Passing the 6 months mark!

Wow, talking about getting caught up in time. Every update I write starts with an apology, but I must say that being disconnected from the internet and not running all over the place in order to get to it is actually pretty nice!
Well, time does fly by, as you can probably tell by the title, I have been here for 7+ months already!
The good news is that I finally started working!
December 1st is World AIDS Day, and this year, along with a local NGO, we managed to commemorate that day like never before!
We invited local organizations that do HIV/AIDS education/prevention to come join us and perform. We had 2 booths, one for condom demonstrations and one for free testing for HIV. 110 people learned how to use condoms correctly and got a free gift – condoms, and 44 people tested for HIV. I know it sound weird for an outsider to learn how to use a condom, but believe it or not, some people really don’t know!
At about 2pm we had a march from the edge of town to the venue, which was outside. We had enough time for about 2 performances before it started to rain! Well, all we could do is turn the music on high, and start dancing in the rain! It was great, and to our huge surprise, people stuck around. We managed to fit in a couple of speeches from our guests of honor when the rain got lighter and sealed the event with a candle lighting ceremony to remember those who passed away from AIDS. Without a doubt, this has been the best day I have had in Tanzania so far!
So now to my gardening project...I must say this one is not going as well. To begin with, I discovered that although the soil in my region is really good, the soil in my area is not! It’s actually a mixture of sand and soil! So due to those difficulties, I had a delay in my gardening project…but I hope to get back on track soon!
So the next project is scheduled to start at the end of Feb. It will be a training of 40 secondary and primary school teachers, along with community members from various NGOs and secondary school students. It will be a 9 day long workshops about HIV/AIDS, Life Skills, STIs, and so on. After this project, we have an even larger plan to do a district wide AIDS Campaign – more details to come…
So what else? I must say life is good! I like being here and although some days are better than others, the overall feeling is positive.
Two days ago there was a storm…I thought the wind is going to blow off my roof, and to make sure the sound effects of the things moving in my ceiling board were in full effect, the electricity got cut off! Luckily nothing happened, and I must say my house is very sturdy! The best thing about this whole weather craze is that all the dust I spent getting out of my house that day was blown right back in!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention my visitor! A couple of days ago I was about to go to sleep and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, when I noticed a little frog climbing up my drain…I though it might be a prince, but it ran back in before I got a chance to kiss it…
My house renovation is still ongoing…although I have realized that my house does not have to be perfect…so now I am just waiting for a dining table and some chairs and I’ll be all done!
Ok, as always...i promise i will try to update here more often...



-May.