Graduation, Town, and Church- oh my!

My last few days have been crazy busy! I should not have put off a blog until now, so please bear with me on the length!

So, Thursday was my second day in class, and I really got to start working with the kids. Someone donated Hooked on Phonics to us, so we have that as a resource but Christine hasn't been able to utilize it as she's been teaching. My job therefore is to pull the kids out one by one and have them do a hooked on phonics activity with me (read the story and answer questions about it) and then send them back in. This is especially helpful for them because it provides reading comprehension and test taking skills that they're not getting otherwise. They're still shy though; it'll be a lot more fun when they open up and I get to know them more. I was blown away at one point. The kids were asking to do reading! If one class had a break, some of them would come up to me and say, "Madam, may I do reading with you?" I really hope they say that the whole time I'm here! :)

Other than that, Thursday was rather uneventful, probably God's way of making up for Friday. Class (grade in the US) VII took their national exams a few weeks before I got here. This the end of their primary school education, and their performances on these tests determine what kind of secondary (high school) school they'll get into. They're REALLY important, and since this was the first Class VII for the school, they were all the more important. While it will still be a while until we know the scores, the school held the graduation ceremony Friday. Which meant I had my first Tanzanian celebration.

I'm not sure what to compare the day to. The morning part felt like Thanksgiving or Christmas (with summery weather) with all the cooking and preparations. Christine and I got to help which apparently was weird- usually we're not expected to help. The ceremony was supposed to start at 12:30, but it didn't start until 1:30. I can honestly say it was the most unique graduation I have ever been to. Classes V, VI, and VII all sang songs in Swahili, English, and French; there was a skit; there was a fashion show; one of the students gave a speech about the school's history; it was just quite exciting! :) I didn't understand as much as I wanted, but I still basically knew what was going on. Honestly, it was great in my mind, except we were sitting in the sun and since this didn't start until 1:30, I sat in Tanzanian afternoon sunlight for a couple hours straight. Many of you know that I'm not the biggest fan of the heat, but I swear this isn't just me complaining! Even natives here don't sit directly in the sun, especially afternoon sun, if they don't have to. By the time we got to the dinner at 4:30, I was so sweaty and tired from the event. Christine had to help serve and since I'm new I wasn't expected to do anything, which left me on my own for the meal. The food, which is a pretty basic diet of grains, fruits, veggies and very little meat or variety, was traditional. The manner of eating was also traditional- I ate rice with my hands. I was watching the other teacher to try to figure out how to reasonably do this. There is no good way.

I was pretty much spent after the ceremony, so Christine and I delayed my first trip to town until Saturday. The next morning, I got to ride my first dala dala, the bus system here. I use the term bus loosely because they're actually 15 passenger vans with 20+ people on them. They're actually a cool set up; the driver focuses on driving because the driving is insane here. Defensive/aggressive driving is the only method of driving, or you will never get anywhere. So, another guy is actually in the back collecting money, alerting the driver when to stop, and calling out to people they're passing where the bus is going so they know if they want to get on or not. I would feel more comfortable if I understood mroe Swahili, but having done it a few times now, I like it.

Town was busy- larger shops are the extreme minority here. Rather, it's tons of small vendors. There were people everywhere and shops everywhere; because we were in a hurry, it was a lot more overwhelming. I just wanted time to semi-absorb everything around me. From what I understand, town will eventually seem a lot smaller, although I still think it's huge. I got my first Tanzanian money, which is Tanzanian schillings. Roughly, 1500 schillings is equal to one dollar, so some things are crazy cheap here. A dala dala ride, for example, is roughly twenty cents. I got to meet a number of other missionaries, all Americans, which was really cool. Most are working with this company that translates the bible, and a number of them are a whole families. I had lunch with a group of the women, my first western food in a few days! (For anyone wondering, I'm doing fine food wise. The other missionaries say the craving for American food comes, but everything here has been fine and I've been able to eat everything). After that, Christine and I did some hardcore shopping with another missionary. I GOT A FAN! AND A PILLOW! I was so excited to bring them home! We got some other smaller things for our house. Pretty soon, our nyumba (house) will become our nyumbani (home) :) Maybe tomorrow, I'll get the wardrobe from the pastor's house that's going to be mine and then I'll get to actually unpack!

Today, we went to church which was two hours long. I would estimate that singing was one hour, praying was a half hour, and bible reading/sermon was another half hour. This is normal, and really it was ok. Although the ceremony was in Swahili and I couldn't understand most of it, it still felt like church. We even sang some hymns in Swahili that were traditional. Somewhere in all of that, I had this moment of total awareness. I always expected it to hit me on the second day when I woke up here that I was actually, really in Africa, but it didn't happen until this morning. I kind of just went "Whoah, this is my reality. I am here Africa, staring at the gorgeous Uluguru mountains, worshiping God with Tanzanians, since when did this become my life?!"

I think that's an appropriate place to stop. I have more to say (so much more!) but I don't think it could fit in one post reasonably. It's been a very hectic few days, but tomorrow we're back to school, and since the graduation is over, it should be business as usual. Hopefully now, I can just focus on settling in and creating some routine.

God bless!
Kjirstin

The First 36 Hours

It has been a very busy couple days. After leaving London Monday night (and having to repack my bag at Heathrow because one broke in the midst of checking in) I made it to Ethiopia. That was.... quite the airport. I'm thankful I was only there a few hours before continuing on to Dar es Salaam. Thankfully, I made it through immigration fine, both my bags came, and I found the other missionary Christine and Pastor right away which was a moment of victory. I was so excited to no long be alone! Traveling by yourself is very tiresome by yourself. From there, we got ready to take a bus from Dar to Morogoro. I'm not a big fan of Dar, but from what I understand, not too many people are. It was crowded and hectic and REALLY humid because it's right on the Indian ocean. It was about four and half hours to get to Morogoro; the sun was actually setting when we got there at about 7 o'clock at night. The weather here is so much better. At night it's pretty comfortable. I don't know if that's because I've had breezes both nights and if that's actually normal or not, but I like it! :D I am still excited to get my fan though this weekend.

The house is very simple but nice. I have my own room and a HUGE bed, seriously, at least three people could sleep comfortably in this thing. I don't yet have shelves so I can't really unpack but I did at least put some of my photos from home so it looks like my room. After getting sort of settled in, we had dinner with the pastor's family which we will every evening. They have a very cool tradition where every night one family member reads a chapter of the bible, reports on it to everyone else, and then gives a summation of it's importance. They usually sing a few songs as well and pray together. Once we got back to the house, I basically passed out. I think I only slept about eight hours in the two days before and after all the traveling, I was exhausted. However, I still got up this morning to go to my first day of school.

Other than being put on the spot to introduce myself to the kids, it went fine. I got to go around with Christine and help her and suddenly, things had a sense of normalcy. School was school, albeit the resources were incredibly different and the finer points were very different, I kept having flashbacks to my middle school English classes. There just wasn't a whole lot different about it. The kids were fairly shy. They mostly stared at me a lot. I have been renamed as well; as Christine and Kjirstin are so similar, especially with such accented English, we have gone with KJ. Because of how the students address teachers, this means I am called "Madam KJ." I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that.

I had to crash as soon as I got home from school. The jet lag caught up with me actually at school, and at one point Christine ordered me to lay my head down at our desk. Thankfully, we were done with classes, just grading work at keeping and eye on class four which is right beside our desk. I had told many people before I left that I would be teaching classes here; that has changed, which I also told a lot of people it probably would :) I am going to be more in an assistant role, helping with the larger classes, particularly with math and English. The students are struggling more with those subjects. I might be teaching in the next school year which begins in January, but for now this is what I'll be doing.

Overall, my brain has simply no idea what to do with this. It keeps trying to compare to anything I've seen or done before, but that's the problem: this is simply unlike anything I've ever been exposed to before. I know how obvious this is, but this is so overwhelming. I feel like I've created an entirely new mindset just to deal with this. It's funny; as I'm typing this, the cows next door started mooing. I guess not everything is unlike home :) Things are off to a good start. There will be challenges, there are already many challenges, but I have been blessed in so many ways. Right now, I'm just going one day at a time, one task at a time, and walking with God every step.

Miss you all, love you lots, and God bless!

Kjirstin

When Packing Attacks

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The good news: this has been resolved down to one suitcase, one carry-on, and my backpack.
The bad news: the suitcase weighs around ninety pounds.

Boy and girls, the day is here. I'm actually sitting in the Sioux Falls airport getting ready to fly out. Wow.

It's been a very hectic week for me. I finished up work at the hospital which was great (my lovely coworkers even gave me a good luck card!) I visited a number of family and friends in the last few days, got a lot of hugs, and managed to cry only once when I said good bye to my parents. I left my brother's house in the twin cities on Monday night, and even though I started saying my hard good byes that night, it didn't really hit until the next day. And it really hit. The next six and a half months of my life will be out of the country in a culture radically different than my own.

Don't get me wrong; I'm excited! Ever since studying abroad in England last fall, I've had an itch to go abroad again, and it was actually there that God first put the idea on my heart to do something like this one day. It's been a while since I've worked with kids, and I'm super excited to do it again.  I even get to stop by England for a few days on the way to Tanzania and back to visit my friends!

I think the best way I can explain it is through a devotional I read a while ago:

"Great acts of faith are seldom born out of calm calculation. It wasn't logic that caused Moses to raise his staff on the bank of the Red Sea. It wasn't medical research that caused Naaman to dip seven times in the river. It wasn't common sense that caused Paul to abandon the law and embrace grace. And it wasn't a confident committee that prayed in a small room in Jerusalem for Peter's release from prison. It was a fearful, desperate, backed into a corner believers. It was a church with no options. A congregation of have-not's pleading for help.
"And never were they stronger. At the beginning of every act of faith, there is often a seed of fear."

If that last line is true, then, honestly, the last few days I have been one of the most faithful people around. I wasn't backed in a corner in the way many of the people in these situations were, but I've been confused. My human eyes can't see what God can, and I've been frustrated over it. I've asked him so many times in the last few days why he's called me to do this, and the truth is I still don't know yet. But God is there. On the day I needed it most, I am sitting here, yes scared, yes slightly overwhelmed, anxious about luggage/security/London/and all the in betweens, but blessed with his peace. All those other things are present and need to be addressed, but they're not my focus. God is, and I know he's leading the way, exactly as it should be. :)

As I said earlier, I'm going to England for a few days. I'm actually leaving for Tanzania on Monday at three in the afternoon central time. Until then, please keep me in your prayers for safe travels, especially for the international travel!

God bless,
Kjirstin

To Tanzania!

Welcome to my blog! Since this is about my trip to Tanzania, a country that admittedly I knew very little about until now, I figured I should give a little background info on the country.

Tanzania is located in Eastern Africa, directly south of Kenya which is where the equator runs through (just to give an idea of the climate). Tanzania also borders Uganda, Burundi, Congo, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. On the eastern edge is the Indian Ocean as well as the island of Zanzibar (also part of Tanzania). Tanzania is famous for some of the more well known geographic sites of Africa. Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and the largest tropical lake in the world. The Serengeti also goes through Tanzania; it's one of the best places for safaris. Mt. Kilimanjaro is also located in Tanzania.

Morogoro, the exact city I'm going to be in, is about 3-4 hours from Dar es Salaam. It's cicled on the map below:

Morogoro is the capital of the Morogoro region (regions are the states of Tanzania) and it's located at the base of Uluguru mountains. It's also close to a number of wildlife parks. The city's population is just over 200,000 people. The Sokoine University of Agriculture is in Morogoro. I will specifically be in the Kihonda district of Morogoro which is where the Wesley Primary School is at, an where I will be teaching.

Tanzania is one of the poorest nations in the world; in the 1960's and 70's, socialism was implemented but more or less has failed. Subsitence agriculture is the main form of livlihood, although tourism is another large industry. Malaria and HIV/AIDS are huge problems in the country. Education is compulsory for up to grade seven but stops for a number of children after that. The good news is, due in part to a common language, Tanzania is a safe country and has been for a number of years.

Tanzania's official languages are English and Swahili; Swahili, or Kiswahili in Swahili, is used for everyday matters and is spoken throughout Eastern Africa.  English is reserved more for official uses such as government and higher education. This makes the student's English education all the more vital as they cannot go on to high education without understanding English. At the school, we teach in English except for Kiswahili class. I am in the process of learning Kiswahili, and was shocked to learn that I actually knew some, and most of you do too! Disney's The Lion King drew upon Swahili words for a number of character names. For instance, "Simba" literally means lion; "Rafiki" means friend. Some other basic phrases are:

Hello- Jambo!
How are you?- Habari gani?
What's your name?- Jina lako ni nani?
Praise the Lord!- Bwana asifewe!
Good bye!- Kwa heri!

I have found learning Kiswahili  to be a very interesting. Since it is a Bantu language, the grammar is very different. Unlike English with lots of crazy verb agreement, tons of exceptions and rules running all over the place, verbs are very easy. Two letters in every verb determine the tense and the prefix determines the subject. Even better, there are no real exceptions to this so once I learn a verb, I can write it in all three tenses with all six different subjects. The other great thing about Swahili is the pronounciation. Every word appears exactly as it is written. In comparison to English where we have cruel things like "they wound the bandage around the wound" this is wonderful! However, nouns are a little different in Kiswahili. Every noun is in a "noun class" of which there are eighteen. Each class has its own demonstratives, possessives, and format for adjectives. This does mean that you have to learn which class every noun you learn goes with or your grammar will be very, very wrong. Sometimes I find this overwhelming; it's very likely that my Kiswahili grammar will be awful, or at least at first it will be.

Mercifully, God has blessed my language learning experience before I even arrived to Tanzania. I lived up in the twin cities this summer and worked at a hospital as a CNA; a huge number of my coworkers come from Africa, two specifically from Kenya so they spoke Kiswahili. We even had a patient who spoke Kiswahili, so I would get to go listen to them talk to each other. Even better, when one of my coworkers found out I was going to Tanzania and was learning Kiswahili, he told me he had been a Kiswahili teacher before. Later that night, he handed me about six pages of paper and told me if I needed anything else, just to let him know. He had taken the time to write down 70 everday words that I would need to know. He also told me every time I saw him to make sure I talked in Swahili and to make sure I learned something new every time I talked to him. I couldn't believe it! I know it's not profound, but I feel I need to say it: God works in the coolest ways :)

There are three major religions in Tanzania, but the numbers I have seen differ a lot. Basically, Christianity, Islam, and tribal religions are the major ones. Islam is more concentrated towards the coasts, especially in Zanzibar which is 99% Islamic. The different groups get along reasonably well, and both Islamic and Christian holidays are recognized in Tanzania. I have yet to learn what the exact makeup of Morogoro is like, but since I will be going through the United Methodist church which has a church there, so I will not be the only Christian!

Well, that was a lot! I'm very excited that soon I will be able to experience all of these things rather than just read about them. I know there's lots of aspects of the culture I haven't talked about yet, but I feel like I should wait until I'm there and can really explain it. Right now, the countdown is 9 days until I leave America, 14 days until I get to Tanzania. Until then, it's four more nights of work, packing, spending time with family and friends, and a few days in England with some friends. Busy, but exciting!

God bless!
Kjirstin