so now i've been here 2 weeks. how can i sum um 2 weeks??? this would be ridiculously long, so i'll just cover the main points.
i began my placement, which is at the tumaini positive test club. i'm there with an older woman from northern california, named barbara, who is one of the sweetest people you may ever meet! the club was started by a man named richard a few years ago, and we work with him and the chairman, emanuel. it's a group of people (now numbering greater than 100), who are hiv positive, as a support group and trying to relieve the stigma that goes along with being positive. they play soccer, showing others that on the surface you can't tell who's infected, and as a means for them to get exercise. they also have a choir, which is awesome! i taught them the songs "oh happy day" and "jesus is mine," which was fun.

barbara and i do a number of things with them:
twice a week we teach english, which is so much fun! they're all so eager to learn and pick it up quickly!
we also do home visits once a week with emanuel and richard. we've gone to a man's home who has been sick, but cannot afford medication. he lived in a small house with his daughter. there was no door, but a curtain, and no windows. we sat in the living room that's the size of my bathroom, and filled with some chairs with him. i noticed that the door that lead into the one other room (the bedroom) was only slightly taller than the man (named paul) when he was sitting. here, arv's are free for patients whose t-cell count is below 200 (meaning they already have aids), but treatment for opportunistic infections and diseases is not, and paul could not afford it. we also visited a few homes of families who had taken in orphans whose parents had died from aids. that was a very humbling day....
we are also working with the club on capacity building. we're looking to write a grant for them, as well as get a website started. they were all sooooo excited to hear that they would have a website!
we're also making a pamphlet to hand out to them about how to care for yourself when you are positive.
the people are great, and i've found that the best days i've had here have been when working. teaching is so much fun and every one is so sweet and appreciative. i only feel like there's so much to do still, but only a few days left!

other things i've been up to have been:
a day trip to arusha national park, which is kind of mini safari-esque. we saw some animals like giraffes, buffalo, blue and collobus monkeys, and this big bird eating some rodent! we also hiked to a waterfall and got quite close to buffalo in the process. that was pretty fun. i didn't really like driving around in a car, though and just looking at animals. i'd rather walk around and whatnot. turns out i'm not going to go on a safari now, because time and money won't allow, but i don't really mind that much. that day was sufficient.
i've also gone around the city of arusha which is crazy! the drivers here are crazy and it's really frightening! pedestrians do not have the right of way! people haggle you wherever you go to buy their paintings or jewelry, or just to give them money; these people will follow you...this=not fun!
yesterday we took a day trip to moshi, the next region over. we hiked down to a waterfall and three of us went in the water, which was cold! the other two (jenni and ryan) decided to go exploring up the river, but were gone for so long and every one was ready to go back up. therefore, i was sent as the search party and climbed over rocks and trees upstream and found them after about 15 or 20 minutes. this was quite a difficult task, and coming back wasn't much easier. yeah...pretty hard core!
i've also taken a day trip to a maasai village. the maasai are basically the only tribe left in tanzania that really sticks to their traditional practices. we went on a hike down a crater and toured their huts, called bodis. we met the elders and the head elders 7 wives. the children there surrounded us and got really excited about us taking pictures. we would take one, show them on the screen, and they'd all crack up. we danced and sang, and they put their traditional jewelry on for us to dance with them. i also "lost" my money there--it's possible that it fell out of my pocket, but i believe this pocket to be pretty secure. the best part of this day was watching a goat get slaughtered. ok, maybe not the best--i cried. basically, a man strangled it, then they cut it up and showed us how they portion it out. some of the people i was with tried the blood, and ryan ate goat testicles!

anyway, i think that's about all the major stuff. i am having a really great time. the best times are when volunteering and going around the city is not my cup of tea. i'm learning a lot, and everyday is a new experience and an adventure.