Certainly a different life here. When Oli is not at school he is out playing football, exploring the campus, or swimming in the pool with his new friends. My only rules are:
- be back by dark
- only swim when there is an adult there (other teacher parents are always around).
He is out in the fresh air and sunshine. I no longer worry about pollution (instead, I worry about malaria and dengue!).
He comes back intermittently for food (!).
He seems like a completely different (and much happier) human already. The 'panda-eyes' have almost completely faded.
He sleeps very, very well - ten hours per night, usually more.
Moving to Africa was a GOOD thing.
There is certainly more to life than getting good grades and finishing homework (IST is a homework-free zone - YES!). It's like we have stepped back from the rat-race and taking time to enjoy just BEING. So incredibly important, yet so easy to forget.
I'm not pretending that this was an easy move. Living in Africa has its challenges for sure. But I relish challenge. It brings me alive. HK was way too easy and I definitely stopped growing there. I do not miss it (HK, the place) one bit.
Who knows how long we will be in Africa. I have no idea about that right now (except that for sure I will finish this two year contract!). What I do know is that every time I leave the bubble of school campus, I see something new and interesting and I'm excited by it. And that is a very, very good thing.
We had been warned that fumigation (for mosquitoes) would begin at 10am this morning. Best not to be around all those chemicals, so I planned a morning out. I called Felix, a taxi driver who had been recommended to me by a colleague, and we set off in search of my tailor (recommended by another colleague!). Prisca already visited me on Monday to measure me and collect the shirt that I wanted her to copy. She called yesterday to ask if I could visit her shop in Mikocheni to try on the first shirt she made. I also needed to do some grocery shopping. So rather than rely on Uber and flagging down taxis (which can be quite stressful and not always the safest option), I decided to hire Felix for the morning.
We left home at 9:30am (Charambe Street at the bottom of the map) and headed for Rose Garden Road. Prisca's shop isn't actually on Rose Garden Road, so when we got close I called her and handed my phone to Felix. We drove around the back streets with her directing him until we got there! Tried on the shirt, they took measurements for alterations, and she said she will deliver all three shirts I'm having made tomorrow!!! Here are the fabrics I've chosen. Lovely and bright! Hope they turn out OK.
From there we headed to the bank and stopped off for some cash, then to Shopper's Plaza (top right of map). This is turning into my local supermarket. I can get most things here, SOME good veggies but it is hit and miss. I go here for general household stuff, like foil, shampoo etc etc. Best to go with a car, so made use of having Felix today and stocked up on a few things.
Had a good chat to Felix along the way... he is from southern Tanzania and moved to Dar two years ago. He has 8 kids (that's quite normal here!) most of them grown up and with kids of their own (he has 8 grandchildren so far). He and his wife live with two of their grandchildren as his daughter (their mother) passed away. I didn't like to ask how... only just met him! He knows Dar VERY well as he is driving the roads every day. He lives about 25km from the town and drives in at 5:30am every morning to avoid the traffic. He heads home at about 9pm, sometimes later if he gets called by a customer. I really love talking to locals and getting their spin on things, so asked him to recommend some good places to find Tanzanian arts and crafts. He talked of a place I have heard of and intend to visit - Uhuru Street - but will save that for another adventure on another day!
As if by magic about 5 minutes later he drove down a road that looked like an art market! WOW. Then I realised it was the place to buy 'Tinga Tinga' paintings (and other styles). At first I thought it was just a tourist place, as there were some other white faces there, but Felix told me that most of the Tinga Tinga art is made here at this workshop and they have one more place outside of Dar. Some of you Brits might have seen Tinga Tinga Tales... based on the Tinga Tinga artworks (video at bottom of this post).
Main sign
Tinga Tinga workshop
The artist said it would take him two days to finish this.
Artists in their workshop
Tinga Tinga style pencils
And, of course, I couldn't come away empty-handed! I didn't buy any Tinga Tinga artwork, but I did get these:
Oli chose the blue one for him, orange one for me... and white one will become my coffee mug at school! Loving the colours here. Also love when things just happen. This wasn't planned at all, just came upon it, and decided on the spur of the moment to stop and take a look. Perfect.
From there we headed to the Woodberry Cafe. I think this will become my 'chill out' breakfast spot. My little man likes it too... he had a mean chocolate pancake for lunch!!!
Went to the Garden Market next door to get some nice veggies (if a little pricey).... then Felix drove us home. There was a faint odour of fumigation chemicals when we arrived, but thankfully not too strong.
Almost as soon as we got home, Oli headed onto the field to play football with his mates. Great to have other kids living on campus. They are pretty much free to roam. Parents take it in turns to watch them in the pool... it's a great little community. That's why I have time to write this now - Oli is at the pool!! I'm very aware of the fact that it would be EASY to stay on campus all the time and never leave (some teachers do that!)... so I'm making a concerted effort to get out and about at weekends.
Weekday outings will be few and far between I think. I'm up at 5am and leave for school at about 6:10am, getting to my classroom about 3-4 minutes after that (LOVING the commute!). School's out for students at 1:45pm (for the first 3 weeks at least)... I'm usually home by about 4pm. Hoping that will gradually get earlier, but as a newbie and being the first weeks of the school year it is pretty full on. By 4-5pm the traffic in Dar is horrendous, so it's really not worth going out then as it would take hours to get anywhere and hours to get home (we are not real close to much here!). It gets dark by about 6:30-7pm, and it's best to be home by then. Oli goes to bed at 7pm anyway (on a school night), I usually have some work to do and try to be in bed before 9pm.
So weekends OUT it will be!!!!! Definitely planning to get a car. For safety. For independence.
I have my Tanzanian driving licence already, so hopefully soon...
The extent of my Kiswahili so far:
Hello.
Good Morning.
I'm fine.
Please may I have a coffee?
I live in Dar.
Thank you (very much).
One.
Two.
Yes.
No.
Goodbye.
See you tomorrow.
(the essentials! - haha!)
I'd better love you and leave you... I need to whip up something edible for a potluck brunch tomorrow - all living on school campus are invited! It should be a nice easy morning getting to know my neighbours. Loving the slower pace here. People make time for IMPORTANT stuff.
Today was quite a successful day. I managed to get two big jobs done which is quite an achievement.
In order for my shipment to be allowed through customs when it arrives, I need a TIN number. In order to get a TIN number I have to supply a small mountain of paperwork and visit a couple of government offices. Most people here work on something I'm calling 'stretchy time'. Things are pretty laid back here, so take much longer than we would expect... It took about three hours to get it. That included a short drive to a different office that we didn't need to do! Complicated.
Then I went to Airtel, the mobile phone provider. I'd paid for a plan last week, but suddenly I was unable to text or phone. Apparently they had a record of me paying the money, but had not activated the plan. Mmmmm. I was assured it would be sorted today. We will see!!!
Two big jobs done.
I'm still struggling with finding places to buy nice fresh vegetables... Today Oli and I went to Oyster Bay... One of the teachers very kindly gave us a lift there. Veggies still not great. It's hard for me, when. Veggies make up 80% of our diet. Used Uber to get home. Will definitely be using that from now on!!!!!
I know I am a few posts behind... So much has happened in the 10 days we have been here in Dar es Salaam. I will try to write about those soon. While you wait here are a few words about today. Focusing on the positives and, although a small one, this is a definite positive today.
We discovered that we have a 'berry man'! This guy comes every Tuesday at 6pm with fresh berries. Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.
He comes to where we live on campus, opens the back of his van, and brings out the berries! We bring our containers and he fills them with succulent produce. Good quality, delicious tasting, REAL berries. Awesome!!!
Today he only had strawberries. I paid 5,000 Tanzanian shillings (£1.70) for a container's worth. Far cheaper than Hong Kong! So far this is the BEST fresh fruit I have seen here. I will definitely be buying his fruit every week. Oli and I love berries!! Yum. Hope there are other fresh fruit vendors like this!!
