Secondly, all those stories are completely true. No slander, no bs, they really happened. I also plan to talk to PH about his reactions, so look for that in the future.
Third, looking back it does have a mien of disappointment, frustration, and anger but it is not to condemn Africa or to bite the hand that feeds me. It is just the way I felt, and I do know there is hope for the future.
Finally, unless you have been here in Tanzania and have seen the poverty and the wealth, the happiness and hopelessness, the healthy and the ill, the black and the white... I don't think you can even fathom the situation- I can't, and I've seen a lot of it already. So sorry for any misinterpretations, just e-mail me with questions and comments.
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The past few days have been pretty good. The Internet and power have been on and off, no biggie.
***Scott Watch: Day 10***
Scott is back to his old self. He is doing well in class, coming into town, playing cards, speaking in his funny accent, etc. He was so grateful to finally have his health that he decided he needed to eat a good western meal. We went to the New Acropol Hotel, which had the highest concentration of white people I have seen in Tanzania besides the airport. It seemed to be a hotel for business people; or could have just been a hotel for people who talk constantly on their cell phone, who carry a briefcase and laptop, and dress in really snazzy clothes. At the hotel was a very western restaurant. For starters he had a big plate of nachos and I had deep fried zucchini. For the main course Scott had a 10" beef pizza which was fantastic. And I had (remember I'm in Morogoro, Tanzania) a bacon cheeseburger. It is definitely among the top 3 meals I have ever had in my life, beaten only by some of my Mom's mac & cheese and my Dad's chicken noodle soup! As it turns out, Scott's stomach wasn't back up to its normal size so he couldn't finish it, and my burger was so big i couldn't help him at all. So we gave the leftovers to Kadege who really REALLY liked it.Swahili lessons are going well. Kim and I will hopefully finish book 1 today. I really hit the books last night and rocked this mornings lessons! But some aspects of the language are really frustrating:
1- every single verb starts with the letters KU- and needs to be conjugated for every noun/subject.
2- almost every noun and adjective can be turned into a verb... ya, crazy I know.
3- Even though most of the words are primarily vowels, certain vowels don't like to be by each other and change randomly.
4- most native speakers do not speak grammatically correct. This is especially fun when I'm trying to buy stuff in Morogoro.
5- Sometimes small invariables (such as from, in , on, at, etc.) are implied and never mentioned. For instance when I want to say, "I study Swahili in the city of Morogoro at Lutheran Junior Seminary and I really enjoy it", it is sort of said like "I study swahili enjoy Morogoro Lutheran Junior seminary". Whats that about?
Regardless of all that nonsense, I really like the language.
Sorry there isn't much more the today's blog, just not a lot has happened.
Low: Omega, my teacher this week, pronounces his 'L's like 'R's and vice versa in both Swahili and English!
High: Bacon Cheeseburger, with fries, and a nice cold Kilimanjaro Lager! MMM-MMM GOOD! Also, Padre Sandro - the Catholic Priest that smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, and swears like a sailor- is a hoot. I'm learning a very large amount of Italian... although most of the words are expletives.
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