Homestay and training.

Hello everyone!
Sorry it has taken me longer than expected to write another post. I had computer access in Dar when we first arrived in country and I thought I would have more time to use the internet once I got to Morogoro. I have quickly realized that I was mistaken!
With that being said, things have been really great, but very busy! I moved in with my homestay family just about 2 weeks ago. I have a baba, who is a driver, a mama, who stays at home, a 14 year old kaka (brother) and a 5 year old dada (sister). My family is really friendly and is very willing to help me learn Kiswahili in different ways. My baba speaks very good English but he speaks to me in Kiswahili and if I really don't understand what he is saying, which right now happens quite often, he says it in English and then restates it in Swahili. As you can imagine, this is really helpful. I also enjoy watching my mama cook meals on the charcoal stoves outside in the evening. It is a nice time to relax, but also practice a little bit and build my vocabulary.
On a typical weekday during training (I am not officially a volunteer as I have not sworn in), I wake at 5:45 am to the call for prayer at the mosque that is very close to my house. I get up and take a cold bucket bath and get dressed. I greet my family, which is a very important part of the culture here, and then I eat breakfast. The food here is really good, but consists of a lot of rice, bananas, potatoes, and a typical Tanzanian dish, ugali. For breakfast, however, I drink coffee or chai and eat bread with jam, eggs, and a really yummy porridge that my mama makes. By 7:10, I am out the door and I wait for another trainee that lives down the street from me. We ride our bikes to meet 3 more trainees and then we have a 20 minute bike ride to a school where we will be doing our student teaching, but for now where we are learning Kiswahili. The days here are pretty long and by the time I get back home around 4-5pm, I am pretty tired.
In the afternoons, I take another bucket bath (most Tanzanians bathe twice a day) and sit with my family and either "help" cook dinner, wash my clothes, or play cards with my kaka. By the time we eat dinner at 8pm, I am famished and eat a lot! Within an hour or so of dinner I go to bed, which has been hard to get used to, but once I get to my site I will eat earlier.
All in all, things are going pretty well. I think I am still in the "honeymoon" phase of being abroad and I am trying to be aware of that so that when it does finally set in that I will be here for some time, it won't be so shocking. Also, I have been so busy learning the language, getting to know my host family, and starting to prepare for internship teaching that I haven't had a chance to really dwell on being away from home. But, in the next few weeks, once I start venturing out downtown and taking the dalla-dalla's (local transportation) to the market, I will step out of my comfort zone. This will be a big step for me, but I am looking forward to it!
Anyway, I should get going now! I will try to write letters, emails, and posts as often as I can. Please keep me updated! Take care!