07 June 2009

2 weeks already!?...

The novelty of being in Tanzania has not worn off after being here for two weeks. I get giddy when I think Kilimanjaro will appear from behind the clouds, pumped for the joy rides in the dala dalas and excited about the potential goodies I might purchase in the boutiques.

In class we are working on developing the background information for our case study. This took up most of our class time last week. My group decided to do a case study on HIV positive mothers and infant feeding practices. So far, we have reviewed tons of literature and have two stakeholder interviews for the upcoming week. It's a lot of work, I'm tired, but I'm learning many things about HIV/AIDS issues in the Kilimanjaro Region through this project.

---
Some more samosas :-) :
As scheduled, on Thursday night, the electricity went out. However, Adey and I were occupied with making samosas. At dinner the day before, I asked Bwana Chuwa if we could have samosas for dinner sometime. He said, "Okay, tomorrow, I will have someone come over and teach the whole family how to make samosas". And boom! The deed was done- fast forward to the next day, his nephew was the chef for the evening. Adey and I helped chop and peel onions, potatoes, ginger, carrots and green peppers and mold the flour. We made about 30-something samosas by candle light and flashlight. With the samosas on the side, we had a big feast for dinner and we chowed down on the goods over Al Jazeera's replay of Obama's speech in Egypt (great speech by the way). We brought some samosas to class for tea time on Friday.

Cook out @ Anna T's:
On Friday night, the students decided to cook some Tanzanian dishes and KCMC student, Anna Temba was our host. We sat on a large blanket in her kitchen, outside her dorm, cutting veggies, rolling flour, and cleaning rice and meat. We made chipati (similar to a pancake, crepe, etc), pilau, salad, guacamole, and meat and veggie samosas (we love samosas). We had a great time and got rides home from the KCMC students.

---
As usual, the weekends here are very relaxing. At 10am (Sat), I went running with some of my classmates. That was the third time, during the week, I went running down the long roads of town. After that I went to town with Adey, and two other classmates, Roslyn and Jen, for food at the Taj Mahal restaurant. We laughed about our dala dala ride into town- we had to stand in uncomfortable positions in the dala and it was a very bumpy ride. After the meal, we decided to walk home.

Some sad news: the samosas we made on Thursday night were thrown out on Saturday. There is no microwave to heat up the food and according to Bwana Chuwa, they can only last for 48hrs under these conditions. Adey and I wish we had known this beforehand. Hopefully, they gave the samosas to the dogs...

Now, for today's news:
Went on another run today! I love the fact that I'm running while I am here; I won't feel guilty about not running and I'll be in shape when the season starts in August.

Currently, about to wrap up this post. I'm in the classroom checking my email and facebook, and emailing the draft of my group's background to our professor. Then, I will rush home to watch Federer upset Soderling in the French Open final (hopefully!).

---

I haven't experienced any discomfort while being here. Prior to leaving the states, I thought I would be living in a hut, taking bucket showers, and begging mosqitoes for mercy. But, oh contraire! I am comfortable, I feel safe, and I've taken bucket showers in the states so that wouldn't have been a problem. I am aware of my surroundings and always travel in a group. I think I will experience the most discomfort when I start my internship in a rural community up Kilimanjaro.

Kwa heri (bye) for now!

1 comment:

  1. this is a great blog, Choumika! I look forward to reading more about your travels. stay safe!

    ReplyDelete