it’s cool but kinda weird.

Speaking of weird, if I hear one more Michael Jackson song on the radio I am going to scream! I think all of Michael’s fans live in Africa and they won’t let him rest in peace. I’ve heard “We are the World” every morning since they announced his death. Not to mention, every other hit he’s ever made. I think they have an hour dedication every night on the radio. I stay in most nights listening to the radio since I can’t go out and play…LOL. I am dog tired most of the time because I cant get a moment to rest, or a moment alone. From the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep I always have to speak to someone, or do something. Sunday is the only day that I don’t have class so I try to sleep in, YEAH RIGHT! The roosters start crowing at 4am, then they hit snooze. After that the prayers start at the Mosque, followed by the baby next door crying, the cow mooooing, the goat baaaaahing, and the donkey making a very awkward noise. By this time it’s 5am and MaMa is up sweeping the porch, backyard, and house, she always seems to spend a lot of time right outside of my door….hmmmm. The roosters have proceeded to crow again and by this time my BaBa is up with the radio blasting, music, news, I dunnoh it’s not like I know what they are saying. So by this time, it’s getting close to 8am and I’m still hiding out but I have to pee sooooooo bad and I don’t want to leave my room. I found a solution to that this morning, a water bottle. I cut the top off so I wouldn’t have to perfect my aim, and there I was still able to hide away in my room with all of the sounds outside and no one realizing that they were successful in waking me up. Once you let them know you’re up it’s over. You have to remain up for the rest of the day. There are no naps, no rests, no nothing, I can’t even study alone or for a long period of time without having to say what I’m doing. The reason is mostly because they have never seen an American, and the ones they have seen are white. They are so amazed that I am American; most of the elders think I am from another African country or that I am pretending that I can’t speak the language. They are familiar with the slave trade but they would never think to meet another person who looks like them and is able to travel from America back to Africa. I feel like a new toy that they can play with whenever they get ready. They want to do my hair, dress me, bathe me, feed me, and show me off. I hope the newness wears off soon or someone kept the receipt.

Now for the topping on the cake…..drum roll please………I have a cell phone. That’s right a cell phone. I think it was one of the first cell phones ever made but hey, it only cost me $30 bucks brand new and it works. My cell # is 255(country code)76-585-3032. You may have to dial 011 prior to entering the country code. It costs me $1.00 a min to call to the US, so it’s cheaper if you get a calling card and call me, they cost about $5 for 58 mins, I think it’s called island flavor. Other options include skype calling and international plans on house phones are usually pretty good. I get free incoming calls but all of the cell phones here are pay as you go so I have to purchase vouchers and add time. It’s kind of a hassle but at least I have a steady form of contact. I look forward to hearing from you soon. It’s always nice to get handwritten letters too. Get some kids to draw me pics or something…LOL.
I love you all and be safe!

Word of the week:
Swahili: Kunywa

English: to drink

Until next time…..

Shani C.
Peace Corps TZ
p.o. box 9123
Dar Es Salaam, TZ

Ghosts and Goblins?.?.?...nope a Bat?

So this morning around 4:45am I’m laying in my bed sleeping peacefully alone, or so I thought. Now for some reason I went to sleep last night without pulling down my mosquito net. Maybe it was my lack of sleep over the last couple of days, maybe it was the bread and water I had for dinner, you never can tell. Anyway, I feel this flash of wind accompanied by a quick flapping noise. I think I hear something hit the wall or stop at the wall by my bed, I’m not even sure at this point because I’m still in la la land, dreaming about a slurpee from 7-11 and a bag of doritios. Right when I was about to take the 1st sip of my slurpee (I’m dreaming of course) I hear the flapping noise again followed by 2 quick swooshes of wind….at this point I realize I’m not sleep and this thing is flying right over my head. OK! I try and pull myself together and make out whether it’s a very vivid dream caused by the Mephaquin, my malaria medicine, or if I’m really seeing a bat fly over my bed! Well folks it wasn’t the Mephaquin, although I wish it had of been. This bat is having a field day flying over my head, swooshing in and out, getting extra points for hitting the wall. All I could do is pull the covers over my head and pray that it would leave soon. I don’t know how big it was but, it’s shadow (in the dark) was the size of a small child, I’m serious! Then I remembered something from all of those vampire movies I’d seen; bats don’t like sunlight! All I have to do is wait until the sun comes up and he’ll go back to his bat cave. OK…just wait, with the covers over my head, for another hour and a half, until the sun comes up….tick tock, tick tock, ok 3 mins have passed, no sun yet…..tick tock, ok it’s been 15mins, no sun but also no bat, that’s a good sign. Tick tock, ok 30 mins, he’s still here and I think he brought a friend….what the heck! Finally the sun comes up, the roosters are crowing and I hear people moving around, this is my queue that it’s safe to come out from hiding. I hurry up and jump out the bed, no shoes, and run into the yard where my host family mama was heating water for my bath. Now I don’t know the Swahili word for bat, but I do know night and bird…..great! I tell her with my arms flapping that there is a night bird in my room. She doesn’t get it….ok bird of the night, still flapping my arms like a chicken. Finally the daughter gets my morning game of charades and screams PoPo! Aahhhh the PoPo was in my room?.?.? That’s the Swahili word for bat, popo? Any way I guess they are use to it and I was the one acting erratic because all she said was "oh it’s gone". I had a near death experience and all they had to say was oh, it’s gone now.

Don’t worry I’m ok now. I managed to escape that episode with my life dangling by a thread, who knows what other wild and crazy things I will endure while in Africa. I’ll keep you posted.

Word of the day:
Swahili: Popo
English: killer bat-very dangerous-beware

Shani C.

this post goes out to my training bff Jayce, I'm sorry I laugh at your bat episodes :-)

KILLER BUFFALO???....WTH!

Hey Folks! I want to start off by saying thank you to all of you who have shown me support these last couple of months, and especially these last couple of weeks. It means a lot to me when I open my email and there’s a message from homeJ
I am currently living in a small village outside of Muheza with a family that only speaks Swahili. So far most of our conversations have been sign language and grunts…but oddly enough we have been able to communicate more and more each day and we are learning from each other. The mother is 6 months pregnant and they have decided to name their child “Shani”, it means God’s Mysterious Gift in Swahili. I was so honored! I have to admit that living in this village is so relaxing and it’s beautiful here. I take showers outside at night and it’s just warm enough that I don’t have to heat the water and you can see all of the stars in the sky, it’s breath takinG, almost like Christams lights in the sky. The shower area has a bed of coconut shells that message and exfoliate your feet, after walking all day this feels like heaven. None of the windows have glass so the breeze blows through at night while you are sleeping…..aahhh! While walking to school I pass chickens crossing the road (no pun intended), goats nibbling on grass, and bulls roaming free.
Now I’m going tell you a little story that includes a water buffalo and an innocent young girl named Shani…LOL . So I was taking a picture of this water buffalo, the guy said it was fine as long as I didn’t have the flash on. I proceeded to snap shots without any flash, I noticed that the buffalo stopped eating his grass, and looked at me like I was a tasty new form of lettuce, he started to walk,….run a little faster so I proceeded to run….OMG! I saw my life flash before my eyes and the next thing I know this buffalo is coming for me. I ran into an area that was gated and got away. From that day on I decided that taking pictures of animals up close is probably not a good idea. Everyone needs their privacy J I have also stopped eating chicken, because of my new friend. His name is kuku, and he is a little baby chicken. He is so cute but I know he will eventually grow up into an adult chicken and fly the coop….LOL. He was just walking around the village and he wasn’t in a line with the other mother chickens and their babies so I just took him in. Now days I eat mostly rice beans and fruit and vegetables. Fish is available in small doses so I just do without meat most days. The mangos, oranges, and coconuts are so good. I eat them almost every day. Also I’ve switched to this new perfume, I don’t think it’s French maybe you’ve heard of it, No-Bite with 40% deet. I wear it every day, all day it has a fresh scent and does wonders for my skin…LOL. So as you can see I am doing fine and I will do my best to keep you posted. I have 7 more weeks of training to go and it’s going to get rough so keep those prayers coming!
Word for the week:
Kiswahili: maji
English: water
Take Care and take time to look at the stars, at that very moment I may be looking at them with you!
Shani :-)