Imiliwaha (Part 2): Orphans, Tea, and "the tree"

Well, here you go, finally. After one week back in Hanga I already miss the cool weather from the highlands of Imiliwaha. Okay, i miss the Bennies, and the sisters, and the other things we did there too :) Last Sunday, almost 10 days ago now, we spent the morning at the Orphanage in Imiliwaha that the sisters run. It is a beautiful complex that has had a lot of outside help with donations. The kids were priceless. Although the morning got a little long near the end, especially when I was sitting on the floor spilling soup and ugali all over myself trying to feed a small child, it was great to be able to play with the kids and see them smile.

Even though Charlie looks like a giant here, the kids still schooled him. How do they get so good so young? Natural talent I guess.

I guess you could call this room the "refectory." They had a pretty good system set up laying the mats out on the floor (no high chairs) and putting bibs on the little ones. And the older kids led each other in prayer to begin and end the meal. pretty impressive.

The afternoon on Sunday was spent hiking to "the tree." Remeber the one I said would be important that you could see in some of the pictures from the Imiliwaha lake? It took us a while to get there hiking through dusty harvested corn fields and hectares and hectars of tea plantation, but we finally made it and put our hands on the tree in the middle of no where. It was a good goal for a hike. Not to mention it made pretty beautiful scenery. And I have never seen so much tea. wow. who knew it grew like this? i didn't.

Doesn't it look like this tree should be in a Dr. Seuss book or something?

I found a harvesting basket, so i decided to try my hand at picking some leaves...after about two handfulls i got bored and stopped. I like the coffee preparation better :)

Oh, and in case you are wondering what transportation looks like around TZ, here is a picture from my seat on the 4 hour bus ride back to Hanga. It was nice on this bus that the seat in front of me was far enough away that my knees actually fit without having to crunch them to the side. I have learned the trick of sitting by the window when possible so I can control the thermostat :)

all for now. I handed out letters from penpals today in my english class. look for pictures from that sometime soon. thanks for reading! as always, comments are very welcome.

A sign from God?

I interrupt the ongoing report from the fun weekend at Imiliwaha to bring the readers some important disaster weather-related news...

Last week the headmaster at St. Benedict's secondary school asked me if I could teach Physics to the third year students. I have some time free in my afternoons, and so I told him we could work something out. On Tuesday I went over to St. B's at around 3pm to meet with the Form 3 students to discuss various physics topics and decide when we would meet. Just as i began talking about physics and expressing my interest in being their teacher, the wind started blowing rather loudly outside. No matter, I thought. It is sunny out, and the walls will protect us from the dust. As I continued talking, the wind got louder. I could hear a lot of dust being blown around and when I looked out the window of the classroom I saw a small dust cyclone forming and moving across the school yard. No matter, I thought again, what better place to be in the event of heavy winds than inside a building made of brick? I continued talking about the goals of our month long physics class and suddenly the building seemed to start to shake, then the roof made a very loud noise, and finally the tin started peeling back like the can of a sardine can! Finally, I was a bit frightened! The other students in the classroom got up out of their desks and ran out of the room. I ran for the corner with one other student and took shelter behind the door. As quickly as it began, the wind storm was over.

After I realized the wind was done, I looked around the room and asked the students outside if they were okay, and everyone told me they were fine. This would have been most dangerous for anyone walking outside, as half of the roof of our classroom building tore off and was thrown to the ground. Thank God that it landed on bare ground and no one was around to get hit by it.

This got me thinking, is God trying to send me a message? Maybe I am not supposed to be a Physics teacher? This was the only classroom that was effected. This was not a normal class period time, so most of the other classrooms were empty. The roof just happened to blow off of the one classroom where I was trying to teach my first Physics class.

All is well now. Yesterday we did some review and I begain teaching about electric force and Coulomb's law today and the other classroom we were in stayed in tact despite the few light breezes blowing the pages of my book. I will continue teaching...but will never forget my first day as a physics teacher...when the roof literally blew off from over our heads!

More pictures from Imiliwaha to come tomorrow...

Imiliwaha (Part 1): Bennie friends!

This past weekend we made the trip to Imiliwaha for their Jubilee celebration. They were celebrating the 25th anniversary of some of the nuns taking their vows as well as new nuns taking vows. I must confess I did not make it through the entire 3 1/2 hour Mass (I took a walk outside during part of the vows ceremony, but made it back for the Liturgy of the Eucharist) Charlie and Lennart made it through the whole thing standing in back as you see here.


After the Mass, it was time for a feast. I really do enjoy that part of the frequent celebrations here :) It was great food, and there was even cake for dessert! (sing the cake song here)
Part of the reason that we wanted to visit Imiliwaha was to see our fellow graduates from Saint Ben's who are volunteering there for the year. It was great to meet them and spend the weekend with them.
After the feast there was dancing...you can see Charlie was excited about this. (I think he needs a haircut...other opinions?)


Much of the celebration took place at the new secondary school that is in Imiliwaha. It is a very new school. Cara is teaching English here a couple days during the week.


After the feast and the dancing, we decided to take a walk to one of the lakes in Imiliwaha. The landscape is beautiful. The water is not quite clean enough to swim in, but it was nice to see a lake! I miss MN and all 10000 that we have there...


There is a plan to make a dam on this side of the lake. The project has begun, but it is currently halted due to a lack of funding. It will be finished some day...


Notice the lone tall tree in the background of this picture. This will be important for the next post :)
It was a fun weekend. The celebration took place on Saturday. I stayed the night in Imiliwaha on Saturday and Sunday and returned to Hanga yesterday evening. It was a long day of traveling: I woke up at 5:15 AM, waited until 7:00 AM for a ride to Njombe, stopped the bus from Njombe to Songea along the way, rode on that bus for a little over 4 hours, spent a few hours in Songea, left Songea on a bus to Hanga at 5:45 PM and arrived back in Hanga at 7:35 PM ... but it was worth it. Just not a trip i would want to make every day.

More pictures of our adventures on Sunday to come tomorrow.

thanks for reading!

My Flowers... and Baba wa Taifa

Some of you may remember when I talked a couple months ago about spending my Sunday afternoon pulling weeds, spreading manure, and planting new flower seeds in the boxes in front of our hostel. Well, after months of watering and patient care, there is something to show for all the effort! Just this past week the flowers that did come up (the ones i am smelling here) were in full bloom. overall, I think I had about a 15 or 20% success rate with flowers coming up and looking pretty, but that is why i am going to try another planting next week! just need to find some more manure...

(i also want to make note of the shirt i am wearing in this picture. it reads:
31st annual Grandma's Marathon Finisher; Duluth , Minn. June 16, 2007.
ok, it is a lie, but i was just excited to find a shirt from Minnesota at the market in Songea!)

here is a picture of my small herb garden, too. These worked great. the best yield was the dill, parsley, and cilantro. i haven't cooked with them yet, but it is fun to walk by them every day and feel like i have accomplished something :)

Yesterday was yet another Tanzanian National Holiday, so there was no class :) it was the anniversary of the death of the first president of the country, Teacher Julius Nyerere. He is very beloved by everyone here. This picture can be seen in almost every little shop around Songea, in our dining room in Hanga, and also many offices. At first it was a little strange to see the former president everywhere, but in time I have come to like the picture. i think i will try and find one to bring back with me and hang in my room...

Baba Wa Taifa (The Father of the Nation)

Anne and Lennart took the opportunity of another free day to play cards and play practical jokes on me while i spent most of the day reading letters, books (All The Pretty Horses), and watching movies on my iPod. it was a relaxing day.

Today it was back to teaching, and this weekend we are off to Imiliwaha to visit the Bennies who are living there and celebrate some of the nuns taking vows. should be good time. look for pictures from Imiliwaha next time. once again, thanks for reading.

Roasting...coffee. Real, Tanzanian coffee.

Did you know that you have to peal raw coffee beans after you dry them...before you can roast them? I didn't! until i had to peel a whole kilo of beans by hand. dont worry, i had help! Last Tuesday i went over to St. Laurents in the afternoon and asked if anyone knew how to roast coffee...the raw stuff that i got from Mbinga region. one of the cooks knew how, and helped me through the process. my students also helped a lot, especially with the peeling and

grinding! if you have never ground coffee with a mortar and pestle before, i highly recommend it.

i have made this coffee once since we roasted and ground it, and it was delicious! if we had power every morning when i wake up, i would make it every day.

today i made my weekly trip to Songea. i did some shopping in the market. i bought some raw peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and popcorn. this afternoon i made candied peanuts. i would say sugar-roasted, but there was way too much sugar to call them anything other than candy. they are very good, and very sweet!

while i was gone today, Charlie, Anne, Lennart, and Christa made jam out of some local strawberries and mulberries. i have already tried some. it is delicious.

Mass tomorrow morning at 7am. Last week i slept in and went to the student Mass (with the St. Benedict secondary students) at 9am with Charlie. since the audience is all students, the sermon was longer...about 40 minutes long to be exact. if you think 40 minute homilies are difficult to follow and too long for a Sunday during English Mass, imagine them in a language you only partly understand, like Kiswahili :) so, tomorrow we will go again with the monks at 7am. i like the music better at that Mass, too. after Mass tomorrow maybe i will bake a chocolate cake...look for that update in the next post.

all for now. almost time for bed.

below is a new picture i found of me and our previous German volunteers eating dinner at the St. Laurent's girl's dormitory.

Biking from Songea...Roasting Karanga

A lot to write about, but i dont want to take up too much of your time so i will be brief :)

The first picture above is from St. Laurent's this past Monday. It is me and some of my form VI students. i came to school in the afternoon to take some pictures of the classroom and school grounds to give myself some ideas of what future improvements i can do to help the school (like new paint for the walls, replacing door handles and broken windows...et. c. ) and of course when the kids see a camera, they all want their picture taken. So i decided i would hop in one of the pictures, too.

On Thursday, since i had the day off from classes, i went to a "feast" with Castor. a relative of one of his former teachers in the area is getting married soon so this was a "sendoff" party. I was of course the only mzungu present, and the best way i can describe it would be to call it another cultural experience. I am glad i was able to experience it. if you want to know more i have more to say just not here...

On saturday i went in to Songea on the early bus (7:30 from Hanga) went to the Songea bakery, did some clothes shopping, got lunch and some ice cream at SuperCafe and then set off for Hanga at about 1pm on my bike. It was a hot day! i drank about 2 liters of water on the ride back. the ride took me just over three hours, but that included some rest stops, like the one stop here with some kids from the surrounding village that were excited to see me with my bike riding through their home :) they were pretty happy to wear my sunglasses and helmet, too.

Here is a shot of Hanga monastery in the distance on the road coming back home...

I wanted to be somehow involved in the current MLB playoffs, even though the Twins are done, so i figured i would cheer for the next biggest long shot, the Cubbies. as you can see, the shirt is a bit too small...it was the best i could find! i guess my support from afar had no effect on the teams success, either. another disappointing post season...

I am pictured here with the new German volunteers Anne and Lennart. they will be staying in Hanga for the next 9 months...new friends!

At the end of last week I decided that I wanted to learn to roast my own peanuts :) Castor had a bunch of raw ground nuts in his office at St. Laurent's and some of the women who cook there said they would help me. Charlie and I went over in the afternoon on Friday...and the end product...delicious! very simple process, too. a little water, salt, oil. i think next time we will try honey roasted.

who looks more natural stirring the roasting nuts? please comment...

Since the peanut roasting went so well, today i was back at the school in the afternoon for some help with roasting the raw dried coffee beans i got from PCV James! It was a long process...i will write more about it and have plenty of pictures next post.

all for now. thanks for reading!

Did somebody say, COFFEE?!

Tommy K, this one's for you...

note: this post is out of order, so the pictures are old, but they are still worth it!

also, I have more pictures to load soon, so i will make this writing short, sweet, and to the point.

I finally made my first pot of REAL coffee here in Hanga! i was inspired by the raw coffee beans that Charlie and i bought from PCV James. The beans were delivered to us at Simba's going away party. These are coffee beans from near Mbinga town, but the catch is that they are just dried, raw beans. I need to roast them myself. so that will be a project for next week :) for now, i just used some ground coffee i bought in Dar when i got the coffee maker. it was delicious! i cant make coffee in the morning, though, because there is not power when we get up. but the important thing is, it is available now. mmmmm.

Here is me with the raw coffee beans. they are white before you roast them...and dont smell like anything...and taste kind of like dirt. who knew?

Charlie is excited about his new toaster from Dar, too.

These are the other atendees of the party. they are PCVs from the southern region of Tanzania. James is sitting second from the right. he is the one who got us the coffee. Asante sana!

Sifting through the books in Simba's library. there are quite a few, and they will be unaccessable until late November when the next PCV arrives in Songea to take his place.

The TREK in this picture is also of importance. it is the bike that i bought from Simba this past week as he was moving out. I just went back to Songea today and rode it back to Hanga! the 40 km ride (aprox.) took me just over 3 hours with a couple lengthy stops. Even though i drank 2 liters of water along the way, i still felt dehydrated at the end! it was a good ride, but i dont think i will be doing it too often. the bike will be mainly for use around Hanga!

more pictures from the ride and the last few days (including roasting peanuts!) to come soon.

al for now.

Goodbye Simba

Yesterday I spent the day in Songea helping Simba move out of his apartment. After three years of service in Songea, there was a lot of people to say goodbye to, and a lot of stuff in the apartment! I went with him to visit Songea Boys secondary school. It was fun to see another side of Songea...not so much the city, but more of a village. These pictures are of one of the families near the school that Simba was close with and some of the students at the school.

I spent time around town running some errands for St. Laurent's too. I had some boxes made for the donated art supplies so the kids can use them in their respective classrooms. I also bought a bike from Simba! I will head into town maybe tomorrow or this weekend on the bus and then ride it back to Hanga. It will be about a 40 km ride I think. Not too bad for an afternoon workout!

Today I got to class ready to begin teaching again, but was told "no school. Holiday!" It is the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan, and since there is a number of students who are Muslim, there was no class today, and there will be no class tomorrow. The celebration is called Eid and it wasn't announced until late last night. Has something to do with the moon cycle...

So tomorrow I will do some more work on the computers in the trade school lab, and perhaps head into Songea to ride my bike back to Hanga. I think school will begin again on Friday...

Below are some more pictures I found of the Germans and the Italians with me and Charlie. Our friend Gaudence is with us in the pictures, too. Strange that these friends have already been gone from Hanga for almost a month now. Life in Hanga is lonely without them, but we are getting by :)

more updates to come soon, with more pictures from the past week. They will be a little out of order, but I am currently having power issues with my laptop. Hopefully I will figure that out soon so I can at least get the necessary files from my hard drive...

all for now. Happy Eid