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!
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.
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!
