Facts! Just 35 Straight Facts …. some interesting, others adorable and some a little too intense to handle!

1. Obvious - I am living a dream right now, living in the paradise of Mafia Island, Tanzania in East Africa. 
   
2. Given - My days are filled with so many smiles, laughter and Tanzanian hugs (you hug the right side, then the left for both male and female). 
   
3. After school, I have anywhere from one to four young children under the age of five wrapped around my arms and back and swinging around me as I walk home from school. 
   
4. I love when individuals look at me and say "Jambo" "Mambo Zipi" "Habari za asabuhi" or "za sa hizi" instead of seeing my white skin and saying just hello. 
   
5. I adore when the young children in town say "bye-bye, bye-bye" because that's all they know how to say in English and are overexcited to not only see me, but also talk to me. 
   
6. My nightly runs are some of the most meditative, reflective runs I've been fortunate enough to experience -- there is no need for music in my ears through an electronic source as the sounds of this environment are beyond sufficient and instead of running through a laundry list of things to-do (yes, this is what a lot of my runs consist of in the states), I am reflecting on the teaching day and just taking in all the beauty around me! 
   
7. I feel so humbled when I say, "Shikamoo" to an elderly person and they have a bright smile on their face to accompany the "marahaba!" Shikamoo is said to those who are older than you to show a sign of respect and marahaba is the response to the acknowledgment. 
   
8. Teaching this English course is extremely exhausting as the classroom sizes ranges from 40 to 50 students at once, but absolutely overwhelming rewarding as each day I begin to see a new side of the students, all eager to learn and excited to be a part of the class! 
   
9. My students love to laugh, yes, most of the time at me and my Genki phonics faces! The gesture for V is one of my favorites as it's "vampire" so I go around to the students and get them to make the meanest vampire faces possible while pronouncing the letter. 
   
10. I wake each morning around 6am to the sound of MamaRay sweeping the floors and cooking the morning meal, while Raymond runs about the house not wanting to get dressed for school or church. Although, I do wish I could sleep in past 6am on the weekends, hearing these sounds in the morning makes me truly feel as if I'm not just living in a home, but a part of a family here in Tanzania. 
    
11. I enjoy the afternoons when there is no electricity as everyone is out of their front porches sharing stories and laughing at me trying to speak Kiswahili. 
    
12. Monday and Friday are "special days" where we get steamed milk for our coffee…. oh man, those are always good days! 
    
13. I've known how important my camera is to my adventures and truly helping me express me, but this trip has exemplified that drastically as my evening picture walks are times when I most understand my environment and all that is going on around me. After these walks are always some of my most intimately reflective writings that I love to share with my family and friends back home. 
    
14. Mornings that start with a phone call from my mother are exceptionally good days as she is one of my favorite people to talk to! Mom -- I love you dearly and cannot thank you enough for all your support throughout this experience. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you! :) 
    
15. I took a photo with a local Maasai after asking him to join our table -- one weekend while in town, the Mafia Island WorldTeach volunteers were having a drink at a local hangout spot. This individual, a local Maasai walked by our table and I said "karibu kiti"  which means take a seat or welcome to a seat. In Tanzania, when saying those words it invites the individual to join the table and it is the person who invited the guests responsibility to buy them a drink. I bought him an ice cold Safari (another local beer) and he sat with us for sometime enjoying each other's company and exchanging very few words. He was extremely intrigued with my rings as he wanted to try them on. While he was putting one ring on his finger, I said "silver!" At that moment Seif grabbed the Maasai's hair with two large pointy pieces of silver at the end to show him the relation. The Maasai then showed us how he put up his hair with these metal pieces. I got out my camera to take a photo of the environment and just moments later, the Maasai pointed to my camera and me and said, "picha picha!" And of course I said, "I would love to!" And here it is, a picture of me with a local Maasai warrior! If you haven't been able to tell, I'll let you know now…. this photo makes me extremely happy! After this initial interaction with the Maasai, I see him on a regular basis at MamaAnne's house and in town. I now have an entire photo shoot of the Maasai! 
    
16. For the first time since I cannot remember when, I spend a lot of my time relaxing, walking slowly, reading for hours on end, coloring intricate African designs in my adult coloring book, writing daily journal entires and taking multiple pictures everyday. 
    
17. I have the best chef on the island and already want to bring her back home to the states with me -- everyday the meals get better and better and I am constantly being surprised with the variety of vegetarian meals she can cook me with such limited supplies. I eat like a queen here! 
    
18. Children pick up and play with massive beetles as if they're picking up a piece of candy. It is of no big deal to them that these beetles are just as large as their hands. 
    
19. "Hamna Shida" meaning no problem is one of my favorite phrases to use here because really, there is no problem, everything is as it should be. 
    
20. Dancing a 6 month old baby girl to sleep nestled on my back with a konga tied around my upper body and her little soul was one of the most calmingly satisfying moments I've had in my neighborhood. 
    
21. Children love taking photos as they are intrigued by these small metal objects that they can see themselves on. 
    
22. I was doing my bucket laundry in the back one Sunday -- Raymond was playing cars with the dirt and sticks. Bob Marley "Could You Be Loved" was playing on the ipod that Raymond was sitting next to. I walk to the clothesline to hang my sheet and I hear little Raymond singing the chorus to this song. My heart instantly smiled. The power of youth and Bob's words. Priceless. 
    
23. The first bar we went to (Sean, Pat and myself) to catch the end of the Manchester game… we walked in, got beers, found a place to stand in the back and before we know it the entire bar was turned around pointing and starting at the three of us. One man came up and starting speaking quickly in Swahili -- we were able to catch a few words. The guy wanted us to bet on the football game. Needless to say, the game ended, we finished our beers, left and laughed about it the whole walk home. 
    
24.  My daily morning and evening hugs from little Raymond gives me strength. His dad looked at me the other day and said, "He is really going to miss you when you leave, he is really going to miss you." My heart melted. Little Raymond has been one of the best parts of this experience. 
    
25. I love meeting up with my fellow international volunteers on the weekend for a nice ice cold TUSKER and roaming around the town. In addition, we meet up with the wonderful Samuel Maswi who is the man in charge of the WorldTeach Semester long English program on Mafia Island.  
    
26. There is a form II student, Aziza who finds me everyday at break to come say hello in English and ask if I've talked to Madam Tsu who was the international English volunteer at Kitomondo last year. Tsu, if you're reading this Aziza says hello and misses you dearly! 
    
27. My students call me Madam Ashley and it's the most adorable thing. Every time someone calls for me, I get a smile on my face. 
    
28. There was a tarantula in my room one Sunday evening. Luckily Seif just walked me home from dinner and was right outside my house. I yelled, "Seif, hurry, hurry, come here, come here!" He walked into my room as I was standing on my chair in the middle of the room with my light directly on the tarantula that was hiding under my desk. Needless to say, he did what he needed to do to take of it! I am so very thankful he was here this evening. I never want to see one of those in real life again, especially in my sleeping space. 
    
29. When I left Southern California on December 27, 2012 heading to my first destination, New York. Just a day or so after arriving there, I found a bright pink envelope in my backpacking backpack. My incredibly thoughtful loving mother wrote me one of the most sincere letters/ cards about the woman I've become and me pursuing my dream of living in Africa. At the end of the letter, she reminded me to look at the moon and know how much love she is sending me. I do just that! Every night I look at the moon, send my mom a huge and a kiss and am filled with absolute warmth and satisfaction! Its the little things in life that make all the difference. Mom, I love you dearly and think about you with my every action! I am sending the biggest hugs possible! 
    
30. Some evenings, when I come home from my runs and stretch on the front porch Raymond looks at me, sits right to my left and begins his stretches alongside me. He is beyond adorable. He is one of the best little companions a woman from America could have in Tanzania. 
    
31. When my students run into me walking to town or in town, they say, "Madam Ashley, Madam Ashley!" Some, as they say this just wave and keep walking while others will begin to follow me to see just where I am going. 
    
32. I share my home with dozens of lizards, mosquitoes up the wazzoooooo, bugs I didn't know existed, bats in the evening, pigeons in the morning and throughout the day, cockroaches in the bathroom… the list can go on and on and on…. 
    
33. Every evening on my walk home from dinner at MamaDixon's, I can clearly see hundreds upon hundreds maybe even thousands of stars. I have been told that the one with a faint red glow is Mars. 
    
34. Trashcan's very rarely exist here as trash is thrown directly onto the ground or in pits. This has been very hard to adapt to and I have no tolerance for those in the states who litter on the streets.  
    
35. Seif says everyday I am an African woman in training. On those days where I finish my entire plate of food, he says I am even closer to being an African woman and those moments where I have an entire conversation in Swahili with no help from that of my counterpart, he says I am an African woman! Everyday I feel a little more like an African woman. Oh, am I so blessed and thankful to have this training.