First Impressions

The first impression is very important, especially in Tanzania, which is why I shaved my goatee last night. Mama Grace, one of the counselors here, told me that a goatee would give the wrong impression to the children that the parents and teachers would not like. Don't worry, with the green hair so will my goatee return. I'd show you a picture but uploading photos is kind of hard right now.
I went through quite an adventure the past few days, I've been trying to get access to internet which always seemed to have the server down until today and I've been trying since I got here to get some Tanzanian shillings. Most of the ATMs here only accept debit cards with Visa, and I had to walk all across town to find an ATM that took MasterCard, plus finding one that hadn't run out of money or that was working. I now finally have the Shillings and I feel like a rich man because I have many bills with the number 10000 on them, but also a soda here costs 1000 shillings so my feelings of wealth are misguided.
Today was my first day at Rau Primary School and I help with teaching 5th and 6th grade, Primary School goes from kindergarden to 7th grade and the schools are usually under staffed so most likely I'll be teaching on my own alot, which makes me glad to be working with older kids because I can instruct them more in English.
Yesterday we went to a village in Rau, we met the village elder who welcomed us all there and said we could come visit when ever we wanted. The homes there were so intresting, a lavish house would sometimes be built right next to a small shack. We met an 11 year old girl who single handedly took care of her grandmother and her aunt who has cerberal paulsy. She has to bring in the water and fire wood and cook the meals and doo all this before she goes to school. As we spoke with her we met another girl who had come from another nearby village, she said that both her parents had died of AIDS and was coming with her 12 siblings to find help from the village we were in. There was alot of disparity and yet a huge sense of community, everyone helped everyone else. I plan to visit that village very often.
I don't know how many times I'll be able to update this blog since the internet connection here is very slow, though to no surprise to me. Thanks for reading.