Big Babies

I can't believe I've already been in Tanzania for eight weeks - eight weeks! Four short weeks from today I will boarding a plane home. It's really very bittersweet. Sometimes I go through little bouts of what I like to call my "Travelers Bipolar Disorder." One moment I'm having a blast, loving every second and thinking I could keep traveling forever - thirty minutes later I'm depressed and thinking that all I want to do at that moment is be back home. At this point I dont really have a choice, I have four more weeks and then I'm back to America for who knows how long. I think my low moments are just because I'm soooo tired. I came home from class yesterday - slept from 6-8 pm and then went to bed for the night at 1030 pm. I'm still exhausted. Honestly, I'm gonna miss it like crazy when I go home. Maybe not right away, but I will.

You may be wondering (I sure have been) if my Kiswahili is any better after being in Tanzania for nearly two months. I'm here after all for the sole purpose of learning Kiswahili. I can say with certainty that I have made leaps and bounds in progress since I was in Iowa City, but I wouldnt think so unless I really thought about it. I dont feel the progress because I still struggle with a relatively small vocabulary and verb tense knowledge so understanding other people when they speak can be a struggle - but in comparison to what little knowledge I had before coming here, I've learned a TON. Basic things to say like "nimeshiba" (I'm full), "nimechoka" (I'm tired), "nimesahau" (I've forgotten) "usiku mwema" (good night), and "tafadhali" (please), I didn't know before coming here. They are such a basic part of my Kiswahili now that I forget I didn't know them until I arrived here. My Kiswahili still has a long long way to go, but I'm really proud of my progress.

Family Update: Our oldest host brother has gone away to secondary/boarding school...so its just Kelley, me and three youngest children. Despite Kelley and I being considerably older than all of their children, our parents have perpetually classified us as children in their eyes. It's a fine line between feeling like an over-pampered guest and a worthless child. Everyday, they make our beds and clean our room while we're at school, they boil our water for us for showers, they wash our clothing and set/clear the table for dinner. When removing my braids, my sisters and mother insisted on unbraiding my hair, washing, scrubing, rinsing and brushing my hair for me. This may be partially before they enjoy doing it, and partially because they think I am incapable of doing it correctly. Kelley has had a cold and "adults know best" - so our parents insist that she take medicine every day (even when its just my allergy meds or tylenol), that she only drink warm water and that she wear shoes inside because the floor is cold? We love our parents - but we know how to take care of our bodies because we've been doing it all our lives.

We know how to do all of these things, we do them everyday in America. I've been washing and brushing my hair for 21 years, I've been boiling water for food since middle school and I don't feel like the need to make my bed. As for washing clothing, we wash our own underwear with our left over shower water (cause its socially weird for someone else to scrub and wash your underwear) so we know how to wash our clothing by hand. They tell us time and time again, "Today, you will learn to wash your clothes. Tomorrow, you will learn to cook chapati." Then, the time comes and goes and we were never shown anything. Kelley has insisted several times that she would like to be shown how to boil water for showers so that we can prepare our shower water at any time without bothering someone else to do it. They said that was fine and that we would learn, but then we never did. I think part of it is that they think A. we are incapable of doing it and B. its just easier for them to do it than to teach us how and to feel the need to supervise us everytime after. Whatever, at least the ongeza-ing of food has cut back a little.