Processing is a term that Peace Corps liked to use during training after we had a session or an activity that was worth discussing. It usually involved a flip chart, markers, and maybe some "I felt" statements. Believe it or not, even you may have "processed" something once or twice or many times in your life under the guise of remedial terms like "recapping" or "reviewing" or "talking about". Most specifically, a lot of processing was done during college on Saturday and Sunday mornings after a fun night out. This type of processing was best served hungover. Now that you may or may not know what "processing" is, it is time for me to start the process of processing my first week at site.
During my first week at Ilembo, I:
- Went to a funeral
- Witnessed the delivery of twins (circleeeee of liiiifeeee)
- Learned how to knit from a how-to-knit book from the 1970's.
- Played Shania Twain's "You're Still The One" on the guitar upon arrival at site at 11:30pm for my headmaster, village executive officer, and site supervisor. I'm glad that this song has been in my repetoire for almost 10 years and could be useful finally.
- Had a mouse jump out of my box of granola bars and run over my hand.
- Ate two consecutive twin hard boiled eggs
- Saw a thief get tried in the village court
- Helped over 800 kids in remote villages near mine get vaccinated for measles and take vitamin A and mebendazole as part of a national campaign for vaccination sponsored by unicef and WHO. There was a great deal of off-roading in ambulances and hundreds of screaming, crying terrified children. The fear of getting shots is universal. One kid actually hit me and a health center staff member on the head in hopes of escaping.
- Painted two walls of a room in my house a color called "Apricoat"
- Made a water filter.
- Accidentally went to a CCM (the ruling party) meeting and played the TZ version of UNO, "last cardi" with them.
- Played soccer on the top of a mountain
- Drank approximately 30 bottles of Pepsi that people in the villages kept on force feeding me.
- Bathed once. It's really cold and I have to chote wat
- Rode on a Lorie truck to town (takes about 3.5 hours including dalla dalla) next to a woman who was 9 months pregnant
- Made mac n' cheese.
- Learned some of the tribal language Kimalila.
- Made at least 15 kids cry because they have never seen a white person.
So, yeah. Pretty standard first week moving in stuff. A little bit about Ilembo: It takes about an hour from Mbeya town to Mbalizi by dalla dalla, then 2.5 hours by truck or bus to Ilembo. I'm only about a 10-15 minute walk from my house to where the bus comes. It's a bumpy dusty ride but the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. It's like lord of the rings (lots of rolling green mountains), but no midgets. Almost everyone in my village is a farmer, and there is no electricity in the village at all. The health center has a generator and a few people have solar panels, but for the most part it's incredibly dark at night and you can see a million stars. (BIOBAY style!)
By day, the weather is so nice and great for going hiking and walking around introducing myself to everyone. When I first got to site, I was the last person to get dropped off in my region by my Village Executive Officer (VEO) and site supervisor, whose name is Danston and who I like to call Ted Danston. He actually looks a lot like Jamie Foxx. Anyway, it was dark the whole ride to my site and I was basically dropped off in refugee fashion. I showed up, there was a lantern in my home, a bed, a jiko charcoal stove outside, and a table and some chairs. That's it. It was about 11:30pm when I got there, and they asked if I was okay to spend the night there or if I wanted to go to a neighbor's house. I said I was fine, and following the refugee delivery format they told me to stay put and they'd come check on me in the morning. This was of course after Ted Danston asked me to play a song on the guitar, which is when good old Shania Twain came in handy. Somehow I slept pretty well and got a taste of the noises of the house..I'm on top of a small hill that's a part of a valley, so there's a lot of wind that blows through but I really love my view and the area around my house. I'm very close to the secondary school and my next door neighbor is a teacher at the primary school who has an adorable 2 year old daughter named Gloria. Everyone in Ilembo is very religious, and I am strategically placing the mass cards and medals that people gave me before leaving the US in my home because there are many people who are Catholic and are ecstatic when I say that I was raised Catholic as well. Most of the kids here have been spared the influence of American pop culture, so I received a lot of blank stares when I tried to play the Shakira or 50 Cent card upon meeting some of the students. I'll have to brush up on some gospel tunes. There is a man in the village who is a pastor at the baptist church, but also owns a hardware shop and makes and plays electric guitars! He has rigged this interesting battery powered amp system and I don't know how to translate "jam out" I have said that we should teach one another songs and he could be a part of Blue Band.
My house does not have any electricity or running water or ceilings. It's brick on the outside, cement walls and a tin roof. When you walk in the front door, there's a room that will eventually have a place to sit and hang out, and then there is my bedroom on the left. There's about a 10 foot hallway with a room on each side, and then a door that goes to the courtyard. My choo, kitchen and bafu (shower) are all outside, but I'm really happy I have an enclosed courtyard. The nearest water sources are a well and a natural spring, only about a 5 minute walk from my house. Thankfully, when any of the students see me leave the house with buckets, they run and grab them from me and carry them on their heads for me. I will learn how to do this, but since I have to go up and down a pretty steep hill to get the water, it's not the ideal place to practice, so I welcome the help. Some of the other volunteers have been swamped with people coming to their house and cooking and cleaning for them, but I feel lucky because the people of Ilembo are so friendly and excited about me being there (and also a little confused), but they haven't been overbearing (except with sodas!) and many come by my house to talk or just see what I am doing, but no one has been too forceful or invasive. Kids just come knock on my door and I let them in and give them trail mix and peanuts since that is all the food that I have in my house thus far. On Fridays, there's a huge market that for every other day of the week is completely empty, but every Friday people from all over the area come and it's absolute dusty chaos. I just withdrew money from my bank yesterday and so now I am able to pay for some furniture to be made and to buy things on market day, which I'm excited about because I'm looking forward to making the place feel more like home. This has been rambling, but hey, that's processing for you. Hope to be able to come back in a couple of weeks to use internet, and also sorry if you are trying to call me and not able to reach me...the service is usually good but since my solar charger adapter for my phone is broken, I can't keep my phone on all the time. if you are trying to call, maybe send a text and then I will text back when I have it on. Hope everyone had great finale to summer last weekend and I expect Steelers updates on Sundays now!
New address:
Ilembo Secondary School
PO Box 1731
Mbeya
Tanzania
