We receied news from Violet that the workshops were cancelled b/c the Global Fund (big ARV funder) is demanding a count of all people on ARVs in tanzania. so, her entire team has been spending the week overseeing the counting of pateints in all of Tanga region. its the way things go around here. dissapoointing for Leah and I, but we make up the workshop powerpoint slides, flichart notes, small group exercises, handouts to pass on to violet.
it was nice to have a few unexpected days in Muheza. I love the village life - doing the shopping and cooking. it was good to hang out at the house with juliette.
Leah and i took our last dalla dalla trip to Tanga on wed. It was a horrific trip. the roads, the drivers, the overcrowding and lack of bus maintenance...
We had a good last meeting with Violet.
Wed night is Wazungo dinner at our palce, then up and out early to go to Arusha. My heart sank when the delapitated 'simba' bus puled up. I thought it would be a long 7 hours on the road. but it was ok. the driver was not wreckless. the scenery wonderful - we moved into plains as we headed inland, following the Usambara mts up to mt. Kilimanjaro.
We spent the night in a wazungo lodge. it is deliciously cool here.
off to the Serengeti today!
sal
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
The short rains start?
Dr. Sally dropped Simon and I off at Holy Family Monday morning on our way back to Muheza from Peponi's. We arrived during first period and taught 4 classes. We continued with word processing and font options, trying to give them each time on the computer. During morning break, the first hard rain fell. Hopefully this means the end of the dry season and the return of water to Muheza.
About 10 teachers came at lunchtime and stayed for the whole period. None of them had ever received any training in computers so they needed to be shown everything from turning the computer on to launching a program to mouse functions to saving a file. Mostly they started with word processing or games. Several drafted letters. A couple opened every link on the computer and they all asked questions. What is this? How do I burn? They came back Tuesday and there will be time for them today as well.
Today is our last teaching day. We pack up tonight and catch the 8am bus to Arusha for our trip to the Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater and Tarangere. Access to the internet will be limited to internet cafes once we leave Muheza.
Rose
About 10 teachers came at lunchtime and stayed for the whole period. None of them had ever received any training in computers so they needed to be shown everything from turning the computer on to launching a program to mouse functions to saving a file. Mostly they started with word processing or games. Several drafted letters. A couple opened every link on the computer and they all asked questions. What is this? How do I burn? They came back Tuesday and there will be time for them today as well.
Today is our last teaching day. We pack up tonight and catch the 8am bus to Arusha for our trip to the Serengeti, Ngorogoro Crater and Tarangere. Access to the internet will be limited to internet cafes once we leave Muheza.
Rose
Sunday, October 24, 2010
another great trip to sand island
Today we took a dhow trip out in the indian ocean. did some wonderful snorkelling off a reef, then on to sand island a magical sandy bar that exists only at low tide.
we were accomapnying 10 or so boys for zacha's bday. it was fun and the boys had a great time. everyone came back happy and tired.
we were accomapnying 10 or so boys for zacha's bday. it was fun and the boys had a great time. everyone came back happy and tired.
Yeah it is the weekend!!
At Peponi Lodge for the weekend. So great to have some time off. It has been a strenuous week , and so far it has not felt like much of a holiday! (and Leah has – by far - been taking the lead on everything for obvious reasons. The learning curve for me is still very steep as I engage in the process of supporting the development of palliative care at Bombo.) Leah and I have been at Bombo Hospital almost every day this past week, planning for the regional meeting that took place Oct. 21st. The politics and complexities surrounding the planning of this event were as enormous and confusing. Although what seemed insurmountable and clear as mud one moment seems to have worked out the next. The meeing came together with reps from all of the 8 districts. Their reports on where they were at were impressive and moving, especially given the very limited resources. It was such a priviledge to be part of this process, as peripheral as I was. The head of the TZ palliative care assoc. attended and spoke of the work being done at a national level to get pc integrated into health policies and funding.
Leah and I continue to flog the WHO public health strategy framework and her intro to the day really dovetailed with his presentation. We were also tasked with the dubious task of introducing a monthly reporting form to measure and evaluate, that is not a great data collecting tool but seems to be the starting place being proposed by one of the ngo funders (Diana Fund UK).
I am also honoured to play a small role in 2 workshops for Bombo CTC clinicians next week on psycho social care.
So it is all exhilarating, exhausting and challenging all at once. It is such great fortune to play a small role with a group of amazing TZers – and Leah (and Dr. Ambrose, who comes up in conversation all the time!) who have so much knowledge and determination, and carry on amidst so many challenges. They shine all their light in the sun (for you GHC fans), and are definitely the grains of sand that are building a mountain.
So as I mentioned I am on a weekend off, sitting at our banda by the Indian Ocean and enjoying the breeze. Tonight is the full moon, and I have been busy studying the equatorial star chart with the hopes of identifying some of the constellations, etc.
Sal
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Week end
I only taught two classes on Thursday as the GI problems that had been troubling me since Monday worsened and Sister G drove us home a bit early. In consultation with Leah, I started on a course of the antibiotics we had brought with us for this purpose and woke Friday am feeeling much better. Simon stayed home and I walked to school to teach 4 classes - 2 standard 6, 1 S5 and 1 S4. Not without the usual Tz glitches however, the power went out at 9am and one laptop immediately ran out of power so I only had 3 laptops to work with. Fortunately, the power came back before the remaining laptop batteries ran out.
I focussed on the word processing options - more advanced with the S6s than the y0unger classes - changing font and font size, bold, colour etc. The younger ones need more exposure to the keyboard.
The language barrier is not really a problem. As long as I speak computer (left-click, save, hold shift button down while typing etc), while I demonstrate something, they cluster around and give their full attention and seem to understand. They pick it up quickly and when they get their turn at the computer, they may have to ask me (Sister! Sister!) how to do something again but they remember what it is they want to do. I will introduce the basics of Spreadsheets to the S6s next week and use the rest of last three teaching days to reinforce what we have been able to cover. That will cover the syllabus. Sister is most concerned about the 6s because they are tested this year.
Edna, the computer teacher, seems quite competent and was very pleased that the basic computer book I had brought with me was for the school and borrowed it for the weekend. At least 4 of the teachers have expressed an interest in learning more so, next week, I will see how we can make more time for them to have some teaching too.
It is hard to identify what makes the days so exhausting - the heat, the challenges of communication, the constant noise - probably all of this plus a bit of dehydration to say nothing about the GI issues. But everyday in the afternoon, most of us doze or nap and Sally and I are in bed by about 8:30ish pm.
We headed off to Peponi's on the coast south of Tanga - about 1h40m trip by back road from Muheza. In addition to running water and the ocean, the best part of being here is the quiet. No traffic, no fruit bats. The second best thing is being able to keep down and in a beer and most of a meal last night - surf and turf - prawns, calamari, steak and chips (fries)! The third best thing is sitting outside in the breeze, something we rarely do in Muheza.
Tutaonana
Rose
I focussed on the word processing options - more advanced with the S6s than the y0unger classes - changing font and font size, bold, colour etc. The younger ones need more exposure to the keyboard.
The language barrier is not really a problem. As long as I speak computer (left-click, save, hold shift button down while typing etc), while I demonstrate something, they cluster around and give their full attention and seem to understand. They pick it up quickly and when they get their turn at the computer, they may have to ask me (Sister! Sister!) how to do something again but they remember what it is they want to do. I will introduce the basics of Spreadsheets to the S6s next week and use the rest of last three teaching days to reinforce what we have been able to cover. That will cover the syllabus. Sister is most concerned about the 6s because they are tested this year.
Edna, the computer teacher, seems quite competent and was very pleased that the basic computer book I had brought with me was for the school and borrowed it for the weekend. At least 4 of the teachers have expressed an interest in learning more so, next week, I will see how we can make more time for them to have some teaching too.
It is hard to identify what makes the days so exhausting - the heat, the challenges of communication, the constant noise - probably all of this plus a bit of dehydration to say nothing about the GI issues. But everyday in the afternoon, most of us doze or nap and Sally and I are in bed by about 8:30ish pm.
We headed off to Peponi's on the coast south of Tanga - about 1h40m trip by back road from Muheza. In addition to running water and the ocean, the best part of being here is the quiet. No traffic, no fruit bats. The second best thing is being able to keep down and in a beer and most of a meal last night - surf and turf - prawns, calamari, steak and chips (fries)! The third best thing is sitting outside in the breeze, something we rarely do in Muheza.
Tutaonana
Rose
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
and now we teach.
Simon and I finished testing all the computers today and then moved 2 of the desktops down to the new computer lab, set them up along with the four laptops and taught our first class.
Now we had just tested these computers and the laptops we had donated two years ago had been in use and were working and the two I'd brought with me this time were working well so it should have gone smoothly.
First we discovered that the built in desk in the computer room was too narrow for a keyboard to fit in front of a monitor - some of these monitors are about 2 feet deep - remember? So we angled them with the students sitting sideways. Then we turned on the two desktops and one started up and the other did not. The fan ran quite loudly and nothing ever appeared on the monitor. Down one computer.
One of the Lenovo laptops that we brought before started up perfectly and the other did not. Then I realized that the Toshiba laptop that I brought this time does not have any word processing software on it and word processing was going to be this day's lesson. For a minute I thought we would be down to 3 computers when the Lenovo finally started after 3 tries and I found Windows Note on the Toshiba.
So starting with one of the Form 5s, most of whom had been in Form 3 when we were here before, Simon and I taught them how to create a word document, save it, find it again and close down the computer.
I will review the syllabus and structure as much learning as I can in the two lessons we will get with each of the forms between now and next Wednesday.
I am so impressed with the Edubuntu software. I wish I had been successful setting it up on the Toshiba before I left because the two Lenovo laptops would boot off the same disk the Toshiba would have used but alas, I had no luck getting that Edubuntu ISO file downloaded and installed.
If anyone reading this has old computer parts around, I know where there is a good home for them so let me know.
On the home front, we are still without water at Hill View House and not very hopeful we will see any soon. And three of us in the house have been sick this week with conditions that require a lot of flushing. (I'll spare you the details.) At least last night the race to the toilet slowed down enough that we had water to spare for washing this morning. We are all looking forward to our trip to Peponi this weekend, not only for Sand Island and brownies but for running water and showers!
Rose
Now we had just tested these computers and the laptops we had donated two years ago had been in use and were working and the two I'd brought with me this time were working well so it should have gone smoothly.
First we discovered that the built in desk in the computer room was too narrow for a keyboard to fit in front of a monitor - some of these monitors are about 2 feet deep - remember? So we angled them with the students sitting sideways. Then we turned on the two desktops and one started up and the other did not. The fan ran quite loudly and nothing ever appeared on the monitor. Down one computer.
One of the Lenovo laptops that we brought before started up perfectly and the other did not. Then I realized that the Toshiba laptop that I brought this time does not have any word processing software on it and word processing was going to be this day's lesson. For a minute I thought we would be down to 3 computers when the Lenovo finally started after 3 tries and I found Windows Note on the Toshiba.
So starting with one of the Form 5s, most of whom had been in Form 3 when we were here before, Simon and I taught them how to create a word document, save it, find it again and close down the computer.
I will review the syllabus and structure as much learning as I can in the two lessons we will get with each of the forms between now and next Wednesday.
I am so impressed with the Edubuntu software. I wish I had been successful setting it up on the Toshiba before I left because the two Lenovo laptops would boot off the same disk the Toshiba would have used but alas, I had no luck getting that Edubuntu ISO file downloaded and installed.
If anyone reading this has old computer parts around, I know where there is a good home for them so let me know.
On the home front, we are still without water at Hill View House and not very hopeful we will see any soon. And three of us in the house have been sick this week with conditions that require a lot of flushing. (I'll spare you the details.) At least last night the race to the toilet slowed down enough that we had water to spare for washing this morning. We are all looking forward to our trip to Peponi this weekend, not only for Sand Island and brownies but for running water and showers!
Rose
Monday, October 18, 2010
Thumbs Up
Leah and I are walking through a small village. We pass a young woman, she taps my shoulder and gives me the thumbs up. We wonder why or for whom? After much debate, I out argue Leah: clearly it was directed at me and she ws referring to my stylish green floppy sunhat.
No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (for Julia)
Crash, bang .... a gang of monkeys catapalt across the roof and jump onto the mango tree: 'no more monkeys jumping on the roof'!!
Unpacking computers
So today Simon and I walked up to school for 8:30 looking forward to hearing the children sing the national anthem and the school was silent when we arrived. It turns out Sister G needed more time to teach and school now starts at 8 am.
Sister showed us to a secure room in one of the convent buildings where 30 boxes, each with a computer monitor in them, and 30 boxes, each with a CPU, keyboard, mouse, and cables, were stacked. The computers came from Malone College or University in Ireland via Camara Technologies.
We started opening boxes and hooking monitors, keyboards and a mouse to a CPU and by noon we had assembled 9 functioning workstations. We ran into a surprise and a glitch early on. The surprise: the computers were all loaded with Edubuntu operating systems! The glitch: they required a login and password. While I was imagining calling Ireland or rebooting each of the computers with the Edubuntu boot disk I had brought with me, Sister G sorted it out with a quick phone call to I'm not sure who. Login and password? Camara.
Sister G kindly drove us home at noon as a half day is about all Simon and I can manage.
We have been without running water since yesterday morning and the news suggests if there is no rain soon, we may not have it again before we leave. Julliet bought 4 or 5 jerry cans of water to replenish our supply for cooking and washing up and Simon and I bought large containers of drinking water (which we will filter just in case!) and a small tub to use for sink baths in the interim. Power was also out during the night and part of the day. Up until now it has been fairly reliable.
42 boxes to go!
Rose
Sister showed us to a secure room in one of the convent buildings where 30 boxes, each with a computer monitor in them, and 30 boxes, each with a CPU, keyboard, mouse, and cables, were stacked. The computers came from Malone College or University in Ireland via Camara Technologies.
We started opening boxes and hooking monitors, keyboards and a mouse to a CPU and by noon we had assembled 9 functioning workstations. We ran into a surprise and a glitch early on. The surprise: the computers were all loaded with Edubuntu operating systems! The glitch: they required a login and password. While I was imagining calling Ireland or rebooting each of the computers with the Edubuntu boot disk I had brought with me, Sister G sorted it out with a quick phone call to I'm not sure who. Login and password? Camara.
Sister G kindly drove us home at noon as a half day is about all Simon and I can manage.
We have been without running water since yesterday morning and the news suggests if there is no rain soon, we may not have it again before we leave. Julliet bought 4 or 5 jerry cans of water to replenish our supply for cooking and washing up and Simon and I bought large containers of drinking water (which we will filter just in case!) and a small tub to use for sink baths in the interim. Power was also out during the night and part of the day. Up until now it has been fairly reliable.
42 boxes to go!
Rose
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Bombo Regional Hospital - Sal's First Day
Leah and I took the Dalla Dalla to Tanga on the day that Simon and Rose went to school.
The Dalla Dalla: This was my first experience on a Dalla Dalla (a 8 or so seated van in fairly significant disrepair with 14 plus jammed in). I managed to avoid taking one during our last trip here. On the plus side it cannot go very fast (relatively speaking) and there are lots of speed bumps along the way, through every town the highway goes through. Although the speed bumps do create the rapid excelleration/brake cycle that does not make for a smooth ride. (Regretably, motorcycles have proliferated since our last time here, and seem to act as taxis.)
We got to Tanga and did a few errands before walking to the hospital. It was nice to see the hospital and to connect with Dr.Violet Bakari. We met her at in her examination room at the CTC for about 3 hours. A palliative nurse and AMO joined in for much of the time. Those 3 hours were strangely draining - such a reminder about how much we take for granted in our communications: the non verbal cues, what is being meant by what is said, and looking for the/a framework. (How western of me.)
We will be busy next week helping to organize a regional meeting. Hopefully folks from the 7 district hospitals will come together to talk about how things are going. Leah and I plan to support from behind, although have had a request from the Diana Fund to facilitate a discussion on M & E (monitoring and evaluation) to develop a consistent tool to use. Easy!
Also began the discussion going with Violet about next steps and the best way to get the funds to her. Leah may do some teaching.
Being in Tanzania always provides such opportunities for me for reflection on self and culture (and politics and power and control, aid, sense of place .....). I learn - again - the importnace of context, of not making assumptions and not judging. I thrive and at the same time struggle with being in that place of uncertainty and unknow edges. It helps me to embrace what I do feel and see all around me: the importance and richness of relationships, authenticity, respect, mindfulness, and loving kindness. I love the interplay of nature and culture that makes this place.
Yesterday was a day off and we enjoyed a nice afternoon on the Indian Ocean, swimming and visiting.
No water right now, but power. Sitting on my bed in front of a fan - this dongle is amazing.
Off to shop at the market.
The Dalla Dalla: This was my first experience on a Dalla Dalla (a 8 or so seated van in fairly significant disrepair with 14 plus jammed in). I managed to avoid taking one during our last trip here. On the plus side it cannot go very fast (relatively speaking) and there are lots of speed bumps along the way, through every town the highway goes through. Although the speed bumps do create the rapid excelleration/brake cycle that does not make for a smooth ride. (Regretably, motorcycles have proliferated since our last time here, and seem to act as taxis.)
We got to Tanga and did a few errands before walking to the hospital. It was nice to see the hospital and to connect with Dr.Violet Bakari. We met her at in her examination room at the CTC for about 3 hours. A palliative nurse and AMO joined in for much of the time. Those 3 hours were strangely draining - such a reminder about how much we take for granted in our communications: the non verbal cues, what is being meant by what is said, and looking for the/a framework. (How western of me.)
We will be busy next week helping to organize a regional meeting. Hopefully folks from the 7 district hospitals will come together to talk about how things are going. Leah and I plan to support from behind, although have had a request from the Diana Fund to facilitate a discussion on M & E (monitoring and evaluation) to develop a consistent tool to use. Easy!
Also began the discussion going with Violet about next steps and the best way to get the funds to her. Leah may do some teaching.
Being in Tanzania always provides such opportunities for me for reflection on self and culture (and politics and power and control, aid, sense of place .....). I learn - again - the importnace of context, of not making assumptions and not judging. I thrive and at the same time struggle with being in that place of uncertainty and unknow edges. It helps me to embrace what I do feel and see all around me: the importance and richness of relationships, authenticity, respect, mindfulness, and loving kindness. I love the interplay of nature and culture that makes this place.
Yesterday was a day off and we enjoyed a nice afternoon on the Indian Ocean, swimming and visiting.
No water right now, but power. Sitting on my bed in front of a fan - this dongle is amazing.
Off to shop at the market.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Our first day at "work"
Friday morning Simon and I headed off to Holy Family Primary School hoping to meet with Sister Gwyneth and find out what work we would be doing while we are here.
The new classrooms are finished but not yet occupied. Sister has set up her office and the staff room in two of the new classrooms and will fill them with students next term.
Her old office is the new computer room and Griffin's classroom from 2 years ago is the new library. The library has shelves and is being used to store material for the ongoing construction at the school. Workmen are preparing to build the last building of the "quad" which will house the admin offices and staff room and either a music or art room.
The new computer room had just been painted and still smelled of turpentine and paint. It is not yet secure enough to move the computers in permanently but a few will be moved down for us to use for teaching. The room is about 20 x 25 ft with an L-shaped shelf running continously around two walls and a large table, maybe 5 x 16-18 ft long in the middle. There are pairs of wall plugs set up around the room over the shelf and room for about 20 computers.
In addition to the laptops we've brought, 2 last time and 2 this time, Sister was able to get 30 donated desktop computers of which she hopes 20 will work. That will be one of the jobs Simon and I will do next week is try and piece together computers and get them up and running. I have no idea what operating system they have!
The children we taught 2 years ago have moved up two years so the current form 3 and 4 students have not had much exposure to computers yet. The school now has a computer teacher but Sister does not seem to place much faith in her abilities. Simon and I will be teaching the Form 4s and working with the computer teacher as well.
While waiting for Sister G to return from an errand, Simon and I checked out the laptop with Edubuntu installed on it. We started by checking out the games, which mostly seem quite teachable and we played the ones neither of us were familiar with. There is a scrambled word game that is not particularly relevant to the African context. I'm not sure Tanzanian children would have success unscrambling the word curling. Over the weekend, I will check out the other applications so we can become more familiar with them before we work with the computer teacher.
The biggest change here is that you can know buy a "dongle", the UK term for a mobile internet hookup that you plug into your computer so you can access the internet from where you are. No more running to the hospital computer room or over to Ben and Sally's or an internet cafe to access email. So far - yeah!
Simon and I walked up and back to school yesterday and we were just about done in by the time we came back at close to 2pm. Hungry and hot we arrived home to find a few chapatis left from lunch - yeah Juliette!
I started sneezing a couple of nights ago and now have a full on cold - runny nose, aches and pains. Damn. I will lay low for the weekend and rest and drink plenty of fluids and hope for improvement by Monday.
Sally had a completely diiferent day with Leah at Bombo Hospital in Tanga and will blog later.
lub rose ((imagine this said with a stuffy nose)
The new classrooms are finished but not yet occupied. Sister has set up her office and the staff room in two of the new classrooms and will fill them with students next term.
Her old office is the new computer room and Griffin's classroom from 2 years ago is the new library. The library has shelves and is being used to store material for the ongoing construction at the school. Workmen are preparing to build the last building of the "quad" which will house the admin offices and staff room and either a music or art room.
The new computer room had just been painted and still smelled of turpentine and paint. It is not yet secure enough to move the computers in permanently but a few will be moved down for us to use for teaching. The room is about 20 x 25 ft with an L-shaped shelf running continously around two walls and a large table, maybe 5 x 16-18 ft long in the middle. There are pairs of wall plugs set up around the room over the shelf and room for about 20 computers.
In addition to the laptops we've brought, 2 last time and 2 this time, Sister was able to get 30 donated desktop computers of which she hopes 20 will work. That will be one of the jobs Simon and I will do next week is try and piece together computers and get them up and running. I have no idea what operating system they have!
The children we taught 2 years ago have moved up two years so the current form 3 and 4 students have not had much exposure to computers yet. The school now has a computer teacher but Sister does not seem to place much faith in her abilities. Simon and I will be teaching the Form 4s and working with the computer teacher as well.
While waiting for Sister G to return from an errand, Simon and I checked out the laptop with Edubuntu installed on it. We started by checking out the games, which mostly seem quite teachable and we played the ones neither of us were familiar with. There is a scrambled word game that is not particularly relevant to the African context. I'm not sure Tanzanian children would have success unscrambling the word curling. Over the weekend, I will check out the other applications so we can become more familiar with them before we work with the computer teacher.
The biggest change here is that you can know buy a "dongle", the UK term for a mobile internet hookup that you plug into your computer so you can access the internet from where you are. No more running to the hospital computer room or over to Ben and Sally's or an internet cafe to access email. So far - yeah!
Simon and I walked up and back to school yesterday and we were just about done in by the time we came back at close to 2pm. Hungry and hot we arrived home to find a few chapatis left from lunch - yeah Juliette!
I started sneezing a couple of nights ago and now have a full on cold - runny nose, aches and pains. Damn. I will lay low for the weekend and rest and drink plenty of fluids and hope for improvement by Monday.
Sally had a completely diiferent day with Leah at Bombo Hospital in Tanga and will blog later.
lub rose ((imagine this said with a stuffy nose)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
We made it!
After a marathon trip, we made it to Muheza yesterday at 2pm after a 7 hour bus trip from Dar. All of us are jet lagged but otherwise well. It was certainly an easier adjustment coming the second time.
We have been out to the market twice to do shopping for the household and Simon was out early this morning to buy mandazi (local donuts) and bananas for breakfast.
The most noticeable change is that we have acquired a "donkle", the UK term for a mobile connection for the laptop that gives us internet access through the cell phone network. So if this continues to work, we can email regularly and from anywhere in Tanzania.
After a slow start this morning, we went for a walk and had our first full exposure to the heat. It was overcast and seemed only reasonably hot when we started but became too hot by the end and we still had to go to the market.
Thursday is big market day and today is also a holiday - Julius Nyerere day - the first president of Tanzania. The streets were full of sellers and buyers. We were looking for the new ATM we had heard was in Muheza and also a place to buy minutes for the dongle as well as a few things for dinner. We are making mchicha and a salad tonight and needed avocados and a mango - no mangos yet but we bought a papaya.
Although our Kiswahili is still appalingly inadequate, we did muddle along at the market and actually understood what the sellers were telling us when they told us how much they wanted us to pay.
As usual we paid too much but since we are talking the difference about 20 or25 cents an avocado it doesn't seem like being ripped off given what we would pay at home. Juliette the housekeeper thinks 10 cents an avocado is too much to pay.
The little children still yell at us as we walk by but it sounds more like a greeting and less like a cry of alarm this time.
Tomorrow we will hopefully touch base with Sister G and start planning what Simon and I will do at the school this time. We have so much less time than before.
Rose
We have been out to the market twice to do shopping for the household and Simon was out early this morning to buy mandazi (local donuts) and bananas for breakfast.
The most noticeable change is that we have acquired a "donkle", the UK term for a mobile connection for the laptop that gives us internet access through the cell phone network. So if this continues to work, we can email regularly and from anywhere in Tanzania.
After a slow start this morning, we went for a walk and had our first full exposure to the heat. It was overcast and seemed only reasonably hot when we started but became too hot by the end and we still had to go to the market.
Thursday is big market day and today is also a holiday - Julius Nyerere day - the first president of Tanzania. The streets were full of sellers and buyers. We were looking for the new ATM we had heard was in Muheza and also a place to buy minutes for the dongle as well as a few things for dinner. We are making mchicha and a salad tonight and needed avocados and a mango - no mangos yet but we bought a papaya.
Although our Kiswahili is still appalingly inadequate, we did muddle along at the market and actually understood what the sellers were telling us when they told us how much they wanted us to pay.
As usual we paid too much but since we are talking the difference about 20 or25 cents an avocado it doesn't seem like being ripped off given what we would pay at home. Juliette the housekeeper thinks 10 cents an avocado is too much to pay.
The little children still yell at us as we walk by but it sounds more like a greeting and less like a cry of alarm this time.
Tomorrow we will hopefully touch base with Sister G and start planning what Simon and I will do at the school this time. We have so much less time than before.
Rose
Friday, October 8, 2010
Let the Journey Begin!
Our stuff is spread all over the floor. Our flight leaves in hours. First to Toronto then on to Tanzania. Second trip. Know where we are going. Looking forward to seeing people in Muheza again.
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