Rat x3

I’ve got an ear for rats because since our first rat escapade, three more have decided to visit.  For some reason, these nasty creatures find their way into our bedroom and wake me up.  So far, every time I think I hear a rat, there is definitely one.  I talked to the teacher whose cat had 5 kittens.  We’re seriously considering getting one from her.  The only problem is who is going to take care of it when we decide to travel.  The rats are naaassstty though. 

Produce

Local produce grown around our school.  All of these delicious veggies came to the equivalent of $3 USD.  We buy tomatoes from a man who delivers them on his bicycle to school.  I have to say that you can’t get much more “organic” and “local” than this!

Graduation Day

Our students technically finish school in November, but the school holds their graduation in late September.  We attended a small graduation ceremony for the students during our first weekend here.  However, this ceremony was much more involved and much larger.  All the parents attended and there was far more entertainment involved.  The ceremony in itself was very different from an American graduation ceremony.  First of all, there is no large venue to hold 1,000 people.  So, the students constructed this amazing outdoor venue over the course of 2-3 days prior to the ceremony.  During the ceremony morning, I assisted with the decorations committee to pretty it all up with pieces of fabric and balloons.
Jon was technically on the food committee because after the graduation, they feed all the students and parents.  After decorating, I joined the food committee mostly because it was amazing to witness everyone cooking for 1,000 people.  They had about 10 bonfires going in which they just set HUGE cooking pots up and cooked for about 6 –8 hours straight.  I helped cut up some of the food, but overall, there were too many cooks in the outdoors kitchen.

Jon and I were on the “honored guests” podium.  Basically, the students do a bunch of performances from singing to dancing, the honored guests do speeches, and they give out certificates to the students.  Then, the students all go to take their pictures.  The ceremony lasts about 4 hours.  This year’s ceremony wasn’t all that special to us since we don’t know the students graduating.  However, it was a great cultural experience and great way to bond with the teachers during the preparation.  We look forward to next year’s, where hopefully we will know the students much better!

Vegetarian Hunter

I took this photo nearly two months ago but forgot about it.  When we were visiting Tanga, we learned how to become vegetarian hunters to get oranges out of high spots in an orange tree.  You cut down a branch of a tree that has a V shape on the end.  Then, you reach high into the tree with the branch and hook the stem of the orange into the V and tug at it until it falls for you to eat!

School

Last week was supposed to be our first week of teaching but it was kind of a flop.  The most noticeable problem is that not even half of the students came to school.  Since it was our first week, we wanted to lay out the classroom rules and explain what they will be graded on, etc.  This is critical to make sure our classes run smoothly.  However, we decided to try to wait until later in the week when other students would start arriving.  Unfortunately, they never arrived.  We did our introductions, but I have a bad feeling that this is going to be a bad experience until the new year starts and I can have control of the class right from the start.  You see, the schools in Tanzania begin in January and end at the end of November.  So, we’re starting at a really weird time of the year.  Hopefully, it all gets better soon.  There are no such things as photocopies or handouts.  The students that missed the material last week are pretty much set up to fail now.  What a mess.

Hacked

Apparently, my email got hacked. If you got any emails from me that just didn’t seem right,that’s why.  I apologize and hopefully it won’t happen again!

Corn Flour

Each one of the teachers at our school has a plot of land that is owned by the school but that they are allowed to grow food.  Our neighbors grow “maize” or a type of corn on their farm.  Since we have arrived at our site, they have had hundreds of ears of corn drying in their front yard.  Last week, they rented a machine to turn all of their ears of corn into corn flour.  Corn flour is used here to make the Tanzanian staple food called ugali.  Essentially, it is just corn flour and water over heat that is mixed over and over until the right consistency.  It simply looks like mashed potatoes and doesn’t taste like much of anything.  You eat it with a sauce that brings on the flavor.

There were about 15 students helping bag up the corn to bring to the machine to process it into corn flour.  It takes about 3 men to operate the machine and 4 women to help with the job.  There is one man who stands nearby the machine and hands the bags of corn to a man on top of the machine.  The man on top of the machine inserts the corn into the machine.  Meanwhile, there is a man underneath the machine catching the flour into huge sacks.  The four women are on the side of the machine catching all of the cobs of corn being spit out by the machine.  They carry the bags of cob to the side of our house and make a pile.

The process went on for about one hour until all of the corn was processed.  I helped the students bag the corn to bring to the machine.  While working in the pile of corn, we came across easily 10 rats living in the corn.  I think I have a great idea where our rat problem stemmed from.  The students initially thought it was hilarious that I was assisting with bagging the corn.  But, they found even funnier every time I lifted up some corn, found a rat, and screamed at the top of my lungs. 

One of the teachers who was also helping asked me if this is how we get corn flour in America.  I explained that I don’t think we really have corn flour, but even wheat flour, I have no idea how it’s made.  We are so disconnected from our food in America.  I often am asked about food processing in the USA and I basically just look really stupid because I can never answer their questions.  I have no idea where our food comes from whereas people here know exactly where the food comes from.