by the way...........

I thought some of you might find this funny....
Tanzanians can't pronounce my name. The closest they have come is "meriditty," which is what Mama Tesha- the founder of KIWODEA- calls me.
So, my name tag for the first few days said, "Mere."
Which they pronounce "Mary."
Which the spell, "Merry."
Really, on a cake they made for me, it said "Asante Sana Merry," which means "thank you very much Merry!"
So now, I go by Mary, but then people(like cab drivers), then change it to Maria, which is the Swahili version of Mary. So somehow, I have become, "Maria, the mother of Jesus." Seriously- there has been more than one person who has called/told me that.
There was also an occasion at our favorite restaurant where all the female waitresses kept calling me "Miss." But, using it as a name- because they don't use that here as a title like they do in the states. So, finally someone asked them why they kept approaching me giddily calling me "miss." Apparently, and we think it was because of my outfit which was a long light blue Patagonia dress, they were saying that Ilooked like "Miss America, or Miss Tanzania" Yes, they really did say that! My height stands out here. I am one of the tallest volunteers, with the exception of a tall Texan who is here, and definetly much taller than the Tanzanians. That's our excuse for the stares anyway, not too mention, the color of my skin.

Just some funny stories of interactions to share with you today, I am off to KIWODEA for a few hours, then trekking to Arusha for the afternoon. A two hour hot bus ride with probably several chickens on my lap. Should be interesting....