Masai

-[sorry this actually isnt a swahili word but just the tribe name]

This past week was shadow week for us. This was an opportunity for us to go live with a current volunteer in our region and see our actual sites. After about a 5 hour bus ride we met our volunteer, and spent the night there in the main town. The next morning we boarded a bus to our his village. While this bus was not technically a daladala it was really just a larger version as it was just as packed. We got there early enough to get actual seats and before I knew it there was a random child on my lap for the entire ride. As we started to head out of town something was wrong and the driver had to turn the bus around. He drove the bus to a repair man who literally welded the back wheel on. With our just like new bus ready we headed out of town and made it an hour away before grinding to a halt again. This time one of the front wheel bearings had disintegrated. Unfortunately AAA doesnt cover that area of the world, but luckily they did have a spare. As they tried putting the wheel back on they broke the brake shoe. Fortunately they had a spare one of those two. I guess here in Tanzania you have to be your own roadside assistance. After several hours we finally arrived at his site, and I soon discovered that he lived in a Masai village. It was too stereotypically National Geographic Africa to be true. I actually got to spend an entire day dressed up as a Masai warrior romping around among the mud huts. Perhaps my favorite time though was the time we spend with Benedikt. Benedikt has had an interesting career path to say the least. He first worked as a pre-school teacher for several years. He then got tired of working with kids so he became a professional hunter. After a couple of years he then decided to stop killing animals and become a preacher having seen the light. After about a year or so he decided that actually killing animals was more fun than preaching the gospel and went back to being a hunter. He also has two little kids who are named Barack Obama (funny but not too surprising considering that people here love him), and Laura Bush (?). Of course I had to ask him about his daughters name. He said that he really likes both Obama and Bush, because he credits Obama with capturing Bin Laden and Bush with capturing Hussein. Now Barack Obama and Laura Bush are fun little rascals. I think my favorite part about Benedikt is that while most parents threaten their kids with the Boogeyman when their kids act up, he tells his kids that Khadafi is going to come get them.

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It was nice getting to go to our sites and see how things might be for me in Dodoma over the next two years. However it turns out that none of that matters, because my site has been switched. I am now going to Pemba! Pemba is the northern most of the Spice Islands and is often associated with Zanzibar the larger island to the south. This is quite a change from my old site. The old site was very isolated in a desert region with little water, and no electricity. On Pemba I will have running water, electricity, and be in a decent size town within a half hour bike ride of the beach. There I will be teaching Math and English. While I was not expecting to end up on an island when i found out I was coming to Tanzania I am excited for the opportunity and think it is going to be awesome!

This week we are finishing up training here in Morogoro. We have our Language Proficiency Interviews in Kiswahili either tomorrow or Thursday. On Sunday we are travelling back to Dar es Salaam for our swearing in ceremony at the US Embassy. After that I will board the ferry for Pemba!