Zanzibari Sun Set

Holy Hot Holidays!
Wk of 12/21-12/28

This past week I escaped from Arusha town to the southern parts of Tanzania. My friend Heather and I ventured by early morning bus down to Dar where we met up with Imee and Debby.
[Photo 1. MCH Girls Reunion: Debby, Imee, Me]The first noticeable difference about the city of Dar es Salaam is the extreme heat and humidity. I’ve gotten used to the hot days in Arusha, but the nights are always nice and cool. Not so in Dar. In the evening the temp was still hovering around 85-90 and 100% humidity. After a quick dip in the pool, we all got ready for an Ethiopian dinner before Imee jetted off to Europe for the holidays. The food was delicious! Ethiopian meals are served family style on a large platter of spongy bread. Each dish is dumped out onto the bread and you tear pieces away and scoop up the sauce and dish of your desire. My favorites were the lamb and the cottage cheese(more like Indian paneer cheese)/spinach dishes. After dinner we went for a round of trivia at an Irish pub. A friend of mine who I met in Arusha but lives in Dar took a few of us to a local bar as an escape from the expat saturated bar we were at.

The next day we spent lounging next to the pool, relaxing with our books. For lunch we walked down the road to a shopping center where I spotted chocolate mint ice cream. That was a much better substitute to lunch in the hot hot weather. After lunch it was back to the pool to cool off. That night we picked up another arriving friend from Arusha who would be joining us in Zanzibar. The morning of our departure from Dar, we made a much needed pit stop at good ole Mr. Price! This was the largest one I’d been in with an amazing selection of tshirts, jeans, and all things I love: ) Thankfully we made it just in the nic of time to catch the afternoon ferry to Zanzibar Island. To ward off any seasickness I slept most of the 2 hr boat ride (and it was my afternoon nap time).

I thought it was hot in Dar-but it was even hotter in Zanzibar! To make matters worse, the power in Zanzibar was out, meaning no electricity for air conditioning or even fans! Our hotel did have a generator, but as good conservationists they only turned the generators on from 6-9pm. Unfortunately our room had only a single window that faced a small, center courtyard with no breeze. I sweated through the night sleeping like a star fish spread across my bed. However, despite the heat-Stonetown was pretty amazing! The architecture is Arabian inspired, the streets winding and narrow, and the attitude laid back like many beach towns. The highlight of Stonetown was the Forodhani Gardens; a public space where vendors set up shop at night and sell skewers of fresh seafood, fruit, Zanzibari pizza, sugar cane juice, and falafel.
[Photo 2. SEAFOOD GALORE]
We tried everything from lobster to shrimp to marlin, tuna, and barracuda! The verdict is: seafood is delicious! Zanzibari pizza is more like an omelet with chopped onion, tomato, pepper, and beef. My favorite desert was definitely the fresh slice of pineapple.

While in Stonetown, Heather, Debby and I decided to take a Christmas Eve day spice tour. Zanzibar historically was a major port for spices. Many are native to Zanzibar, but many also were brought over by the Portuguese, Spanish (?), and English. We saw, smelled and tried many things including vanilla, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom, lemon grass, and ginger.

[Photo 3. Heather and I smelling Lemon Grass] Towards the end of the tour we also had a chance to try the abundant fruits of Zanzibar: passion fruit, jackfruit, oranges, papaya, pineapple, coco, and star fruit. The fragrance through the woods was amazing!
After the spice tour we attempted to withdraw money from the ATM-luckily, I had brought US dollars and could exchange at a bureau, but Debby and Heather were in dire need of an ATM. In true African fashion, none of the ATMs around Stonetown were working; partly due to the power outage and partly due to ‘nothing ever works in Africa.’ We ran from bank to bank and ATM to ATM with no luck. Finally a nice Zanzibarian took pity on us and offered us a lift to another bank. We finally found one that worked and the girls were able to take out money! This new friend turned out to be our savior-very fitting on Christmas Eve, even if he was Muslim. In return we invited him to our evening gathering. The night was great! We met up with my roommate Kala and another Arusha friend Megan at a near by bar where the special entertainment was an Arabian fire dance show!
[Photo 4. Fire starter, Xmas Eve]

On Christmas day, Heather, Debby and I travelled across the island to Jambiani for some beach time! It turned out that our new friend just so happened to grow up in Jambiani and offered to drive us to the town. Six of us piled into the car and took off for an adventure on the beach.
[Photo 5. The Jambiani Gang] Debby and I were ecstatic to see water-Arusha swimming pools just doesn’t cut it. The cool thing about this beach trip was that I can now add the Indian Ocean to places I’ve been! The water was crystal clear and warm, the sand white and powdery soft! On our second beach day we went up the coast to a private beach where we were the only people for miles in all directions! That is except for the fisherman who caught our lunch! While we waited for our fish to cook, we sipped milk from freshly picked coconuts and floated in the water. Truly an amazing holiday!

[Photo 6. Coconut Freshi (they say freshi in swahili)]

While I loved my escape to the island, I was looking forward to be back in the cool temps of Arusha! I guess when you miss being in your familiar surroundings, that’s when it’s really home.

Parties, Celebrations, Graduations Galore

Wk of 12/11-12/18


This week has been full of ceremonies and celebrations. On Friday the 11th, Jackie invited me to a graduation ceremony at ECOLI-the pre-school she has worked with for the past 6mo. These children will be moving on to primary school starting in late January. The school year here is Jan-Dec, with a few holiday breaks throughout. I was optimistic in thinking I was merely attending the ceremony as an audience member; of course I would be a ‘guest of honor’ and required to sit at the head table along with the District Ward Officer, a ECOLI board member, the assistant director of the school and Jackie. The ceremony was quite formal, with readings by the District Ward Officer and another guest of honor who preached the importance of education—to preschoolers, mind you. and not in a tone you’d usually address 5 yr olds… The children as usual were cute as could be. They marched into the ceremony singing and doing a little dance step.The families were very excited for their babies to be receiving recognition of moving on in their education, each mama or family member providing a lay and a gift to the child as their name was read for their ‘diploma.’ Despite the meager resources, ECOLI provided a light lunch for all which included samosa, sausage, potatoes, chipati (Indian style flat bread), fruit, and a soda.

The following Monday, Jackie organized a party for all the children of ECOLI-not just the graduates-at a local playground.
Many of these children (and their parents as well) have never left the neighborhood of Unga Limited. Unga=flour. The neighborhood is in an industrial part of town where the flour mills are located. As in the states, usually the neighborhoods closest to the industrial zones are quite poor. This field trip across town was quite an event for these children! When they first arrived at the playground, it was evident they were unsure what to do. But with some encouragement and a few demonstrations, they went wild! The kids ran from the slide to the swings to the merry-go-round. As I pushed kids on swings, blew bubbles, and played chase, I imagined myself as a ‘recess duty attendants’ at Lincoln Elementary School. I did not however, blow my whistle or make badly behaved kids stand on the brick wall for the recess period.

Later in the week I was invited to another party at the other site Jackie volunteers at, Shika. It just so happens that my other two roommates, Kala and Asa, work at Shika as well. I thought I would attend the party as a visitor, play with a few kids, help pass out lunch, however when Friday rolled around, Jackie ended up very sick and Kala was just out of town with a flat tire. Asa (pronounced O-sa) was desperate for help. Together we lugged 30 kilos of frozen chicken, a gift from Meat King, to the center that would be prepared for the kids’ lunch. Once there I was thrown into the mix painting faces, organizing ball games, and directing the parachute games. It was quite chaotic! (This school center is quite different from ECOLI in that it is sponsored and run by a British group that brings in many volunteers. The kids are used to seeing Westerners for about 2wks at a time and being showered with gifts and resources for the center. My social work background in a therapeutic preschool tells me this is not the ideal set up for children who are vulnerable and have attachment issues with adults. But I guess that’s my perspective.)

Despite my concerns about how the center runs the children are still children and deserve as much fun as they can get. The face paint was a hit! After painting all the kids, it was my turn. The kids turned their brushes on me and went to town. Even though I thought I had washed my face thoroughly, I realized after an entire afternoon of walking around town I had an orange tinted moustache.
Thanks kids!


Both school centers, and all Tz schools for that matter, are now on holiday break until about the 2nd week or so of January. So I get a little reprieve from parties and ceremonies. However, I’m gearing up for the arrival of my first shipment of school text books from Books for Africa! The container is due to arrive in Dar es Salaam around Jan 12th. From there the container will be shipped up by semi truck to Arusha were we will begin the sorting and distribution process.

An Eventful Week in Arusha

11/22/09-11/27/09

Birthday, Graduation, Thanksgiving
[Photos: 1) Megan and I celebrating our birthdays-both 11/22 babies; 2) Jackie and the giant tortoise at Arusha School; 3) Teacher graduates entering the ceremony with a song and dance; 4) Thanksgiving dinner at the New Arusha Hotel-Me, Jackie, and Heather enjoying our turkey, mashed taters, and wine (we talked the server into 'all you can drink wine')]

I have many favorite foods but at the top of the list are Thai and Indian cuisines. In Arusha, I’ve had no luck finding Thai, but Indian food is plentiful here. Last weekend, I started my birthday weekend celebration with a dinner at Big Bite with a few new contacts from my old stomping ground. Thanks to Lizz, the ever-networking-wonder that she is, I have new UMN friends who are doing their medical residency here at the Lutheran Hospital. So over a meal of mutton korma and naan we talked about Minneapolis and Arusha.
Since I share my birthday with another gal here, we decided we’d treat ourselves to a nice dinner on Saturday night before going out for the night. We went to a nice restaurant owned by an Australian and ate steak with blue cheese! Afterwards we all went across the road to a local favorite, Shooters, for some karaoke. Together Megan and I celebrated 62 years! It was a fun night, despite the fact that I was quite exhausted on Sunday for my real birthday. However, my roommates wouldn’t allow me to have an easy day and insisted I continue the birthday celebration until midnight Sunday night.

After an eventful birthday weekend, I jumped into the work week by making arrangements for the arrival of the Books for Africa shipment. Things move quite slowly here in terms of work pace, and as the holiday season approaches things are slowing to a snail’s pace! Its becoming more and more difficult to make appointments with necessary officials and plans continuously are cancelled. But I expect that everything will still manage to get accomplished.
The middle of the work week was marked by attending a graduation ceremony for a teacher training program. The program/preschool Jackie works at also hosts a teacher training program. About 35 or so teachers completed the course and are now certified as teachers with a specialty for early childhood education. Ceremonies in Africa are of a different breed. The decorations are always reminiscent of prom circa 1988, there is always a skit or dramatization involved, the ceremony lasts for hours! and the food served always involves an intestine or two. Despite not understanding a word of the ceremony, the celebration is always enjoyable.
Many of the graduates were women in their 40s and above and the joy and pride on the faces of their husbands and families was very touching. For me the highlight of the graduation was seeing the giant tortoise in the courtyard that lives at the school. Who has an actual tortoise as their mascot? I must admit it puts the LaPorte Slicers’ mascot to shame.


I often get emails asking about things and foods that I eat here or foods that I can’t get…Even though I’m a million miles away, this Thursday I still was able to eat my turkey and mashed potatoes! My American roommate and another new American girl went to a nice hotel in town for a special dinner. For 35,000 Tanzanian shillings (~$25) we had a full Thanksgiving meal complete with a mini pumpkin pie and champagne!



Throughout the whole week I watched two friends’ 10wk old puppy. For those who know me and my stance on having children, this week has confirmed my belief. I should not be responsible for any children for more than a few hours at a time. I like dogs (and children), but I don’t like having to constantly take care of it, clean up after it, watch it to make sure it doesn’t eat something on the floor, and then be woken up to make it breakfast before I’m ready to get up! Not to mention, I didn’t just pour dog food out of a bag into a bowl. I had to make a special porridge from water and flour with fresh fish or meat. Ugh! Even though its a really cute German Sheppard puppy, but I was so happy when the friends returned and took the puppy home. And their payment for my services was a spice boat from Zanzibar! Now I have saffron, red and yellow curries as well as fresh tea!