There's no Place Like Home

I wake up next to my new friend Katie, with whom I've been forced into a close relationship incredibly quickly. Lucky for me she's pretty awesome. We spent hte night at a Holiday Inn Guesti. Not The Holiday Inn....a small crumbly guest house in Masasi Town that happens to be called Holiday Inn. It's my birthday and today is Installation Day, when I will be taken to my village and dropped off at my new house. The anticipation and stress of this day was rediculous.But first let's backtrack.
The swearing in ceremony was really nice. The U.S. Ambassador gave a speech as well as the CVountry Director. We sang the Tanzanian National Anthem and did our dance. It was...good. Then, we had our last night in Dar before leaving early in the morning. The next morning...and entire day in fact, was incredibly emotionally and physically drainig. Saying goodbye to all of my new friends was so hard, and I knew that the next step would be the most challenging. But my group of 40 now became a group of 9. There were 9 of us traveling down to various areas of the Mtwara District. It would take us 2 days to finally arrive in Masasi. There is only one road from Dar to Mtwara, and part of it isn't even paved. I was stuffed into the trunk of one of the Peace Corps cars with Ben and Tyler. Space was limited as we had a rediculous amount of luggage to trasport as well. Everyone made sure to pack their bags full of the essentials: pillows, candy, books, and toilet paper. Once we reached the unpaved road, the ride got pretty rough. I'm sitting in the trunk of the car bouncing around and thinking that the theme song for Indiana Jones should be playing right now. Either that or, "Um....shouldn't there be a T-rex chasing us right now or something?" Literally rediculous off roading. And please keep in my mind we've been stuffed into the trunk of this car. At one point I'm pretty sure the car got some air. We must have. I ended up on top of Tyler, Ben lost his glasses, and we all had sore heads the next day. This part of road lasted for a good 3 hours. As we were all crying about how beat up we were going to be from this ride I said,"Maybe we should have worn our bicycle helmets for this car trip. Also, I didn't know that I was going to need an industrial strength sports bra just to get into Masasi. This is rediculous." But finally, we hit pavement again. This road should have been a good indication of the conditions we were soon to encounter in the "deep and dirty south." Since being here, I have learned that this is the least developed region of Tanzania with some of the lowest levels of education.
My group of 9 was slowly becoming smaller. We stopped in Lindi to drop off Jen before traveling inland to Masasi. We spent one night there, with a couple of current PCVs in the area. We went to a bar that was literally on the beach. It was just a few small tables on the sand next to the ocean. No lights, only the moonlight. It was pretty awsesome, and I don't feel bad for Jen at all. We're all quite jealous. She is a bit more isolated from other volunteers, but her village is on the freaking beach! So the next morning we said goodbye to her, as well as Tyler, Toni, and Ben, who would be taking a different route to get to their banking town, Newala.....And then there were three. Katie, Sativa, and I continued on for Masasi. After our group split up, my new reality was beginning to settle in, and I'm not gonna lie...I was fucking scared.
After driving through a forest of coconut and cashew trees, we arrived at Masasi. It was hot. It was dirty. It had a bit of that special African aroma to it. It was bustling with vendors and small shops. It was pretty similar to many of the smaller towns in Tanzania we have driven through. We are met by the group of PCVs that have been living down here for the past year. They are all extremely nice and excited to see us, and I am SO excited to see them. However, as they begin to speak Swahili and lead us around town, I feel instantly inadequate. I hope my Swahili gets that good some day! They take us around town to do some essential shopping for things we won't be able to get in the village: a bucket, a charcoal stove, bread, and a tub of peanut butter. That night, they took us out to a bar in Masasi and we got some food and the last cold beer I would drink for a while. I was talking with a village official from a neighboring village as I was drinking my beer. I told him where I would be living and he said that he hoped I liked hot beer as opposed to the ice cold one which I was enjoying. The PCVs also knew that my birthday was the next day, so they got some cookies to share. It was really nice of them. I had just met them earlier that day, yet I was celebrating my birthday with all of them that night.
That brings us to the following morning. We had a meeting with our respective village officials, and the District Executive Director of Masasi. At this point, our Peace Corps facilitator introduced us and handed us over to our village leaders. I met my two VEOs (Village Executive Officers), Dickson and Ndauka. They are both extremely nice and excited to see me. After talking with them for a bit, I felt much more at ease about everything, and I got excited to see Nanjota. I said goodbye and good luck to Sativa and Katie. We loaded up the truck and headed south for Nanjota. And then there was one. The village is about 30 kilometers outside of Masasi. When we arrived, the village elders were ready and waiting to greet me. I shake hands with them all and take a seat. Everyone introduced themselves, and I understood about half of what everyone was saying to me. I stood up to introduce myself, and told them I was excited to be here in Nanjota. Then, we had dinner at the dinner at the WEO's (Ward Executive Officer) house. I waited there for a while, the whole time still wondering where exactly I would be living for the next two years. It was dark before they took me over to my house. I'm pretty sure they were building the door to my room,and that's why I was waiting. They dropped me off and said goodnight. I shut the door. It was dark, I was absolutley alone in every sense of the word. I was in the middle of nowhere in the deep south of Tanzania. My Swahili was inadequate. It was my birthday, and all I had was a tub of peanut butter, and a bottle of wine that I had bought myself in Masasi. My new reality finally settled in, and I started to question how I was actually going to be able to handle this. At this point, I just wished I could click my heels and chant "there's no place like home!" but alas, I needed to redefine my idea of where home was. I turned on my ipod, and reminded myself that everything was going to be fine. I can do this. It was definitely a birthday that I will never forget.
The next morning, I mustered up the courage to emerge from my big empty house. The house has three rooms and a huge courtyard in the back. The walls are cement and there's a tin roof...oh ya, and there are plenty of rats and lizards to keep me company (apparently people down here eat the rats, because well..there's not much else....don't worry, I'm not gonna eat a rat).
That morning, I could hear my neighbor's sweeping outside and the villagers saying good morning to each other. I have no furniture to speak of, but I lay down a kanga and have as seat outside my new house. Eventually people comne to greet me and welcome me. Everyone is really nice. Eventually a crowd of kids come over and I bring out my cards to play a bit. My new neighbor, Mama Ester has lent me her mat to sit on, and tells me that if I need anything then to let her know. That first day was definitely really hard and intimidating, but the villagers were happy to see me, and I felt very welcomed. I had dinner with Dickson and Mwanaheri (WEO) that night. I also met Sylvia, Mwanaheri's younger sister, who can speak a bit of English, and has been kind enough to teach me some new words. Those first couple of days I just met with villagers, introduced myself, and tried really hard to understand everything they were saying to me. One of my neighbors took me to the well with her so that I could know where to get water. All of the women were really excited to see me there getting water for myself. And when I put the bucket on my head, wrapped my new friend's baby on my back with her kanga, and started he long walk home, they couldn't stop laughing at me. I've gotten used to it though. I would have laughed at me too.
On Tuesday, I went back into town with Dickson and Kilian, the Chairman of Nanjota. I had made a shopping list that they were going to help me with, and I could not have survived that dy without them. I probably would have ended up paying twice as much for everything. After 45 minutes of standing on one foot in a cramped daladala on top of a lady holding a chicken, we arrived at Masasi. I got some vegetables, and kitchen supplies, some bowls and spoons, and a small rolling pin and cutting board so I can make chapati. After our long day of shopping, we missed the last daladala returning to Nanjota that day. We were forced to board a "bajaji", which is basically a small tin can with three wheels that is used strictly to get from one end of town to the other. But today, this small bajaji would take the three of us all the way back to Nanjota. It's probably comparable to a golf cart, and it can't go faster than about 35 miles per hour. So we put-putted all the way home stuffed in this tiny bajaji for about 45 minutes. It only stalled about 5 times, and at one point it got stuck in the dirt and we all had to get out and push it for a ways. But we made it in one piece.
The next day, I walked around the village with Dickson and Mwanaheri to explore. There are 6 subvillages in Nanjota, and I got to see a few of them. We walked a ways down the road and saw a bridge being built. I will visit a farm tomorrow, and on Sunday I will be going to church. But I'm starting to feel more at home everyday, even though my house is still empty. I talked with a local carpenter who is working on making me some furniture as we speak. I've been visiting neighbors, cooking with them, playing with the kids, and trying to learn as much about Nanjota as I can. Learning more Swahili will definitely be key. At this point its still frustrating only getting half of the information out of a conversation. I've been getting to know my village officials really well, and on Monday I have a meeting to speak with the village elders.
....There is really so much more I could say, but I have no time. This is literally the hardest thing I've ever been faced with. Walking into this village and not knowing the language, trying to get to know people, learning about the environment and their way of life, these are all huge challenges that are kind of freaking me out at the moment. But it's getting more and more familiar everyday. Having villagers that are happy to see me everyday and patient with my limited Swahili helps immensely. It's still weird to think that this is my new home for the next two years! I'll keep you updated as much as I can. Until next time!