Hi Friends!

Hi Everyone! This is Jenny, and at the demands of a dear friend I am posting on this blog. . . I’ve been here four days now and everything is going great! I’m happy to say that somehow in five short weeks, my parents have made so many friends that my social calendar has stayed just as busy as it was in Washington, D.C. Seriously, I don’t really know how that is possible, but we have been all over Arusha meeting different people for lunch, coffee, etc. There are such interesting new friends, and an absurdly large number of people from Minnesota (I can’t get away!!).

Otherwise, I’ve been working on my Kiswahili (except today when for some reason a Tanzanian friend and I attempted to speak in Spanish) and eating a LOT. Later this week my parents and I are going to try to go to Lutindi, which, among other things, is known for its tea (I Can’t Wait!!!) and then soon will meet up with Ellie and Luke. During our brief phone conversation the other day, Luke gleefully informed me that he has fleas and Ellie said she will have to throw out most of her clothing, so I can’t wait to hear more of their adventures J They sounded like they were having a wonderful time!!

Today among other activities, we waited to sit in on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get in (we will try again tomorrow), but we did have a two hour long conversation with a journalist who has been covering the genocide for the past 17 or so years. So interesting, in of course a very depressing way, but I’m definitely hoping to educate myself a bit more.

That’s all for now, off to bed. Much love! Lala salama (that’s my favorite phrase “sweet dreams!”)

Jenny

She's Here!

Jenny arrives at Kilimanjaro Airport!

Back at Kwa Babu, a feast was prepared for Jenny's arrival

Jenny has arrived! We are so excited to have Jenny join us! Tom and I hired a taxi to take us to the airport to greet Jenny. We had to pay for the gas before we started. It was so great to see Jenny get off that plane! (Yes, we were able to look through the window and see her walk off onto the tarmac).

The real adventure began as we started to go home. The taxi started stuttering and stopping. We coasted into a petrol station and now paid for the driver to add more oil. We slowly limped out onto the road and listened to the transmission crunching the rest of the way home. This was definitely not a taxi to be out on the highway. We were all holding our breath and praying for this little cab, but it finally made it back to Arusha!

We have been showing Jenny around and helping her make connections. We are rationed to about two to three hours of electrical power per day. The energy crisis has worsened due to the drought, which means not enough water to power the hydroelectric dam.

So, the power has gone off again, and I will sign off to save the computer battery for other things!

We are well, we are excited, and we continue to have a great adventure!

Sue

Vignettes

Early Morning Sights and Sounds
Every morning at 5am the call to prayer comes out over loudspeakers for all our Muslim neighbors in Arusha. It is so much a part of life, I usually sleep right through it.
At 7am, the soft swish of a wet mop in a bucket of water can be heard outside our window as the concrete patio is cleaned of the dirt and dust gathered the day before. Similarly, buckets of water are thrown onto the dirt streets from shop owners to try to control the swirling dirt and dust that is part of everyday life. Every night, I blow a day's portion of dirt out of my nose (thank goodness for cilia!).
I have not broken myself of the habit of daily morning warm showers. The "daily" part is always there. The "warm" is dependent on the electricity and the whim of my particular shower. Some mornings, it is scalding hot and I can only tentatively and quickly stick a washcloth in the water to then use on my body outside of the shower. Some mornings, it is quite cold, so ditto the preceding sentence. And some mornings, the water just stops mid-shower (and usually mid-soaping). I try to take very quick showers!
Life Challenges
The other day I was in the front seat of a dala dala. While we were waiting for it to get enough people on board to leave, I noticed a crippled man crawling by. He had flip-flops on his hands, but nothing on his knees. The lower limbs of his legs dangled at odd angles as he crawled along. He came to a busy intersection, and to my amazement, started to cross the street. I have a difficult time doing this without getting hit, and I am a tall person by Tanzanian standards. I couldn't imagine how he would ever make it across the street. But slowly, inch-by-inch, he managed to get across. The gutter proved to be the challenge for him. It was about 12" high to the sidewalk. He easily put his hands up on the walk, but he struggled valiantly to pull his legs up behind him. He finally succeeded and proceeded on his way. My attention wandered. Five minutes later, I realized he was getting ready to cross the next street in the intersection. I surmise he was crawling to his usual post to sit and beg for the day.

Tom and I visited a village earlier in the week. We went inside a house that could only be called a hovel. It was 8' by 8.' It had a door, but no windows, so once inside it was quite dark except for the wood fire burning off to one side. There was a mattress along one length of the room, the only piece of furniture. The house was made of mud with a few pieces of wood stuck through it to give it some support. The interior walls were completely covered in newspaper from floor to ceiling, I assume as an extra layer of insulation. The man who lives in the house with his wife and baby said that he rents his house, as he cannot afford to buy one.
Traveling Experiences
We were traveling with a Tanzanian friend and needed to get on a dala dala. As we approached the area where the dala dalas wait for customers, our friend was surrounded by young men, shouting, pushing and jostling him to use their dala dala. It started to become unruly, but our friend calmly kept walking. Tom and I got caught up in the melee. I felt a man's hand slip into my jacket pocket. I removed it and slapped his fingers, as a mother to her recalcitrant child. Once inside the dala dala, I told Tom what had happened. He then noticed that his Lutheran Malaria Initiative wristband had been removed and taken. May whoever now has the band wear it in good health and never get malaria!
Colliding Worlds
We were sitting inside Dolly's Patisserie (run by an Arabic family) in downtown Arusha eating a chocolate croissant. I had ordered chai ni mahziwa (tea with milk). I took a sip as I was reading an article by Mahler on my Kindle. I commented to Tom, "This just tastes like milk. I don't taste any tea." "I'm surprised you ordered your tea with milk," he said. "I always have milk with my tea at home," I said, a habit I picked up long ago while visiting England. Tom looked at me and said, "Sue, you are far from home. You are in Africa, thousands of miles away." Yes . . .Kindles, Mahler, chocolate croissants, British tea, Tanzania. . .what a world!

Sue

P.S. We have been without electricity for two days, so I can't afford to use up my computer
battery downloading pictures. Hopefully, next post I will be able to include some!

Transportation

One of the challenges of Tanzania is the transportation. There are very few roads and fewer still that are paved. What we consider a two-lane road is the type of road connecting major cities. However, “two lanes” is a mere suggestion here. I have counted up to five vehicles abreast, not counting the pedestrians, piki-pikis (motor bikes), and bicycles. There will be one vehicle occupying each side of the “normal” space on the road. Then, there will be cars trying to pass on either side of these two cars. Finally, there will be an impatient individual who decides he isn’t getting there fast enough, so passes between the middle of the two lanes.

There is also no right-of-way, for pedestrians or for those going straight ahead when there is a crossroad. Cars backing up do not wait for a pedestrian to walk by. They just back up. It gets a little hairy near the round-abouts. Everyone is trying to get through, people are trying to cross the street, and no one seems particularly concerned about what the next driver is trying to do.

Today, I had my first ride in a dala-dala. This is the most common form of transportation (other than walking). A dala-dala is a sixteen-seat passenger van. However, here a dala-dala will hold up to twenty-five people at one time. Ours today had twenty-one people in it. When we first got on, Tom stepped aside, thinking he was being nice in letting me have the one last seat (or so we thought). I started to sit, but the man behind starting thumping on his seat, motioning to a 12-inch space beside him (literally a twelve-inch space). That was to be my seat. Well, my hips haven’t measured twelve inches across since shortly after my birth, so it was a bit of a struggle. I was jammed next to a woman on one side and the man on the other. His elbow nestled into the space above my hip bone and remained there the rest of the journey, as jammed in as we all were.

So we started off. The van rarely stopped completely when just one person was getting off. It would slow down while the passenger disembarked, and then speed back up before the door was closed. The price, however, was “right.” It cost us 300 tshillings, the equivalent of about 33 cents, for the ride.

The photo below is of a typical dala-dala. I was severely scolded for taking this picture by the driver of the van. So, even though it is nothing special, enjoy it as I took this at my own peril!

Yako ananana (see you later),

Sue

Well, the picture wouldn't upload--you'll have to use your imagination!

We made it!

Jambo! Ellie and Luke here...

We've only been here three days but so much has already happened. After our 3 flights and 24 hours of traveling, we finally arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport (see pic!). Our dad, Sister Florencia (from the retreat center we're staying at), and Kakasi (our soon-to-be safari guide) met us there and drove us to Arusha.

Being a white person (mzungu) here is quite the experience. Strangers constantly greet us with the few English words they know, and laugh at our poor Swahili. Our mom is notorious for misusing Swahili phrases. She greeted Ellie this morning with, "ninafurahi kukuona!" (nice to meet you!).

Right now Ellie and I are chillin under Luke's mosquito net at the Catholic retreat center we're staying at. It's awesome here- our own rooms and really good food (see pic). We get so much food here, which fits in nicely with Luke's get-swole-for-the-summer-workout-plan.

Yesterday we went to a snake farm (see pic). On the car ride there the radio played Wiz Khalifa, good to hear our main man has an international audience. The snake farm was sweet, they had huge pythons, cobras, and a Black Mamba, the world's deadliest snake (known as the 7 step snake because if you are bitten you may become unconscious after taking just 7 steps.. 95% fatality rate for people who are bitten!).

Last night we had an interesting dining experience... We went to the "Rambo Shine Bar" and each ordered kuku (chicken) and chips. The chicken was, to say the least, inedible. It gave new meaning to the term "rubber chicken." I actually think if we had dropped it on the ground, it would have bounced. Our dad definitely was served the neck, and Ellie got something that didn't come from any obvious part of the chicken anatomy... It's ok though, we knew the streak of great meals had to come to an end at some point!

The two of us are off to Pangani tomorrow on the oceanside to start a month of working on an organic farm. The farmers recently got new puppies, and we're pumped to do some physical labor and play with animals! It may be a while before we're able to blog again, but we'll try to update when possible.

Kwa heri, yakuonana baadaye! (Bye, see you soon!)

Outside the Maasai Cultural Museum by the snake farm.

Some of our Tanzanian friends selling mahindi (corn) outside the retreat center.

Our dad tried out for a band that plays at weddings. They said they'd contact him if they ever needed some comic relief.

Ellie playing with a Black Mamba at the snake farm. (not actually, this is just a harmless tree snake!)

Our first meal at the retreat center!

Arriving in Tanzania!