Even so close to the end the time is going by so fast

I last wrote a blog on June 4th and already a month has passed. It’s just unbelievable. (I wonder how many times I have said that in my blogs if we counted??)

Since then…..

Primary School. As I said in my last blog we closed the school Friday June10th. I thought I would be done teaching, however the school continues to teach two of the grades for 3 weeks and they asked me to help. And though I was looking forward to finishing up my teaching I agreed to continue teaching for a week to help. The two grades were 7 (the class I had been teaching) and 4 also. I taught them English. But of course the school was not prepared. I came to the first day after closing the school with no idea what I was going to teach and no lessons. I asked what we were teaching and they just said ‘do a review.’ Ok then, just review the English language…in a week?!!? That’s when I asked for specifics and they gave me a book and a couple chapters to review, I entered the class and just rolled with it. The grade 7 class was great as usual but the 4th graders did not know any English!! Though they have had it for 4 years, so reviewing anything was just silly because I don’t think they knew it in the first place. But, oh well, I did the best I could and they were good students. I only taught for the first of the 3 weeks, so I finished June 17th.

That weekend the 18th, all 3 of us in the area went to one of my site-mate’s house and she also had a friend over. And guess what we did again??? We killed a chicken again!!! YAY, I’ve done it twice now, so I’m pretty much an expert and could live in the wilderness living on my own devices ;) This time I got my friends to take much better pictures and ALSO a video which I am going to have to get from my friend’s camera because it’s a must-see. That night we just made dinner and had a girls night, just good food and a movie.

I went back to my site the next day on Sunday and just hung out. I got there early and did some hardcore cleaning. The kids, of course, helped me clean. Then for the most of Sunday and Monday I hung out at home, relaxed and worked out as usual. I did get some work done but I really don’t have much work to do anymore, so my time is becoming more and more free. Monday, I got ready to leave to go to Dar on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morning of the 21st I went to Dar for the 50th Anniversary of Peace Corps Celebration that was to be held on the 22nd. I was really excited about it because Director Williams of the Peace Corps was coming from Washington DC and the celebration was going to be at the United States Embassy. When I arrived, I went straight to the office to get some work done and drop off a bag I pre-packed for going home. I know; I’m genius! I packed the bag and took SO much of my stuff to Dar when I went for the 50th, so now I don’t have to carry it to Zanzibar on my way to Dar when I officially leave.

50th Anniversary of Peace Corps Celebration. The whole day was incredible! During the day of the 22nd, we had roundtable discussions with the Director himself and his staff. I spoke to them personally and had great conversations. They were really informative about where Peace Corps is going, what their plans are, how we can stay in the PC, about going home, etc. We covered numerous topics. I spoke a lot with his staff too about going home, finding a job, and using the Peace Corps resources that are available stateside to advance in grad school and/or getting a job. They were extremely helpful and I got both of their business cards and they said to email/call for anything. The whole meeting with them was fantastic!! After the roundtables, we had some free time that a lot of us used to get work done at the office. Afterwards, we went back to our hostel and got all jazzed up for the celebration. PS- I have not been that dressed up (or clean for that matter) or took that long to get ready in my whole 2 years I have been here, haha. When we got to the embassy some of us had ‘jobs.’ My job was to seat people after they checked in; I was a hostess. That was actually pretty fun because while I walked people from the entrance to their seat, I was able to chat with a lot of people from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), to local officials, and Embassy employees. After everyone arrived, we all sat down and they commenced the celebration. The whole evening was magical. The speeches made were amazing; especially one made by a volunteer brought me to tears. During the speeches, there were also a few performances made by PCVs intermixed. We were served appetizers and it was an open bar while we sat. When everything was completed, we were given dinner which included SO much food and they gave us giant plates so we had plenty to eat, including cake (yum). As the evening came to a close, we all mingled, and I chatted again with the director and his staff. Director Williams is quite a remarkable person, as well as very personable. I really felt privileged to meet and speak to him and his amazing staff.

After the event, a lot of the volunteers went out to a bar. My friends and I stayed for a short while and then head to the hostel to go to sleep. We were exhausted. The next day we had free, so we went to the office, yet again, to get work done. I had a really productive day. One of the things I did that day was speak to the Peace Corps about extending. For a while now, I have really been wanting to and considering extending. So I chatted with the staff and they gave me some positions that I could extend without hesitation. One really has my interest. It is a position extending with the PMI (President’s Malaria Initiative). It is a 13 month extension (including a 1 month home-leave). The position I am interested in sounds really interesting and the PMI itself is one of a kind. It would be amazing to be a part of the worldwide roll out of this initiative. It has many major backers, like World Bank, John Hopkins University, USAids, etc. It would, no doubt, be a great experience, plus I would get to stay in Tanzania longer and not come back to America where I would have to fill my time for a year before grad school. However, regardless of the of the benefits, extending for 13 months would have me finishing here the end of September of next year, which obviously would disrupt my wanting to start grad school in the same month. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that I will be coming home and staying home, without extending. It was hard to come to this conclusion because I really do love it here and without grad school to begin this September it was a really tempting offer. If there had just been a 6 to 8 month extension similar to the one I wanted, it would have been perfect. But, I guess, I will just have to suck it up, leave Tanzania, return to America and its awful economy and try to find a job while re-applying to graduate school. It’s only a year, right?!

Ok, back to that evening. Some of us ended up staying until the office closed at 5pm and then went to go get dinner. We got a ‘burritos’ at a ‘Mexican’ restaurant. There were SO good considering where we were. I mean, you can find a lot of good food when you go into town, but trying to find ‘real’ Mexican food is like trying to find a corvette here. (Note: when I get home, let’s go out to Mexican food every day!!!!!). We also got real donuts for dessert and I warmed mine up and they were beyond delicious! After hanging out for a bit, my friend and I finally got back to the hostel, showered, relaxed, and watched a movie. At some time in the middle of the movie we went out for a late dinner of Indian food (‘street chicken’). After getting back to the hostel, we barely finished the movie and crashed from exhaustion.

The next day on Friday June 24, I headed home. For the next week through Thursday, I didn’t do a whole lot. I have kept up on my running and working out. I had 2 meetings with my health group and I went to town once to get fruits, vegetables, and some work done for the following week. I slept in nearly every day until 9am, which is more times I have done in my whole 2 years here! I also spent a day hanging out with my milk man and his family. Other than that and I hang around the house; I am running out of things to do.

Friday July 1st, I went to Tanga Town to meet with my friends. We met up, hung out, and all went out for dinner. The next day, Saturday, I think I told you all about what we’re going to do in the last blog so to say the least we had A LOT of fun. Just some highlights: while on the boat, my fabulous sunbathing hat flew off my head so I immediately jumped off the boat to go rescue my fabulous hat. Yes people, I rescued my hat, but (you may have seen it in pictures) I got it on Zanzibar, its big, purple, and just plain fabulous. There was no doubt I was going to get that hat back!!! And the boat came back and got me ;) Other highlight: my best friend here and I started ‘partying’ for the 4th of July about 7:30am (don’t judge) so to say the least we were pretty smashed by mid-day and had a hell of time. IT was so much fun!! Nothing crazy or dumb, just us having a blast all day!!! Another note: we were going to have to say goodbye the next day (she’s extending and I’m not) so it was our last big hooray before we parted!!! All in all, the day went great….good food, sandbar, good friends, swimming…..everything, it was a fabulous last 4th of July party in Tanzania. After we got back from boating, I showered, changed, and went out to dinner with my bestie. We ate (much needed) and then we were asleep by 7:15pm haha :) WHAT A GREAT DAY!

Sunday, we woke up early and when to get some breakfast just a few of us. Then I had so say goodbye to my bestie. That was not fun!! I did not like it!! But at least we have plans to meet up in Ireland in May for her cousin’s wedding (man, that is going to be a kick-in-the-pants fun!!) The rest of the day, I relaxed, hung with remaining volunteers, got lunch, went to the market, and then went home.

Monday, I started my last project. It is a business seminar that I organized through a NGO called SIDO for my health group to begin an IGA. I think I also explained this in my last blog. It’s Monday July 4th through Saturday July 9th. So that is what I am doing all this week from about 8am to 3pm. It is going very well; I am really happy with SIDO and the attendance of my health group. It’s a nice way to wrapped up my work here.

Little nuggets of information:
- I have now read 60 books
- Frik has been MIA for 2 weeks now (I hope he just found another family or a girlfriend and he’s ok)
- That puts me down to 1 cat left, Frak, and I feel terrible that I am going to leave him here though I know it’s better for him. I just don’t want to say goodbye to his cute little face.
- I still have my village goodbye parties left (they have been rescheduling due to many things) I still have to endure saying many more goodbyes. BLAH.
- I leave my village in 15 days and Tanzania in 24

See you way freaking soon!!
Jessica