Cold, Soccer, Bugs.

Njombe has been busy - I'm starting to run on fumes. Since last week when we arrived here we've visited: two secondary schools, two universities, several farms, a hospital and one big old church. I've seen and petted a variety of cows - feels like Iowa. One of the farms we went to is quickly becoming internationally renowned for their work with creating energy from guess what - cow dung. The process was really very interesting, and they power their kitchen with the electricity they create. They have an operation with Heifer International in the works which sounds very promising for them. We should look into this stuff in Iowa - might as well be using the cow waste for something useful.

The schools were fun and I got to put my Kiswahili to the test with people closer to my own age. Because these schools are in very rural areas, seeing wazungu like us is a very rare occasion. Some of the students were border line petrified of us, huddling together at a distance with wide eyes. Their headmaster was an amazingly welcoming and optimistic man, encouraging us to chat and to be social. He said they get visitors only once every few years so our visit was a total surprise for the students. To try and break the awkwardness Lauren, Ying and I danced our favorite dance: South Africa's soccer goal celebration dance from the world cup game last week. They ate that up and laughed and laughed at us, a few were brave enough to join in. The schools are all less than 10 years old and are growing rapidly, many with more female students than male. I hope I can go back and check on how the schools continue to grow over the next few years.

The hospital was possibly my favorite visit here in Njombe. Mama's cousin in a doctor there working with HIV and AIDS. We had an opportunity to ask her questions and I quickly found I had too many questions for the amount of time we had (she had an immense line of patients waiting in the tiny hall for her). The Tanzanian government has apparently established a program to provide anti retro viral drugs for all those who need them - which may I say is pretty amazing because in places like South Africa and even America the drugs are outrageously expensive and for many people impossible to have access to. Unfortunately there are still problems: staff shortages, lack of education about the drugs and transmission prevention, transportation for people to the clinics etc. There are so many interesting projects going on here, with new schools being built and clinics being created it's difficult to pick an area which I may want to concentrate on for a career. Going to the hospital almost made me want to may get a nursing degree or something along those lines (WHAT?) because she said one of their major issues is staffing. But then, maybe I would want to work with teaching and schools? Or maybe with development projects like the women who are trying to support themselves with small business (like the basket women - micro loans anyone?). No wonder I feel like I'm hitting my physical/mental max lately.

When not on our excursions into the rural areas, we're crowded around the fireplace trying to stay warm and watching the World Cup games. I've been able to watch four of them so far which is pretty good considering where I am. They've been tons of fun to watch so far - too bad people don't follow soccer as much as the rest of the world does. Definitely hoping I get to watch the rest of the games in Arusha when I get there this coming week. Still haven't picked my winning team yet....but I did pick up a South African jersey to sport during the games.

Swahili things which I love but may never get used to:
1. Driving. People drive on the wrong side of the road. Tanzania was an English colony for many years so naturally they drive on the left side of the road like England. This makes me very uncomfortable because I always feel like we're going the wrong way. Also, because people are terribly reckless drivers and I often find myself being driven along the edges of literal cliffs.
2. Swahili time. Clocks read the same way as they do anywhere else, circular with numbers from one to twelve. But people here read the time differently. People look at my numeral watch - it says it's 3:00 pm. I ask them what time it is - they say it's 9:00. What? The clock here is on some kind of different rotation: where our one am starts after midnight, their one o'clock starts at six instead? I don't actually know. Much like factoring and foiling in alegbra, many have tried and failed to teach me. Our driver, Dula, convinced me to change my watch by six hours so it would read as Swahili time. I woke up with the sunrise the next day, looked at my watch and read 2:00 am. To myself, "Wait...what the hell time is it?"
3. Insects. Don't assume because it's Africa that there are disgusting and poisonous insects everywhere you look. They are actually very few and far between. But the few that we have encountered are usually very quickly followed by, "HOLY CRAP!" and possibly shrieks and/or cowering. The few spiders I've seen are too big to begin to attempt to kill. The two caterpillars I've seen were the size of my finger, furry and red. There are very few mosquitoes but we did see one the size of a quarter which Dula called "a malaria mosquito." Gross. I do like the cute little salamanders, I usually find them in the shower with me.
4. More to come.