Hello from the southern highlands!

Kamwene! That's the traditional kibena greeting, kibena being the native language of the area I'm living in. I arrived safely at my village and house, a full-fledged PCV! Woohoo! My house is right by the school and a short walk to the row of stores that make up town. I have electricity and no water, but for probably half the year I'll be able to collect enough rainwater so that I don't need to walk down the road to the water pump. Everyone's been very friendly and a number of students have come by to say hello and chat -- we communicate fine between my limited kiswahili and their limited English, but it's clear to be that I'll need to do a fair amount of explaining/teaching in kiswahili in the classroom. And I'm sure I'll learn a bit of kibena, too.

My house is huge -- a big room, 2 small rooms, and my bedrooms. Then I have a concrete wall around my very own compound, in which I have my choo, "shower" room for bucket baths, a small storage room, a kitchen room, and a roofed 3-walled area for outdoor cooking/doing other stuff. One set of neighbors has been extremely welcoming and keep telling me to "feel free" which means to come over, ask questions, say hi, discuss problems -- pretty much don't worry about bothering, just ask! The mama started referring to me as her daughter, not just sister (which everyone uses), so I really feel welcomed! Her mother-in-law seems to be worried about my eating habits, because she's offered to have me over to show me how to cook some things, sent me home with two cabbages and flour, and told me not to eat too many bananas because they'll make my stomach hurt. She also offered to take me into town to help me get curtains! That was supposed to be today but it didn't work out, although I'm they'll help me later. The school gave me a kitchen table with four chairs and a twin bed with a mattress -- so it feels really empty, but I've ordered a sofa and 2 chairs from a local carpenter so then I can have people over for chai! I've also ordered a bookshelf for my clothes, books, stuff in my room, and I'll probably get a bigger bed from the school workshop. That'll take me over my PC settling-in allowance, so the rest will come little by little. Soon I'll be thinking about deocrations and (hopefully) painting the walls pretty colors! Speaking of which, next time you write me a letter, please feel free to include a favorite picture (of us, perhaps? or maybe an artsy one? or a funny sign?) for me to put on my wall! I brought a lovely photo album, courtesy of Lys, but I figure you can never have too many pictures. I just finished putting some photos up yesterday, and while it kinda reminds me of middle school, I like it! If you're desperate to send me something now, any food that is ready to eat or only requires adding boiling water would be appreciated! (Ex - oatmeal, hot cocoa, mac&cheese, veggie soups) But just a letter would be fantastic! I've asked my parents to send along all of the math and science books I collected from my HS for my school's library (we do have a library building, but it's pretty much empty), so help with that or collecting/sending easy English books (children's or early chapter) would be useful, too. Eventually I plan to contact my HS's community service club and tap into my mother's extensive social network to help collect and send books, but I've got enough on my plate now. Also, PCVs are often approached by students for help with school fees -- so if anybody's interested in sponsoring students, either who's parents can't otherwise afford it or those who have been orphaned (usually due to AIDS), hopefully I'll have more info on that later! But that's all on the sidelines, as my primary focus here is teaching and cross-cultural communication! (woot woot 3 goals of peace corps!)

The electricity was out/keeps going out for the past while and there's no telling when it will be on, so for the past 2 days I've been going to bed early than usual (it gets dark around 7pm and I've been getting in bed to read or listen to music anywhere from 8-11), and then I woke up before dawn without being tired... although of course, being me, I did roll over and daydream/sleep until about 6.30, when I usually get out of bed. I've definitely caught up on my sleep. My days are filled with reading, cleaning, wandering, and desperately trying to light my charcoal stove -- kerosene makes it easier but still takes a while! And what we call charcoal here is not what we call charcoal at home. Anyways, I've got plans to spend the holidays with friends in the area, and hope to make latkes! I haven't seen sour cream or applesauce anywhere, though. I'm hoping to start my garden soon, gather ingredients for wine-making, and I have a dream of building a brick oven.... we'll see where all that goes.

So, my village! There's the main (dirt) road that runs throgh it, and we have 1 roundabout where the road splits -- one way it continues as the only road in that direction and the other it runs to the entrance of the large Catholic Mission. I have a few funny stories about explainging that I'm Jewish, a myahudi; they mostly center on people then telling me where the Presbyterian church is so that I can pray there. But I've gotten across to a few people that we're still waiting for Jesus to come. (Dad, I took you at your word and claimed that both my parents are Jewish, since more than that might blow their minds.) There are some rundown shops along the road and a few set back among houses. It takes about 5min for me to walk from my house to the end of the shops at a pace somewhere between Tanzanian and NY. "Sasa hivi" is the kiswahili equivalent of "ahorita" and to give you an idea of the sense of time here, even church bells are often 10-15minutes after the hour. Anyhoo, most of the stores sell basic food stuffs and oil, soap, stuff like that. There are a few carpenters, shoes and used clothing places -- but keep in mind that none of these is anything like US stores. Actually, nothing like any stores I saw before coming here, not even Peru. Aside from teh Mission, my house is by far the best-looking edifice -- yay for integrating!

I'm grateful for this time to get settled before classes start. It would be a lot to handle if I were trying to furnish my house, get oriented, meet people, and start teaching. At least some of that will be over by mid-Jan. Overall, I'm really excited and happy to be here; of course I've been bored a few times, but I've always found a cure in reading, cleaning, yoga, writing, or wandering. I've read a few good books, including 3 cups of tea, water for elephants, and orphans of the sky. Defintiely check out 3 cups of tea!!! I've also enjoyed the newsweeks, new york, and times magazines Lys sent to me... although the food in NY sections made me a little homesick.

Much love and thanks again for emails, letters, calls, and texts! I love getting them and am sorry I haven't responded individually... give me time and a long letter or email will appear! (send me your address!!!)

Julia Meyer/Peace Corps Volunteer
Uwemba Secondary School