August 30

August 30, 2011

I don’t know where to start, really.  I feel like the fun has ended and reality has struck.  On Thursday night, we got to our permanent site and have been very busy since.  Our house has no electricity or running water, which was a real possibility in any country that Peace Corps places us in.  It’s not terribly bad, yet.  We have neighbors across the street who are incredibly helpful and kind to us.  But, the school compound is set far back from the village.  I fear it will be difficult to integrate into our community as a result.  Today, we finally went for a walk in the village to see what is around.  We found a few places that sell the necessities like rice, beans, sugar, salt, and very few vegetables.  Thankfully, there is a place that also sells toilet paper.  That’s actually quite rare in villages such as ours.  We’re not too far from a city, but there’s no public transportation to get there.  So, it’s becomes expensive for us to go into the city to get what we need. 

Shockingly it’s been hard adjusting to the weather, because it’s too cold.  I really never felt that would be a problem living in Tanzania.  But, we are living at about 6,500 feet.  Naturally, it’s colder here due to the altitude.  When I finally managed to get out of bed this morning around 9:00am, it was only 60.  Right now, at 3:30pm, it’s only 65. 

We’ve been really trying to make our house feel like our home.  It seems no matter how much we clean, it never gets clean.  I take a shower and within 3 minutes, the bottoms of my feet are dirty again.  We have to shower over our “toilet”, which is also something I am not keen on. 

Today, I am feeling incredibly homesick, maybe for the first time since getting here.