Laura's E-mails:
 
 

Hey all,

I wanted to let you know what exciting stuff is going on in my life right
now. In one month I will be graduating from college! I'll be paying off
loans the rest
of my life, but if nothing else has come out of it, (of course there are
countless great things that have happened because of college) an amazing
opportunity
has. I have a friend here who is from Tanzania. His family lives in
Bukoba. When we disovered our common ground (my having lived in Kenya for
six years) we were so excited. Well, recently he suggested that I come
back to Tanzania and work there for however long I want.

I really want to go back to Africa. And after I decided against the Peace
Corps this has really kept that dream alive.

What my plan is now, is to stay in Oregon for the summer and work.
(Airline
tickets are spendy.) Then at the beginning of september I will travel to
Tanzania. Most likely I will be working with a relief organization or
other non-governmental organization. I'm planning on staying in Africa
for 6 months or maybe longer. But before I go back home I want to take
time to travel to Kenya and visit all our old friends and acquantances.

It's been a really scarey few months for me. Deciding to not join the
Peace Corps is probably the toughest decision that I have ever made. It
took a lot of late night talks with friends and family and a lot of tears
and writing in my journal.
 
 
 

Laura Courtney
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How cheezy was the e-mail I just sent to the whole world? Do you think it
sounds okay?
 
 
 
 
 

Dear friends and family,

I can't believe that in less than two weeks I will be boarding a plane
headed for Africa. (Actually, I'll be boarding a plane headed to Chicago,
where I'll get on another plane headed for London. From there I still won't
be headed for Africa. First I've got to stop over in Oman where I have a 4
hr layover before finally boarding a plane headed for Africa. All in all,
it'll take me two days to get there. Got any great book ideas?!)

This has been a great summer for me. While my job wasn't ultra exciting, it
left my weekends and evenings free. So, this summer I was able to get
involved with the church group and do a lot of fun stuff with them. I went
camping and on hikes a lot (Thanks Mom and Jim for always dragging me out.
I know it was sometimes hard to convince me to go. YOu know what a
stick-n-the-mud I can be. :) that's sarcastic.

I also learned how to knee board, went kyaking with my extended family,
rafting with Mark, Anna, and Alex, baked an amazingly beautiful cake, and
ate some great B-B-Q'd veggies and tofu with my Dad and Annie. Still to
come . . . tye-dying with Maga, cleaning out a storage unit, and beginning
my malaria medication!

Thanks for everything everyone. I'll stay in contact as best I can while
I'm gone. I'm sure I'll have e-mail (this address) I'm just not sure how
reliable the phone lines will be in order to check it regularly. I'll do my
best. Does anybody have any requests for Christmas presents?

Laura
 
 

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Here's all my mailing/contact information. Unless I find out otherwise (in
which case I will e-mail everyone again) this will be my mailing address:

Laura Courtney
c/o Altafhussein Fazal
P.O. Box 92
Bukoba, Tanzania

The home phone number there is 011-255-66-20508

My e-mail address will still be [email protected]
 

Thanks everyone for your support!
Love,
Laura

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I MADE IT! I'll write more later but I just wanted everyone to know that
I'm now in Bukoba. I think I'm going to like it here.

Laura

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Dear Mom and Jim,
How is everything at home? Found any new notes lately? My guess is that
you’ve found them all by now. I tried to think of places that you might not
be looking for a while in order to space them out but it doesn’t seem like
that worked. It sounds like you’ve found a lot. But I’m glad! I still
can’t figure out how everyone who was at my prayer thing that night got
those cards into my luggage. The only time I left the living room that
whole evening was when I took a bath, and by that time Sarah, Ryan, and
Kevin has already left. I found those over a couple days. It was such a
pleasant surprise each time. They are such great friends! It’s good to
know friends who love the Lord. I had such a wonderufl summer hanging out
with Tara and Sarah and all the other people from YAM. It really was a
great summer for my relationship with God. I only hope I can keep it up
while I’m abroad. It’s not as easy when you don’t have your energetic
Christian friends right by your side the whole time. But I am going to
church in the morning. I’m going to go to the Roman Catholic Church with
one of the shop workers from downstairs. Then next Sunday I’ll branch out
and try the Lutheran Evangelical (does that make sense to you) and I also
hear there’s a methodist church in town.

Altaf and I went on a huge tour of the town and surrounding hills this
evening. It is so beautiful here!! We went and sat down by the lake for
awhile and he showed me this really, really old church, different areas of
twon, the open air markets, we even went way up to the top of the hill that
overlooks the town. They own prime property up there. On the drive up the
hill Altaf asked me to keep in mind where I’d like to invest for my
retirement. Then we got up to the top and the view was amazing!! He then
told me that it was there property and that some day he’d like to build up
there…perhaps a retirement home for the Fazal family and friends. I said
that it’s possible he may just see me show up for a visit when we’re both
old and gray.

We’re having dinner with one of his friends tonight. Dinner isn’t until
9pm. All the meals are off here. But I’ll soon get used to it. Altaf is
off at the mosque praying right now so I’ve got some time to get a few
e-mails done.

Oh, I started moving into my place today. It’s cool that I have my own
place because I suppose in the future I will be needing some along time, but
right now I’m feeling clingy. I still want to be around people. The cool
thing is I can come over hear for all my meals and to hang out, write
e-mails, whatever. I doubt I’ll be in that apartment much. The cool thing
is that his fmaily pretty much lives all this one block. My place is the
apartment right next to his uncles. From Altaf’s verandah you can see my
front porch. That’s kind of cool. On top of Altaf’s house they have a huge
open area. The stars are beautiful from up there. He said that sometimes
they’ll have BBQ’s up there. Cool eh? Okay, this is getting incredibly
long. I’m going to attempt to log on now and send this off. I love you
very much!

Laura

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<

Dear everybody,
I"ll apologize upfront for all the bulk e-mails I'll be sending. It cost a
lot of money to be on line here so I write them off-line then get on and
really quickly send it to everybody.

I was stuck in Nairobi longer than I had expected. It is pretty difficult
to get to Bukoba I discovered. But, I stayed with friends in Nairobi until
I was able to get on to Bukoba. I flew on Friday from Nairobi to Mwanza on
a missionary airline. It was a beautiful flight. We were just in a little
single engine Sessna. The plane was on the ground for two hours in Nairobi
before they would let us leave. It was difficult getting clearance because
the plane was registered in Tanzania. Everything is difficult here. I’m
having to learn how to just be incredibly laid back. I have to constantly
remind myself This Is Africa (TIA). But we finally made it to Mwanza just
as my next flight to Bukoba was fueling up. I made it on just fine and
within 45 minutes I was on the other side of Lake Victoria and with my
friend, Altaf. Last night I stayed up pretty late. Altaf showed me around
the house. They live in this huge 7 bedroom place that his grandfather
built with the intentions that all of his sons and their wives would live
here as well. So, there’s a lot of space. But it was built back in the
50’s. It’s not a beautiful mansion or anything. In fact, the best way to
describe it is sort of like a warehouse. Eventually I will be moving across
the way to a little flat on my own. I’m a little nervous about that right
now. I think once I meet a lot of people and am really busy I’ll enjoy the
privacy. But right now I really want to be around people. Last night
another Mzungu from New Mexico came over to visit. Her name is Sara. She’s
the same age as I am and has lived here for over a year. She teaches
English at the Catholic school. We got along great. She was so excited to
have another white person around who she could speak English to quickly.
She’s already given me so much advice about how to handle myself here and
everything. I’ve got to learn Swahili. Not too many people speak English
here. I found that out last night when I came back from having a Coke with
Sara and the doors to the house were all locked up. The house boy was able
to let me into the landing but Altaf had gone off somewhere and locked the
doors to the interior. The house boy doesn’t know any English, and I hardly
know any Swahili so we just sort of stood there. I had to wait for about 15
minutes until one of Altaf’s co-workers came upstairs (the shop is right
below us) to let me in. I’ll be getting my own set of keys today I think.

It’s so hot here! It took me forever to get to sleep last night. The fact
that they live on the main street that runs through town doesn’t help much
either. I suppose I’ll get used to the noise eventually. The town has
approxmiately 40,000 people. You can walk just about anywhere you need to
go. Still, Altaf tells me to take the car out whenver I want. I think it
may be awhile before I feel comfortable doing that. Fortunately, this town
is nothing like Nairobi. There aren’t that many cars so there isn’t the
insane traffic that Nairobi has. In fact, there’s probably only one car
that drives down this main street every one or two minutes. It’s pretty
slow around here. I think I’m going to like it once I find something that I
like to do. Sara said I could even teach computers at the Catholic school.
Wouldn’t that be funny? Me, teaching computer? Altaf has always told me,
“Just come here as if you’re coming for a vacation and go from there.”
That’s so hard for me to do. I’ve got to be busy doing stuff. I may go
down to the store with him in a little while and see how that runs. His
family owns that store, plus a gas stations, plus all sorts of other stuff.
Everyone knows them here. Okay, I’m going to get going now. I want be able
to write every single day because they have to dial up Dar es Salaam long
distance and it can start to add up. I’ll try and keep every body updated
though.
 
 

Laura

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>++I know most of them, but what's "mchana?"

Afternoon.

>
> > Habari za
> > jioni? Habari za nyumbani? Salama. Hamjambo? Mambo? (slang, means
>what’s
> > up?). And I know a couple of ways to say thank you and I can ask for
>maji
> > baridi (cold water) or for maji moto for a bath. I can ask for the cho
>and
> > how much something costs. I can ask someone to repeat what they said.
>
>++++Sema tena pole pole???
Repeat it again slowly.

>
> > But
> > I definitely can not carry on a conversation.
> >
> > Feel free, in fact please, write to me at PO Box 92, Bukoba, Tanzania.
>
>++++Oh thank you so very, very, very much!!! We have been having major
>computer
>problems (which is why you haven't heard from us much lately), and one of
>the
>things to go belly up is the email program, so I don't have that email
>where you
>gave everyone your address--and it isn't in your file, either, at least not
>that
>I've located so far. I have some tapes (Prairie Home Companion) to send to
>you
>
> > Or,
> > if you need to get ahold of me very quickly you can send a fax to
> > 011-255-66-20508. That would be during working hours. During the day
>(my
> > day, your night) you can probably reach me at 20272. In the evenings
>you
> > can get ahold of me by calling Altaf’s place 20508. If someone is home,
> > they’ll answer. If they’re not home it’ll go over to the fax (or maybe
>the
> > answering machine. Altaf is trying to figure out a good system for when
> > each piece of technology is plugged in.)
> >
> > I love you all and miss you! I took a walk along the lake shore this
> > evening. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to stroll down to the lake.
> > Lake Victoria is so big that it actually has tides. I got a little
> > homesick.
>
>++++I'll be over on the next boat!!
>
Yeah!!!!!!
> >
> >
> > Laura
> >
> > ______________________________________________________
> > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>

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Tues. September 21, 1999
Dear everybody,
Today I worked on the computer a bunch. I was getting letter together to
give to all the people who have given donations to the Jaipur Foot Project
in the past. The next camp starts in just one week and we have so much to
do. The scary thing for me is that I don’t really know what to do. I have
to be held by the hand every step of the way.

This evening I took a walk down to the Lake. On the way back a young girl,
probably just a couple years younger than me, came up behind me and we
started “talking.” I managed to tell her my name, ask her her’s, tell her
where I am from, and she told me that she is from Zambia. Interesting huh?
So I was feeling pretty good about myself. I almost carried on a
conversation. We walked most of the way into town together. Then I went to
the little grocery store just a block from my place. I’m completely moved
in now so I needed to go get some breakfast food and what not.

Tomorrow I’ve got to go deliver more letters. A lot of them we weren’t
able to get to today and then before the shop closed Hussein gave me a bunch
more names to add to the list. So tonight I had to figure out how to make
additions to the whole thing after the merge had been made. I’m learning
more about computers than I thought I would. I’ll also be using Excel a
bunch. I really don’t like that program. Right after work tomorrow I have
a meeting with some Mr. Parmar who’s a really important guy for Jaipur. I
guess he donates a lot of money and is something like a chairperson. Then
at 8pm I’m teaching English to a 17 yr old girl whom I’ve never met before.
It’s Hussein’s sister.

Gotta go now. I have to eat dinner and get back to my house.

Laura
 

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Wednesday sept 22, 1999
Boy was today a sort of busy day. I did a lot of sitting around in between
moments of extreme action. This morning Hussein and I went around to
deliver more request for donations letters. I’ve been forced to become a
salesperson. I’m not good at it. It reminds me of highschool marching band
fundraisers where I had to go door-to-door begging. The guys here are so
business oriented that it’s not big deal for them. Altaf is always talking
about how he’s constantly wheeling and dealing. That is not my style at all
but it’s now being forced upon me. The other big thing I did today was
clean out the building that the project will be held in. It was so
filthy!!! I can’t believ how much dirt can build up in a building that is
all closed up. I think the dirt on the floor and shelves must have been an
inch thick. It was amazing. So, Altaf and Hussein sent me off with one of
the workers from the shop and another lady who lives right by the building
met us there. The guys expected that I would just oversee the job. I had
mentioned something earlier about getting really dirty and they were sort of
shocked that I would even consider helping in that way. When there I made
sure and get as dirty and sweaty as the other people helping out. I even
took off my shoes and trudged around the floor in a half inch of filthy
water. It was great! When I came back I had to hurry and clean myself up
and change my clothes for a meeting with the spokeman for Jaipur. The
meeting went very well and I’m feeling a little more content about the whole
project. Today at lunch I had to confide in Altaf that I am not good at
taking on a project and making it my own. Especially when you don’t know
the important people to know and you don’t know either Swahili or Hindi, it
makes it very difficult. I came to Africa assuming that I would just sort
of be helping out with paperwork or menial tasks. Now I actually have a
title. I’m introduced as Project Coordinator. Woohoo!! Impressive eh?

In just a little bit I’m going to tutor English. We don’t have any of the
books yet so I’m not sure how hard we’ll be working. I’m tutoring Hussein’s
little sister and while I’m over there I think he’s going to show me a
Jaipur video from the last camp they had here.

Tomorrow is an incredibly busy day. We have so many people to contact and
arrangements to figure out. We’re planning a big huge dinner and we’re just
now checking to see if the building is available. If it is then we’ve got
to print of invitations right away and have them ready to deliver on Friday.

Hopefully I’ll sleep well tonight. It usually takes me a while to fall
asleep because every keeps their radios on so loud. And in the mornings I’m
woken up at 5am to the call to prayer at the mosque, and again around 6am
when everyone else wakes up, turns on their radios and starts talking VERY
LOUDLY!!! Maybe I should just dig out my earplugs.

Laura

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[email protected]

Yes, I’m alive. I’m okay. Just bad connections.
We have been having problems getting online. Please forward this to
everybody.
 

Thurs. Sept 23, 1999
11:45am
I’m sure that the electricity will go off any minute now. We’re currently
having a huge thunderstorm. It’s the beginning of the short rainy season
here. Last night I went to bed thinking, “It hasn’t rained in about three
days.” Then early this morning I woke up to thunder and pouring down rain.
It stopped raining for a couple of hours between 8:30 and 11 but it’s
started up again. In fact, I just saw lightning. I love the weather here!
Well, as long as I’m dry and inside, I love the weather.

Today I went off to try and arrange for a meeting hall to have the big
Jaipur presentation/dinner at. I got shuffled from person to person and
then told that the person I really need to talk to isn’t there. Then about
an hour after I got back to the office, one of the workers came in and said
that he had been able to book it . . . by talking to the first guy I was
referred to. This is Africa!! Also today I’m supposed to go talk with a
guy in charge of a local handicap association about transportation for all
the clients. He also has the list of all the people who will be returning
to receive the limbs they were measured for last time. Unfortunately, Mr.
Raza Fazal, the head-hauncho guy, had his luggage stolen on his return trip
from seeing his son, Altaf, graduate. He had all of the most current
information on the project so now we’re sort of scrambling around to find
copies of certain things, lists of people, (i.e. who will actually be at the
project) etc. The U.S. seems to me like a land of extreme organization. We
have a system for everything, back up everything we do with several copies,
. . . not so here. I can’t believe that this whole event begins in just 4
days. Scary! I know everything will come together, but at this point it
doesn’t seem like it. In the States, if you haven’t booked a building about
a month in advance you’re way behind.
1:30pm……..It’s still raining.
 

Friday sept 24, 1999
I had a really horrible afternoon yesterday but today is going much
smoother. I was so frustrated yesterday because I feel as though I’m
expected to know everything about the project, and everyone in this town.
I’m not given a lot of direction or explanation for anything. It makes me
look like an idiot because I have to constantly ask simple questions like,
“Where is the Red Cross?” or, “This guy that I’m supposed to ask for a
donation from, what is his name?” I think that in the States people
overexplain everything and I’m so used to it. We’re so concerned with
making sure that every detail is taken care of and that everyone knows what
is going on. So anyway, I was very upset yesterday by the time the work
day was over. I went on a really long walk to try and get some of my pent
up energy out.

Now we’re on lunch break. I love this country for that! It would never
work in the U.S. because we’re way to driven. Everyone goes to work, works
hard then comes home in the evening. Here it seems like you never really
leave work or home behind. Life isn’t so compartmentalized here I guess.

Sun. Sept 26, 1999
This e-mail just keeps growing because I haven’t been able to get on-line.
I’m not sure what the problem is, but neither I, nor Altaf have been able to
connect for the past three days. Hopefully no one is too incredibly
worried. (I’m sure no one has even noticed.)

So anyway, let me tell you about the past 2 days. Friday night, right
before closing, a mzungu girl walked in and asked if I was Laura. She had
heard that I was in town and wanted to meet me. She went to Uof O. Cool
eh? Then she took me next door to this little café where a whole bunch more
wazungu were. Many are Peace Corps volunteers, others are with other
organizations. And while we were all sitting there, Sarah, the girl I met
my first night here, strolled into town. She had just gotten back from
spending a week at the largest refugee camp for Rwandan and Burundian
refugees. One of the guys I met there looks exactly like a cross between my
cousin Joe, and a friend from Linfield named Dave. On Saturday I went with
the Catholic Secretarial School Sarah works at to their sister school in
Mugana. It’s the same place where I went to the hospital early this past
week. Anyway, our transport was a small lorry. So, 24 girls were squished
into the back of this uncomfortable, hot lorry for about 1 ½ hours. Once we
reached Mugana we had a great time. We danced! They even got me out there
and were quite impressed when I showed them that I could wiggle butt just
like them. Those African dance classes paid off. We spent the whole
afternoon there, had a picnic, made up little skits, dance some more, drank
lots of soda and ate candy. The trip back was horrible. The dust was
really kicking up and just pouring into the back. Sarah and I were nearly
as dark as the other girls when we got back to town. And, it was an even
more uncomfortable ride than the way there. I think I have bruises all over
my butt and my back. I haven’t looked yet. After getting back I went home
and showered. I had hot water!!!! It was so exciting! Then I hired a
pikipiki (motorcycle) to take me up the hill to a small village where one of
the Peace Corps girls lives. She was having a get-together up there because
that village was hosting the Independence torch (every year the country
celebrates its independence by sending a torch around to many different
regions) that night and it was going to be a huge party. There was music
and dancing, food and lots of people. I was having a great time until people
started getting really drunk and it was a bit too uncomfortable for me.
Guys would grab you as you walk by and say, “I want you!” in Swahili. This
old guy came up and started talking to me and Maryelana. He was holding my
hand and just really being gross. If I knew the language situations like
that wouldn’t be so uncomfortable for me. There were four of us who went,
Maryelana, Leah, Dave, and myself. We all slept over and Maryelana’s place.
I woke up about 3am just sicker than a dog. It was awful. So, I had my
first vomiting experience in Tanzania. I felt terrible because I hardly
knew these people, I had earlier screwed up here sink, and learned that the
toilet does’t flush unless you add water to the tank. I had messed up her
house so much and then I pucked . . . in the kitchen sink, because I
wouldn’t have made it to the bathroom. Good story eh! On our walk down the
hill to town I felt horrible. I’m starting to feel better now. I don’t
know if it was the meat I ate for lunch yesterday, water, or this stuff I
shared with all the volunteers earlier that evening. But hey, I’ve got to
build up my immunity some how.

When we all got into town I took them to show my place and then we went to
the market. I bought myself some fruit, flip flops, and a kanga (those
pieces of material that the ladies always wear.) It’ll become curtains I
think. This evening I supposedly going over to this one girl’s house that I
met yesterday from the school. Her father is actually Altaf’s driver.

Tues Sept 28, 1999
Today was the first day of the camp. I guess it went okay. The technicians
from Nairobi had problems getting here and ended up spending the night last
night in Kampala, Uganda. I guess the bus transfers didn’t work out like
they expected. So, they didn’t get here until mid-morning. Of course
people were already showing up at the building so I had to go on over there
(with someone to translate) and start taking down information for new
patients. After lunch the technicians finally met up with us. It was a
frustruating afternoon though because so much information from the previous
camps has been lost. We couldn’t find a list anywhere of who was to be
receiving limbs. I think we’ll have everything figured out by tomorrow
though. The technicians are both really nice guys. On our walk back this
evening one of them, that I had met when I was in Nairobi, said that he knew
within the first few minutes of meeting me that I would be someone who would
be a big help. That made me feel good because so far I don’t feel as though
I’ve really helped a whole lot.

Sorry this e-mail is so long!
Laura
 

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Oswaldo and Jessica are getting married?! When is the wedding?

How was hunting? Who all went? Did you shoot anything? How many points?

Now, don’t forget to record family get-togethers so you can send them to me
like everyone did when we lived in Kenya. I’ve only sent a couple tapes
home from here because they are so expensive to mail. It’s about $5 per
tape. It’s crazy! And when you think that I’m making 500 shillings per
tutoring session (that’s about $.60) it’s a good example of the economy
here. Things that people need a lot, like food, seem to be priced according
to peoples’ budgets, but things like mailing packages, or long-distance
phone calls (things that people don’t need) it is very expensive. Sending
one letter is equivalent to the price in the states so that’s nice.

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[email protected]

If you are back from hunting:

Hey, do you guys think you could call me on Sunday evening? Actually, my
Sunday evening would be your Sunday morning. Altaf and I can’t seem to
figure out exactly what the time difference is. Could you call me when you
get home from church? I think that would be about 9 or 10pm my time.
Anyway, I’ll just be hanging out here from about 8pm to 11pm. I’ll read a
book or something. So, the number is 255-066-20508

I really hope this will work out. I figure it’s been one month. I deserve
to hear your voices. Oh! I got the tapes in the mail today. I was so
excited!!!!!

Laura

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Woohoo!!! I got online!!!!!

Thursday sept 30, 1999
I can’t believe that it’s almost October! Holy cow this month has gone by
fast. I’m typin in the cdark as there is no electricity righ tnow. Altaf
has a lap top. Yeah! Work was okay today. It’s great to see peoples
faces light up when they are able to walk again after years of crwaling or
being on terrible crutches. I can’t see the key board to backspace. Sorry.

I had to take a walk after work to clear my head. I stood at the lake shore
and cried for a bit. Then I felt better. I admitted to myself that I think
I may be homesick. I miss organization. I really miss organization. I
never realized how organized we are as a society. And the fact that I am so
incredibly anal makes this even more difficult. But I’m learning.

There was a huge storm this morning. I don’t think I have ever been in a
rain sotrm that huge. It was amazing. The water poured into my kitchen and
dining room areas. Fortunateily there’s a bit of a lip at the door into the
living area so it’s not wet. But it rained so hard that my lights outside
were shattered. Ive got to go see about trying to fix them. We
Ll see how that goes. Oops. Bad boo boo.

So, I’ll write again when I can see better.

I love you all. Thank you Mom for telling m thaat you pray for me
constantly. I felt rerally good when I read that. Actually, I cried a bit.
But it’s just because I love you somuch and I miss everyone back home.

Fri. Oct. 1
I had a pretty good day today. I stayed the whole day at the project site
and didn’t leave for lunch. I had rice and meat with everyone else. I even
attempted to use my hands but most of the rice ends up on my shirt. For me
it’s kind of fun to try. For everyone else I’m sure it’s hilarious.

Altaf’s engagement was officially announced today. I wasn’t around at the
shop when the phone calls and everything came because I was at the project
but they did bring us ice cream so we could share in the celebration. Now
I’m going to run over to my friend, Sabah’s, house. If they don’t see me
for two days they miss me terribly. So they say. Then after tutoring
tonight Aliabbas, this guy whose been helping at the project, is going to
come meet me at my place. We may go out. I’m not sure what we’re doing.
But it’s so nice to have friends here. People always think I’m lonely but I
tell them I’m always busy and I’ve got people to visit. Abbas invited me to
come with him and his father on Sunday for an outing. I’ll have to find out
if I’m working in the afternoon to set up for the main dinner/presentation
in the evening.

Sat. Oct 2
Overall today was a great day. We closed up early today at the project and
myself and AliAbbas went with the doctors to their hotel to sit and visit.
We all sat out in this courtyard, drank sodas, and talkd for nearly 2 hours.
And I laughed! It was great. I actually understand a sort of inside
joke. Cool eh? Then after that I went with Aliabbas to his place and we
watched some TV, then I met up with Sara and went for a soda. We hung out
at her place for a bit and I met this guy named Micky. I had to come type
up some certificates of appreciation for the presentation tomorrow night so
now I’m at Altaf’s. I thought before I went on home I’d check e-mail.
Hopefully I can get on. Tomorrow morning I’m going with Sara to church and
then I might go with Abbas and the dr.’s on an outing, just a drive through
the surrounding hills. Hopefully I get back before Hussein and Altaf start
freaking out about whether or not I’ll make it back in time to help set up.

Sun. Oct 3
Well, I didn’t get to take a nap today and I didn’t get to go out on the
outing we had talked about yesterday. I went to the early mass with Sara
this morning so I was up at 6:30. When I got home I was all prepared to
take a nap when all of a sudden I got a knock at the door. Abbas was here
to visit. I wasn’t a very good host though. Then Abdula, the driver, came
up saying that Hussein needed me right then. Ever since then I’ve been busy
running around town and out of town, writing stuff up and printing it off.
I managed to get my laundry done in between printings though and since I’m
at home I was able to get a warm shower this afternoon. The doctor’s just
stopped by to visit. That was quite the surprise. Whenever anyone stops by
it’s always a surprise.

Tues. Oct 5
The presentation was pretty much horrible but I don’t tell anyone that.
It’s so weird here . . . nothing can ever be bad or disappointing. Everyone
always says that everything is great. But in reality, it really sucked.
The spokesman for the project, who actually never helps out with anything,
made me get up and present without even asking me beforehand. So, there’s
all these people sitting there in the audience and he goes, “And now Laura
will present the equipment to some of the patients. Laura?” I was stunned.
We had already planned it that the doctors would do the presenting. I was
so upset with that man but I did my best. People all say I did great.
Should I believe them? After cleaning up, Abbas came over and we went for a
short walk. He told me that someone had said I was like an angel speaking
up on stage. Oh give me a break!
The doctors left early this morning to return to Nairobi. I sort of got to
know them well and became friends over the week. They’ve said that if I’m
back in Nairobi for Christmas I can come to the project there and help out.
That would be so great because it would be really organized. But when I do
see them again, things will be a little weird I think. Last night myself,
and another lady who helped a lot at the project, went to their hotel to
hang out and say goodbye. The doctors drank a few too many beers I think.
Their English was getting worse and worse and more and more vague. But I
definitely understood when the older dr. suggested I just stay over instead
of going home. Oh I was so grossed out and so uncomfortable. I totally
shut up and hardly said another word. I don’t think that the other dr. and
Shelina realized what had happened. This afternoon it’s still hard for me
to believe that that happened. He was such a cool, intelligent, old enough
to be my father (and mature) man. Alcohol affects people very strongly here
I think. I’ve been thinking a lot about whether or not to tell anyone about
this. There’s really no need to. But I think I will be very, very careful
about who and where I’m hanging out. I don’t think I did anything
culturally unacceptable by going to their place because they are both
married, I was with a friend, and we know each other on a professional
level. If something like this happened with, say my friend Abbas, or one
of my friend Sabah’s brothers, I would be to blame because they are single,
and young, and we know each other as friends rather than co-workers or
something. Okay, enough about that subject. I feel much better now for
getting that out.
Love,
Laura

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Thurs October 7, 1999

Mom, what’s up with our Bible readings? I just realized that after October
5 or something the dates started over with October 1. And did you also
notice that there was a reading assigned for sept. 31??

I’m really looking forward to the next few days. I think I’ll have a good
time. Tomorrow morning I’m traveling out to Mugeza Primary School, where
all the students are handicapped. We’re compiling a list of all the
children there with clubfoot. That will be fun because I like dealing with
kids. I was out there last weekend too to pick up a girl and I had such a
good time. Then Friday evening I’m going to a Wazungu party at one of the
Peace Corps Volunteers houses. To go to any of their places is an outing in
itself. They all live in the surrounding villages in the hills so you’re
looking at at least a 45 minute walk. This party is a potlatch. I’m making
curried lentils. We’ll see how they turn out. I know I can make them in
the States but here it might be a different story.

On Saturday I think I’m going to cook spaghetti for my friend Abbas and his
father. They’ve fed me dinner the last two nights in a row. But I can’t
buy ground meat here so I’ll have to borrow a grinder from someone to make
the sauce. I’m pretty sure I can find tomato sauce here. If all else fails
they have really runny ketchup that would probably work. It’s not really
sweet like in the States so that helps.

Sunday I’m got two choices. I can either go on a picnic with Sabah and her
family or go on an outing into the countryside with Abbas and his father. I
should go on the picnic because they asked me a long time ago to pick a date
that worked for me, some time when I wasn’t really busy. Since weekdays are
pretty much out of the question, and Sabah has school on Saturday, it’ll
have to be on a Sunday.

I’m getting to where I can predict the weather here. If we go about two
days without rain and then I wake up on the third day and it’s really warm,
I know it will rain around 10am. Today it did just that.

This evening I’m going on a long walk with Sabah to an area of Bukoba called
Kashai. They have an open air market there, sort of like in Kitale where
all the people would have their clothing and vegetables to sell just laying
out on the ground.

I’m babysitting a Trek mountain bike right now. Dave, one of the Peace
Corps volunteers whose house we’re having the Wazungu party at, came into
town yesterday and then ended up staying too long. He can’t ride back in
the dark so he left it at my place and took a taxi up the hill. I think I
might just have to take myself out for a little joy ride before he comes
back to pick it up. Oh speaking of bikes, how did mine do on the hunting
trip? Isn’t that what it was being used for?

Fri Oct 8, 1999
Well, Mugeza is out. The video guy that was going to go up there with me
and help translate had a family member die so he couldn’t go today. I guess
we’ll do it on Monday. I’m supposed to be scanning photographs today onto
the computer but I can’t figure out the system, the scanner is being testy
and Hussein has not had time to help me figure it all out. Basically I’ve
done nothing so far today. I did pick up some photos that I dropped off
yesterday to be developed. They’re horrible quality. I’m really
disappointed. I’m not in a good mood today. I wasn’t last night either.
Hopefully I’ll have a good time tonight and then be in a better mood
tomorrow.

I called Partage and talked to a lady about helping out and doing volunteer
work. She’s going to call me Tues. morning next week so we can plan to meet
and discuss things. She said that she might be able to take me out to the
villages with her. That would be fun. I really want to do something,
anything. I can’t go on day after day like this, being frustruated, getting
nothing accomplished, feeling rather useless. They want me to work in the
shop downstairs but all that would entail is just sitting at the counter and
taking money. I think I should plan on visiting Tylers soon. Maybe they
could put me to work for a bit.

Mon. Oct 11, 1999
I had a pretty good weekend. Friday night we had a wazungu party with some
Peace Corps volunteers and various other people. It was a lot of fun. I
attempted to buy and make curried lentils but I soon found out that what I
bought were not lentils. They were some other sort of legume thing. But it
worked. It wasn’t nearly as good as the lentils I make in the States but oh
well. Dave told everyone that we were going to have falafel so everyone was
really excited. But it wasn’t really falafel. It was like chick pea flour
fritters. Oh well. We can’t have everything in life.
One really interesting thing that occurs a lot here is that the toilets and
water don’t always work. For example, this house we were at Friday night,
they only have water for about one hour out of the day. So there’s buckets
of stored up water all over the house. You don’t dare flush the toilet
until it’s absolutely, positively needed. We all get to know each other
quite well.
Saturday we all came back into town and went out separate directions. I
fixed spaghetti that night for Abbas and his father. The way I cooked was
so weird to him. First he couldn’t understand why I wasn’t boiling the
ground meat, then he was astonished when he saw how much water I used for
the pasta, “It’ll never soak up all that water!! You’re using way to
much!” as if I was cooking rice or something. It was funny.
Sunday I hung out at my place most of the day. I put on shorts and a tank
top to feel like an American. I brought all these tank tops with me but I
can’t wear them here . . . only in my own house or at another mzungu’s
place. I did my laundry, cut up the most delicious pineapple that I had
been letting ripen, cleaned my toilet and shower. And then Dave came by to
pick up his bike and visit. Then while he was there, Maryellena stopped by.

Tues. Oct 12
Reaal quick!!! I'm leaving otmorow morning for safari to Ngara area near
Rwanda. I just foun d out this afternoon so I'm totally busy getting all of
the Jaipur info that I need to take with me and inform al of my other
committements that I won't be there for about five days. I think we'll get
back on Sunday. It's a great opporutnity to see the country so I'm excited
abut that. I'm not so excited about having to be all business like with the
NGO's. I'm sure it'll be great. Love you all.!
Laura

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Thurs. Oct 21, 1999

Today is another national holiday. Mon. was also a holiday and Saturday
will be as well. It’s all because of the death of Nyerere who they call the
Father of the Nation. I think it’s hit the news in the States but I’m not
sure how big. I know Madeline Albright has come to Tanzania along with
dignitaries from all over the world. Here in Tanzania is it an insanely
huge deal. 24hrs a day for the past week there has been Nyerere stuff on
TV, his old speeches, people given speeches about him, choirs singing songs
of mourning, children praising him, etc. etc. And the radio is also
constantly playing these songs about how great of a man he was and how much
he will be missed. I’ve heard them enough that I can almost sign along and
I hardly know the language.

My students I tutor English too weren’t going to be around last night and I
knew there was nothing to be done today so after work last night I got
inspired to go on a very long walk. I went up to Ihungo which is a
secondary school where some volunteers work. You can take the road straight
up out of town or you can go the back way through village area and little
tiny paths. It takes nearly one hour to get there. So, by the time you’re
up there you pretty much have to decide to spend the night if you’re on
foot. I panicked when I got there though. It was about 6:15pm and as I
walked up to their door I saw the padlock. I was like, “Oh no!” I didn’t
know what I was going to do because I couldn’t walk back down. It would be
dark in about 20 minutes. But as I was walking next door to ask the
neighbors if they knew where the guys were Jazz came walking up. Jazz is a
volunteer from England. He is such a hoot! He was telling us these stories
last night and I was laughing so hard. His time here is up in December
though. His roommate is David who’s a Peace Corps volunteer from the Ohio.
He teaches geography. He’s still got another year here. The nice thing
about them living up on a hill is that the walk down to town doesn’t take
nearly as long as the walk up.

In the evening. . .
I had such a fun day! I had arranged with Sabah’s family to learn how to
make matoke today. Matoke is a traditional dish that’s very very popular.
It’s made from unripe bananas that you boil and then add beans and meat and
other stuff. I really like it. Anyway, before the market closed this
afternoon (another Nyerere thing. If anything is open it closes early) to
buy the bananas and all the other things. Then this afternoon I went over
to their house and I learned how to make matoke and these other pastry type
things that are of course fried. Everything here is fried. I spent all
afternoon there. Before coming home I played some jump rope games with
everyone and we of course took lots of pictures. It’s nearly 7pm now.

Fri. Oct 22, 1999
My stove has not worked most of the week. I have a small stove that is
portable and just plugs in. I think the problem is the outlet in my wall
and not the stove itself because a fundi already took it to his place to
look at it and says it works fine. But when they brought it back to check
the connection in my house my electricity was out. Hopefully today he’ll
come back. Supposedly he’s coming this morning. It’s a hassle to not have
the stove mostly because I can’t boil water. Then I have to bring water
bottles over to Altaf’s and fill them up.

Oh hey, get this. Altaf’s houseboy took off the other day with the neighbor
house boy and 91,000 shillings. No one has seen them. Abdalla’s stuff is
still all in his room upstairs but the guy next door took everything with
him. We’re expecting Abdalla to come back when they run out of money but
the other guy probably won’t be seen ever again since he’s the one who
actually stole all that money.

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I love you all and miss you! Thanks for all the e-mails. I should let you
know that htis is the fist time in two weeks that I have been able to get on
line. I've been on about 1 hour. Altaf will freak when he gets the phone
bill.

Stuff like web sites and pictures, attachemtns, etc. I'm not able to view
those.

But, it easier for me to view one long message rather than several short
ones. So keep a running log like I have to do. then all I have to do is
save as and copy it to word.

Love you! Thanks
Laura

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I was just wondering if you guys are printing off and saving all my e-mails.
I think I may have said something about it once before but I’m not sure.
I think it would be great to be able to put together a scrapbook/journal
when I get home.

I’m almost out of pages in this year’s journal. I’ll have to go and find
myself a good daftari and then somehow attach it to the one I’ve got now so
it will be more like one journal. I hate breaking up the year into
different books you know?

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Sun. Oct 24, 1999

The last two days have been incredibly hot with hardly a cloud in the sky.
I made tentative plans to go swimming today but I really thought it would
end up raining. It didn’t, so I went swimming in Lake Victoria for the
first time. The water felt so good. It’s nothing like the refreshing
sensation you have when you jump into the Oregon coast. I went with a bunch
of girls that were a bit younger than me (all Tanzanian) and a couple little
brothers. I had a good time except there were too many guys who had to come
investigate. There was a crowd of people just sitting there watching me.
It’s so irritating at times. Altaf tells me I should take is as a
compliment. That’s really hard to do.

Yesterday evening I cooked dinner and Altaf, David and Maryellana all came
over. We had a good time. I made chapatis, lentil type things and potatoes
and carrots. They all like the food and there was hardly a spoonful left
when we were finished. I was glad.

I figured out what I will be for Halloween. I’m going to be a stupid
American tourist. I figure I could put together a good costume using my
sunglasses, camera and hippack. It’ll be an interesting party because there
will be people there who we all consider wazungu but some are Japanese and a
majority aren’t even American. I’m not sure how big Halloween is in Europe.

Saturday morning I went to Mugeza Primary school. It’s a school for
handicapped children. We were wanting to find those children who have club
foot so that when this American doctor comes in December to do surgery he’ll
already know who the cases are. We had a good time with the kids. They sang
us a couple of songs and we all sat together to drink sodas. The people who
went were myself, the driver, his daughter Sabah, Sara and Maryellana.

Mon. Oct 25
I may get to get a bit dirty today. I get to go with some of the workers to
pick up loads of cement and goods from the ship in Kimundo. Altaf goes, “Do
you have shorts?” I’m like, “Well, yes but I hardly ever wear them.” And
he said, “Well you’ll get to wear them today.” I go, “They’ll let me
help?!” (Because no one ever lets me do anything physical here.) and he
said yes and that I’ll be getting very dirty. Yeah!

This afternoon I’m going to a meeting with Leah, a Peace Corps volunteer,
with some people who are interested in having missionaries come to this part
of the world or at least set up some sort of partnership with churches
overseas. Leah thought I might be interested in coming to see what they’re
all about. It’s something like a split-off from the Lutheran church.
Anyway, it may be interesting.

Love,
Laura

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Okay, October is almost over. Mom, when November starts I'm going to start
reading the Bible in the correct order okay? Will you be reading with me?

I actually found part of Zephaniah ch. 3 to be comforting this morning. I
think it was verse ... oh I can't reember. But it's about God being our
safety or something. Nice.

I love you guys!

Laura

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Woohoo!!!! Congratulations!!! I"m so happy for you guys. YOu are always
in my prayers.
Love,
laura
 

>From: Jim & Linda Stuller <[email protected]>
>To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
>"acefirst" <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected],
> [email protected], <[email protected]>, [email protected],
>[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
>[email protected], [email protected],
>[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
>[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
>[email protected], [email protected],
>[email protected], [email protected]
>Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 20:46:48 -0700
>
>To all of my wonderful family,
> I am writing my first E-mail to tell all of you(without runing up my
>dad's phone bill) that Ryan Sinks asked me to marry him on sunday. Ryan and
>I first started dating dating in may of 1995. We are so far planing on
>having a May wedding this coming year. Invitations will be coming out
>hopefully in March. If you have not met Ryan yet, I'm happy to tell you
>that he's going to fit in our family just fine(that could be good or bad
>depending on how you look at it). Anyway you will love him.
>
> Love, Sarah Stuller Matthias

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Thurs. October 28, 1999

Am I right in assuming that the U.S. is now in non-daylight savings time?
If so, then that means if it’s 9am here, which it is right now, then it’s
10pm there (well, in Oregon anyway.)

Today I’m going to be working on the computer pretty much all day filling in
numbers. Woohoo! We started this system to keep track of the accounts at
the Petrol station but when we first designed it we just typed in the stuff
that was totally necessary at that point. Now that we have the system set
up I have to go back in enter every single little transaction. Woopie! But
hey, at least I’ll be busy.

Sara and I were discussing the Halloween party yesterday and we realized
that we somehow needed to get a message to the guys up at Ihungo, where the
party will be. It’s a good 45min-1hr walk and to do that after work and get
back in to town before dark would be nearly impossible. I figured I’d get a
ride with Rutta, who works at the shop and has a pikipiki, at least part of
the way and then hurry the rest of the way and hopefully get a lifty on the
way down. But last night as I was walking home from Abbas’s place I
realized that he has a car. Duh! So, this evening after work we’re going
to go out for a drive and he’ll take me by Ihungo so I can deliver the
message that David needs to make beans. All that work for such a small
message.

We haven’t had rain in over a week which is very strange. Each day we keep
saying, “Oh, it’s got to rain tomorrow,” but it doesn’t. It’s clouded over
a few times just to tease us but finally now we’re getting a little bit of
thunder.

Evening. . .
I just got back from taking a pikipiki up the hill to Ihungo. My “ride”
showed up 45min. late and then told me that he couldn’t take me today. I
was sort of upset because I needed to get these messages up to David in time
for him to prepare. So I puttered around town to see if I knew anyone with
a car or saw someone who might be passing that way. I couldn’t find anyone
and by then there was absolutely no way I could walk up. So I hired a
motorcycle taxi to take me up there and back. It’s always an adventure to
take one of those. But this time was much better than the first time I took
one. At least now I know enough Kiswahili to tell them exactly where I need
to go and exactly how much I will pay them. My hands still feel all cramped
up from holding on to the bike so tightly. Abbas offered to take me up
tomorrow but by then it would have been to late for David to go by beans.
(These beans are very important. Can you tell? &#61514;) And besides, I
needed a little adventure after entering numbers into a computer all day
long.

Love,
Laura

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Dear Mom, Jim and Sarah,

Here’s a few things I’ve been writing about the verses we’ve been reading.
Go ahead and pass this one to people if you want. It’s just a little food
for thought . . . or maybe some insight into what’s going on in my head
these days. I love you guys so much! I wrote this letter to Grandpa and
Grandma Courtney the other day and in it I was talking about how diligent I
have been about letting people know that I care about them. Besides missing
home and all, I think it’s because my walk with God was strengthened so much
this summer and I’ve realized that God’s blessings are huge. All he asks of
us is to love Him with all our heart, and soul and mind and also to love
others. How can we avoid that command?! So, I love you guys. You are in
my prayers every day. I thank God for bringing each of you into my life (or
in the case of the one who gave birth to me, I thank God for bringing me
into your life) and I also ask God to give you safety and PEACE! (Peace has
become a big thing for me lately.)

Sun. Oct 24, 1999
“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and
to walk humbly with our God.” Micha 6:8

&#61623; God’s forgiveness and his unconditional love are amazing gifts. I
can not even begin to express His blessings upon me. And what does He
expect in return? . . .simply for me to be loving and understanding. God is
amazing?

“Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.” Micah 7:8

“’I am against you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Nahum 2:13

&#61623; Thank you Dear God for sending Jesus to die on the cross for us.
As a Christian I believe that you want the best for everyone no matter their
position in life. You love all people. But glory to You for promising to
always be with me if I walk humbly and faithfully with You.

Tues. Oct. 26, 1999
“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save, He will take great
delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you
with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

&#61623; How wonderful to know that God finds delight in each of us. He
doesn’t just love us . . . he finds joy and delight in us. What a
comforting thought to imagine God “smiling” because of me!

Thurs. Oct 28, 1999
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her hear.”
“But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” Luke 2:19,51

&#61623; These verses are so beautiful to me. I’m not sure why. Perhaps
it’s because the image Ihave in my mind is of a mother so full of love for
her child. I think of my mom and try to imagine how she feels reading
those words.
 
 
 

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Brian sent this to me. I thought it was good.
>

Read carefully...then, just think about it...>
>I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and
>admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm
>spending more time with my family and friends and less time at work.>
>Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not>
>to
>endure. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them. I'm>
>not
>"saving" anything;> we use our good china and crystal for every special
>event
such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or the first
>Amaryllis blossom. I wear my good blazer to the market. My theory is if
>I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of
>groceries. I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing
>it for> clerks in the hardware store and tellers at the bank.
>"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my> vocabulary
>If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear
>and do it now.> I'm not sure what my cousins would've done had they known
>that
>they wouldn't be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted. I>
>think
>they would have called family members and a few close friends. They might
>have called a few
>former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I
>like to think> they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, or for
>whatever
>their favorite food was. I'm guessing; I'll never know. It's those little
>things left undone that would make me angry if I knew
>my hours were limited. Angry because I hadn't written certain
>letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that>
>I
>didn't tell my wife/husband and parents often enough how much I truly love
>them. I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything>
>that
>would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I
>open my eyes,I tell myself that it is special.
>Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift from
>God. If you received this it is because someone cares for you. If you're
>too busy to take the few minutes that it takes
>right now to forward this, would it be the first time you
>didn't do the little thing that would make a difference in your
>relationships? I can tell you it certainly won't be the last. Take a
>few minutes to send this to a few people you care about, just
>to let them know that you're thinking of them. "People say true friends
>must always hold hands, but true friends don't
>need to hold hands because they know the other hand will> always be there."
>Author unknown

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Fri. Oct 29, 1999
Oh gross!!
I just got a card in the mail today from one of the doctors from Nairobi.
Remember what happened that one night before they left? – that really awful
suggestion that one of the doctors had . .. .
Well, this card is from the other doctor so now I’ve got gross feelings
towards both of them

“Laura, Please accept my sincere greetings. It’s a long, long time since we
were together. Laura you know women need love as much as men need power. I
wish we are closer to one another so that we can try to share the above two.
I’m longing to seeing your beauty.

PS I won’t mind your photo.

With love”
 

Yuck! Weebie jeepies big time!!

Sat. Oct 30, 1999
I don’t know why but I am so terribly homesick this morning. I think I’m
just really tired of always being a little bit uncomfortable, always having
to keep my guard up every time I go outside and worrying about whether or
not I have a purpose each day. I long to just curl up on the couch with a
blanket and a cup of cocoa and watch a movie with people I know very well.
In the long run I know that this experience is going to make me a stronger
person and I’m going to learn to appreciate all the things God has given me.
So, if I keep that in mind I’m able to handle just

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I got your package today with all the e-mails, the tape, Certs and Bachelor
Buttons. Thank you very much! I’m really excited about getting the tapes
from hunting too!

So Mom, about our Bible readings, I started John today and I’m going to
follow the plan like it should be for the rest of the month. Are you on
John as well?

I know I asked you to save all my e-mails that I send home, but could you
just save them there for me rather than sending them to me. When I saw all
the e-mails in the package I was worried that they may be the only copies
and I don’t want to have to carry them back to the States with me. Did you
print off copies at home too? Or you could just save them on to a disk
entitle “Laura’s e-mails.” It’s just that I’m trying to limit the amount of
stuff that I have to bring back. I’m already thinking of who to give things
away too. Remember that skirt with the red flowers that I always wear? I
used to always borrow it when I was in highschool and then you finally gave
it to me. Anyway, there’s this one girl here who comments on how beautiful
it is every time I wear it. I think I may give it to her before I leave in
February. (But, let me know if you have any strong sentimental attachment
to it.)

Sarah, I would love to get a detailed account of how Ryan asked you to marry
him. Did he take you out to dinner? Was it over candlelight? What exactly
did he say? Was her super nervous? Did he get down on his knees? Etc. etc.

Oh, thanks for the recipes Mom. I printed them off last night. There’s
actually a dairy here where you can get some pretty good yogurt. It’s
runnier than in the US. You have to use a spoon and add sugar but it’s
pretty yummy all the same. Some times my morning walk just happens to pass
by that way so I can pick up a package.

Do you think you could call on Sunday? As far as I know I don’t have any
plans for this weekend. So, now there’s an 11 hr time difference right?
So, if you get home from church at about 10 or 10:30 (I’m assuming you go to
the early service) it would be 9:30 pm here. That works for me. I hope it
works for you. Make sure Jim is home this time. JIM BE HOME THIS TIME!
And if Grama or someone isaround, invite them over.

Okay, one other stupid, itsy bitsy, hope this doesn’t offend anyone request
. . . could you please make sure and not send Altaf anything unless it’s of
extreme importance. Today he mentioned something about receiving a couple
of e-mails from you guys and he was a little irritated by it. I have to
tiptoe around here at times . . . sometimes it reminds me of being 12years
old and living with a certain other man.

Speaking of that subject, Dad has sent me some of the coolest e-mails here.
A lot of it is advice, practical advice, on living in Africa. I’m excited
to get home and sit down to have a Coke with him.

I love you!!!!

Laura

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Oct 31, 1999
I had a great weekend. Saturday day was a little stressful trying to figure
out a ride up to Ihungo where the Halloween party was, but once we got there
we had such a great time. Altaf, Sara and I were the crowd who came up from
town. Later on some more people who I had never met before showed up. All
were from Europe. They were all in costume. It was so cool! Some of our
fellow Americans didn’t even dress up. What a bunch of party poopers. I
was dressed as a tourist and boy did I look like and idiot. Bright orange
and fuchisa plaid shorts, a bright orange tank top, tennis shoes and sports
socks, my camera around my neck, hip pack, sunglasses and a really goofy
looking straw hat. Sara dressed up as an Indian. She had some friends Hena
both her hands and then some other friends gave her clothing and did all her
hair and makeup. She looked awesome. The really cool thing about the party
was that so many different people came. There were people there in their
30-s and 40-s and a few couples who were even older, and from so many
different countries. There was pleanty of food and music and just hanging
out talking. It was such a great time. A few of us spent the night up
there and then walked down into town early this afternoon.

Marielana, Sara and I went and met some French people (a lady who works for
Partage and some people visiting her from France) and then all went to the
beach together. Helen (that’s the Partage lady) drove us out to this beach
just a few minutes out of town. None of us had been there before. We swam,
played frisbee, played catch, swam some more, built a sandcastle . . . oh it
was so nice! I am so relaxed now. I feel great.

Tomorrow morning I’m getting up early and hiking up the hill to Partage
(it’s the hill on the other side of town from the Ihungo hill). Since I was
able to meet Helen in person last night and then hang out with her today I
was able to make some headway in beginning to get involved with the program.
She just kept saying, “Karibu! Karibu sana!” (Welcome! You are very
welcome!) She says it’s pretty much up to me how involved I want to be.
So, instead of just calling her to find out the weekly schedule I’m going to
actually go up there and meet everyone in person while they’re planning the
schedule.

1st November, 1999
I can’t believe it’s November already. This year has flown by so fast. I
was just looking at an old Linfield College Bulletin that Altaf had laying
around. It included stories about graduation and that seems like just
yesterday. I can’t believe I’ve been out of college for six months. Wowee!

Altaf will be going to Dar es Salaam this week so I won’t have access to the
computer or e-mail for a while. But I don’t think he’s leaving until
Wednesday or Thursday.

Tomorrow I’m going with a lady from Partage to visit a couple of villages
and just get a feel of the program. Then on Wednesday a whole bunch of the
staff will be visiting one village for the whole day. They have these
scheduled meetings with each village perhaps every month or less. They’re
called Big Chai (Big tea) and everyone comes to the meeting…the elders,
teachers, children etc. I’m excited for that.

I have been feeling very guilty about not getting back to the principal at
Lake View Primary school. I had totally prepared myself mentally to call
him but then I realized it was a Saturday. So I waited all weekend and then
called him this morning. I apologized for not getting back to him sooner
and told him that I don’t think I will have the time to be completely
devoted to the kids. It wouldn’t be able to come consistently to teach so
I’m not sure how much good I’d do. He seemed understanding. I hope he’s
not really upset with me.

Yesterday I was having this conversation with Marielana and Sara about
flakiness. It seems like we all are experiencing these feelings like we’re
unreliable or don’t keep our word. None of us have ever felt this way until
coming to Africa. The really weird thing is that the Tanzanians are
horrible at being consistent and keeping their word. It’s just a part of
the culture. I think the problem is that we have easily followed the “When
in Rome” idea and perhaps people don’t expect wazungu to behave in such a
way. But actually, it’s not that we’re truly flaky or break our word . . .
the real problem, at least in my case, is that I tell people, “Maybe, maybe,
maybe” and they always take it to mean “yes.” Some Tanzanian friends are
always asking, “When we I see you again?” I say, “I don’t know for sure,”
but that’s not a good enough answer. So when I say, “Well, maybe Sunday
evening, but only if I’m back in town and I don’t have other work to do”
etc. etc. then they expect to see me. So many times I’ve gotten, “I waited
for you,” “I passed by your house,” “How come you didn’t come?” I feel like
such a jerk.

Love,
Laura

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