i have now arrived in Tanzania, we had a stop over in Doha at around 6 am, it was 35 degrees celsius, the heat was unbearable, we walked off the plane and got onto a bus which took us to the transfer area, we then met up with another volunteer claire, who had been waiting there for hours! The first flight was 14 hours, and the second half of the flight was aroung 5 and a half, and we had to share T.V's, that flight felt longer than the first one!!! when we got to the airport in Dar we met with Judy who is our in country rep, she was really nice and then took us to a bus that had been hired for us volunteers while we had our 3 day orientation, when we were walking to the bus a young Tanzanian boy started speaking to me i assumed he was assosiated with the group, until he started putting his hand up to his mouth as if to ask for food and then pointed to his shoes that were broken, i was so shocked and didnt really no what to do, i sort of ignored that i had understood what he was wanting, i felt bad at the time, but its what we need to do.
I also had lessons in Swahili with out teacher benjamin, he was really funny and made the class enjoyable.
We went out for tea as a group and with Judy to a place called Kunduchi beach hotel which we also went swimming in, it looked really beautiful to begin with, white sand and palm trees, but when we were in the water there was rubbish bags and othe things in the water which wasnt very nice!
The staff at the hotel either purposely ripped us off or there was a huge miscommunication, a few of us were having a few drinks with tea and went to the bar to pay for these, but it seems that they charged us twice, once at the bar then again with our bill for our meals, Judy paid the difference for this.
I met a really nice English girl who was also staying at the YWCA (where our orienation was) it was good talking to her she gave me a few ideas on how to cope with being away from family, friends... and Tubby :) and she said she will email me some good places to visit.
We went shopping at Mwenge market, which has lots of arts and crafts, i bought a watch, which broke 2 days later! another girl meg got the same watch and hers broke the same day! so i wont be buying another one of those, i also brought a dress, that is sort of African style, i wore that yesterday it was realy comfortable.
Dar is not what i expected but it makes sense the way it is, it is more built up than i thought, but there is allooottt of tripping hazards! holes in the ground and uneven ground. We went for a walk around Dar and there was one street that was pretty much empty except for security guards with huge guns, that was a bit different!!!
We drove through the slums to Judys shop, which sells shoes and jewerly, it was unbelievable the conditions they lived in, i have heaps of photos so hopefully i can find a way to put them up for you!
We went to the school i will be teaching at yesterday, it has really great facilities and everyone is so nice!!! Meg and myself (the girl who i am on placement with) get a lot of strange looks and people call out Mzungu to us, meaning that we are white, but not in an offensive may, the head master Mrs Agnes told us our role in the school will be to help out with the pronunciation of English words, to read books to the children, and whatever else needs to be done, I'm not sure how i will go with pronounciations i dont really use proper English :) but i will try!
We spent some time in a prep class today, they were sooo tiny, i think Mrs Agnes said they were 3 years old!! they also learn English, I'm not sure if they would be able to speak sentences, but in a few years i think they will be quite good at it.
Meg and I would love to go to an orphanage, she has been told there is one in Dar, which we could catch a bus too, there is also a UNICEF down the road from where we are staying, which by the way the house is amazing!!!! it is two story has a huge balcony sort of thing, Meg and I share a room but the room is definately big enough for the both of us!
There is a housekeeper at our new home, she has a daughter Shakira that is 4 years old, she is absolutely adorable!! very energetic which is not good when you are tired!! haha
We went to a swimming lesson with the grade 4 students today, at a different part of the Kunduchi beach hotel, it had huge water slides and palm trees, i think Meg and I are going to try and go there one weekend!
We went in our first tuk tuk ride today, to get here to the internet cafe, it was different, scary, they are sort of like a little buggie style car.
No home sickness yet, but i am excited to get home in a way, i think i will be fine with staying for the whole placement, but i am not looking forward to homesickness, i am just going to try and stay as busy as i possibly can!
Miss you all and i'll try and write again soon!
xoxoxoxoxo
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