ay jamani

GODDAMNIT I JUST DELETED MY ENTIRE BLOG ughhhh ok im over it here i go again, its goign to be a little rushed but oh well.


"ay jamani!" i love this phrase--apparently it means "oh my goodness" or something along those lines, but i hear it about 20 times a day, usually from tanzanian mamas who are surprised when i great them in swahili. Ay Jamani ...I finally got to climb a Boabob tree! yes to me--these things are epically massive and so impressive; i had many a hand helping me down.

I happened to have just had a glass of delicious white wine before coming to this internet cafe..why? Because there just happens to be a cheese and wine store next door, owned by a middle-aged ex-pat Frenchman named Leonel, who just happened to offer me a glass on the house as he smoked his cigarette while his co-worker finished her cheese fondue-an that is how the French do it, even here in Arusha, TZ. Man I cannot wait for next semester.

Village work is going great. we just got hte ball rolling on a Peer Educator Program, in which 10-12 of the class's best students will be trained to be community educators in HIV/aids education. We essentially train these kids how to teach the curriculum the way were taught in orientation, ensuring the sustainability of SIC's work after the volunteers leave the villages. I would say that tanzanian students generally have a greater respect and maturity for their studies than American high school students, so working with them has never been a challenge. Its really neat actually to see them stoked and eager to learn.

I did laundry for two hours the other morning..be impressed. A couple shirts, pants, kangas, and a sweater (finally! that thing was getting bunk) and a few bloody knuckles later and I was a happy camper. Youre actually not supposed to get raw knuckles from doing laundry, so essentially I was scrubbing wrong the whole time. Oh well at least I am clean!

Jena and I are in town for the weekend, so last night we went to this delicious Syrian restaurant-the best falafal I have ever had--smothered it in hummus. Fried hummus dipped in hummus. Its been too long. Village food is lots of beans, rice, parachichis (avocadoes), ndizi (bananas) and mandazis (little fried-doughnut-delicious-things). I think I overloaded on teh parachich and ndizi the first month, because I haven't been able to eat them for a few weeks now-but no worries mama! i am being fed very well.

ok must get back! tonight we staking out chinese food--you would be pleasantly surprised at the large variety of good restaurants in Arusha!

love love lvoe
emmanuelle