Ninaweza!!!

that is swahili for i can do it. this is something i remind myself daily. and so do many Tanzanians who are cheering me on.

5 things i never thought i'd ever hear myself say:

1. "there's got to be a donkey cart around here somewhere that can give us a ride."
2. "i was happy to visit....thank you for this gift of a live chicken, it's great."

3. "sure, i'll try a raw egg and honey mixed together...how bad could it be?"

4. "no don't worry its close, only about a two hour bike ride."

5. "that water's not clean...don't worry, just put some bleach in it."

as you can surmize living on my own here is turning out to be quite an adventure. there is no motor transport in or around my village. you have to bike at least 2 hours to get to electricty and cars/buses. but i'm getting used to it. i think. but when you see a donkey cart, you hail it and hitch a ride. there's no shame there. at least i don't have it. i also was recently gifted a chicken. not because i actually did anything just because i visited a family who recently had twins. there are a few issues here 1. peace corps does not allow us to keep chickens because of bird flu 2. ummm what do i know about having a chicken 3. i HATE chickens. they are dirty and smelly and dumb and make too much unneeded noised. so i gave to my neighbor to keep for now (read: forever) i was told it was so that i would always have eggs.... thats fantastic, so why don't you just give me some eggs. oh well. i also recently tried a raw egg with honey. i was told it was good for my health. i, as a health volunteer, tried to convince them that yes, the protien is great, but better when cooked because of salmanila. this didn't translate. so i tried so as not to be rude. i was later told by a neighbor that this woman who fed me the concoction was a witch. cool. good to know. i think i'll be limiting our time together from now on.

i have also decided to run the kilimanjaro marathon on march 1st. i know... i'm serious though. i think i can do this. i bust my ass just to get around might as well make "training." any and all are welcome to join me on this run. there will be a group of peace corps volunteers running. we will have shirts that say "peace corps-hard corps" i'm pretty much doing it for the t-shirt.

i've also started an "adventure club" here with the local youth and together with some grant money from uncle sam we'll all climb kili together in june. this will also become my after school health club...they just don't know it yet. besides that i've been spending my time twice a week at the local health center helping to dispense drugs to HIV patients. it makes me feel like i'm being useful and learning a lot about the people and the systems here. the rest of my time is divided between primary school and secondary school as well working on my compost pile and garden. (its going to be glorious...come and see it. i have banana and nectarine trees.)

and p.s. aunt ree i still use my ucla email address so you can send stuff through that or