Well, February and March more-or-less flew by, thanks to a good deal of travel and things picking up a bit in the village.  Michelle’s parents spent the better part of February with us on a whirlwind tour of the country – up to the Serengeti, a few days in Dar, then down to Mbeya and the village, and back to Dar again – which adds up to a lot of time in crowded buses on slow Tanzanian roads.  It was great to see her parents, of course, but it was also a good reminder of how accustomed we’ve actually become to many of the oddities of life in is country.  Michelle’s Dad’s favorite phrase throughout the trip was “This is not normal.”  Defecating in a hole in the ground – this is not normal; walking through crowded dark alleys in Dar – this is not normal; the mayhem of bus stands – this is not normal, he’d proclaim. And for the most part, these things, if not yet completely normal, are at least necessary parts of life here that we’ve come to accept without too much consideration.  It was also fun to enter into Dumb Tourist Mode for a few days in the Serengeti and at the beach.  Eating pizza – good even by American standards (we think, but can’t quite remember) – and being within near-petting distance of lions, wildabeest, elephants, and the rest, were certainly among the highlights. 

Back in the village, Michelle’s work at the clinic is running full steam.  This month’s lessons on good nutrition have been a big hit with the villagers; she’ll cover diarrhea prevention and basic sanitation next month.  She’s also meeting monthly with an HIV/AIDS support group of about 25 people to provide some education and resources for their work.  Teaching at the primary school has been slow to get going, but we met again with the headmaster this week to hammer out a schedule for us to teach life skills (decision making, self-confidence, etc.), along with health and environment stuff, to students in standards 6 and 7 (like 7^th and 8^th graders) after school once a week.

  

As for me, things continue to be slowish on the work front.  With sluggish support for my work in our village, I went up the mountain to a village where our friend Anna lives and works to run a workshop on soil conservation.  Although nobody showed up for my seminar, I ended up doing an abbreviated version of the lesson for the people bumming around the town center while we waited for our ride to leave.  It turned out surprisingly well considering the circumstances, and I’ll likely head up there again in a month or two and take another crack at it. I’m also changing tactics a bit in our village - instead of continuing to pester the village leadership for consent and coordination, I’m working on self-arranging and publicizing workshops on soil conservation, tree planting, and other such things for farmers in the village.  And it looks like a more formal arrangement doing botanical survey work with the Wildlife Conservation Society might actually take root in April and May.  In the meantime, things like hiking trips, ridiculous rides up mountains, impromptu exposure to the village-level judicial process, and learning that many of our villagers think I’m well into my 40’s keep things from becoming mundane. 

We hope all’s well back home… happy spring!

Me and Michelle doing some soil education in the village of Illembo.  The funniest part of this picture is the sign in the back which says "Mzungu Mgahawa", which means "White Person Restaurant".

Michelle, Anna, and Lola enjoying lunch in a typical Tanzanian restaurant (across the street from Mzungu Mgahawa)

Lion, looking hungrily at Michelle in the Serengeti.

A typical scene from the safari.