Safi sana . . .

that means, very nice . .. or fresh .. . or clean.
I will soon post some excerpts from my journal to make things a bit more interesting, but first I just want to write about a few exciting highlights from the past week and of the two weeks to come.

I shadowed a current volunteer in the Kilimanjaro region (way north, almost bordering Kenya) and fell in love with that area. My host volunteer was great, her house was perched up on a mountain where you could see an amazing view of her village and school, and on a clear day, you can see traces of Mt. Kilimanjaro. I am definitely returning to visit some time . .. and I have gathered info on climbing kili. It takes about 6 days, and is a bit expensive, but it would be well worth it for the stories. If anyone is interested in doing this with me, let me know!

I found out (today) where I will be placed. I will be in the Mufindi region, near Iringa. I will be replacing a volunteer who happened to be in Dar today, so she told me all about the post. Okay, little did I know about the varied climate of Tanzania before I came here. It is ridiculously hot and humid today in Dar. But, the area in which I will be placed is near mountains, in the Southern Highlands. It is relatively cool . .. especially for Africa. In the winter months, it can dip down to the thirties and forties in the evenings! I did not pack for this?! I will have to buy some second-hand sweatshirts, etc. . . as I packed mostly for the type of climate . . that, you know . .. you would expect in Africa. Apparently, the village is really small and the people are incredibly friendly. It is dotted with pine and eucalyptus trees?! There is no electricity or running water- but there is a water pump nearby and the possibility for some solar power. I will be looking further into that . ..
I will be living on the schoolgrounds of a primary school- developing health programs with the school, and also, with a local health dispensary.
I asked the current PCV what she thought of my idea to focus on pre-natal care, infant care, and nutrition (especially for women at risk or living with HIV/AIDS) and I was pleased to see her face light up in agreement- saying that she had already discussed this as a need with her village but did not have enough time to add it to her current projects. More to come on what I will actually be doing once I get to my site and speak with the village officers . ..

I met another volunteer who is living in Iringa, who knows some women from an Italian NGO working in Iringa with orphans other health programs. She was speaking a mix of Kiswahili and throwing in some Italian, so immediately, I had to ask her who she was speaking with. She gave me her contact info to meet with them at site, and also informed me that this Italian woman keeps a large vat of olive oil in her home . .. which I have not been able to find here! I will definitely need to befriend this woman . . . for many reasons.

So, tonight we are in Dar es Salaam, having dinner with our interim country director. Tomorrow, we head back to our host families and spend another week taking our final written and tech exams, etc. On August 20th- we have our swearing-in ceremony . .. and the next three days after that are dedicated to moving to our sites! crazy . . . or in kiswahili . .. chizi!

We went to a bona-fide movie theater last night to see the Batman Dark Knight movie, and there was popcorn and soda . .. and I forgot for a while that I was in Africa. On the cabride back to our hostel, we met a 19 year old girl from Denmark who was spending her last night in Tz, with her father visiting, before she returned home from a 4-month volunteer stint. She said she was sad to leave so early, and had an excellent experience here. I was amazed at how many young Europeans travel and volunteer here in what they call "gap year" between high school and starting college . .. I feel as if Americans should adapt this idea . .. yet I can't imagine most 19 year old Americans being that independent. I'm almost 10 years older than this girl, and still had worries before getting here . .. and though I feel very safe here, it is far from home, and is still difficult.

Thank you all, again, for reading this blog and caring about what's going on . . . I will try to keep it real and interesting.

I love and miss you all . . . and Mom, thank you for the package!!! :)

love, cristina