September 2024 Newsletter
First month at Site
The first month at country is finished. Let’s see how my expectations from last month lined up.
Remember everyone’s name and one unique thing about them in the Peace Corps
By this point, I’ve become very, very close friends with everyone here. More on that later.
Become fairly fluent in Swahili, and be able to simulate a 50 minute class lesson.
Fairly fluent may be a stretch, but I’m able to get by in many conversations, and I’d be able to simulate a 50 minute class in English. I’ve in fact done a session like that.
Describe the system of life in Tanzania and the differences between Tanzania, India, and the US (bonus, in Swahili)
I’ve done that primarily in Swahili. The family that I’m staying with is very curious on the differences in life between the three areas, and I’ve been communicating with them exclusively in Swahili.
I don’t know what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t this. When I first decided to apply back in January (after looking up things to do for two years), I thought this would be a cool way to spend two years; learn a language, understand how rural 3rd world development happens, and meet some cool people along the way. It’s been that on steroids. The people I’ve met all have some fascinating background. Never in my life have I seen a group with such a diverse set of interests, values, and opinions. The one unifier is that we all want to serve, and it’s all a blur since then. Here’s the schedule:
Schedule:
September 1: Flew out from JFK to Nairobi. Get kicked out of a row of people for talking too much with my friends (the lady was watching Dune while claiming to want to sleep)
September 2: Sprinted across the Nairobi airport to make sure that the cohort got on board the flight. Went to Dar Es Salaam and landed.
The cohort in Dar Es Salaam Nyerere Airport. September 3: Went through a massive orientation on what the Peace Corps is and how it works
September 4: Meet the US Ambassador to Tanzania and discussed lithium resource refinement between the two countries
Shoutout to the Peace Corps Satellite Dish September 5: Had my first exposure to malaria (testing)
September 6: Discussed how we do not have diplomatic immunity, and how if we mess up, we could be put in a Tanzanian jail (which is a place that sounds significantly less nice than Boston). Also went to the Museum of National History
September 7: Went to Korogwe (the place that I’m staying at for 3 months, and spoke more Hindi than English (this is rural Tanzania).
September 8: Cooked up some fish (my host family subconsciously knew I was a Bengali from Boston) and went to the Korogwe market. Got confronted by a beggar. Relatively calm day.
September 9: First day of class. Had a great time with my crew + teacher, and chugged some hot sauce.
September 10: Went to a restaurant with the cohort and had a refuge of only speaking English for a bit
September 11: Watched a Hindi TV show on Star Plus translated (poorly) into Swahili, so I got a chance to work my third and fourth languages well
September 12: Pretended to be LeBron James as a Peace Corps Volunteer in building a basketball court.
The background of Peace Corps Volunteer LeBron in building the court September 13: Led a session on corporal punishment (physically hitting kids) in education. Also started getting called the baby of the group (by people in their 20s), so I’m calling those who call me that ‘unc’ (short for uncle) and ‘auntie’
September 14: Did the cha-cha slide and the Cotton Eyed Joe to show American culture. I realized that I need to improve my dancing skills.
September 15: Helped pluck and clean a chicken. Only felt uneasy for a short while. Also made a retired major of the Tanzanian Army alarmed by the amount of hot peppers I just ate.
September 16: Made Tanzanian chapati, which is closer to paratha than it is to an Indian chapati
September 17: Extinguished a massive man made fire at school (it was an exercise with firefighters right next to me)
September 18: Accidentally introduced myself as Teacher Builder (Majumder is very close to the name for builder in Swahili, Majumba). Will go by Teacher Aniket from now on.
September 19: Got made fun of by a couple kids and accidentally drank a spider (unrelated). Also spoke Hindi on the way to school, bringing the Indian counter to 9 (all Gujaratis that have shops)
September 20: Celebrated a birthday, and played some classic party games. Also ate a passionfruit, some hot sauce, and some sitaphal (Hindi) /ataphal (Bangla) /custard apples (English)/tomoko (Swahili)
September 21: Ate like four chili peppers at dinner that were not spicy. I’m actually disappointed. I recognize that I sound crazy for everyone who’s not seen me eat them, but seriously this is upsetting me. It’s been 3 weeks in Tanzania and I barely cried for the spiciest thing here.
Even if the peppers aren’t great, the views certainly are. September 22: Saw a Tanzanian soccer game against Tripoli (with a couple sports bets along the way), and translated Hindi into Swahili for my host family for a Bollywood TV serial.
September 23: Gave my first mathematics lesson ever on probability to my classmates. To quote my guy Jordan, “a switch turned on” and I was a real teacher.
September 24: Talked to a kid with a cricket bat, and explained the different ways to greet in Hindi and Bengali to my host family.
September 25: Took the first of two Swahili tests this week, this one being written. Also drank coconut water from the hull, and broke the hull open with a stone to get the meat.
September 26: Was involved in an allegory of connecting physical strength to mental strength. A bucket was used as the mind, water was added to the bucket as the problems, and I had to hold the bucket with a fully stretched arm. Supposedly, once there were too many problems (i.e. the bucket was too heavy), you were supposed to put the bucket down. Unfortunately, I was too strong for the analogy to work.
September 27: Got to the point where the hot sauce tasted like tomato sauce.
September 28: Saw a vehicular collision an hour before my language test. Did alright on the test.
September 29: Climbed a mountain. Probably the hardest hike I’ve ever done, but made it to the top. Also had an actually spicy pepper, which I’m happy about.
September 30: Taught my first class to real students. Had no idea what to do or where to start. Probably one of the hardest days of work I’ve ever had in my life. Luckily, that was the worst day of teaching I’ll ever have.
Past the schedule, here’s a few things to note:
Language
Kiswahili is interesting; it’s a language that has English, Arab, and Indian influences, yet its Bantu roots still permeate everything. But overall, it’s not terribly difficult. There are no tonal changes, the alphabet is Latin, and there are few exceptions to most of the rules. I will say that by next month I’ll be fluent (criteria in Goals), and I’m really excited to be able to actually understand people speaking on the street, in the classroom, and when I’m out living life.
Teaching
Teaching is so much fun. I understand why people do this and love it. I’ve had good teachers consistently since fourth grade when I came back to the States (shoutout Ms. Balzano), and I’m beginning to see why they put so much effort into a job like this. To see the joy on someone’s face when they figure something out makes the work all worth it. I don’t know what teaching will actually be like at the village, but for now, I’m having a good time.
People
Peace Corps people are an interesting bunch. Our group, in the month weeks we’ve known each other, is primarily a group of 20 something year olds (although we do have some in their 30s and onwards) who are all very curious on how they can help the world. In each and every one of them, I can see some reflection of my values and decisions in life. There are those who have the drive to continue pushing forward no matter what, there are those who have the intellect to tackle any problem, and there are some who just have you laughing like a maniac. I share most of these traits (although I am much less funny in Swahili), and it’s truly great to connect with such people. Thanks to bonding over this crazy experience, we’re one strong group.
Life in Tanzania
Here’s a list of items that are emblematic of Tanzanian life:
A family oriented culture
A large mix of religion
Former British Colony
Food depends drastically on region, but mostly consists of starch, beans, and veggies
An intense sun
Fruits like mangoes, papayas, jackfruit, custard apples, and passion fruit
English medium schools are rare (except for private schools)
A major language across the nation with a lot of other, regional ones mixed in.
English as the official second language
Lot of influence from Arab and Muslim areas
Open air markets
Incredibly friendly people
White people are seen as very out of place
People with skin that stands up to the sun.
Culture drastically depends on region
Hundreds of dialects and dozens of languages
Beautiful nature
Beautiful sunsets
Three wheeled vehicles (Bajajis is the Swahili name) roaming the streets
These bajajis (you may know them as autos) You can hear Hindi on the streets
Bollywood serials playing on TV
A lot of Indians
Yeah I think I just went to a slightly different version of India
Next month is going to have some level of stability with structured language learning as well as teaching, which means that I’ll need different goals.
Goals for October:
1. Become truly fluent in Swahili (This involves dealing expertly with emergencies, such as Healthcare, detained by the police, immigration, and threats to name a few)
2. Give a lesson that has 80% of the class fully engaged (can track by eye contact, energy levels, and the class is asking question).
3. Conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis of the Tanzanian Public Education system
See you all next month!
Blogs of other volunteers that I think is worth a look (just so n > 1)
Jordan’s Blog: storiesofjord.wordpress.com
Fran’s Blog: substack.com/@franshannon
Liora’s Blog: lioramcelvaney.wixsite.com/liora-in-the-pc
Victoria’s TikTok Blog: (for the youngins) https://www.tiktok.com/@victoriaava0
Kevin’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pcvcucolo
What an awesome start to your PC journey. PST is tough for a lot of people but you're killing it. Keep going!! And thanks for sharing. Definitely looking forward to more of your ports from Tanzania.
Jim (PCV Armenia)
Was waiting eagerly for your first blog from the land