Happy Thanksgiving

Can I tell you just how weird it is that yesterday was Thanksgiving?  It’s 90 degrees here with a TON of humidity and we are all sweating profusely…and yet they claim that it’s Thanksgiving.  Weird.  Yesterday we took our ecology final in the morning.  It went surprisingly well.   Keep in mind that this is the professor who asked us on the first exam who the authors of our textbook were.  On our final, he only had one random question, so hopefully we all did well!  We will know our grades by the end of the program.  Also, our professor claimed that we needed our student ID’s for the exam and that he wouldn’t let us take the exam without them.  However, my ID had gotten pickpocketed at Mwenge a while back so I no longer had it.  So, the other day, I had to go to the student ID office and ask about getting a new one.  Well apparently it is a long and complicated process which involves going to downtown Dar for a police report, then coming to the UDSM police station to get another police report, going to the Dean’s office to get a signature, paying 10,000 Tsh to the bank, and then finally getting your ID.  Fortunately, I was able to forego some of these steps because I told them I had my exam the next day, but it was still a huge hassle. 

Thanksgiving yesterday was at the Azura health center (think spa on the beach) and was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy.  We got to meet the U.S. Embassador to Tanzania and also got to talk with many other Americans.  It was so weird being in a huge room filled with white people!  The program included speeches by a variety of U.S. Embassy officials as well as a charity raffle.  Zach ended up winning a gift certificate to a produce store while Jen won a night at a hotel for two.  The food was absolutely wonderful and was cooked by several of the Embassy families.  They had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, corn, rolls, and macaroni and cheese.  And for dessert, they had probably 40 different pies!  Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, walnut pie, cheesecake, mud pie, cherry pie.  I had mud pie and it was SOOO good.  After dinner a few went swimming in the pool or walked along the beach.  Overall, it was probably the weirdest Thanksgiving I will ever experience in my life, but it was worth it.  I only wish that I were able to be with my family on this wonderful holiday.  I hope that Thanksgiving was spectacular for all of you.  Don’t forget to be thankful for what you have.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned here in Africa, it’s that there are so many things to be thankful for that we don’t often consider.  As for me, I’d like to be thankful for the fact that I have running water, a bed, and a toilet back home in America.   

And as for Lauren, well she is grateful that she didn’t get shanked or killed last night.  All of her things got stolen last night at the beach, so today has been spent cancelling credit cards and filing police reports.  Thankfully, she didn’t have her passport with her, but almost everything else of value got stolen (credit cards, debit cards, cash, camera, phone, etc).  They even stole her shoes and underwear!  Needless to say, today was a major bummer. 

This afternoon I went shopping with Trudy and Colleen at Mwenge for some last minute gift items.  It was sooo hot!  I am sitting here sweating writing this blog.  Anyway, I’m off to play cards at the boys’ house.  Talk to you later!

Erin