First mass email sent in June 2009

My journey to Tanzania began June 14th with staging in Philadelphia for 2 days. There I met 34
other Peace Corps volunteers (PVC) . There are 11 men and 23 women. We
have 2 married couples in our group (a younger couple and an older
couple in their 60s). The PCVs are from all over the states, Colorado,
Alabama, Wisconsin, Washington, Louisiana, etc. Most volunteers range
from 22 to 31 yrs old. All the volunteers are really nice and I've
enjoyed training with them. I know I have a good support system with
my peers and my training staff.

A few interesting things happened during the flights. At the JFK
airport in NYC, one of the girls in my group was told her ticket had
been refunded and that she had no reserved seat on the plane. This
poor girl was in tears, but after a bit of communicating with the
airline and the Peace Corps, a new ticket was issued and we were good
to go. However, this wasn't the end of the drama. As we boarded the
plane, we noticed that we were missing one volunteer. The pilot made
an announcement that we would wait...and wait we did! The volunteer
could not be found (we later found out that he had backed out at the
last second). So we were delayed 2 hrs just to get his luggage off the
plane and wait in the long line of planes ready to take off. Then it
was a 6.5 hr flight to Amsterdam. We then flew from Amsterdam to Dar
es Salaam which took about 11 hours. I definitely took advantage of
watching movies for the last time in the plane and I enjoyed talking to the two
women sitting next to me - one younger Sweden woman was going to do
research for her master thesis and the other woman from Calf was to do
missionary work.

It is very warm in Tanzania (mid 80s), especially since this is their
winter, and very humid b/c it is by the coast. I am currently staying
at a hostel ran by nuns in the missionary. There are Tanzanian students studying
everywhere in the courtyards of the missionary. Everyone is extremely
nice and friendly, and always say Karibu (welcome!). There are palm
trees and bright orange flowers outside the buildings and in the court
yards.

Where I am staying I have my own sink, shower, bed and toilet which
is awesome. Otherwise, I will not likely have running water and I
have already got to experience a squat toilet which I will have to get
used to. PCV only drink bottled water and brush our teeth with boiled
water. I have been waking up at 4.30am every morning b/c I can hear
Muslims praying in a Mosque near by (they must use a loud speaker). In
the evenings I can hear women and men singing, and the harmony is
beautiful. Some of the PCV and I will try to go to a mass before we
leave so we can listen to them sing.

The food here is good. I eat fried sweet bread (like a doughnut but
without sugar) and fried banana, and for lunch and dinner we have
rice, smoked chicken, oranges, beans, etc.

Today I got information on the host family I will be staying with for 9 weeks starting Tuesday. I'll be in a town called Kibanda and living with Mr. and Mrs. Salim S. Muungia. It is a Muslim area in Tanga. That's all I know. It is supposed to be really hot! I can't imagine what it will be like in the summer! I'll be living in that same village with four other volunteers and we'll have training everyday except for Sunday on safety, Swahili, culture, and environment projects. I will have to walk quite a bit with the other volunteers on Fridays to meet at a center point where all the other volunteer train together once each week. I'm really looking forward to meeting my host family. Hope it all goes well. We were warned that the Mama will try to overfeed us bc that is their way of showing appreciation to a guest and it is attractive to be large here b/c that's healthy (people who are skinny usually are ill w/ HIVAIDS). So I might be darker but I probably won’t be any skinner when I get back. I was also told that I shouldn't be surprised if I end up sitting at the head tables for weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies just bc I'm American. The staff said we might have to make impromptu speeches...ha!
Training so far has gone well. I know some greetings in Swahili, but I have a long way to go. I washed my clothes by hand today in the sink and a bucket with a bar of soap. Fun fun.There's a wedding going on right now where I'm staying and we can peep through the outside walls. Lots of lively music and some people are wearing dressy suits and dresses like us, but others are wearing traditional clothing and big hats.

Oh, yesterday I saw a ton of bats flying over us as we were playing frisbee. I'm guessing they're pretty common. Tomorrow I will tour Dar es Salaam with a small group of volunteers and buy a Khanga and toliet paper (I guess toliet paper is a luxury here, I never thought about that...).

Okay, my time has run out. Sorry this is written so poorly and so long. Hope to talk to you soon! I should have access to the internet during training, but I’ll be a lot busier and have a new family and culture to get used to. Ha, this should be interesting but I’m definitely looking forward to it. Thanks for keeping me in your prayers!