MY LAST DAY on Project in tanzania, and africa in general:'(

Just like a month ago when I left Uganda, I could write forever about all thats happened the past few days.

I think I have been the busiest person in Tanzania. i spent the past few days organizing the solar panel (which i am proud to say, i dont need any more donations unless a couple of small ones, we are almost at the full price of the panels!). the guy that runes the solar panel shop also runs an orphanage in town, so i have been trying to connect him with my nonprofit so he can get some english teaching volunteers for his orphanage. i think that he cut me a good deal on the solar panels because of this.

also, our taxi driver, mr. mumzari (whose voice sounds EXACTLY like louis armstrong) we invited him and his wife to dinner a couple of nights ago, she dressed to the nines it was wonderful. then she invited us for dinner at her house last night which was delish!

yesterday i didnt teach the women, instead we spent all morning making batiks. we did a few tie die ones. it was so cool watching them mix the die (it was like a science experiment we had to wear gloves and masks) and we wrapped thread around pinched areas of the cloth (this is really hard to explain) put the die on, then took the thread off, i have pictures of the whole thing and im sure they'll be worth a thousand words and more. it was so cool.

then today, my last day, i was really really excited because i had so many gifts to give them. i had made them each envelopes and each wrapped gifts. in each envelope was a letter from me with my home address, a paper with detailed instructions in swahili on how to open your email (thanks to gift and mr. lymo for the translation, they spent a day working on it for me, they work for i to i). i photocopied the instructions and wrote each person's username and password and full email address so that they could have their own directions on how to open the email in swahili, and personalized to their email address, because the whole email thing is really really confusing if youve never even used a computer ever before. and also in that envelope that each person got (i say person because its 7 women and 1 man, salim, my token male student in a woman's group) i included a card from a local internet cafe that is worth 10 hrs of internet. its like a stamp card where you buy 10 hours and they stamp it as you use each one. so this way i could prepay their internet for them. so each one has their own internet card worth 10 hours. get it? because i knew if i got them email addresses and didnt buy them internet they would never ever ever ever be able to check it so it woulda been pointless. so that was the three things in the envelope.

then i had a wrapped gift for each of them, inside each one was a new notebook of blank paper, a pen, and a primary 3 level english book so that finally, each could have their own. as ive said before, i brought them through primary 2 so primary 3 is the next book. i also left my old primary 2 book and a new primary 3 book for them to give to the next volunteer.

i cried the most today when they opened their gifts because they were so excited about the english books and the pens that you wouldnt believe it. you just wouldnt imagine people here so poor but so excited to learn. i started crying because they all held their books like little kids and were all saying to me "WE MISS YOU!!!" (meaning we WILL miss you. see im a bad teacher right). it was precious.

then we went to a neighbor's courtyard to do traditional dance. they wrapped a kanga around me (which was apparently the funniest thing ever to them) and then they did a bunch of dances an d sang in swahili, they kept singing my name in the middle of the songs too. they also sang one where they stood in a line and waved at me and pretended to cry saying "kwaheri teacher" which means goodbye teacher. it was so cute i took pictures and videotaped it. i felt so special.
then they made me dance with them which was hilarious to them also. i knew it was coming though, i could smell it from the minute they told me they were going to dance for me. but it was really fun:) and no i didnt allow any photographs of it to be taken.

then we went back and had lunch which was a full on feast of local food, delicious. though im not going to miss cooked unripened bananas. then they gave me gifts so sweet, they gave me one of the tiedye batiks i helped them make the day before! and two necklaces, and a gift for my mom (which i dont mean to ruin the surprise mom but you wont be able to picture it anyway) and its this really coool hand carved tea cup with a tea plate and a little spoon made out of a cow's horn. its really cool mom!!!

then all the ladies walked me into town and i hugged them goodbye, they try to be strong women but Mama Imakulata cried (the head of the women's group).

the day before, i had lunch at mama imakulata's and she told me they have had 7 volunteers, but all of them except for 2 have taught them nothing. she said it was because only 2 have been professional teachers at home, me and some other guy. such a compliment right?! she thinks i am a professional teacher!

the solar panel is definately getting installed next week and i will drop by the women's group next friday, the day before i fly out to the US, to take pictures of it and work out any kinks that mayve happened.

on top of everything else, lucy, holly, and i are trying to buy a wheelchair for this woman who sits all day in town begging, she has no shins just stumps at her knees, apparently she was hit by a truck. terrible huh. we're working with St Josephs hospital to get teh wheelchair, the nuns there say god will bless our lives forever if we do it, so i guess we should do it. ok sorry bad time to make a joke, seriously though this woman NEEDS a wheelchair this second.

anyway, thats all the time i have for now. tune in next week. haha! i fly to zanzibar tommorrow for My first hot shower IN EIGHT WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!! i'll be there for a week and fly back to Moshi next friday, only to fly back to the USA the day after. my projects here in africa are over, and i feel all grown up and so happy with the way everything has gone. i have been lucky as many people i know had bad projects (corruption, etc). i have been fortunate to have been exposed to great people here, eager to learn and teach me about themselves also.

much love,
suz

reminder about the donations, please if you could mail a check to me with the amount you had stated to the following address:
Suzy Price
2638 Prestwick Court
La Jolla, CA. 92037
USA

USA.....in case you forgot. :)
p.s. side story: the women turned on a tv (which they never do because electricity is so expensive they very rarely if ever are able to use it, hence the need for a solar panel, but i think they thought i would like it because im american) and it was al jazeera on, and a clip of bush talking about invading iran or something, and then ahmedenijad (no idea how to spell that, can only say it) talking about retailiation or something, and i was like crap, i dont want to go home turn this off!!!!! haha it was crap though, i think ignorance is definately bliss. turn that off and let me just sit here and eat my ugali.