Day 4

Thursday was my favorite day in Dar Es Salaam thus far!

I rode Paul's bike to work in the morning, so I arrived at work in a good mood.

Then, we went into the field to get more goods from women in the program. We went to the house of one woman who is a leader in her local group. It was amazing! She had so many orange trees and other fruits and veggies growing on her property. We ate fresh oranges for at least an hour straight! I also had these fresh cucumbers with salt. Delicious!

It was nice to just sit in the sun and talk (more listening for me!). She had such a welcoming and open spirit! There was a point when I was eating when I was almost drawn to tears I was so happy. (But I had to pull it together quick!)

Day 5

Day 5 was relatively slow. Rode my bike again but I stayed in the office. Laid out a timeline for my work here. Nothing much really. The highlight was this handmade skirt and blouse I brought from one of the ladies in the WAGE program. It was only $13! The blouse doesn’t quite accommodate everything I am working with, but the skirt is beautiful!

It was not until I got home that I felt IT. The scratch in my throat. Immediately I knew what that was about. I was getting sick. At first, I panicked. Because the tricky thing about flu-like symptoms is they could be ANYTHING. It seemed like every single disease on Web MD had flu-like symptoms in the description. Malaria, Swine Flu, Deng Fever, and of course the regular flu!

Then, after I calmed myself down (and checked my insurance coverage), I loaded up on vitamin C (lots of oranges), made myself some tea, took two Ibuprofen (the only thing I had besides motion sickness pills and Malaria medication), and went to sleep.

So ladies and gents, there you have my first week of work in Tanzania! If all the weeks are this great this trip will officially be the best trip EVER!

Now for the weekend…

Stay tuned.

~tiffany

Postcards and Letters

I am pretty behind on my postcard and letter writing, so i will not give and update. But as soon as i get caught up I will be sure to post an update!

Also, if Natalie Renee Davis and Glenda Nicole Smiley could give me their addresses that would be great!

Shout Outs
Shout out to all my friends in their respective TFA summer institutes! Like the saying goes, "When you are going through HELL, Keep Going!" I am glad that you guys are Teaching for America. With you all in front of the classroom, America might finally learn something... =)

To Saffiyah M. I will be in New Orleans in February for Mardis Gras. You already know you are at the top of my list of people to see!

To Sarah B. Thanks for the encouraging email! Also, I definitely wanna see you in August when I am in NYC. Gotta maintain my position on your coattails.

And finally Shout Out to one of (S)heroes, my soror Pamela D. Jackson for winning Advisor of the Year. Pam is ending her tenure as our chapter advisor, but I hope she will stay on as a member of my Board of Directors (the groups of people who I run all major decisons in my life by). Pam definitely deserved the award. She is a great adviser and truly models what it means to be excellent.

ok. folks. more to come. bear with me. the internet here is not so great but I am trying to make it happen.