Time Will Tell

Hello friends and faithful TEP followers!

It is somewhat difficult to know how to begin with this update. As this is my (Kristina) first time in Tanzania, with this family, and with FANAKA, there are so many things I could say. However, as most of you have been, as I stated, faithful TEP followers, you have heard Eileen, Cassie, or Teresa describe many of the aspects of this life, which are so new and exciting for me. So I will do my best not to rehash facts and details that you all have already read about-but as this will doubtlessly happen at least a bit, I apologize but consider yourselves forewarned.

Eileen and I were scheduled to fly out of Washington DC on Wednesday February 16, 2011 at 11am. We decided Tuesday night that we wanted to arrive at the airport at 8am (as 3 hours is the standard suggestion for arrival when one is flying internationally). After a nearly 13 hour plane right, we landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 7:45am (this now being Thursday), with the plan of a short layover until our three hour flight into Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Unfortunately, fate has a sense of humor and it was shortly after we landed in Ethiopia that we were informed that our plane would not be going to Dar because the airport had been shut down.

No one seemed to know what had happened in Dar outside of an explosion, and we did not know whether or not the airport would reopen at all that day. So we sat for a few hours, with little information and a great deal of hostile people surrounding us (the explosion was Wednesday night so some people had been stuck in the airport for over 12 hours, and trust me, as much as American airports are uncomfortable and it sucks to be stuck in them, they have NOTHING on being stuck in the airport in Addis Ababa). Yet in the end, it did not end up so badly for Eileen and me. After a few attempts, Eileen was able to use the wireless available in the airport to use Skype to call our surrogate brother Billo (Babu’s son), who was able to confirm for us that the explosion was indeed, an accident not an attack, so no we did not need to go home and yes the airport should be able to reopen sometime that afternoon. His prediction proved accurate. After a complimentary lunch from the airport, we were able to board our plane just before 1pm. Our flight was now rerouted a bit to stop in Zanzibar, but we finally landed in Dar es Salaam airport at ten minutes after five in the evening.

Neither Eileen nor I held out much hope that our luggage had survived this ordeal, as I, like many other people, have had several less than ideal experiences with airlines and baggage, yet somehow as we stood next to the baggage conveyer belt we saw two large blue backpacks come though! I’m not quite sure what I would have done had they not made it to us, because unlike Eileen who packed all of her underwear in her carryon, all I had with me were the clothes on my back –my carryon being supplied with the medication I brought, my computer, one book, and then jammed packed with things for school. Thankfully things worked out I didn’t have to pull some McGyver stunt to construct the rest of my needs for the next three months.

With our baggage securely intact, our passports and visas stamped, and thrilled to finally be on the ground at our destination, we walked out of the airport doors into the blinding sun of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The heat of the day was quickly leaving the air, and as we walked out I heard Eileen exclaim “Albert!” and knew we had found at least one member of our party. She introduced me Babu’s driver, who immediately took our bags from us towards the jeep, even though he is “of pixie proportions” as Eileen says. A few steps more and I finally laid my eyes on the man I would quickly come to know and call my Babu. He walked up to us and presented us each with a flower and friendly welcome, then proceeding to describe the difficulty he had faced trying to get to the airport throughout the day and how the roads were closed until the afternoon, and how there was so much traffic, etc.

However as long as the light lasted I was able to look out through the streets and see my new surroundings. There was so much traffic and so many people yet they all moved so fluidly together, like a well-conducted orchestra. It was all very impressive to observe. The drive home took a VERY long time, as it was the high traffic time at the end of the workday, so I finally nodded off and awoke as we pulled into Bunju. Worn out and famished from our travels, Eileen, Babu and I ate dinner (along with Babu’s sister whom we call Mama-she has been staying with Babu since Bibi’s death as is customary in Tanzania to help family through the loss) and then Eileen and I went off to bed.

The next few days were a blur of activity. On Friday morning Albert drove Babu, Eileen and me back out to Dar to exchange our US dollars for Tanzanian shillings, and for me to go to the Western Union to pick up the money I had wired myself for my room and board at Babu’s. It is interesting that in Tanzania they do not have a national exchange rate. While I am sure there is some standard set so that it is relatively similar wherever one goes, the exchange rate varies a bit between shops, so that I was given a better (better for me, worse for Tanzania) exchange rate at the place Babu took us to exchange our money than at the Western Union where I picked up my money in shillings. After this, we returned home and had lunch, and then Eileen took me for my first tour of FANAKA.

The school looked pretty good from what I could see. Classes were over for the day so only those students who board at FANAKA were still there, but most were very excited to see Eileen and to meet me. Well, most of the girls were at least; most of the boys were working very hard to be cool teenage boys. Clearly some things are the same no matter where you go! Teenager often equals punk. After spending a bit of time with the students, we went to peek into the window of the library that Cassie Eileen and Teresa set up last summer. It looked surprisingly intact and organized, which was very good to see. We decided to come back on Monday to meet with the Headmistress and try to decide which classes we will be teaching for the next few months.

The main event of Saturday was going to visit Billo and his wife, Eve pronounced like Ava). Eve is pregnant and about ready to pop! We’re told that they expect her to have the baby at the end of this week or maybe next week, so it was great that we were able to visit them, as they will no doubt be very busy very soon! Both of them seem extremely happy and excited about the baby. We sat with them and talked for a few hours during which time Father came to visit! For those of you who are new to our blog, read a few back-issues to learn about Father and his story. He is a wonderful little boy and I am sure you will all fall quickly in love. Also, just a reminder that in Tanzania, the term Father is used synonymously to how Junior is used in the US. Anyway, Father came along with his mother and was quite shy at first, but after a short bit of time he was running around playing games with us. He is such a sweet boy and it is clear to anyone that he and Eileen are fantastic friends. He is also extremely clever, as his English is as good or better than most of the adults I have met here. Cassie and Eileen have been working tirelessly to raise support for Father so that we may get him out of government school, where he is one of three hundred students in a single class, and into a better school where his talents will hopefully flourish. Thanks to their hard work and some fantastically generous donators back home, we now have the money to send him to one of these schools, and finding a proper one that his mother will agree to is one of Eileen and my first and most important goals of this trip. We hope to get him into classes while we are still here if at all possible. Father seems to be in ok health. He is so small (Eileen believes this has to do with Father not receiving proper nutrition which I am inclined to agree with) that when I met him I had no idea that he will be 9 years old this July-I thought he couldn’t be more than 6! But aside from this he seems to be doing ok and was just a happy little boy while he played with us. He came over to Babu’s house on Sunday where he was able to have a good large lunch and played with us as well as the other children who are living in the house with us-they are the three children of a couple whom Bibi and Babu knew for many years and who have recently moved into Babu’s house and work for him, and their names are Lusekelo, Rachel, and Eliezer (after Babu).

We took Sunday and Monday quite slowly because Eileen, who had started to feel ill at Billo’s on Saturday, was fully sick on Sunday with a fever and body ache. She was able to rest much of Sunday, thereby getting over the worst of it, and able to go to FANAKA with Babu and me on Monday to meet with Headmistress. After speaking with her and the Headmaster (second to the Headmistress) we had decided that I would teach all of Form I and the grammar/composition lessons of Form II, and Eileen would teach the grammar/composition lessons of Form III and Form IV. The old English teacher would then teach the literature portions of Forms II-IV (Form I does not have periods dedicated to literature). It was also decided that we would come back Tuesday to find out where Mr. Lazaro had left off with his classes, and start teaching Wednesday-yikes!

Of course, this being Tanzania and all things subject to immediate change, when we arrived at school Tuesday morning (Eileen wanted to be there before classes started to see if the teachers and students were showing up on time and being disciplined) Mr. Lazaro told Eileen that he had told his morning Form III class that Eileen would be starting that morning! So with no time to prepare at all, she was briefly informed on what Mr. Lazaro had taught the class so far this term (term started in the middle of January) and then ran over to the class and started teaching! I told Mr. Lazaro that there was no way I was prepared to take over the Form I class today with absolutely no time to prepare (not to mention absolutely no training in teaching so unlike Eileen I wasn’t able just jump into the classroom). I am happy I was able to observe Eileen in the classroom at least once before I start tomorrow!

We also were informed that they (who they is I’m not completely sure but I think it must have been Mr. Lazaro and the school heads) had decided that with Form IV taking their examinations this spring they did not want to change up the classroom structure or teaching style so close to examination, so Eileen would not be teaching Form IV and instead would be taking over my section of Form II and keeping her Form III classes. Now we are both set with five classes each week. While this number is completely manageable, I am nervous about teaching the Form I because apparently many of them do not speak English very well yet, and I know about 6 words of Swahili. Great. But I guess we will just try to make it work and see what happens! The teachers tried to tell Eileen and me that these students are very clever and it would not bee too difficult for me to teach them English. Time will tell.