2 Weeks

I can't believe that I leave in two weeks! It's unreal. I am so nervous. There are so many little things to sort out.

Is my ukulele too big for carry on? (must check with both airlines)
How much will an extra piece of luggage cost?
How much money should I budget for the week in London?
What am I going to do that whole week, without spending too much?
How different will it be returning to the place I lived in for a year?
Who will meet me at the airport in Africa?
Where am I staying once I get there?
Do I have all of the documents I need for arrival at the airport?
What if my luggage gets lost?
Do I need travelers insurance?
What do I have for curriculum/lesson plans?
How am I going to teach with my limited Swahili and their limited English?
I need to work on my Swahili...
What do I need to bring with me?
How do I get all of my prescriptions in advance?
I need culturally appropriate clothes.
I need to bring all toiletries with me (toothpaste, deodorant, hairspray, razors etc.) 6 months worth.
I should see the dentist before I leave...

What am I forgetting?

And the biggest thing I'm worried about? Culture shock. I guess the reason I'm so worried is because I've experienced it before, and I know how hard the first couple of weeks are going to be. I really need to approach everything with an open, excited, and curious attitude, but of course that's easier said than done.

Purchases!

I made some purchases with the donation money!

First I got Remo sound shapes from University music in Lowell.

Then, I went to guitar center in Nashua and got a Roland micro cube, a mic,  and a cable. But if I spent 50 more dollars, I got a $50 coupon, so I got a vibraslap, kid size drum sticks, and a cowbell pretty much for free!

Billerica Minuteman

Check out the front page of this week's Billerica Minuteman!

Thanks Angie, wonderfully written!

I'd also like to thank George & Gail Lucozzi at ASA Photographic for the photo, which they took at my senior saxophone recital at UMass Dartmouth. I am very close to them and their kids; definitely have a look at their website!

For those of you who were led to this blog via the newspaper article, Karibu (welcome)! As Angie said, I am looking for monetary donations and used or new instruments.

I also have some new information on what exactly I'll be doing at Amani. It turns out that it's going to be a music club that meets after school and on Saturdays, so it will be voluntary for the kids. So my tentative schedule is Tuesday-Thursday 12-6, sometime on Saturday, and meetings every Monday.

I've also been looking into accommodation, which has proven difficult. I'm interested in Hostel Hoff, but I'm not sure I can afford it. Check out the site though, it looks like a wonderful place! And yes, it is named after David Hasselhoff.

And I've decided on a couple more purchases to make with the donation money, in addition to a set of Remo sound shapes, I'm going to get a small amp ("micro cube") and a mic, for featuring lead vocals over a chorus.

University Music Shop

I'd like to say a HUGE thanks to the folks at University Music shop in Lowell. I took sax lessons there when I was 9 years old, and when I stopped by last week to see if Marlene was able to donate any instruments, without hesitation she took out a magazine and said "What do you want?"

Today I picked up the contribution:
10 recorders
manuscript paper
guitar strings
a frame drum
a whole box of percussion instruments, maracas, bells, castanets, tambourine, enough for a whole class!
and some conveniently shaped shakers :P

Thank you so much!

Fedha. Pesa. Geld. Dinero...Money

Before I accepted this volunteer opportunity, I was told the cost of living (including rent, transportation, going out etc.) was only $250/month, so about $1500 for the whole time, I can do that. I am still being told that figure, at the same time as being given links of places to stay that cost minimum $450 a month, $3000 just for rent. I can't do that. I found a slightly cheaper hostel, I think, but every website has a different price for it. And there are no apartments for rent in Moshi.
There is just no way to figure this out online. It looks like I'm going there, Amani will put me up for a bit, and I'll have to wing it. While I do enjoy a certain degree of uncertainty when I travel, I don't enjoy it when every single aspect of my life is up in the air.
Yes, the reason I'm going to Moshi is for Amani. The reason is to volunteer and make a difference. But, I'm going to be in Africa. How can I live there and not experience, Africa? I want to go on Safari, I want to climb Kili, I want to see lions and zebras and elephants and giraffes. I want to see the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro crater, and Lake Manyara. I would like to travel to Zanzibar at some point. I would love to take an extended trip to Victoria Falls after my volunteering is over.
I will never get this chance again. There is no "you could go back someday." Any adult will tell you "someday" turns into never.
I have $3000 saved, with visa fees and rent, that's gone. I already owe $1200 on my credit card, and I haven't even booked a flight home.
Yes, of course I'm going, and I have enough to survive while I'm there, but I'm not sure that I have enough to live.

Gratitude

Mixed emotions right now.

I'm really excited because I LOVE Christmas. I'm pretty much done shopping and wrapping already and we haven't even put our tree up.

I leave next. month.

It really hasn't set in, which is normal for me. What I'm doing won't really set in until I'm alone for the first time in a new place, probably right before I go to sleep the first night in Africa. That time is always the hardest. I'm sure I'll have plenty to occupy my mind all day, but that time right before bed...I'm not looking forward to it, especially since this time I'm leaving a boyfriend behind.

I'm nervous about everything.

Teaching, where I'll live, getting my visa and residence permit, meeting people, speaking the language, how to dress, how my body will handle the heat, finding my way in a new city, different cultural expectations. Every. single. thing about the life I'm heading to in a month will be different. Everything. In an anthropology class I took we were studying different cultural expectations around the world; one end of the scale was America, the other end was Africa.

This is going to be hard.

But as Siri Karm (a friend, sikh, and president of the Boston Language Institute) said last Friday night, it is best to approach every challenge in life with gratitude. In the end, when I overcome this challenge, I know I'll be a better person.