Killer Bees: An observation

I went into my choo today and found that it was infested with a large number of swarming bees. The thought came into my mind that the so-called “killer bees” of America are a hybrid cross of domestic bees and African bees. So, I thought to myself, if 50%-African bees are “killer” how bad are the purebred, 100% ones? So, I shut the door and held it until they dispersed.

Holy poop! I was in town just running errands today, and lo-and-behold I see 2 more white people! I started to wonder if maybe the new volunteers had somehow gotten down here early, but nope! Now I was already excited having seen one new mzungu, two more in the same week was darn near astounding. They were doing some survey work for an NGO that is planning on donating a large number (100,000+) of books to Tanzanian schools. We ended up going back to Country Lodge (where they were staying) to chat a bit. They talked about what they’d seen and been told by MoE officials, and wanted to know what my views were as an actual teacher on the front lines. They didn’t go to my school to observe, but I got the contact information, so hopefully when the books get sent, a few will make it to my school. I told them to look up the PCVs in the next few regions they were going to visit, so keep you eyes out for them.

Went out to Country Lodge for drinks and dinner after the end of a seminar for a Mama's group put on by some of my fellow volunteers. They had done some good work, and wanted to cellebrate. We wanted to invite the local JICA volunteers, but it turns out they were already having dinner there to welcome the new nurse at the hospital! And on that note, hurrah for having a new nurse from JICA. It makes me feel a bit more secure in case of serious illness

Oh boy, so many updates:

Had an interesting few days in the week before heading up to the Internet Café. Some Highlights:

Friday August 18, 2006
I met a tourist today. The first one in my 7 months here, as well as the first one any of the other wazungu can remember coming to town. He’s Dutch, speaks good English but little Swahili and is travelling by himself. All in all I consider him to be pretty badass considering he’s going WAY off the beaten path. Newala only gets couple of sentences in the guidebook (none of which would help you if you ended up here) and it’s the district capital. He wanted to bike down to the Ruvuma River and see Mozambique. I was down, but my bike had a flat, and Saturday I ended up observing my site-mate’s seminar for her Mamas group. It was pretty cool, so I’m glad I went. It’s good to get a different perspective and atmosphere from my usual, which is high school students. Unfortunately, I never saw him again.

Thomas, wherever you are, Safari Njema.