Last week in Mvae!

So it's been an eventful week! Our last week in camp, which is so unbelievable. I spent most of the week thinking that I was ready to go but when Thursday rolled around I almost cried!

But we'll start at the beginning... From our camp we can see this giant rock, it looks reasonably close and the last lot of volunteers walked there. Being an adventurous and competitive bunch we decided to do the same! So we got up early (considering Sunday is lie-in day this was a major sacrifice for all of us) and were off at a good pace by 8.30am! Our wee group included the five volunteers, Mr Brown (God of a man), his sons Olman and Daniel, Issa and his ridiculously annoying brother Hamisi and the vice-Chairman Rama. The weather was lovely, and the morning isn't too hot so it was a really lovely walk/hike. Two hours saw us to the bottom of the hill, in a town with some kind of name (I'm sure it had one).They charged us Tsh5000 to pass through and asked us to help them finish building their primary school. It's definitely a worthwhile project but I can't promise anyone support until I make it through my trip without sinking myself into debt!

So we continued with our adventure, which now consisted of clambering up tree filled slopes and over giant rocks. I'm sorry to say I quit halfway and sat down until Mr Brown came along to cajole me and carry my bag - sometimes I just revert to being six years old again! It was all worth it once we reached the top anyway! The view was phenomenal and with my binoculars (thanks Richard) we could see the camp! As an aside, Jordi, who is Dutch, think binoculars is a really weird word. We picnicked on top of the rock, and all the Muslimsc tore into the bread despite it being Ramadan! I asked Mr Brown and he said "They are not good Muslims, sometimes they do not care about God." I wouldn't have wanted to go hungry after that hike either :P We hung out for about two hours, I managed to not get sunburnt, and got some amazing photos! I'll try to post some photos in a couple days from Arusha.

We headed home, via a wind powered well! Unfortunately there was no wind so we got to watch fifty people not get water. Sort of depressing. Anyway, home was MUCH more painful than there, especially since the Tanzanians with us obviously have a lot more stamina. Hamisi (he of the annoyingness) kept running back and forth yelling "Keti choka? Choka?" ("Catie tired? Tired?") To which I would have liked to reply in unreportable language, but I couldn't waste the breath. I'm exaggerating slightly here, most of the walk was fine and it was really only the last hour which was that painful. But home we got, and after a wash I felt awesome! We were all early to bed after that!

Monday was just work as usual. Painting ceilings is pretty boring really. I think I finished early. Why am I even writing about such a boring day? Aidan, head teacher, came for dinner. Exciting? Not really. I apologise profusely for the dullness of my update.

Tuesday was better! There was only enough painting for all of us in the morning, after lunch the boys kept painting while I dug! I impressed all the fundis that day, even Venance who only addresses me as "mwanamke" (woman). Mr Brown told me to get teh boys to help but I said I was tough, so I got to it! There are little courtyards in our house which need the floor lowered so that in the rainy season the house doesn't flood. It's a matter of breaking the dirt up with a hoe and then carying it out with buckets. Quite hard work, especially by yourself and I was proud of myself for working as hard as I did. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have worked that hard if there weren't people plastering within eyeshot! You know how having witnesses makes you work harder :) Oh and that evening we ate our chicken from Joyce as well as a rooster we bought from a wee girl. I stayed well clear of the killing this time! Alex killed one while Mr Jumanne killed the other. Mr Jumanne was quite upset last time when we didn't let him kill one because as a Muslim he can't eat non-halal meat. He got pretty cheeky about it too, trying to take the rooster away from Jordi. This time we let him kill the little chicken, which had about as much meat as a pigeon, and he was satisfied. Fried chicken and chips - better than KFC!

Wednesday was more digging, but with help this time. Jordi, Jen and I dug out the whole space in about three hours and then spent another hour moving the dirt we moved from where we moved it to to the hole it came out of in the first place about two months ago. That's about quadruple handling, not hugely efficient!

That afternoon we had a guy come in who had been in a car accident three days previous. I may not have mentioned that people think we are all doctors with cures for everything. Actually, toi demonstrate, a funny story (although not with a funny ending). Mr Jumanne called Mike over to talk to him and the first thing he did was point to his private parts and say "What is this? What is this?" Can you picture a skinny guy in a Muslim cap and too big clothes? It was pretty hilarious. So Mike says, hesitantly as no good can come from this conversation, "A penis."
"No! This, this!" Pointing further under.
"Testicles?"
"Testykells"
Turns out his friend has swollen testicles. He told him to go to the doctor because there was nothing we could do, while the rest of us made rude jokes and laughed a lot. The guy came back later and showed Alex a piece of paper he had already had from the doctor which said he had all sorts of bad symptoms and diagnosed him with a long word we didn't know, maybe some kind of cancer. The stupidest part is that apparently this guy is rich enough to get treatment but he obviously decided the wazungu could help instead. Idiot. Better to try a witch doctor!

Anyway, Wednesday this car accident guy showed up with two massive cuts on his arm and a bump on his head. Mike dealt with the cuts with some suture strips from our massive first aid kit, but the real worry was that after three days he was still feeling dizzy and nauseous. We told him to rest and see a doctor if it got worse or wasn't better in a couple days, all in pigeon Swahili and phrases from our phrase book. I hope he listens, some people think if they see us they have no need for a doctor. Anne Marie, who was a nurse, cleaned out a big cut on a guy's thumb one week and told him to see a doctor. He came back a week later and it was horribly infected, so she cleaned it again and told him he had to go to the doctor. About a month later, after we had arrived, he showed up at the fence and his thumb was three times the size it should be, completely black and looked sort of hard. Basically it has died and if it's not cut off it could carry on up his arm. Anne Marie was so mad, it is expensive for them to see the doctor but he's going to lose his livelihood if he loses his arm. A lot more expensive.

So the moral is we're not doctors but they think we are.

Thursday was my camp day so I did washing for two hours. Hand washing sucks, I don't recommend it. But at least everything I own is clean now! Did my chores, talked to people, hung out. Basically just waited for cheza cheza!

It was much like last time, we got called out by the women and they dance for and with us, then we were expected to do something from our culture. I did my mihimihi (traditional Maori introduction), which went well although they didn't really get it! I forgot only one word, manga for mountain. I stutter on the m and made something up - mlata I believe. Nobody else would have known but I felt like a bit of a ditz since I practiced heaps! Then more dancing etc. and back to camp where we served pombe, the local made beer, to the women. One of them got really really drunk (I think she'd started earlier) and assaulted me! Okay not quite, but it was gross anyway. They kiss on the neck here, twice like in France but the neck not the cheek and since they're usually wet kisses I tend to resist a bit because then you usually just get a hug. You know the phrase resistance is futile (for all you closet trekkies)? Yeah... Not only did I get neck kisses, I got gripped around the back of my neck like I was saving her from drowning while she sand the Tanzanian national anthem and attempted to kiss me every five seconds. I got kissed on the neck, cheek, shoulder. Oh, and she grabbed my breast, I think accidentally, but she didn't let go right away so who knows. There's a lady who should avoid the drink! I felt really dirty for a while afterward, but I don't think I'm traumatised long-term!

That night was really really great. There were none of the problems of last cheza cheza, where people got too drunk and aggressive. The Chairman was apparently really upset that things went wrong so while everyone got let in at first at about 8.30, after we'd eaten and when things were starting, every single person got kicked out and then selectively let back in. It was weird because no one told us what was happening but cool because everyone was very well behaved. A few great moments for me were dancing with Mwange, the deaf boy, and then with Salimu, who asked me to marry him (I have such a crush, I'd have considered it if he weren't already married! Okay not really, but he is a great guy.) Anna, our chai lady, has a brother Joseph who is very smart and has excellent English. five weeks ago he asked for support because he needs Tsh25000 to take his end of year exams and can only earn about half that. We couldn't give money at the time and we intended to buy chickens from him to help, but that plan never came together. Because it was our last night and there are no more volunteers I decided that there could be no bad consequences from giving him some of the money. So my good deed of the day was giving him Tsh15000 which is not a lot of money for me, but you could see that it made such a difference to him, he was stoked! He blessed me and my family and my country so I think you're almost all included there :P We had a wonderful night and everyone was out by about midnight! To bed, to sleep badly, and be up early the next day.

And so today. Up before 8, thank goodness I packed already because that would have sucked. Try to ignore all the asking for stuff from people. Mr Jumanne got the remainder of the beer from cheza chezaq, which should have satisfied him but he had his heart set on my boots! A heart I was happy to break I'm afraid. Don't get me wrong, the people here are friendly and open and welcoming, but there is a real culture of asking for stuff. Jumanne has asked twice already for my boots, I said no of course because I need them. Today I was banging the dust off them and he came up, help out his hands and said "Thank you". Playing dumb I replied "For what?"
"Shoesi" Then the explanation no, they're mine, I need them, no, I need them. The reply to each of these was the expected "I wanti." Finally I said "I don't care" and walked away. And considered tipping out all of his beer. But I didn't. See what a nice person I am? Instead Mike and I gave away every single giveawayable (new word) thing in camp so he couldn't have them. He has gotten so many gifts from us and previous volunteers, we just handed stuff over the fence to the kids and women out there. One cool moment, kids always yell "Chupa" at our fence because they want bottles and there's one girl especially who is there every morning, obviously very poor, usually with her baby sister on her back. Jumanne kept pointing at the one bottle we had left because he wanted it for his friend but while Mike distracted him I gave the bottle straight over the fence to this young girl. Her thanks meant a lot, especially knowing that Mr Jumanne would never say thank you! Yeah... we're not nice people. But we have fun!

So tomorrow a long bus ride to Arusha, Tuesday a safari and so on... I'll keep you all updated, maybe more than once a week! For now time for a shower then dinner, with speeches galore! Mr Makyao, the HAPA guy who runs the volunteer side, loves to make speeches and to make other people make speeches so it'll be a long night full of people who are sad but thankful.

I am sad to be leaving, but thankful for the friends I've made and the experiences I've had. cue applause.