Pictures!

I finally figured out how to post pictures. I put them up on Snapfish because they loaded the fasted on that site. You might have to sign up for it, but it doesn't cost you anything. Pole sana (very sorry). Here's the link:

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=264656179/a=138243337_138243337/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

I'll be adding to it periodically, but snapfish was acting up so I couldn't show you the pictures of my pit toilet.

Anyway,

This is our last official week of Intensive Swahili Training! Though I am nowhere near proficient, I can now ask people how their home, work, chickens, goats, etc. are doing. That's pretty much half of all conversation here anyway. I mentioned before that Kiswahili is a swahili word - they put a "ki" before every language, i.e. Kiingareza (English) and Kifaransa, (French). It is an interesting language because everything is spelled phonetically and every letter is pronounced. Obviously it was spoken before it was written down.

Kiswahili is derived from three different sources: Bantu, which is an ancient African language, Arabic, because of the proximity to the Middle East, and new words which are borrowed from other languages, (mostly English and European languages). It is funny to see the spelling of many of these words, especially if they come from English, because when you sound it out it just sounds like you're saying the English word with a Tanzanian accent. For example:

Bia - beer!
baisikeli - bicycle (also, they add an "i" to the end of many words. Not sure why).
dolla - doller
Karoti - carrot
skirti - skirt
gauni - dress, (sounds like gowney)
pilipilihoho - green pepper (I just threw that it cuz it's funny sounding)

After Swahili training we will move into a training center where we will be living with our Tanzanian counterparts, (who we have yet to meet). They are young people from all around Tanzania who were picked to teach with us. After three weeks of teacher-training we will split into pairs, (one Tanzanian volunteer and one international volunteer) and we'll be sent to our respective villages.

In other news:



We don't get to let loose to often. Actually, we never get to let loose. Also, we've been advised not to go out at night because we glow in the dark. But on Saturday night we threw caution to the wind and went out in celebration of Bella's 18th birthday. 18 is pretty big in Australia because that's when they get to (officially) start drinking. Pretty cool because the only thing us Americans can do at 18 is go to Iraq.

We went to this place called "Shooters," which is the only bar in Iringa. There are only two types of alcohol in Tanzania: Beer and Konyagi. Konyagi is some kind of unidentifiable liquor made from fermented ugali or something. It is sold in pouches!

There are three types of beer, Kilimanjaro, Safari and Castle Lager. Do we have Castle Lager at home? I don't know, but it sounds familiar. At Shooters they played one Rihanna song over and over. It was kind of like home! But not really.

Then we went to a disco called Twisters, which was a surprisingly attractive venue. I'm not much of a disco person because I don't like to dance, (who does?) but it was fun to hang out with everyone in a laid back environment.

This weekend we are going on Safari! We'll be travelling to Ruaha National Park, (about a 3 hour trip from Iringa) which has the largest elephant population in Tanzania. My host father said he went there a few weeks ago and saw a pack of lions eating a giraffe carcass. Gross! But awesome! We'll be camping there overnight. Hopefully I won't get eaten or anything.