A Day in the Life...

Hey everyone! I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while. I have been very busy! I’ll try and give you a an idea of what a typical day is like for me as a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee).

Every morning (except Sunday) my mama knocks on my door around seven o’clock to wake me up. “Abee!” I call, to let her know I’m conscious (I’m still not a morning person in Africa…) After I get my wits about me and my bath stuff together I get out of my nice warm bed (yes, it is quite cold in the morning and at night…thank you Hillary for the fleece, I wear it every day!) and go out to bathe. First, I have to greet my mama and anyone else who happens to be in our courtyard. Not greeting someone, especially an elder, is incredibly disrespectful in Tanzania. So I put on a happy morning face and say, “Shikamoo, mama!” which is how everyone greets an elder (EVERY DAY…sometimes more than once a day). It’s a little annoying to have to “shikamoo” every single elder I see throughout the day (and yes, I shikamoo everyone that appears older than me), but it really is a beautiful tradition. I am a lot more aware of how disrespectful I am and our culture in general is. Kids in the US are always served by their parents, here the children serve their parents. Thanks for taking such good care of me mom and dad! Hopefully I’ll come home and be more respectful and grateful than I have been in the past….

Soooo anyway….after I shikamoo my mama and ask her how she slept and how she woke up and how her morning is going, I shuffle sleepily in my crocs (Yay! So glad I brought them…) and a khanga (a beautiful piece of Tanzanian cloth with a proverb written on it) into the bathroom. My house is very nice and we have electricity and running water (usually)! I start by using the squatty potty and then I take a warm bucket bath (my family spoils me rotten)!

After I bathe I get dressed (I wear a skirt or dress almost every day) and then I go out and have breakfast with my seven-year-old sister, Shemsa (if she’s awake). I have some combination of a chapati, a hard boiled egg, bread, a doughnut (like a fried ball of dough, not Crispy Cream), and milk tea (chai) or hot milk—which are both yummy and sweet and nice on the chilly mornings. After breakfast I quickly brush my teeth and head out to school.

I probably only live 5 minutes from the school, but it takes me about twice that time because I have to greet everyone I run into on the way!

Once I get to school I greet my teacher, Vivian, aka “Big Boy.” Yes, he is one of the few larger Tanzanians I’ve met. He’s also incredibly funny and a great teacher. I am very lucky! Big Boy utilizes a lot of different teaching strategies which helps me a lot. Luckily Swahili is fairly straightforward language, grammar wise (more on that later) so he makes us a lot of charts (love that!) and we do practice sentences, sing songs, interview community members, go on experiential walks, and visit community officials, religious leaders, and business people. It is really fun!

My class (which is made up of the most random five individuals...think inter-generational and inter-faith and iner-ethnic Breakfast Club) has a lot of fun and our language is coming along well. We study for about 2 hours, then break for chai. Then we study for a few more hours before lunch and “recess.” Big Boy keeps the day moving so we don’t get too overwhelmed.

After class I walk home and I'm met along the path by my sister Shemsa, my cousin Abdule
i (3, my boyfriend!) and a ton of adorable neighbors. Usually we hang around at the neighbors' for a while. They ask me about my day and what I learned and usually they try and teach me a few things too. After a while I play with the kids or go in and “help” make dinner. Soon I’ll have to start doing more, but for now I just do little things.

Then I take another bath, eat dinner (some combo of rice, pilau, coconut rice-YUM, beans, kuku, beef, spinach, and cabbage) and then head to my room. At this time, it's about 10:30 and i'm literally exhausted (trying to think in another language all day is straight up tiring)....Before I go to bed I try and write in my journal and study my many flashcards.

So that’s what 5 of my 7 days a week are like. One day I go to MATI with all the PCTs (there are 50ish of us). On those days we do generic trainings, but we have a lot of fun getting all together. On Sundays we “pumzika” or rest, although I usually do laundry, sweep and mop my room, rearrange, study, shop with my family, and help cook, so it’s still pretty busy.
Alright….this is probably long enough for today. Hope all is well back home.

I miss you lots…and I would loooove to get some snail mail, so here’s my temporary address:
Jessica Meigel
Peace Corps Tanzania
PO Box 9123
Dar es Salaam Tanzania
East Africa

PS....I thought of y'all on friday. We had a little 4th of July celebration after class....actually it was a traditional field day, complete with an American flag and the singing of the national anthem. I played ultimate frisbee, volleyball, and yes....SOCCER!!! it made my life. i'm in a little pain now (especially in the choo position!) but it was worth it to burn off some calories and hear the hoot of the spectators when i pulled some sweet moves around a Tanzanian MAN! haha....