Today we went to the Ministry of Education to have our sessions. It was very neat to see and check out. Our first session was with Angela she teaches Grammar at the British Council and has been is Dar for 3 years. These sessions today weren’t too helpful for me just because I am Math/Science so I won’t be teaching grammar too much. She spoke about how to teach grammar and reviewed grammar with us.

            For lunch we went to the National Museum and had a nice lunch outside. I had pilau (brown rice) and vegetable soup. Ali met us there and did a talk on rural living. She talked about all the little supplies we will need to pick up once we get to our towns. Buckets, buckets, buckets!!! Two buckets for dish washing, two buckets for hand washing, one bucket for bathing, one cup for bathing or a pitcher for rinsing your hair, a bucket for cleaning your toilet, a giant reserve bucket or three to save your water for when you will run out, 2-3 buckets to wash clothes. SO many buckets! She taught us how to catch rainwater and how it feels like a spa bath to the water we will be bathing with. She taught us how to wash our clothes, one bucket with water and soap (she talked about how Tanzanians use so much soap that it stays in there clothes, so if you ever get someone to wash your clothes soap will probably be left in them.) and the other two buckets for rinsing. You want to do two separate rinses to make sure you get all the soap out. She said the locals have such a good hand technique down that you can try to learn that but mostly all your neighbours will make fun of you for how you wash your clothes and they will always tell you to use more soap. J She taught us how to clean our bathroom, and to use bleach when doing that. She said if our squatter gets drain just get a stick and go to town pushing around trying to unclog it. She said no matter how much you clean your house you will always feel like it is dirty. When we dry our underwear we should always throw a kanga (the tribal wrap) over them because it is taboo for anyone in the town to see them. Never throw away any plastic bottles or anything valuable to others that can be reused like that, just go sit them outside and within an hour or two they will magically be gone. There is no where to throw away your trash so you have to the put it in the dirt pit and the people in the village will do a collective burning when it gets full. You can NEVER throw away your feminine products because people will go through your trash and Ali said she learned the hard way on this one. She said one day she looked out the window and there were little boys holding up her used products by the string trying to figure out what they were and she was MORTIFIED! So you have to burn those yourself. She always emphasised never letting yourself get too low on water, always make sure your reserve is full and always going to the doctor when you think you are sick.

            After lunch we had a Swahili lesson with Natalie, which is really helping. After that we walked to the bookstore for people to buy textbooks and the old practice review packets of old National Exams for their students and also for us so we can incorporate the questions in their tests. I couldn’t buy anything yet for my students because my headmaster doesn’t know what I will be teaching yet. She doesn’t know what teachers she will be getting for next term yet. When teachers are stationed here not as volunteers just as regular teachers in Tanzania the government places them, they don’t get to choose their placement. So my school may get 3 History teachers and one Physics teacher when they already had plenty of History teachers and really needed an English teacher and a Biology teacher but this is what they have to work with. This is just another reason why the teachers barely try with these students because they didn’t choose to be so far from their families or be in the region that they are in. Anywayssss so until my headmaster knows what she is working then she can tell me what she needs me to teach. I hope its Biology, but I will be happy with anything! Instead of buying textbooks I bought two Swahili books, which are beginner Swahili books to help me learn more. I have had two incidences so far where in conversations I can only get so far with them then they just got off talking and I say I don’t know, little Swahili and they get angry and say you should know more Swahili, how long have you been here? And I reply one week today, and they say yes you should know more! I am like goodness give me a break! So the people here really expect you to know their language!

            For dinner Emily, Shana, Forrest and I went up to the rooftop of the hotel near us and got some food and watched the World Cup. It was lots of fun!