Home for the Holidays....

It’s hard to believe that in just under 2 days I will be boarding a plane back to Dar. My time at home has flown by….not that that is any surprise J During my time at home I have gotten the chance to catch up with friends and spend lots of time with my family.

Last Monday I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed, a procedure that I was very nervous about yet extremely ready to get done!!! To start off the Dr. was unable to get an IV in…..after 4 failed attempts he thought it was best to proceed with some sedation and local anesthetic. Not what I was hoping for….needless to say I was awake the whole time and heard everything from start to finish. It was not painful but it was definitely uncomfortable. I could feel the pressure and what not of him cutting. All I had to say when he was finished was I am glad all 4 are gone and this is something I never have to deal with again! The recovery has been slow and painful. There was very little swelling on the first day but by day 2 the chipmunk cheeks had arrived. I lived with ice packs on my cheeks and alternated between Advil and vicodin every 4 hours. Finally on day 4 the pain let up a bit. It still comes and goes….I am still taking Advil every 4-6 hours and icing quite often but hopefully things will get better soon!! I go to my post op appointment tomorrow and I am looking forward to finally getting my stitches out!!

In the mean time I have gotten to catch up on some sleep during the day but fought jet lag for a majority of the week. I usually would wake up for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night. I am hoping over the next week or so my schedule will get back to normal especially upon my return to Dar.

I flew to Texas on Friday to spend the holiday weekend with my family. It was a great time and was good to be surrounded by family for the holidays. It was a busy weekend but in a good way J It was great to catch up…..there was lots and lots of laughter especially with our own personal entertainer…Miss Karrlee! Lots of new memories were made and old memories visited!

Life back in the States has been good. I have enjoyed my constant power and hot showers and being able to get in a car and not face traffic jams has been a plus as well! I found it hard to believe how easily I was able to fall back into my old routines and life styles upon my return home. Lots of shopping, spending time with friends, etc. I was able to pick up where I left off. I am sure this might change a bit the longer I am away but am glad for the time being this is how it goes!

Meanwhile back in Dar there has been major flooding. I have seen pictures and it does not look good. Thankfully the area I live in does not seem to be majorly effected but I will see for myself soon enough. We needed the rain but not this much. It is said that it is the heaviest rainfall in 57 years. I have also been told that it is getting hotter by the day as the summer months arrive. This is hard for me to believe as I deal with the cold weather here. I know that it could be much colder but it is still extremely cold for me since I am coming from high 80s to low 90s on a daily basis. I must admit that I am looking forward to seeing the sunshine again!!

My last full day here will be filled with last minute shopping, doctor appts, hair apt, and other errands…I feel like there is not enough hours in the day to get it all done but I know that it will all work out in the end. Oh and I still have to pack, which might be a challenge to fit all of my purchases into my two suitcases :-/

Upon my return to Dar I will be leaving on a mini vacation to Zanzibar. I am very much looking forward to 4 days of pure relaxation on the beach and with good company none the less :D It is much needed at this point! My only hope is that I am feeling better by then otherwise it will not be too fun…..

Well I think that about sums up my last week or so…. my next update will come in the New Year. I hope everyone will have a safe and happy new year!!!

Back in the NKY

The last few weeks have been filled with end of term report writing, last minute errands and getting portfolios reading. I stayed quite busy which made the days fly by even more quickly. I had a few days where I was out with strep throat but once the antibiotics kicked in a I had very quick recovery. The days keep getting hotter and hotter. Power rations have been far and few between but water shortages have been becoming more frequent. I just kept telling myself that I will be home for a couple of weeks soon and will get to enjoy the many luxuries .... I think it helped get me through the last few weeks. 

When I left a short 4 months ago, I was not sure how the time would pass by. Needless to say the days, weeks and months have flown by. When this past week began it was hard to believe that on Thursday I would be boarding an airplane and flying home for the holidays. The week flew by even though I kept telling myself I had pleanty of time to get things done prior to my departure but then it was Wednesday and I still had a ton of things to do. Of course I did last minute packing as always. Thursday I left with two very light bags and my carry-ons. As I was heading to the door my roommate says, "Do you have everything?" I said ya I think so....then she holds of my Iphone....oops guess I forgot something.

I left for the airport expecting there to be lots of traffic but there was not much traffic at all and it only took around an hour to arrive at the airport. Upon arrival I was told that check-in for my flight was not until 9 pm...weird that you cannot check in earlier than 2.5 hours before depart.  Then I made it smoothly thourgh check in, passport control and security. I still had lots of time to kill so I spent some time talking on the phone and some time surfing the web. Then it was time to board my first of 3 flights. My flight departed around 11.45 so I was fighting sleep at that point. I managed to stay up for a few hours and watch a movie. Then it was off to sleep and I slept until almost landing time. We landed in Amsterdam around 7 am. As soon as I walked off the airplane, I felt the cold air. I think it felt much colder due to the heat that I was coming from. My first stop there as Starbucks!! I was great to finally have my favorite drink in hand and warm up a bit. I had a 3 or so hour layover which was nice, gave me some time to catch up on emails and such.

I departed Amsterdam around 11 am. This time I was asleep before the plane even took off. It was good to finally catch up on some much needed sleep. Upon arriving in Minneapolis, it was still cold and it took forever to get through passport control and customs but it helped the layover not seem as bad. My last flight, though only 2 hours, was terrible!!! I had two very loud and oppionated men seated behind me. All I could think was please let this flight get in the air quickly so I can put on my headphones on and drowned out these idiots! The person next to me was like, "Where is the mute button." Needless to say it was a very long two hours and even my headphones could not cover up their voice levels! But it was all made better upon landing. As I walked into the Welcome area I say a little girl paitently waiting. Then as soon as she was sure it was me she ran full force and went straight into my arms. I got a nice big kiss and a I missed you so much and I love you...my mom and best friend were also there with a "Welcome Home Stacey" sign...it doesn't get much better than that!!

I got home around 8 and stayed up for a bit but my bed was calling my name. It felt good to actually get some good sleep. Jet lag is in full swing and I was awake for a couple of hours in the night and up for good at 7.30. Yesterday afternoon I got some retail therapy in as well as getting to eat some of the foods I had missed! Followed by a night of laughter and catching up. Today I will do some more shopping, go to the movies, visit some more friends and eat some more food!

Tomorrow is the big day. I finally am getting all 4 wisdom teeth out. I am getting a bit nervous but looking forward to finally get the pesky things out!! Hopefully will have a quick recovery before I am off to Texas next weekend for Christmas!

I think that is all of the updates for now! Look forward to another one later this week after I am feeling better. Hope everyone will have a wonderful Sunday and Happy Holidays!!!!

Happy Turkey Day

What a week it has been here in Dar. My week began by seeing tons and tons of statuses on Facebook talking about 2 and 3 day work week and people getting to spend Thursday with their families. At first I was sad especially at the short work week. I woke up Thursday and did not want to go to work, have never worked Thanksgiving in my life but I guess there is a first time for everything. Then I reminded myself that today is a day that we give thanks. So as I laid in bed that morning (trying to convince myself I must get up or I would be late) I thought about what I was truly thankful for this past year.....I am thankful that I have been given this amazing opportunity to do the thing that I love, I get to teach and it is even better because I have gotten the opportunity to do it half way around the world. So after I came to this realization I got up and got ready. That day at school it seemed like some of the students were a bit more energetic than usual but as a spent a majority of the day laughing or smiling, due to the silly things that my students do and say on a regular basis, I once again realized that working on Thanksgiving isn't that bad :) I ended my Thanksgiving with a Skype session with my family back home while I ate Subway. Then later that day I got to Skype with my best friend Jessica and her family. So even though the day was not a "traditional" Thanksgiving it was still a great day in its own unique way!

This week in school has been busy as I try to finish up a project I had been asked to work on, make my supplies list for term 2 and begin to work on end of the term reports. My goal for the week was to get everything finished so that I could do no school work this weekend. I almost achieved this goal but still have a few things to finish up later today. In other news I now have 3 animals in my classroom. Last week there was a lizard on my wall who I thought had disappeared but I was wrong. He decided to bring a friend so I now have 2 lizards that live in my classroom. they come out at times and scare me because it is usually when I am up in front of the class teaching and they decide to go running across the wall. I don't think I am scared of them but they tend to "catch me off guard". The other animals which I have yet to see but know it lives there due to my erasers being eaten and some food missing....I have come to the conclusion that I have a rat. My lesson for the week is to never say I want a class pet ever again!! When I said I wanted a class pet I was thinking fish, hamster, some like that not reptiles and rodents that come in through my window!!

This week was filled with lots of running around. My roommate and I decided a couple of months ago that we would have a traditional Thanksgiving meal and invite some of our close friends here in Dar to celebrate the day with us. So this week it was down to the wire I spent most evenings running around to different parts of Dar to get those last minute items to make the dinner a success. I learned that even though some of the things may not look the same or have the same name, they are quite similar to the items we would have bought in the states. On Friday I came home from school and started the preparations for the dinner. I typically would not have started this early but due to the random power cuts I had no choice. My first mission was this turkey weighing in at 6.4 kg (about 14 pounds). I had to make the stuffing first which took several trips back and forth to the neighbors (had to borrow an oven since we only have a double stove top burner). But finally the stuffing was prepped and ready. Next came stuffing the turkey......I am use to the extra parts being in a bag....nope they just put them back into the turkey so that was a bit disgusting but I managed to get all those parts out and the stuffing into the turkey! Next came finding a pan for the turkey....we had a bought a pan that we though would work perfectly but it did not fit into the oven.....so had to go to plan B and I used a casserole dish that was a bit two small but I made it work. The other challenge was back home we use a brown paper bag to cook the turkey in but did not have access to one here in Dar so I had to use a roasting bag(which was two small) so had to combine 3 of them and then cover the top in aluminum foil. But finally at around 6.00 pm the turkey was in the oven. Now the waiting began......it would need to cook for about 4.5 hours. This was the next challenge, I typically go to bed around 9.30 so staying up until 10.30 or 11 is quite difficult especially after a long and exhausting week. I took a few short nap but managed to stay up. I removed the turkey a little before 10.30. Then it came time to use the broth and make gravy. Mission accomplished for day 1 and the power managed to stay on the whole time the turkey was in the oven.

Day 2 began quite early. I got up around 6 and began to make two pies, pumpkin and apple. Just as I began the preparations the power cut. I thought for a minute on what to do. I decided to just keep making the pies with the hopes that the power would not be out too long. Good thing I did because just as I was preparing to finish the pumpkin pie, the power came back. I then was able to successfully cook both pies without the power cutting again. After finishing the pies and some other little preparations I decided it was time for a brief hour nap. Bad idea when it came time to get up I realized how exhausted I really was and did not want to get back out of bed. Over the next few hours I made the mashed potatoes, deviled eggs (which I realized this morning never made it to the table yesterday), green bean casserole, and warming up the turkey, stuffing and gravy. My roommate made the sweet potato casserole. Finally at around 2.00 pm all of the items made it to the table and the guest began to arrive.

We began dinner with going around and saying the different things that we are thankful for in our lives. For most of us it was our first year out of school so we were thankful for getting a job that related to our degree. Then it was time to eat. It was quite funny seeing the looks and listening to the questions as everyone filled their plates. There was a lot of "what is this" but our rule was you had to put a little of everything on your plate and give it a try! Everyone was a good sport and followed the rule :) For the most part everyone liked all of the food. Even though it was different, still good. Following dinner we just spent time talking and reminiscing about different things. It was fun to just sit back and relax!

Last night as I sat on the couch after everyone departed I had time to reflect on this past year. The year has been like a roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs. If you would have asked me last year where I see myself in a year, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania would not have been my answer. Over the past 6 months things have changed. I graduated and took a chance. And 3 months ago I moved to a country I had never been to but had spent endless hours researching. I love my life here in Dar despite the random power cuts, water shortages, animals that have made my classroom their home, and traffic jams. But most of all I love my job and the people that I have met because of my job. I think it is always hard to move to a new place and start over. But I am truly blessed to have met the people I have over the past 3 months and couldn't have asked for better people to share my Thanksgiving traditions with! So needless to say my first Thanksgiving on my own and in another country was a complete success!

Powerless Week

Greetings!

Battery Powered Fan...Wonderful during power cuts!

Candle light has become a part of my everyday life...

As I stated in my last post we had had power for about two weeks without any cuts (at least when I was home...they may have still been occurring while I was at school)  so I was nervous as to what the week would bring....my gut feeling was right or maybe I just jinxed myself. This past week the power cuts have been terrible!!! No power Monday came back around 22.30 and was on until morning; Tuesday no power when we got home from school and was still out when we left for school Wednesday morning; Wednesday night it was on when we got home but cut around 23.00 and was still out Thursday morning when we left for school; Thursday it came back around 18.30 and we had it all night and it was still on when we left for school Friday morning; No power when we got home Friday morning but it came back around 23.30 and was on until 11 on Saturday morning and was in and out all day yesterday. I try to not get frustrated when the power goes out because I know that I can survive without it but it sure makes life a lot more comfortable when we do have it! I think my biggest frustration this week was when it was out during the night because then it messed with my sleep schedule....difficulty sleeping because of all of the noises outside of my window and waking up when the power cut or came back due to the noise changes...needless to say I have survived the week and I think part of the reason it was a bit easier was because I was at school during the day and thankfully we have generator there!!! The positive side of the power cuts is my roomie and I got to have some awesome talks, cooking by candle light and lots of reading time. The crazy thing about the power cuts is they usually occur with the less rain that we receive. Over the past few weeks it has rained... A LOT!! and there has been a lot of flooding so hopefully the power cuts will improve with all of the rain...

As I begin to prepare to go home in just 4 short weeks I think about how the transition is going to be a difficult one in ways. I am leaving a world that is so different than the world I was raised in but a world that has become my new home. The United States economy is having difficulties and I used to think it was terrible seeing the toll it was taken on people (and I still think this) but then I move to Tanzania and my eyes were opened a bit more. Yes things are rough back home in the states but things are much rougher here. Seeing people struggle on a daily basis can be quite difficult at times and I am not sure if it is something I will ever get use to. Living in Tanzania has changed me and my outlook on life. A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a friend and the question came up..."what are 5 things you can not live with out...." What a tough question to answer. As I thought about my answer I began to realize how my answer today would have been different from my answer 4 months ago. I realized that the things I can not live without are simply things. My response was : my water bottle, my cell phone or computer to communicate with people back home and here, music and headphones, my support system (family and friends), my faith in God....

I still remember the crazy looks and questions I got as I told me family and friends about the decision I had made to move to Tanzania for a teaching job. I know that some of my family and friends still think this. But on the day of my departure my mom handed me a letter that said a lot of things but there was one part that meant a lot, " I hope you understand that I only want what is best for you. You are a great daughter and even better person and because of that I know that you will go far and do big things in your life." With those 2 sentences I knew that my mom supported me and even though it was extremely hard to watch me walk away to get onto a plane that will take me half way across the world. She let me go. She let me follow my dreams even if it meant only getting to talk to me a couple of times a week and see me once or twice a year for the next few years. So I am following my dreams and couldn't be happier with the decision I have made. Some days are tough and I really miss my friends and family but I just remind myself of the amazing opportunity I have been given!

This weekend has been a very lazy one so far. After a very sleepless week and a stressful week between school and other things going on I have just wanted to do nothing but lounge around all weekend. Today I need to get some things finished for school and go to the market and grocery store but other than that I will be just relaxing.

In a couple of weeks we have a 3 day weekend so I am already looking forward to that and more than likely will be spending the day at the beach. And the week after that I will be heading home for my very short visit.....which is two weeks from the day I fly out of Dar to the day I return to Dar. Which is going to be spent flying to and from the States, flying to Texas for the weekend of Christmas and getting all 4 of my wisdom teeth cut out (which I am really beginning to get nervous about) so my trip home is going to be a whirlwind trip but luckily I will get to see a majority of my family and friends which is all that matters :)

Well I think that is all that I have to update on for now. I hope y'all will have a wonderful Sunday!

Another Week Flies By....

Another week as quickly passed by. It was a short school week as we had Monday and Tuesday off due to Midterm break. My roommate and I took full advantage of this on Monday by heading to the island, Bongoyo. It was a much needed day of relaxation. Unfortunately I thought it would be a good idea to wait to put sunscreen on when I arrived on the island. I will just say that I have learned my lesson. My and the African sun do not quite get along and 30 minutes in the direct sunlight leads to a terrible sunburn on my face and back. From now on I will be putting sunscreen on before I depart from my apartment and reapplying it frequently throughout the day! Other than the sunburn it was a perfect day. The sun was warm, the water was fantastic and the skies were blue....not much more a person could ask for :) On the island you can do hiking and snorkeling....we did not do that this time but I plan on doing some snorkeling during my next trip to the island.

When it came time to return on Wednesday my alarm seemed to go off a bit to early or maybe it was just the fact that I was not ready to wake up at 5.15 again. It felt like the break was far too short especially since our next break is the holiday break. But I still managed to make it through the week which turned out to not be too bad as I am finally getting caught up with everything from being out sick a couple of weeks ago! This week will be a busy week as well as we have parent teacher conferences during the day. These will take place during my planning periods which means there will probably being a few late nights at school to get done what I typically get done during my planning periods. But then it will be the weekend again :) I am learning that during my weekends I am doing less and less around Dar because all I want to do is relax. Hopefully I will get back into a routine soon and start to venture out in Dar some more.

I think it is getting harder to be away from home the closer we get to the holidays. It does not even feel like November (I think because it is hot and not cold) As I see everyone making plans for getting together during Thanksgiving break it makes me a bit sad but then I remind myself that I will be home in about 5 weeks. And as most of you know  I am the count down queen so as it gets closer I will really begin the count down :) On a positive note my roommate and I have decided to make Thanksgiving dinner here in Dar. I am really excited to get to share our American and family traditions with some of our wonderful friends here in Dar! One of my awesome friend  has brought back some items from the States when he was back for a business trip that will be necessary to make the dinner a success and another friend has been working on getting a turkey for the dinner. It is great to have help from them to find the items that are not typically found here. We have decided to do the dinner on a Saturday afternoon since it takes so much time and preparation to make the dinner.....for some reason the schools here do not get Thanksgiving or the day after off....not quite sure why that is.....

Today I have also decided to start a bucket list after being inspired by some fellow friends who have created one. It has been fun thinking of the different goals and dreams that I want to achieve during my life. I think it also gives me something to really work towards during the upcoming years. Hopefully I will continue to add to the list over the years but also will get to cross many items off of the list :)

We also have been have quite good luck when it comes to power rations which makes me a bit nervous for the next week because there always seems to be a bad period after the good period but maybe this time it will be different! Over the past few days it has really been raining a lot which I don't quite care fore except for when I don't have to work and can lounge around or during the night time and I can sleep but I also know that the land and plants really need the rain lately so it is a good thing for that.

I hope everyone will have a wonderful Sunday!

Time is flying by.....

Malaria test #1

The days continue to fly by...I have finally booked my ticket home for Christmas and will be back in NKY on December 16th. I am so ready to see my family and friends....Over the past couple of weeks I have really begun to miss home. I think part of this has to do with the fact that I was quite ill for over a week. In my last post I mentioned that I was not feeling well. It turned out that my ear infection got quite bad and I had to go back to the doctor 4 times and got 3 different sets of medicines before I began to improve. It was a long week and unfortunately I missed a whole week of school. I attempted to go back on Thursday but only lasted about 2 hours before I couldn't do it anymore. I am thankful that I finally got the right medicine and my fever finally stayed down for more than a few hours on Saturday which was a week after the first time I went to the doctor. They originally thought I had malaria but thankfully I did not!

Upon returning back to school I was so far behind. I had planned on getting a lot done the week that I was out but unfortunately I was not able to do anything except throw sub plans together during the week. It is amazing how much it takes to prepare when you are out. I did my best but still fell far behind. This meant that this past week was extra long. I stayed late most nights to get caught up and with the help of some others I managed to get a majority of it caught up and my big project of sending home portfolios was accomplished as well! It feels good to be caught up but as always there is work to be done. I am currently on mid term break which means I have a 4 day weekend!! I had originally planned on going to Zanzibar but with me being sick and behind I didn't think it would be good to be gone for 4 days. Instead my roomie and I have decided to spend tomorrow on Bongoyo Island which is an isolated island. So I am very much looking forward to a day of relaxation under the sun :)

As far as school goes I had a Halloween Party on Halloween in my classroom. It was fun to see the students in their costumes. They got creative and had a good time. We invited their parents to join us at the end of the day and it was good to see all of the parent involvement. Then on Friday we took our first class fieldtrip with the other grade 1. Our original plan was to go to a juice making company here in Dar to learn how they take fruit and make it into juice to tie in with our Science yet. After an hour long bus ride we arrive at the factory but received some bad news. The factory had no power and the generator was not working. Thankfully they offered for us to go to the ice cream making factory. So we got to see how the local company making different ice cream and ice lollies. It was really interesting and we got free ice cream at the end so a win win situation. Following the ice cream factory tour we got to see the juice factory. They explained how the juice is made but we just didn't get to see how the juice was made. And at the end we got free mango juice. So all in all it was a successful trip even though it was not what was previously planned. I must admit that the bus ride coming back was much quieter than going as most of the students were fast asleep!

Other than that the power rations continue. They are not as frequent as they were when I first arrived but are still occurring. Last Saturday and Sunday it went out at around 9am and came back on around 19.00 so that makes it kinda frustrating when there is no power for 10 hours but we learn to pass time but playing games, reading or going out for the day. I think I have adjusted well and now when the power goes out I just deal with it no use getting upset since we have no control. We have also been having some minor water shortage issues which I find to be a bit more frustrating than power outages but we have a stockpile of water and again just deal with it when it occurs :) It is also becoming progressively hotter here in Dar. It is weird to hear that back home it is cold and we are already getting frost when it is about 85-90 degrees here. So coming home for Christmas is going to be a huge shock for me....

I am still loving my washing machine and enjoy being able to once again out my laundry by loads instead of buckets full! And I love being able to just put laundry in push the start button and come back an hour or so later and it is clean! It is amazing the things that I took for granted back home. We finally have warm showers here and there because the water in the tank gets heated by the sun so its kinda like a natural water heater! 

I think that is all I have to update for now! I am making a goal to myself to update my blog at least weekly so look for another post in about a week :)

Hope everyone will have a great Sunday!

Long time again.....

I promised to update more frequently in my last post but it has been almost a month again. I remind myself during the day that I should update my blog but then once I get home I get distracted and another day goes by without an update.

Things continue to go great at school. My students and I are getting to know each other quite well which really helps things go smoother in the classroom. About 3 weeks ago we planted some pumpkin and squash seeds to learn how plants go. Surprising there were sprouts above the ground the next week. The students love to take care of their plants and watching them grow. Some of the students seeds did not grow so I went back and replanted some last week and hopefully there will be some sprouts this week. Other than that I am looking forward to mid term break where we have a couple of days off and then winter break is right around the corner.

Last weekend we had a 3 day week. Some friends and I were going to head to Zanzibar but the weather forecast showed rain all 3 days so we opted not to go. It ended up not raining at all. I think that my roommate and I will head to Zanzibar for midterm break. It is that point in the term where we just need to get away and relax. Last weekend I bought a washing machine!! I was going to hire a maid to do my laundry but I just would rather be able to do it myself so the washing machine seemed like the better choice. I finally got a plumber to come yesterday and install it. It works great and is so quiet! It is nice to just be able to put laundry in the machine and come back an hour later and hang it to dry.

I have been do less school work on the weekends and hanging out with friends instead. It is great to be able to get out and do some things here in Dar. Two weeks ago I met some friends for some Tanzanian style breakfast..... It was cow tongue soup.....all I can say is that I tried it. It is suppose to be put in this broth and eaten that way but the broth was gross! and I tried to just eat the cow tongue but it had a weird texture and I just couldn't get it out of my head that I was eating the tongue of a cow. After the soup tasting..we went to Slipway (a place by the ocean where a lot of expats hang out) There we walked around and then had a nice lunch :) Then we went and saw a movie at the  cinema. That evening a few of us came back to my apartment and we played a Tanzanian card game called Last Card....it is very similar to Uno but you use regular playing cards. It was a lot of fun but I think 2 certain Tanzanians guys were making up some fake rules as the game progressed to help themselves when :)

A week ago I invited some co-workers over and made brinner. Since they showed me a traditional Tanzanian breakfast food I thought it was only fair to show them one of ours. So I made pancakes, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs and fruit salad. They seemed to enjoy it. Then we played some Uno where no fake rules could be made up. It was a lot of fun as usual.

This weekend I have been feeling quite under the weather. I have been feeling sick a bit on Friday and then Friday night and Saturday morning I started to run a fever, body aches, headache...... so I went to the clinic yesterday because they thought I might have malaria....thankfully it turned out to just be a really bad ear infection. I had to get blood taken for the malaria test which is usually just a finger prick but they actually took a couple of tubes of blood to check my blood count and such :( But it was a quick visit and I got an antibiotic, pain meds and ear drops. I started to feel better yesterday afternoon and last night. But my fever is still popping up and my ear is really hurting so I hope to be feeling better in the next day or so. Thankfully I have had my roomie and my friend, Jesse, who have taken care of me while I have been sick! I don't know what I would have done without them this weekend...

Some other great news is the power rations are becoming less frequent. They are still occurring but for shorter periods of time and not as frequently. It is quite nice to remember what it is like to have power for more than 24 hours at a time!

Other than that not a lot has happened. The weather is getting hotter as the hot season approaches. But a plus of the hot season is mango and pineapple season which I was quite excited about. And of course lots and lots of beach time :) I also have started to take Swahili classes and it is kinda difficult because of certain letter combinations and the sounds that go with those letters but hopefully I will learn quickly but for the time being I provide my teacher with some great entertainment as I attempt the sounds :)

I hope everyone will have a great Sunday and I promise to post again in the next week or 2!

It's Been Awhile

So needless to say it has been quite some time almost 3 weeks since I have given an update one here....sorry about that :)

What's new in my life?!? I can officially say that I love teaching and there is no question that this is the career I was meant to have. I have an excellent group of students. All 10 of them have their own personalities and their own way of putting a smile on my face. We are getting to know each other quite well and I think we are all becoming quite the team! I have a wonderful assistant who is there when ever I need her....she is terrific with the students and I would completely lost without her :) I love the school and the staff is very close and friendly.

Teaching still very much consumes my life. I have started staying late several nights at school and still spending lots of time during the evening and at least one day of the weekend preparing lessons and such. The school days fly by as do the weeks. It is hard to believe that we have been in session almost a month so far. I get my first official pay check as a teacher this week so I am excited to finally be getting paid for what I love doing :)

I have started to dedicate one day of my weekend to relaxing or a day where I do no school work. I have been spending lots of time at the beach. Last week I went to an event in Dar called Nyama Choma, which is a big BBQ meat event. It was a lot of fun and I got to try some traditional Tanzanian food. Something else I did was ate my whole meal with my hands which is something new for me. I am so use to using a fork and knife for every thing. I am adjusting. I am looking forward to trying more traditional Tanzanian food in the near future.

I am currently in the process of planning a weekend get away. In 2 weeks we get a 3 day weekend. So I am packing my bag and heading to Zanzibar for the weekend. I am really excited for some much needed relaxation time.

The staff at school have started a football (soccer) team and their first game is this Sunday. I will be there cheering them on. I am looking forward to it.

I am still adjusting to life here. We are entering the hot season so I am nervous as to the heat that will be fastly approaching. I am still amazed by all of the small things that I took for granted back home everyday. I am so thankful that I decided to embark on this journey. I must admit that I am not homesick....There are many things that I miss like just hanging out with my friends, getting in my car and driving some where and of course that one little girl that has such a huge part of my heart. There are many days that I know a Karrlee hug would be great but unfortunately that cannot happen. I get to talk to her at least once a week. She has finally accepted the fact that I am no longer on an airplane and at my new home. She asks to come to my house and then she usually just says "Can you come home now." I received a package from home the other day and there was a piece of artwork from her which made its way right to the bulletin board behind my desk!

 Well I think that is all of the updates for now. I will try to not wait so long before the next update.

What a Week!!

Well I have officially completed my first week of teaching. 2 of the days this past week were orientation days and 3 were with the students. It has been a good week in the classroom. Wednesday morning my alarm went off way too early 5:15 to be exact. Once at school we had a brief school wide assembly and then it was off to my classroom where I met my students and their parents. It was a great way to start the school year. During the first couple of days we have done many "get to know you" activities as well as me doing lots of group and individual assessments. It has been good to get the chance to do the assessments so that I know where my students stand and I can use that information in my planning. The day flies by and usually by the end of the day I cannot find my desk. I hope to get a better organization system into place this week. I have a total of 10 students in my class and they come from all over the world. Even though I have some days where I have several breaks while the students are at single subjects or recess, I still find that the day slips away. So my evenings are filled with planning. I am usually in bed by 7:30ish and asleep by 8 or 8:30 (never thought I would see the day that I was asleep before Karrlee!) Last night I found myself fighting to stay awake until 9:30. Hopefully my body will soon adjust to the early mornings and early nights.

Power has been hard to come by this week. All but 1 night this week the power was out from the time I got home from school (around 4:30) to sometime in the night. I usually wake up at some point in the night and it is back on. I will say that planning by candle light is a bit harder but with limited battery on my computer I am more productive because I limit my use.

Not much else has been happening here. Traffic has been terrible this week which makes the commute to school very long around an hour each way. Hopefully that is something I will get use to as well or maybe learn to use that time wisely.....we shall see. The other day we were stuck in a traffic jam for quite some time when the ice cream man drove by on his bicycle usually we just pass it up but this day we were in need of something so the whole car full of us bought ice cream to help pass the time in the traffic jam :)

First Day=Success

Well we got an extra day off...yesterday due to Eid (the end of Ramadan). I am quite thankful for this as it was nice to sleep in one more day and get things ready for today. We officially had power from 18:00 on Monday to sometime this morning....I was getting spoiled I think! It was hard to believe it was on for that long at one time. Yesterday afternoon I was feeling a bit drowsy from my allergy medicine (my allergies by the way have been going crazy due to all of the dust!) and tried to resist taking a nap but fell asleep reading anyways....this made sleeping last night quite difficult. I was already nervous, anxious, excited for our first day and add not really tired to that= bad combination! I finally fell asleep around 1 or 1:30 and was up every hour and finally got up at 6....thats an early morning after such a long summer holiday!

We had a bit of craziness when it came to getting to school today. There was a bit of confusion as to who all was getting picked up by the driver so a few wrong turns and one very bad traffic jam we arrive at school with a few minutes to spare before orientation started! It was great to finally meet everyone especially the other grade 1 teacher, our assistants, and the primary school coordinator. Everyone at DIA made me feel very welcome and I know this is going to be a great experience. I did feel a bit bad though because my assistant was prepared to help me put my classroom together today but oops! Most of it was already done. I was not prepared to have extra hands this week helping. I guess  it will teach me that I do not always have to have things prepared way in advance :) It did give me some time to get use to the server and look at the curriculum map and such.

The day was also spent filling out lots of paper work. I was so confused and a lot of times  had to ask what specifically they were asking for. Then the NSSF (National Social Security Fund) form was in Swahili luckily there were some people to translate and then they found an example in English! All in all it was a very successful day. I will admit though that at the end of the day today I was sitting my classroom and dazed off.....it is hard to believe that I finally have received my degree and have my own classroom and that it is half way around the world from my home! I was a bit overwhelmed with all the information we were provided with today so still taking it all in. I look forward to returning on Monday and meeting my students on Wednesday!

Tonight has been very uneventful. I have relaxed done some reading and looked through one of the teachers manuals to become more familiar with the curriculum. Tomorrow and Sunday I also plan on relaxing and maybe getting out and exploring some more of Dar.

I think that is all for now :)

Lots of Power!!!

Well I have officially had power for over 48 hours!! I kinda had forgotten what it was like to have power consistently. I still find myself sitting in the dark because I forget that the power is on this evening. Or lighting a candle when I shower at night just in case the power goes off.....don't want to be stuck in the shower without light!

Today has been a pretty good day and a relaxing day. I slept in again which means that when Friday morning comes I am going to have a bit of trouble getting up at 6 and being out the door before 7:30 but it will all come back to me ....at least I hope! Today I finished my third book in a week. Probably more reading than I have done since high school that has not been from a textbook! It feels good to get to read whatever I want in my spare time :-)

Hard to believe that today marks 2 weeks since I left NKY! Feels like just yesterday and I know that once school starts that the days will fly by even more quickly. I am happy to announce that my Rooster friend was back to himself today......Crowing away a majority of the day. I was able to even take a short nap this afternoon so I guess you could say that I am getting a bit use to the background noise of my apartment ;-)

Other than that not much happened today!

Lazy Tuesday!

Another good day here in Dar. I am finally sleeping through the night...wooohooo! I always heard that it takes a day for each hour of time difference so that would have been 7 days so I am pretty much on track. I am grateful that I am finally catching up on sleep before school starts. I got the call today that Eid (The end of Ramadan) will take place on Thursday so we will not start school until Friday. I was a little bummed as I am ready to get started and get a routine established. I think I might go and work in my classroom a bit tomorrow to help get a bit of a routine down.

Today I have not done much. Spent most of the morning reading and then this afternoon I looked at some of the teacher manuals to just look over the content a bit before starting the school year. I must say that today was a bit of a quiet day and I only heard my Rooster friend once or twice.....I am a bit worried about him but did enjoy the peace and quiet :-)

Another surprise today the power has been on since 6 pm last night!!! Woohoo!! I have enjoyed having the power on for over 24 hours instead of it being out for 24 hours :) We will see what the next 24 hours brings.....

I think that is all for now :)

Uneventful Weekend

Oops kinda let the weekend slip away without posting anything.  For the most part the past few days have been pretty uneventful. On Friday I went in to my classroom to work again! As we were on our way to find a taxi there is a woman standing there talking to another woman who is just holding a live chicken by its neck and the chicken is just hanging there not making a fuss or anything....I know these are things that I will eventually get use to but I was a bit shocked to see because to me it is not normal but here it is.

I had another successful day in my classroom. I spent a majority of the day getting organized and putting "worksheets" and such into folders to hang in my file cabinet so they are ready to use when I need them. I also worked on my wall where my classroom procedures and behaviour plans will go. Also on Friday I got us to school without the help of someone from the school and a new driver...that is another reason my day was so successful! I am finally able to notice landmarks and get around to places that are near my apartment or the school :-)

Upon returning home we still had power woohoo! It went out for the evening but that was okay it was nice to have it during the day. I spent most of the afternoon reading my Nook and enjoying the sunlight and of course some lovely background noise from my Rooster friend. Who by the way does not just crow in the morning but typically all day long :-( 

Saturday morning we invited our friend, Sam, over. We met Sam on our flight over here. He is from Maryland but works for the University of Minnesota. He is the current country manager for Tanzania and is here for a year to help improve the blood collections for the blood banks here. I made pancakes Shannon, Sam and myself. We then found a taxi and went to Slipway...Sam had never been before. It was good weather and we all had a good time. I even bought a new book for my classroom. There is a cute little bookshop at Slipway that I will be visiting quite frequently I think :-)

Saturday night Shannon and I enjoyed playing our last game of Phase 10 and we even got to play by the actual light and not candle light since we had power :)

I talked to Karrlee for the first time Saturday since I left. She was excited to talk to me. It definitely made my day better until she said ....." I miss you can you please come home now" Totally broke my heart :( I fought back the tears though and told her I will be soon enough and I will bring Santa with me lol. When my mom asked for the phone back she cried and fought her... I know it will get easier but I sure do miss her! I put our picture from last Christmas on my desk along with a picture of her and I at my graduation party:) I know her smiling face will help me through those rough days as it already has!
Sunday was a sad day. I actually slept in until around 9:30...that's a lot with all of the noises around here :) I then got up helped Shannon get ready and we left for the airport around noon. She left with only 2 bags (she came with 3) so I am interested to see how much those 2 bags weighed. The trip home for the airport was very long between 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours due to traffic. I just put in my headphones and enjoyed some music. My first night alone was not too bad. I actually slept quite well. Only woke up once at 5 am due to the mosque prayer service which I wake up to each morning. Then I put in my headphone and went right back to sleep.

Today has been a mixture of laziness and productiveness. I spent most of the morning on the balcony reading my Nook and enjoying some hot herbal tea. Then this afternoon I clean a good portion of the apartment. It gets so dirty due to the windows being open and living on a dirt road. I sure will be happy when I get maid hired. I know it will be difficult to clean so often once school gets into full swing but for now it works out.

The teacher that replaces Shannon arrives tomorrow. I look forward to meeting her and her possibly being my new roommate.

I think that is all I have to update on now!

Another Successful Day :-)

Today I had an early start to my day so that I could get lots accomplished in my class! It was a good day and the time flies by. I thought I had a lot of time but the day just flew by and it was time to leave. Shannon and I did get a lot accomplished. I could not imagine how little I would get done without her help. It is great to have an extra set of hands and eyes and ideas :) I will go back again tomorrow to get some more done but my classroom is finally looking more like a classroom! I am stuck on a few things though. I want to have a "procedures wall" On that wall will be my classroom procedures and I am also using a behaviour number line. For ex: all of the students will start on 0 and if they get praised by me or another teacher they will get to move their clip to a positive number (it goes up to 4) but if they break a classroom procedure they will have to move their clip to a negative number (it goes down to -4) I will list what each number means following the school's system for the negative number but also include what they will receive for being on each positive number. I am looking for a title for this wall but am stuck.....any ideas?!? I am also stuck on another part of my classroom. I am using the bulletin board by my desk as a "communication/ news" board. Below the the board is where the students will turn in work to one tray and I will also put work that I have given feedback on in another tray. On the bulletin board I was hoping to put news from the class such as field trip permission slips, extra copies of homework, upcoming events for the classroom and DIA, etc. I am looking for a catchy title for this board......any suggestions?!? All in all the room is coming together and I am excited to meet my students for the first time!!! I am also excited to meet my assistant and look forward to working with her :)

Downfall of today....I have been a bit sick. As most of you know I am scheduled to get my wisdom teeth out over winter break. Unfortunately one of them is hurting which I knew was always a possibility after seeing the dentist and oral surgeon prior to my departure. I spent the afternoon resting up and am taking it easy. I hope to be on the mend very soon! Other than that today has been good. Power was off again today for about 15 hours but I was at school and resting most of the day so it was not bad at all.

Look forward to hearing some suggestions for catchy titles!

Link to the pictures :     http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.784111826828.2245465.37710699&l=20147a3382&type=1

Thoughts Pondering.....

Today I will make another entry... I have been here almost a week now and have been gone from NKY for a week today. It has been a week of ups and downs.....adjustments, changes, life changing experiences..... It has definitely been hard at times and I was not sure if this is where I should be but then that changed. On Monday I got to see my classroom and I was overwhelmed with joy. I know that I want to teach more than anything and walking into my classroom Monday reassured me with that. Also this week my roommate has shared her doubts and my joy and excitement has confirmed her doubts for being in the classroom. I have been a bit down today since I know that my travel buddy and roommate will soon be departing but then I received a forward email from my Aunt Daisy and Uncle Jerry. It was: 

Two Choices

What  would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look  for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it  anyway. My question is: Would you have made the  same choice?
 
At  a fundraising dinner for a school that serves  children with learning disabilities, the father  of one of the students delivered a speech that  would never be forgotten by all who attended.  After extolling the school and  its

Dedicated staff, he offered a  question:

'When not interfered with by  outside influences, everything nature does, is  done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay,  cannot learn things as other children do. He  cannot understand things as other children  do.

Where  is the natural order of things in my  son?'

The  audience was stilled by the  query.

The father continued. 'I  believe that when a child like Shay, who was  mentally and physically disabled comes into the  world, an opportunity to realize true human  nature presents itself, and it comes in the way  other people treat that child.'

Then he  told the following story:

Shay  and I had walked past a park where some boys  Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do  you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most  of the boys would not want someone like Shay on  their team, but as a fatherIalso  understood that if my son were allowed to play,  it would give him a much-needed sense of  belonging and some confidence to be accepted by  others in spite of his  handicaps.

I approached one of  the boys on the field and asked (not expecting  much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around  for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs  and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he  can be on our team and we'll try to put him in  to bat in the ninth  inning..'

Shay struggled over to  the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on  a team shirt.. I watched with a small tear in my  eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy  at my son being accepted.

In the bottom  of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few  runs but was still behind by three.

In  the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove  and played in the right field. Even though no  hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic  just to be in the game and on the field,  grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from  the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth  inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now,  with two outs and the bases loaded, the  potential winning run was on base and Shay was  scheduled to be next at bat.

At  this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give  away their chance to win the  game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the  bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but  impossible because Shay didn't even know how to  hold the bat properly, much less connect with  the ball.

However, as Shay  stepped up to the

Plate, the pitcher,  recognizing that the other team was putting  winning aside for this moment in Shay's life,  moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly  so Shay could at least make contact.

The  first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and  missed.

The pitcher again took a few  steps forward to toss the ball softly towards  Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at  the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back  to the pitcher.

The game would  now be over.

The pitcher picked up the  soft grounder and could have easily thrown the  ball to the first baseman.

Shay would  have been out and that would have been the end  of the game.

Instead, the pitcher  threw the ball right over the first baseman's  head, out of reach of all team  mates.

Everyone from the stands and both  teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to  first!

Run to first!'

Never in his  life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it  to first base.

He scampered down the  baseline, wide-eyed and  startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run  to second, run to second!'

Catching his  breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second,  gleaming and struggling to make it to the  base.

By the time Shay rounded towards  second base, the right fielder had the ball ..  The smallest guy on their team who now had his  first chance to be the hero for his  team.

He could have thrown the ball to  the second-baseman for the tag, but he  understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too,  intentionally threw the ball high and far over  the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward  third base deliriously as the runners ahead of  him circled the bases toward  home.

All were screaming, 'Shay,  Shay, Shay, all the Way  Shay' 
Shay reached third base  because the opposing shortstop ran to help him  by turning him in the direction of third base,  and shouted, 'Run to third!

Shay, run to  third!'

As Shay rounded third,  the boys from both teams, and the spectators,  were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home!  Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on  the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit  the grand slam and won the game for his  team

'That day', said the father  softly with tears now rolling down his face,  'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece  of true love and humanity into this  world'.

Shay didn't make it to  another summer. He died that winter, having  never forgotten being the hero and making me so  happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother  tearfully embrace her little hero of the  day!


We  all have thousands of opportunities every single  day to help realize the 'natural order of  things.'

So many seemingly trivial  interactions between two people present us with  a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark  of love and humanity or do we pass up those  opportunities and leave the world a little bit  colder in the process?



A wise man  once said every society is judged by how it  treats it's least fortunate amongst  them.



You now have two  choices:

1. Delete

2.  Forward

May your day, be a Shay  Day.
MAY  GOD BLESS EVERYONE WHO
DECIDES  TO PASS THIS ON IN
MEMORY  OF SHAY.............. 

 This email came at the perfect time. I absolutely love being here in Dar but the past couple of days have been a bit rough due to the extended power rations and finding out that Shannon is going home on Sunday and just plain missing my family and friends. After reading this email it again reminded me that I am here for a purpose....not only to be an educator but also to be a learner. To not only teach my students what is inside of our textbooks but also to teach them about the world around them and the people living in our world. I have traveled half way around the world to my classroom and to follow my dreams. I am constantly asked why I did not want to teach in KY but the truth is simple I needed something more. I now have embarked on my journey and am getting many little reminders along the way on why I should be here. I am here to make a difference and touch the lives of the students that I teach and the people that I meet. 

At graduation I spoke about change, making a difference etc... and at that time I inspired myself. I know I have spoken of this before but sometimes I have to remember my own words and let them inspire me. 

So I know at times the road with be rough but teaching is not a walk in the park (and neither is living in Tanzania lol). You must put 100% into it not only for your students but also for yourself. When the times get tough I have someone who can make me smile no matter how bad things are....Karrlee. I will never forget as I was saying my goodbyes last week and it came time to tell Karrlee "see you later" .... I promised myself I would not cry but as soon as I picked her up the tears just started coming. She finally realized that I was crying and was so confused. She then realized that I was leaving and that was why I was crying.... Yesterday my mom knew I was down so she told me that Karrlee saw an airplane the other day and waved hi to me. It is amazing how one person can change your world so much! I truly do have a wonderful family and support system and without them I would not be following my dreams here in Dar!

Successful Day in my Classroom!

Today has been a great day overall!! I finally got to go into my classroom and get to work. There was a lot more supplies then I thought so I spent most of the day going through the supplies and sorting it out...kinda taking an inventory of what I have, what I brought and what I need to get. I also was able to put up a few things like a number line and a cute alphabet strip that I found online.  I also put a few things on my desk to make it a bit more like mine :) I also took a copy of some of the textbooks that I will use during the first term of the school year! Shannon came with me and was a great help today!

Which leads me to my next topic. Today Shannon made a final decision to move back to the states. I knew that she was contemplating it but made the final decision today, sat down with the director and booked her flight home. I am very sad to see her go but totally support her decision. I want her to be happy and follow her heart. She will leave Sunday afternoon.

There have still been some issues with the power and it has been going out quite frequently which is a bit frustrating but trying to make the best out of it! Thankfully now I can go to the school during the day (they have a back-up generator) and get a lot accomplished when the power is out here in the apartment. Last night Shannon and I had our first experience with hand-washing our clothes...what an experience that was!! Our maid has not been hired yet but I look forward to that day because I am not exactly sure what I am doing! But again it makes me realize how blessed we are back home! It is definitely the small things back home that would be considered a luxury here.

Here is a link to view more pictures:    http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.784111826828.2245465.37710699&l=20147a3382&type=1

I think that is all for today! 

New Classroom

The past two days have had some ups and downs.....Yesterday I finally got to see my school and classroom for the first time!! I really enjoyed it! We got a tour of the whole school including our classrooms. I posted a link to the pictures that I took of the classroom how it is. There is not a lot in the classroom yet so I have a lot of work to do. This is going to be a little tricky since I cannot just go to the parent teacher store, John R Green, Target, etc to go and buy decorations for my classroom. I have been picking up some neat things at the open markets and brought some things but for the most part I will be making a lot of the things for my classroom. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated! I did find a cute alphabet strip that I can print off and am going to make a number line. I was also thinking that I would make some grammar posters....blends, diagraphs, etc. I have round tables which I think will work good and allow for group work and such. I also have several bulletin boards inside my classroom and one outside to display my students work :) They do not have bulletin board border here so again I will have to be creative! I am quickly learning that my classroom does not have to look perfect but it is more of what takes place inside of the classroom! If the students are learning that is what matters. I am really excited to meet my team teacher as well as my classroom assistant. I look forward to our orientation week that starts a week from Thursday and meeting everyone :)

After we got done at the school, Shannon and I went and had lunch at a nearby shopping area. It was good to get out and see more of the town. Upon arriving home I we played some games and had supper. Then the power went out. Should have come back on around 10 finally came back around 11 but was back out by midnight. Today we went to the beach at one of the resorts. It was absolutely beautiful. The water was a bit cold (it is still winter here) but the sun was bright. I spent the day laying out and reading my nook! Very relaxing and much needed! We returned home and played some more games and such as the power was still out. We wanted to do some laundry but unfortunately when the power is out the water is out so that did not work. The Power came back on around 6 as scheduled but was out within 10 minutes.....kinda frustrating. It finally came back on around 8 and hopefully will stay on until tomorrow night we shall see though ;-)

I think that is all that I have to report for now. Been a good two days for the most part despite not having power for over 24 hours. I am really excited about getting into my classroom and getting it together!

Pictures :)

Here is a link to some pictures...hope it works


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.784111826828.2245465.37710699&l=20147a3382&type=1

End of the weekend

Today was an uneventful day here. We both got to sleep in quite a bit.  Shannon finally got to hear my lovely rooster friend that gives a wake-up call each morning :) Thankfully I did not hear him this morning.... we did discover that our landlord has chickens and a rooster on the patio right below Shannon's room ;-/ No power during the day today but the sun was shining most of the day so it wasn't an issue. It did rain a bit this morning which helped cool it down a bit. Today was our first day that we did not have anything planned.  I fixed us pancakes for brunch so we had a little taste of home. We finally have our apartment looking good and mostly decorated. Still need to pick up a few more things and hope to make it back to the market later this week to pick up some more paintings and such. This evening we had a nice dinner and played some Boggle and Phase 10.

Tomorrow we get to see our classrooms and the school for the first time!!! We are really excited and cannot wait to get in and start getting the classroom together. I promise to take pre and post pictures of the classroom :) Tomorrow we also hope to get our Tanzanian bank account opened and ready to use.

We are learning the power rations have a bit of schedule. It usually is out during the day every other day so that means it will probably be out on Tuesday so we are planning a day at the beach! We look forward to relaxing and working on our tans :)

We finally almost have our shower curtain up...what a challenge it has been. Hopefully we will get pictures up tomorrow of the apartment pre decorating and post decorating. Both Shannon and I forgot our camera cords......not sure how that happened with all of our luggage. We will buy new ones tomorrow.

I think that is all of the updates I have for now.

Tour of the city!

Today was another exciting day in Dar. I was woken up this morning at around 7:30 by Shannon who thought it was 9:30....we were scheduled to be picked up at 10! I then looked at my phone and told her it was only 7:30 she said oops. Needless to say not all of our clocks are set to Dar time yet and we are still getting used to the 7 hour time difference. We started our morning with fresh Starbucks coffee (Yes! I brought some with me from the states). This also meant that we had power this morning and we were able to use our new coffee pot :)

We were then off to do some shopping with the HR manager. The school got him to take us out today even though it is Saturday and he never works Saturday. The school has been extremely accommodating to us since our arrival. Our first stop of the day was at a shopping mall very close to our apartment. We went to a store called Game....It is like the Walmart of Tanzania. We were able to get some of the last items that we needed for our apartment....nightstands, rugs, extension cords, etc. Then we went on to do a bit more shopping and pick up some groceries. We also stopped to look at mobile phones and discovered that they do have Iphones here but unfortunately they are 1.5 million shillings which is about 1000 US dollars...not worth it :(

We made a quick stop at our apartment to drop some items off as we had already filled the car. Then we were off to another shopping area. Seacliff is an area where a lot of expats hang out. There are really nice restaurants and some really cute shops. There is also a resort there that has a spa that we will be visiting in the very near future. This place is very very close to the school we will be teaching at so we are excited about that! Next, we went to another shopping area called Slipway. We had lunch on the beach of the Indian Ocean. It was absolutely beautiful! Next, we were off to an open market. In this area you "haggle" with the merchants. Luckily we had Jesse (the HR manager) with us and he speaks fluent Swahili. He was able to get us some great deals. We got some really cute things for our classrooms and an awesome painting for our dining room! I will post some pictures soon.

We had a very successful day of shopping and got almost everything we needed. We are still struggling with getting the shower curtain up but that is just minor. As we were getting close to our apartment we began to notice that the area was very very very dark. We thought the power was out again and we were right! We did learn today that they can only ration the power for a maximum of 12 hours during the day and 4 hours during the night. So around 11 our power came back on tonight so it was that bad. We lit a bunch of candles and used our flashlights. We were able to get our nightstands together and played a game of phase 10. Tonight we are charging all of our electronics just in case there is a power ration tomorrow during the day.

Tomorrow we look forward to doing a little more decorating but we especially look forward to getting to relax for the first time since our arrival! Then Monday (hopefully!) we will get to go and meet some of the teachers at the school and see our classrooms so we can begin decorating them :) We also plan on going to a resort area a bit North of the city to another resort to enjoy some time at the beach.

All in all I am loving it here. We both are adjusting well and coming up with ideas for when the power is rationed. Having Shannon here has definitely made the transition a whole lot easier. I couldn't imagine being here  with out her being right across the hallway. It makes everything much  easier because we are able to shop, dine, decorate, etc together.  We also have found out that another teacher lives right next door to us and she is from the States as well. We are looking forward to her return so we can get ideas and what not with her as well!

I think that is all for now. Another late night. It is after 1 am here and I am not even tired. The jetlag is kicking my butt this time!