Cricket, Sex Ed, and St. Patty's, Oh My!

This week was a busy one!

On Sunday, Scottie and I went to TGT, a country club just outside of Arusha, to watch our friend Joe play in the Arusha City Cricket Championship. It was both Scottie and my first experience with cricket, and our first time at TGT, so it was definitely an adventure. TGT is a beautiful place; so different compared to the town of Arusha. I think Scottie and I felt like we were at home, sitting under a pop-up tent with a drink in hand watching sports on a perfectly manicured field. Scottie learned a lot about cricket and I was impressed with Joe's "bowling" ability. Joe's team, The Wanderers, won the tournament, which was very exciting and they even had an awards ceremony afterwards. The Wanderers put on their own awards ceremony following the official one, with loads of beer and made-up "fouls" to each teammate for silly or bad behavior throughout the season. The night turned pretty crazy...the team (and I) started drinking out of the championship cup like it was the Stanley cup and the left elbows kept flying up to indicate increasingly ridiculous "fouls" as the night went on. We learned a lot of funny new drinking games (prepare yourselves at home, rafikis!) and seriously had a blast. All in all, the night reminded me a lot of the end of season volleyball awards we used to do in college, which made it all that much more fun.

The signs we made for Joe's cricket match. They're hard to see, but the best one reads, "We're with the ginger!"

On Wednesday, Clare and I planned a sex education lesson for the big class. Considering that the children in the big class are between the ages of 12-23, and their general vulnerability, we thought it would be a good idea to go over the basics of puberty and safe sex with them. Besides, what better way to step outside your comfort zone than to teach sex ed to African teenagers with special needs?
We discussed our lesson beforehand with the teachers and each other so to avoid any awkward moments, and to prepare our visuals. Without the stand-by book or video like we all had in grade school, we had to make our own materials, and I have to say that Clare did an excellent job illustrating all the points we wanted to make. On the day of, we did two sessions; girls and then boys. The girls lesson went really well. Clare and I assumed the stuff we were discussing regarding puberty was pretty much a review for the girls (body changes, hygiene, etc.) but we were surprised to hear all the super basic questions the girls had for us. I was so proud of the girls putting aside their embarrassment to ask us questions, although it was interesting that they had never been talked to about this sort of stuff with their parents or sisters. More horrifying was the girls' lack of knowledge regarding the "consequences of sex". None of the girls knew that sex could lead to pregnancy or STDs and Clare and I both felt better at least explaining to girls the risks involved and how to protect themselves; although we stressed that abstinence is the preferred method of birth control in Tanzania.

The conversation with the boys was a bit trickier. Salma, our teacher and translator extraordinaire, felt it was "bad" to explain to boys the physics of everything, which I feel left the boys feeling somewhat confused on how to handle their body changes as well as keep themselves safe. The lesson with the boys was like an analogy for our lives as teachers in Tanzania: we feel like we've succeeded because of the knowledge we're introducing, but we always feel like they're not quite getting the point, which makes us wonder if it's worth it at all. But I think it is worth it, in the end. I know Clare and I felt better leaving school knowing that these teenagers at least have a better knowledge of how to stay safe and take care of themselves. Sex ed. in Africa--who would've thought?!

I also took the opportunity this week to take some photos of our students. Here are a few of my favorites:

Thursday was Clare's last day at school, and a very emotional one. We have gotten so close to Clare and Joe and we are so sad to see our friends leaving. We have already decided that there will be many meet-ups around the world in the future, and we are planning to meet them for a week near the the mountains and the coast of Tanzania in two weeks. Of course, being their last week in Arusha, we had to send them off properly with a big night out on Friday--with loads of beers, delicious smoked pork, and dancing. Besides, it was St. Patrick's Day weekend, so we figured we had to have a little fun.

Demonstrating how to make St. Patrick's Day hats

Drinks with Clare and Hannah at the "Lively Lady"

Scottie and I are preparing to go on home visits to all 40 of our students' homes this week. I think it is going to be an exhausting, but eye-opening experience. Today we bought 40, 1 kilo bags of sugar to give to each of the families. You should have seen all the people at Shoprite staring at us crazy mzungus!

Looking at our calendars for the the next three weeks, we've realized how much we have left to do in so little time! I think our last few weeks here are going to be good ones!

Love to all,
Laura and Scottie