Spent the better part of this week in Dodoma, Tanzania’s capital (and, I learned, one of a handful of national capitals in the world without a traffic light, including Thimpu, Bhutan). Peace Corps held a “Super Regional Gathering” for 20-something Volunteers in the Dodoma, Manyara, and Arusha regions which was like a mini-working vacation where we all stayed in safi hotel rooms with our own seat toilet, hot showers, and TVs. It was a good opportunity to meet PCVs from other classes, including Health and Environment PCVs, and to learn about their projects and bounce ideas off each other. We ate delicious indian food and four-cheese pizza, I got green coffee beans to try roasting at home, played some frisbee (cut my lip open in the process), played some mini-golf, got some sweet new sandals (pictured below) stayed up past 9pm, and even had a bottle of MGD.
The ride down to Dodoma was an adventure and takes two days from Karatu. We got a lifti out to Makuyuni, the junction town where the road splits towards Arusha or Babati, from a friend in town, and then got a ride in a semi truck with a comfy bed to sit on in back. From there we jumped in a hi-c for the last hour to Babati. We wandered towards Lake Babati, taking a short hike to the marsh. Spent the night in town and the three of us were up at the crack of dawn to catch the first bus towards Kondoa, a town near the site of the famous rock paintings. We switched buses at Kondoa knowing that all the seats on the bus would be taken, but deciding we could handle standing for three hours. Too bad the trip took five. Luckily I had my iPod on me to help me zone out as I put my weight against the luggage rack above the seats. Sometime after 4:00 we arrived in Dodoma, stopped for a snack and caught a taxi out to the conference center Peace Corps put us up at. Took a fantastic warm shower, and a nap before dinner with everyone that evening.
I’m never really sure if getting out of the village re-energizes me or just makes me realize what I’m missing. It’s incredible the amount of preparation that goes into taking a warm bath or just cooking breakfast and I’ve definitely had days when I think about how easy it would be for me to hop on a plane and go back to America for good. I think most of us have days like that. And it’s great to have people who you can talk to easily about things as opposed to difficult conversations with people in the village. Even if my Kiswahili was beyond fluent there are still things people in my village wouldn’t understand — religion, privacy, relationships. Peace Corps really wasn’t kidding when they said this is the Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love — it’s everything I wanted it to be, but challenging in a way I’ve never been challenged before. Sometimes I can’t decide if I want to stay here forever or go home tomorrow.
