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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Karibu Tanzania!

After 9 months of anticipation, weeks of goodbyes, and 18 hours on a plane, I finally made it to Peace Corps Tanzania. Our staging event was in Philadelphia where we went over some general expectations and rules about Peace Corps. It was nice to be with the whole group to travel over here, we all learned that we had very similar anxieties and it was good to be with a group who was going through the same things. There are 41 total people in our group - 25 health volunteers and 16 environment volunteers.

We got into Dar es Salaam in the evening of June 16th, were herded into buses and headed for the Msimbazi center. It's basically a hostel/college run by nuns who have crazy parties on saturday and sunday nights. We started sessions (classes) right away on Thursday morning. Our classes are pretty general at this point, focusing on Tanzanian culture, Peace Corps goals and expectations, some Kiswahili lessons, safety and security, what to expect at homestay, and introductions of our training staff. There are 29 PC Tanzania staff, and only 4 of them are American. It's so great to be learning from Tanzanians who are excited to have us here and want to help us succeed. If I've learned one thing so far (and it's not much swahili), I've learned that Tanzanians are the most kind, welcoming, funny people I've ever met. They mentioned to us in one of our sessions that although the police don't have a strong presence or role in dealing with crime or things of that nature, that Tanzanians will do anything they can to protect us and take care of us if we integrate well into their community. This mostly means learning the language (or at least enough to partake in the 5 minute initial greeting of a collegue, friend or family member) and being culturally appropriate with dress and social norms. Our sessions so far have been great in helping us get a start on understanding these things.

On wednesday we move 5 hours north to the town of Muheza where we'll spend 9 weeks in Community Based Training. We are divided into small groups, there are 5 girls in my group, and we'll be living in the same village right outside the main town for the duration of training. We'll each be living with a Tanzanian family who has volunteered to take us into their home as one of their children. Our mama's and baba's will teach us to cook, do laundry, chores, kiswahili and other culture norms among many other things I'm sure. From what I've heard it is extremely awkward for a good amount of the time, as we're trying to communicate and understand each other. I've also learned that Tanzanians like to laugh at just about anything we do, so at least there's a lot of humor going on because it's going to be ridiculous. I'm really excited about homestay and can't wait to meet my family - I just hope my Kiswahili really picks up or we could have some seriously long days of staring at each other.

The schedule during training consists of classes with our Language/Culture Facilitators during the day in our village, monday through thursday, and whole group sessions on fridays. I'm not exactly sure what the main town of Muheza is like or how often we go into town, but I'm hoping to get a cell phone within the next couple of weeks. It sounds like our internet access will be minimal during training, but I'll update when I can.

I'm having such an amazing time here so far with these phenominal people in AFRICA! There are people from all over the country who come with such diverse experiences and backgrounds. We were talking tonight how we can't believe it was only a week ago that we all met, everyone is great and we get along so well.

Side notes:

- I learned how to take a shower using only 5 liters of water in a bucket.

- I have 21 mosquite bites, all from the knees down.

-If you're thinking about sending packages or love notes, we can recieve mail here in Dar for the next 6 months;

Alli Jones

US Peace Corps

PO Box 9123

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Some mailing tips we've received include writing "school supplies," "Religious Materials" or "jesus loves you", etc on the outside of a package to scare away customs agents from rummaging through stuff. They also said that if you're sending something that they might want to keep, to use creative packaging like hiding it in a tampon box or somthing of that nature. Please send me things if you can - I would love to get mail especially with such limited access to communicating with you guys. Letters would be great:)

Well I'm going to climb under my mosquito net and get some sleep...

usiku mwema! (good night!)

packing

Packing list. Here's what I brought with me. Requirements: 2 checked bags under 80 lbs total, 1 carry on - not impossible.

In the 50+10 Deuter backpack:

Sleeping bag

Top/flat sheet

Headlamp

Raincoat

Tampons

1 thin fleece

1 nike half-zip

1 long sleeved shirt

6 "blouses" (whatever that means)

3 t-shirts

3 tank tops (recommendation: get the ones that have the bra on the inside to hold money for security purposes)

1 pair jeans

2 shorts to sleep in

4 skirts (mid-calf/ankle length to be culturally appropriate)

2 pairs loose/baggy capris (1 is quick-dry material)

2 long (loose fitting) pants (wish I would have brought leggings to wear under my Kanga)

10 undies, 6 pairs/socks

ihome portable speakers for ipod

In the small duffel bag:

4 books

bike helmet with flames on it (you can get kicked out if you're caught riding a bike without one: no joke)

presents for host family (puzzle, braclets, cheap girly hair stuff, coloring pads, crayons: I'm planning on getting a Kanga for my host mama and a knife for my host baba)

78 kashi granola bars (thanks kath)

quick dry travel towel

toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, 3 bars soap, deoderant, sunscreen, floss, q-tips, nail clippers, tweezers, advil, hydrocortozone cream that doesn't work, 1 shampoo, small bottle of all purpose laundry soap, dish detergent (good for washing essential items before going to homestay)

diva cup (good alternative to tampons)

batteries

small alarm clock

small cutting board, skillet, kitchen knife

small notebooks (wish I would have brought flashcards)

lots of pictures of friends & family

pens, sharpies (wish I would have brought markers and highlighters)

bug spray that doesn't work

shoes: chacos, rainbow, toms, running shoes (for all of the running I do)

outlet converter (here they have both British and Europe outlets)

leatherman multitool

In the Mountainsmith carry on:

Netbook (probably about half of our group brought computers, but I'm glad I did)

Camera

journal

book

playing cards, uno, skip-bo

ipod

nalgene

travel pillow strapped to the outside thanks to Jeff's bungee cords

swahili dictionary

What i've bought here so far:

larger spiral notebook

peanut butter

3 Kangas (large pieces of fabric used as skirts or can be turned into dress/shirt/anything)

lock for luggage

more q-tips

toilet paper

I cannot believe it all fit and I was way under weight limit.

Also, PC gave us a ridiculous first aid kit including anything medically you could ever imagine needing (plus mosquito netting.) They also took us into the market on our 4th day here to get things in case we had run out or forgot something important. I was pretty proud of the packing job, couldn't have done it without input from other Peace Corps blogs and tips from family and friends who had traveled to africa, thanks!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

tomorrow!

Well tomorrow is the big day. Here's a quick itinerary for the next few days:

Monday -
Leave Minneapolis at 7am, headed for Philly
Everyone else in the group headed for Tanzania meets up here. We'll do an orientation/shots/last minute paperwork and stay here Monday night.

Tuesday -
Leave for JFK airport, flight is at 6pm headed for Zurich, Switzerland.
From Switzerland we fly to Nairobi, Kenya then take a small plane to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania!

Wednesday -
Arrive in Tanzania in the evening and have a welcoming party!

We'll spend about a week in Dar es Salaam at a hostel while learning some emergency Swahili and more orientation info. From Dar we move to the northeast region on Tanzania called the Tanga region where each of us will live with a host family for 9 weeks while taking part in Peace Corps training. This takes me up to mid-August when we are sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers and move to our assignments (we find out our locations during training.) I'll be doing health education, HIV/AIDS awareness and education with local government, schools, and health centers and want you to stay updated on my journey!

You've probably noticed that I have a new email address, allimjones@gmail.com

And we have an address in Dar for the first 3 months, after that depending on where my location is, this address might change,
send things to:
Alli Jones
US Peace Corps
P.O. Box 9123
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

They recommend that you "school supplies" or bible verses on the box because it scares people away from rummaging through it. Hilarious.

That is all for now. Hope you are enjoying your summer and keep in touch!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

You've been invited to serve...


It's been over a year since I first began the application process and I still feel like this is all happening to someone else. I have two weeks left in the states before heading over to Tanzania to begin my Peace Corps service. I will be in Africa for the next 27 months working as a Health Educator. I'll be doing HIV/AIDS awareness and education in schools and health centers, trying to learn Swahili, and getting used to a life without diet coke (among other things.)

If you have a chance, look up some info about Tanzania. It is located in East Africa with the Indian Ocean to the east, Lake Victoria to the north, Mt. Kiliminjaro and the Serengheti plains stretching out over the northern region. Tanzania is a very stable and safe county (I promise, Grampa), although very poor and devastated by the effects of HIV/AIDS. I am so excited that my dream to travel and work in Africa is finally a reality and hope you'll check back for updates!