So people have been wondering what exactly we do here. That’s a great question, and we are still trying to figure that out. But to give you a sense of what we’re up to, here’s the schedule for a typical day (not that a typical day really exists, but you’ll get the point anyway).

6:00am: I wake up. Brush teeth, start water boiling for tea.

6:20am: Eat breakfast: tea, a bread-like thing called maandazi, a banana.

6:35am: Head outside, water the garden and tree nursery. Feed the chicken. Make two trips to the river to get water.

7:15am: Michelle gets up, eats breakfast too, then makes another water-fetching trip with me.

8:00am: I pretend to study at the table, but mostly I’m staring out the window. Michelle gets ready for work.

9:30am: Michelle goes next door to the health clinic. Weighs babies, learns Swahili, teaches a little English, makes small talk with the nurses. I stay at home and read about good tree species to use for livestock fodder or prevention of soil erosion, and learn how to talk about such things in Swahili.

12:30pm: Michelle returns from work and we eat lunch: Maandazi and raspberry jam, a cucumber, and peanuts.

1:00pm: The sun’s pretty hot now, so we rest. Read, take a nap, putz around.

2:00pm: Our neighbor, Romano, stops over to discuss tomorrow’s plan to interview families in one of the subvillages. He’s coming along as our translator. He doesn’t know English, he’s just patient and uses “special Swahili” with us. We also discuss why my Moringa seeds aren’t sprouting yet. We don’t come up with any solutions.

4:00pm: Romano and I discuss world geography, and I try to clear up that America isn’t in Europe, and that it’s bigger than Tanzania too. I also try to explain ice fishing, which, given that Romano has never seen ice and never been fishing, is a considerable challenge. Also, I can’t remember the word for “ice,” so I end up saying that each January when it’s cold in America, you can walk on the water. “Americans can walk on water?” he says. Then he heads home, scratching his head I’m sure.

4:15pm: I chop carrots and potatoes for dinner, Michelle starts the charcoal stove. I put on a pot of rice.

4:45pm: I take a shower – the bucket’s been warming in the sun all day, but the wind has wicked most of the warmth away. I get relatively clean, then it’s Michelle’s turn.

5:00pm: The rice is done, so I put the potato-lentil curry on the stove to cook.

5:15pm: Some kids come by and ask for drinking water, but we know it’s just a ploy to stare at the white people. We give them water anyway and send them on their way.

6:00pm: Eat dinner.

6:30pm: We finish dinner and clean dishes outside in the courtyard. The garden looks a little dry, so I give the plants another watering.

7:15pm: It’s dark now, so we brush teeth and get ready for bed.

7:30pm: We light the lantern, get in bed, and read magazines sent from home (Thanks, Mom!).

9:00pm: In America, it’s pathetic to go to bed this early, but not here.

As I think I’ve mentioned, our first three months in the village are meant to be spent navigating life, learning about the village, and writing the Village Situation Assessment report, thus our schedule isn’t terribly regular at this point. In December, we head to Morogoro for additional technical training and to discuss potential projects with the Peace Corps, after which our days might flesh out a bit more with project development and what you might call “real work.” More on that when the time comes.

We hope everyone’s enjoying fall back home. It’s certainly strange to not have the seasonal cues of leaves falling, apples ripening, and the like. It’s just getting hotter here, but we’re looking forward to the coming rains to green things up and pour some life back into the landscape.

Until later,

Justin