Sun, 06 Oct 2002 02:16:11 -0700

Hi guys, I've made it through week two of training, and I'm finally finding some time to write to everyone. Thank you all for your emails, and understanding as to why I can't write you all back individually. Wow.... So even though Arusha isn't my ideal city, I am finding myself very comfortable. It just all hit me the other day when I went to a cafe after training with a bunch of ther PCT's and saw a bunch of tourists (American/European) walking down the street. I couldn't help but think how out of place they looked. "Mzungu" is the kiswahili word for "white person." When people first hear the word and understand what it means, they tend to get a bit upset. I did myself when I heard it, and then I realized that the word Mzungu is pretty much just pointing out the obvious. It's mostly yelled out to you by little children that have never seen someone with white skin before... or at least not very many times. There are stories that parents tell their children to behave about Mzungu's really only being people with black skin that have taken their skin off in order to scare the children. It's all quite interesting actually... So that little bit was a lead in to how I"m really feeling at home and comfortable here, so much that to a certain extent, I've forgotten the color of my skin... even if no one else has.

I taught my first two mini/practice-lessons this week. I actually felt really good about it afterwards and I am really excited to begin my internship at a local secondary school next week. I have a couple of days of observing a class and a teacher, and then I get to dive right into teaching. This should be really intense. The trainers here thought that I did a really good job with ESL teaching skills as far as taking the lesson slowly, breaking it up into smaller, more manageable part, speaking slowly and clearly and all of that good stuff. I'm a little nervous about how big this class will be though that I do my internship in. So yeah, I'm both nervous and excited by the whole teaching bit. I get really apprehensive beforehand, and then, once I get going, I just feel so comfortable. It will be really interesting to be in a Tanzanian school though. The Tanzania school system is sort of based off of the British system. Children start primary school at age 7, and then go for 7 years. They take a test at the end of this fours years, which, something like only 20% pass, and get to go onto O-level secondary school, which, is not paid for by the government, like primary school is. Secondary O-level last fours years, or forms, with a practice type test after form 2, and the national exam after form 4. Something like only another 20% of THAT group even pass that test, and those people, if they have the money can pay to go to A-level secondary school. After that, and another test at the end of form 6, an even smaller percentage has the opportunity to go to the University in Dar es Salaam for three years. I am going to be teaching O-level math.... so if all my students haven't had to repeat any years, which, normally isn't the case, I ideally would be teaching students age 14-18... It's all even more complicated that that little bit made it sound though. There are teachers' strikes because they haven't been paid in mo nths and months and school fees and tons of other reasons why students aren't doing as well here as they should be. It's all very sad, and I'm just hoping that I can make a little bit of a difference.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't had much of a chance to take many pictures here yet. I just feel so conspicous taking my camera out. I have taken a few pictures of my host sister and brothers,which I hope to get developed soon. I am going on a trip with a bunch of other PCT's to the ngorongoro crater at the end of the month. I'm certain that I"ll take a bunch of pictures there. My host sister is getting married next Saturday as well, and so, I"ll take a bunch of pictures there. That's going to be my wedding present for her really, as it's really expensive to hire a professional photographer.... my pictures won't be nearly as good I"m sure,but they will be free, plentiful and fromthe heart. =0) Anyways, I"ll try and send some copies home when I get them done.

Arusha is basically a great big tourist town, at the base of a huge mountain (Mt. Meru). It has really been surprisingly green here, and relatively cool at night, although during the day it does get up into the upper 80's.... it's all much cooler than I expected, but that's just fine by me right now. The one thing I really really do not like is all ofthe diesel fumes that come off of every single car that drives by. I feel like i"m going to get lung cancer just by walking the forty minutes to the training site every morning and the fifty minutes back up the hill in the evening.

Okay, well love to you all. Keep those letters coming. I would love to hear back from you!

Jessica