So yesterday I realized that the 20 chickens have their own room in the house...and it is RIGHT NEXT TO MINE. This explains why they are always in the hallway. I've also discovered that they don't naturally wake up at 4:30am, one of my host sisters actually bangs on their door and wakes them so they can start crowing and ruining my life. I'm not sure why she encourages this behavior from them. However, they didn't crow as early this morning, (Saturday). I guess she lets them sleep in on the weekends?
Another note: Tanzanians have wonderful greeting etiquette. Whenever they see somebody they have to ask: How is your...morning? afternoon? evening? family? house? farm? goat?chickens? etc. and the response is always some variation of the word "great." In fact, they have four different ways to say how great they're doing: really great, great, peaceful, and a little great, (literally, "nzuri kidogo" means "a little great"). There is only one word to say that you're not doing well and you only ever say that if someone has died. So, Tanzanians are always great.
You've probably heard of the persistance of witchcraft throughout Africa. Tanzania is no exception. There has been a troubling trend of killing albinos because people believe it will make them rich. I kid you not, there are public service announcements on TV that urge people not to kill albinos. This makes us white people a little nervous. But I have dark hair so I think I'm in the clear.
The hardest part of this experience so far is the food. I miss American food so badly. It is an almost physically painful experience. Every conversation among the volunteers revolves around the food we miss. All I really want is a turkey bacon club on wheat toast with two pickles and french fries. And pizza. And General Tso's Chicken. And that beef stir-fry dish from that Thai restaurant in Dupont Circle.
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