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Email No. 4: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 Subject: sehemu
yangu (My site, click here
for first photos) Whew! There's so much to write about I don't really know where to begin. I just got back to Arusha last night from 10 days of travelling and my site visit. My site is BEAUTIFUL. I think that the APCD's were really listening to me when I told them that I don't really like cities that much, and that I like trees. My house and my school almost remind me of summer camp, tucked underneath all of the trees. Ndwika is the name of my school, which is located about a kilometer out from the nearest town, Lulindi. Out the back side of my school is pretty much nothing but bush. That's just fine by me. I went running one evening and I have to tell you that the views were incredible. Ndwika is located about halfway up the Macone Plateau, so on one side of me there was the plateau, and on the otherside was the sun setting over the the valley below, which holds the town of Masasi. My headmistress seems very supportive and I really like her. The school has about 320 girls, but only 11 teachers, including myself. The other interesting thing is that 9 of those teachers are male. It makes for a very interesting dynamic to say the least. They all seem really nice though, but the kiswahili does seem like it's going to be a problem. I thought that I was doing fairly well with the language, but I was humbled this last week. Technically, the girls are always supposed to be taught in English, as that is what their national exams are tested in. That doesn't seem to be the case though, and I was really really surprised at their low level of english. I definetely have a challenge ahead of me. I was pleasantly surprised by the house I am going to be living in for the next two years. It is on the school grounds, has two bedrooms, with three beds, a kitchen and a living room. Outside there is a storage room that used to be the kitchen before the site had electricity. There is no indoor plumbing, but there is a tap outside, from which, I have running water. That's a really big plus, as fetching water everyday from a stream a kilometer away would have been a challenge, but not entirely impossible. I have the same choo and bafu (shower room) situation that I had at my homestay, which is almost better than indoor plumbing that might not work depending on the water situation at the time. (At lease with a long drop choo, you don't have to worry about flushing away the evidence when there isn't any water, which happens sometimes in times of drought). A couple of the other volunteers do have this to contend with. Even though my site is 25km from Newala and 55 km from Masasi, it's not as isolated as it could be, because the school car makes the trip into Masasi about 2 times a week. I can get a ride whenever the car is going, and will probably take advantage of this to do my grocery shopping in Masasi, which has a better market than Lulindi, and also to collect mail..... even if I don't go though, the school car will collect mail for me. Speaking of which, my new address is: Jessica Bruck Please send all mail to this address for the next two years. The closest email to me is 7 hours away in Mtwara as well, so my emails will likely stop after this. I will keep the letters coming though, which, Larry will keep puttin up on the site. That's it for now! thinking of you all! Jessica |
Copyright © Jessica Bruck