Wednesday, January 12, 2005
We keep losing people. Now Steve is leaving Mwanza. Bwiru actually, but Bwiru is as close to downtown Mwanza as I am, here in Nyegezi. Steve had been teaching at a Government Technical School and the Government is closing its Technical Schools. So he is going to another site in southern Tanzania for his second year. We will miss him. He had recently moved into a very large house, and collected a lot of the supplies and stuff that accumulated from several other PCVs when they completed their service. A lot of stuff builds up over two years, even when it has been on a Peace Corps subsistence stipend.
So this afternoon a Bwiru truck appeared on the soccer field outside my house, and I became the possessor of a bunch of Steve’s accumulation. Boxes of books that should be returned to HQ. A mattress. Bicycle supplies. Assorted kitchen pots and pans for other Kathleen and Kim. Speakers and a lamp for Ryan. A huge bookcase, stocked with an amazing array of subject matter. A dog!
A NICE dog. Better looking than most Tanzanian dogs and fortunately, is no longer a puppy. This dog, I am told, began life in Mwanza and then went to Sengerema with some Franciscan volunteers, then came back to live with Steve when they left, and is now here. Steve said the dog is low upkeep – that he never fed it, just let her forage outside for herself. I can believe it. I made some mush for Hodie tonight, spiked it with some fish, and put it on the floor for her. She would look at it and lick her chops, but would not touch it. I had to cut up some bread and leave a trail of chunks leading to the bowl, with more bread in the bowl to get her to eat. We walked up the hill to watch the sunset tonight, and it was fun to watch Hodie run ahead to sniff and discover the world.
Wonder if the dog rules out the new chicken that Paul had promised to give me.
On my last night in Dar es Salaam, Atiba from TechnoServe and I went out to a fabulous Ethiopian restaurant (Addis in Dar) to discuss our plans to teach small business principles to Mwanza students this year. Good meeting! He can provide Kiswahili books to supplement his limited supply to English workbooks, will include all our instructors in his training program in February, and will come out to Mwanza to meet with us in late January. So far, things are shaping up as well as they could.
Classes for the new school year begin on the 17th. Not much will happen the first week, but by now it is time to get serious about what material I will want to present this year, and in what order. Wish I knew my teaching schedule.
So this afternoon a Bwiru truck appeared on the soccer field outside my house, and I became the possessor of a bunch of Steve’s accumulation. Boxes of books that should be returned to HQ. A mattress. Bicycle supplies. Assorted kitchen pots and pans for other Kathleen and Kim. Speakers and a lamp for Ryan. A huge bookcase, stocked with an amazing array of subject matter. A dog!
A NICE dog. Better looking than most Tanzanian dogs and fortunately, is no longer a puppy. This dog, I am told, began life in Mwanza and then went to Sengerema with some Franciscan volunteers, then came back to live with Steve when they left, and is now here. Steve said the dog is low upkeep – that he never fed it, just let her forage outside for herself. I can believe it. I made some mush for Hodie tonight, spiked it with some fish, and put it on the floor for her. She would look at it and lick her chops, but would not touch it. I had to cut up some bread and leave a trail of chunks leading to the bowl, with more bread in the bowl to get her to eat. We walked up the hill to watch the sunset tonight, and it was fun to watch Hodie run ahead to sniff and discover the world.
Wonder if the dog rules out the new chicken that Paul had promised to give me.
On my last night in Dar es Salaam, Atiba from TechnoServe and I went out to a fabulous Ethiopian restaurant (Addis in Dar) to discuss our plans to teach small business principles to Mwanza students this year. Good meeting! He can provide Kiswahili books to supplement his limited supply to English workbooks, will include all our instructors in his training program in February, and will come out to Mwanza to meet with us in late January. So far, things are shaping up as well as they could.
Classes for the new school year begin on the 17th. Not much will happen the first week, but by now it is time to get serious about what material I will want to present this year, and in what order. Wish I knew my teaching schedule.
