The Kilimanjaro Journals

update

On Saturday Valerie and Matthew took us to Arusha for a day of shopping and fun. We had Mexican for lunch which was a real treat. Arusha has a huge supermarket with just about everything - some things that are cheaper here in Moshi. We got a few things for the kitchen, mixing bowls, a big ceramic pot and a loaf pan. Our most exciting purchase of the day was a large circular mat for the living room. It's woven by local craftswomen and is just beautiful (and smells good too!). At the same place we were able to buy a lampshade for the dining room. Both of these additions make a huge difference to the house.

This morning I also went to arrange to get cushions for our couch and two chairs. There are cushions now, but they've been through some trauma and are dirty and mishapen.

Yesterday we went to a lunch party at the home of a long-time resident of Tanzania. She lives in a boma - a round house with a thatched roof. We sat outside in the beautiful garden, ate plenty of delicious food and had a really nice time.

KILI

Here's a few photos from last weekend. We were lucky to have such cloudless views of Kili!

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Getting back into the swing of things after a relaxing four day weekend. Well, maybe not back into them, but new ones altogether.

One of the burners on our new stove hadn't been working so on Monday our friend with a car took us and it downtown to the shop we bought it from. The owner said he would send a fundi to our house the next day. A fundi is defined by my Swahili book as a "skilled man." So Tuesday morning I walked out to the main road to meet the fundi on his bicycle. The dragging walk back to our house was less than comfortable, but even at his slow pace we arrived. Having no tools with him I didn't have much hope for him fixing the stove. But soon he went to get some and 20 minutes after returning the burner was burning bright.

Today our much awaited houselady, Melenia, started working for us. As a repeat of yesterday, I went out to the main road to meet her. She looked very nice, dressed in a suit with dress shoes. I had great plans of chatting with her in my limited Swahili, getting to know each other etc. Unfortunately despite the list of 500+ vocabulary words I can rattle off, I can hardly string together a useful sentence and my listening skills are bunk. She chatted quite a bit but I didn't follow a single word. I managed to ask if she has children (one, in school, about as tall as her shoulder) and tell her I've been here for 3 weeks.

When we got to the house I showed her around and we sat down to discuss her work schedule and payment. This also didn't go as I planned and quickly gave in to calling our Swahili speaking friend to translate. With everything settled, Melenia did the laundry and took a trip to the market for us. The only further miscommunication was that instead of the avocados I had wanted she brought some mystery fruit. Fine with me though! She'll be working here Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. We are also getting a list in Swahili and English of typical duties which I think will help a lot.

Back to the four day weekend! It was really nice having time to spend with Joe and just relax together around the house. On Saturday we spent a great day at the Kilimankyaro Lodge, a hotel/resort on the way up the mountain from town. It's the furthest I've been outside of Moshi so I was very excited! Valerie and Matthew took us. We had a fancy but expensive lunch and then swam in the pool. We were the only guests so enjoyed the stunning view of Kilimanjaro on the pool chairs by ourselves. We rounded out the day with a few board games. Valerie and Matthew are avid board gamers, which I am totally into.

This weekend will bring even more excitement! My first trip to Arusha-- a shopping trip indeed! And then on Sunday we have a welcome new Wazungu party to go to.

Roosters, lizards and papayas

Things are gradually coming together to make this house our home. We had a beautiful counter made for the kitchen. That plus the addition of our fridge has meant many more home-cooked meals. I think I'll be able to find almost everything we need to cook whatever we want. It will just be a little more challenging and pricey. The other night we had friends over for veggie burgers and peanut butter cookies.

I've gotten to be quite comfortable taking the dala dalas into town now. I found one closer to our house that goes directly by the best bakery and international grocery store in town. The bakery has everything: fresh whole wheat bread, birthday cakes, hamburger buns, french bread, apple pie, and even Aussie Lamingtons! I'm still a bit daunted by shopping at the open-air market, as my haggling skills are not up to par. However I did manage to buy some spices the other day, pictured below.

The rainy season is officially here. Mainly there have been some big storms during the night with the days remaining sunny and hot (and muddy). The other day there was a windy afternoon shower and our neighbors papaya tree was getting pummeled against the edge of their tin roof. Suddenly the top third of the tree fell into our courtyard! After the rain stopped we went to tell the neighbor what happened, a neighbor who we haven't met yet. A young boy answered the door and invited us in, "Karibu, karibu." Inside the narrow living room was packed full of family and friends. To this audience Joe tried with his best Swahili to explain the tree. Eventually an older woman spoke to us in very good English, only apologizing for the tree and not interested in retrieving any of the papayas.

Our courtyard is infested with lizards. These blue ones with orange heads are the biggest and often accompanied by smaller dull colored ones. Around our house are many chickens with flocks of chicks, goats, two huge turkeys, and, of course, crowing roosters.

So Joe has a four day weekend for Easter. We plan on doing lots of nothing. Here's a view from our walk to Amani to use the internet...

Solo Excursion and Exciting News

So I’ve got one week under my belt and am feeling pretty good about things! We are going to a potluck dinner tonight so Joe and I have been scrambling for ideas on what to bring. Its just two other couples and they know I just arrived so aren’t expecting much. Our first idea was sangria-but then we realized that chilling it would be a problem- not able to buy ice here and we don’t have the fridge yet. So then we decided on baba ghanoush with bread.  So I made my first solo journey into town for the vegetables and bread.

I was pretty intimidated by the daladalas at first, but after taking them a few times with Joe I felt confident enough to flag one down on my own. There really aren’t many different places they could be going so getting on the wrong one isn’t much of an issue. There is also a set price so you don’t have to worry about getting ripped off. Joe told me that once he did ride one that was so full he had to hang out the side, but usually if it looks too full we just let it go buy. We haven’t had to wait more that a few minutes for one to come.

My destination today was a bakery I’ve been hearing great things about. They have lots of pastries and French bread. Across the street from that is Aleem's, a small grocery store with just about everything you could want… for a price. I splurged on an $8 bottle of olive oil. My third errand was to go to the pharmacy for birth control pills. So easy, the pharmacist spoke English and the pills are 50 cents a month!

On my way back home I walked through a market that is 2 minutes from our house. Rows and rows of stalls selling clothes, towels, sheets, curtains…. All clean and new. It’s amazing that they set it all up and take it down again everyday. Photos coming soon.

The other day Joe and I were talking about what I would like to do while I’m here. I told him that ideally I’d like to do something with art but if that’s not possible then I’d like to work with younger children. Then he seemed to have a light bulb moment and told me that a woman who had been planning to volunteer at Amani for 6 months to paint a mural just told them that she wouldn’t be able to come after all. She was also going to be teaching art classes to the kids on Fridays. If anything could be more serendipitous than that, I don’t know! Joe spoke to his boss, Valerie, about it yesterday and I think we are all very excited. I’m going to be painting a mural down the length of the main hallway at Amani! I think it’s going to be a huge job and a really great challenge. I already have a bunch of ideas and am really excited to get started.

Reunion

After 5 days in Moshi I am feeling pretty good about this move! My trip here was pretty uneventful- after a quick panic at the Sydney airport- my original flight got delayed three hours which was going to mean I'd have to spend 24 hours in Bangkok (!) and arrive here a day late- luckily I was able to get on an earlier flight and got here as scheduled. I haven't done much so far, just getting unpacked and acclimated. The big tasks for the next week are to get gas for the stove, a fridge, and hire and house-girl to help with laundry, cleaning and shopping. The supermarket that is closest to us is also known as Highway Robbery, so we need some help to find a better place to shop. So obviously we've been eating out quite a bit. Joe's found quite a few good restaurants in the area. The past two nights we've gone downtown to eat. I meet him on the main road ten minutes walk from our house. He's on the dalla dalla coming from work heading to the city and I am between. When he sees me he gets the driver to stop, I hop on and we are downtown in a few minutes for 30 cents each. The dalla dallas stop running at sunset so we have to take taxis home which cost about $3. Our house is really beautiful. Its all going to be great but so far just the bedroom is! That's where I've been spending most of my time. There is a ceiling fan, a huge bed and huge built in closets and shelving. Plenty of room for all of our stuff and more. It's been sunny and hot everyday but the house stays pretty cool and there is usually a nice breeze. I haven't really been uncomfortable apart from walking in the sun! The rainy season is on the verge of starting so we've had quite a few afternoon showers.

Goodbye Oz

I've got 4 hours left in Australia... everything's packed and ready to go. For my final Aussie experience Ava and I went to the Koala Park yesterday. After being here for over a year I finally got my hands on one of these adorable creatures! Now I'm ready to move on to bigger and wilder things... See you on the flip side.