Here we are again,

Well! Many things to share this time, but really, first things first:

I bought a blender this week, a phenomenally useful thing to have what with all the mango, papaya, banana, etc. available here. Like most things that foreigners would want here, it's originally from an Arab country (being the closest place where wealthy people live), and so the primary directions are in Arabic. However, they provided a translation in English, which is entertaining enough to transcribe here en toto: (I made no typos here, this is the real deal. Now I know how my Kiswahili sounds to the my Tanzanian friends.)

BEFORE ANY USE: Be sure that the voltage on the card which is on the butom of this item is same as your voltage in your country. For careful, all items with 2 phase can be used on. Any mistake in miss using the suitable voltage cancel this guarantee.

 HOW TO USE:

 SETING:
-There is a curve in the top of the base can be fixed into the upper base.
-Put in the upper base completly with the main base be sure the electric is off. (electric circle is opened.)
-in this way the upper and main base together automaticly.
-Do not use the main base without putting the upper on.

 THE MIXER: Capacity is one liter, made of clear quality
-The knife is consist of 4 parts made of stainless steel can work fastly to liquid the mixing things easily
-Put the thing you want to mix after you cut them then add some liquid not more than one liter.
-Put on the cover
-Close the electric cycle mix for 10-60 seconds.

 COFFEE BLENDER:
(1) By using this blender you can get your fresh coffee daily at any time you like it.
(2) If you already have a coffee blender you may use this blender for other things.

 USING TIME:
Due to the knife it runs fastly so you may use this blender 15-20 seconds that depends on the condition of the items you are using.

 CLEANING:
(1) Cover and outer part with wet sponge.
(2) Inner part can be cleaned with dry sponge.
(3) For careful please separate parts before cleaning.

 CHEASE BLENDER:
(1) By using this Blender you use it for hard things fastly.
(2) Cut the cheese to small pieces then put them into the blender not more than it's 2rds capacity
(3) Fixed the cover by your hand during using time.

Well, those are some of the highlights -- sorry if it's boring to you folks, but "The knife is consist of 4 parts made of stainless steel can work fastly to liquid the mixing things easily" made me happier than I can describe. J

 POLITICS, SCHMOLITICS!

 I was in Arusha a few days ago and I saw on the TV that we had bombed Iraq out of the blue again. I don't know what the spin on it at home is, but for the rest of the world it only confirms that Americans, particularly the government, handles its foreign policy with the diplomacy of John Wayne and the A-Team; "blowing things up is a good solution to any problem." Since the bombings, I'm sure Saddam Hussein has had a complete change of heart due to his overwhelming empathy for his people, and production of all chemical and biological weapons has come to a screeching halt.

 On the other hand, I heard (from a Tanzanian) that the soon-to-be-slightly-reduced Republicans are voting today (18th) on whether or not to impeach the president -- so now the bombings make sense. Wag that dog, Billy; Wag that dog. I have to say that one of the most wonderful things about being here is not having to deal with Ken Starr and Monica Lewinsky. This job has some perks!

 CROSS-CULTURAL CONFIRMATIONS

 I took a trip to Moshi (home of Mt. Kilimanjaro, about a 2.5 hour trip from here) this past Friday (11th) to visit the Peace Corps teachers there. We went out discoing. Just so you know, Tanzanian discos consist of roughly these percentages: 50% - Zaire Music (very distinct African style, kinda fun), 20% - American R&B and Rap, 30% - The cheesiest and most vapid American Techno music you can imagine (Is the song "I'm a Barbie Girl" popular over there? I hope, for all your souls, that it's not.)

 I returned on Saturday to Arusha and spent a couple of nights with my host family (the Tanzanian family with whom I stayed during training.) One of my host brothers was being Confirmed into the Lutheran church (there are lots of Lutheran Tanzanians, possibly more than any other Christian denomination) and it was a big sherehe (ceremony/party).

 The church service was so big it had to be held outdoors, keeping in mind there were about 60 young men and women being confirmed. And of course, people don't move around here like they do in the states, and they have their kids early and often, so each kid had at least 1-2 dozen guests.

 We returned home after the 3 hour service for the party; my family had borrowed a tarp and all the neighbors' (in other words, their relatives') furniture. About 40-50 people were there, and lots of food. My family had slaughtered one of their three cows and one of their three goats for the occasion, so there was plenty of meat in all kinds of dishes. (I had always wondered why we kept three cows when only one of them gave milk).

 Also, when I say my family slaughtered the animals, I do mean they killed them. My uncle and his oldest son came over and held the creatures down and cut their throats. I had the grand opportunity of watching them cut the cow's head off and split it up the middle to disembowel it. The goat was more disturbing, not for the killing, but because mama goat was still in the pen when younger goat was taken back into the woods behind the house -- I think she knew what was up, because she started bleating like I had never heard her do before, goat-style screaming... then the younger one would bleat back from the forest, and they would keep on doing so, so that mama could tell her child was still alive. Soon afterwards, there was only one of them bleating.

 It definitely made me rethink some of my attitudes towards meat (and I'd already been a vegetarian for a few years before dropping it to come here) but I have to admit -- she was delicious. Still and all, I really think Americans in particular should try at least watching a slaughter, or better yet, performing it themselves, before they live their lives divorcing the meat on their plate from the animal they see and pet. Why do you think we have different words for 'cow' & 'beef', 'pig' & 'pork', etc.? Just a suggestion...

 HAMNA UMEME

 Or "No Electricity". When I returned from Arusha on Monday morning, there was no power. It continued to be off until Tuesday evening. Since then, it's been off at least once a day, although only of a half hour or so. Though my headmaster assures me that nowadays this is quite rare, it's not been my experience thus far. On my site visit in November, the power was out for a day and a half, and last week it was on and off periodically.

 Most folks have one or two kerosene burners so they can get by food-wise when there's no power. Since I'm in this "advanced" house for a month, I actually have a (propane) gas stove which runs from a small tank. This is fine -- until the gas runs out. Which it did, right at the beginning of the outage this week. I was able to eat lunch in town, but I still had to cook food for the dog. (He gets ugali na samaki, a flour-cake dish with little sardine-like fish in it. Cheap and good for him.)

 So I went out into the backyard, built a fire, and cooked his ugali over it. Big thanks go to my Boy Scout days... and while building and cooking over an open fire would be rather quick and easy if I had to do it every day like my host family; since I don't, I had to take time to find enough sticks, the right size rocks to put the pot on, etc. And of course, I didn't have a cover overhead for when it started raining. Live and Learn.

 SO CLEAR YOU CAN HEAR AN ANVIL DROP...

 My Headmaster, who received a laptop as a gift from a German exchange organization, was asking me about the possibility of getting internet access sometime in the future. I told him first, the town would have to have a phone system that doesn't involve picking up the phone, turning the crank on the side to ring the operator, and then asking over crackly lines to be connected to another number, and asking three different operators questions to make sure you got the right number.

 I made a call Wednesday to Kilimanjaro region, returning a call I'd gotten from a teacher there. The headmaster put in the request when I got there. About an hour later, the operator called back and had her on the line. The phone rings, I pick up the phone and say "hello" about a dozen times before it connects, and then I have to shout into the phone for her to hear me. After about ten minutes, we were disconnected mid-call, and couldn't re-establish contact. It may have been a problem with the Monduli, Arusha, or Moshi operators... who knows. I ended up sending a telegram instead.

 THANKS

 I've gotten some great requests for future mailing topics, especially from fellow Linworth alumnus J. Austin Kerr. Thanks, and keep them coming. I may not address them right away, but I will get to them in time, never fear. We've got two years, of course, and my learning is just beginning!

 Salama Kabisa,
Ethan

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