Downtown Arusha

 A crowd had gathered to see what was going on as there had been a minor car accident.

On a Tuesday afternoon, October 30th, I went to Arusha with Beth to pick up new glasses for the students that had been ordered from the optometrist, go to the bookstore, and run other errands downtown.  Here are a few pictures from around town. 

View from the balcony outside of the optometrist's shop. 

The clocktower is a major landmark in Arusha.  It is supposedly the halfway point between Cairo and Capetown, although that has been proven multiple times not to be true, as the actual midpoint is in the Congo.  

Mud.

You can tell by looking at the cars that it's been raining. 

Happy Birthday Vivian and Prisca!

I had the chance to meet one of my future students before classes even started when the Shorts and I were invited for dinner at the home of a family they know well, who are members of the Kisongo church (a nearby town that we pass through on the way to Arusha frequently, and where the preaching school is located).  Augustine and Fillness have recently built a new house, so were happy to have friends over to see it now that they’ve moved in. They have four children; the oldest is already a student at the school, and the second, Prisca, would be starting the next week in preform.

It happened that the first three of their four children all have birthdays within a couple of days of each other; I think Vivian and Prisca’s might even be the exact same day, three years apart.  To celebrate, their parents brought up cake, decorated like a unicorn, for all of the students (so at least 150 people) on Friday night.

Unfortunately, I was late because I was teaching a remedial class for some of students, so I didn’t see the pre-cut cake, but I did see the aftermath--both Vivian and Prisca had been smeared with calke cake and had it in their hair.  :) At least they weren't soaking wet; the usual tradition here is to throw buckets of water on the birthday person.

Students sitting out watching their classmates play soccer after the party

Rainy Season, day 3

Well, it appears that rainy season has come early; usually, it doesn't start until November.  However, in mid-October we started having afternoon thunderstorms come down off the mountain, which is a sign that it's coming. Fortunately, I finally got around to buying rainboots on Sunday, and I wore them for the first time today.

It rained lightly on Monday, but then it was cloudy both Tuesday and Wednesday but only sprinkled. Today it's raining steadily.

Lewis called and said he and Babadeo (Albert) were going into town for supplies for the school duka (store) and could pick me up on the way back to go to the school for my afternoon classes. I would be quite early, but my students needed a substitute for an earlier class time, so I could help with that (spoiler alert: that didn't happen). So Rebecca and I hopped in.

It's a long story, but the culvert between the school driveway and the, well, not paved, but hard-packed road running by the school has been out since before I moved here.  The local department of transportation were the ones who dug it up last time they were repairing the roads (at the end of the last rainy season, so around June), and they refuse to fix it back, saying that the school should pay to fix it (even thought they messed it up).  Anyhow.  We've gotten around the issue thus far by driving up the cow path that runs between the road and the school fence; there's a place without a ditch around the corner that we can turn onto it.  This has been a bit bumpy and involves the occasional traffic jam of cows (it is actually their road, after all), but has been workable all through dry season.

It will not work so well in rainy season.  We were in the big four-wheel-drive landrover, which is built for bad roads, so we gave it a try.  We made it about halfway around, sliding a bit (the mud here is like driving on ice) before we finally got stuck.  We managed to back up a bit and try a few running starts, but the mud was deep everywhere, and finally we ended up wedged at an awkward angle up against a very large jute plant.

Rebecca and I stayed in the car and observed the proceedings while Lewis and Albert tried various things to no avail.  Finally Albert walked up to the school and got the work crew who are building the new administration building to come down and help.  The group of men managed to rock the car enough that Lewis could get it unwedged from the rut by the jute plant, and then he managed to back us all the way back out to the road.

We finally managed to park at the clinic; from there we can walk through their back garden to a little gate that opens onto school grounds back behind the classroom building.

We're three days in.  Is rainy season over yet?  

Traffic Jam

There was a traffic jam during my morning commute on Thursday...

The school is just around the corner.  To be fair, due to the culvert in front of the school gate being out and thus not being able to turn into the school from the main road, we drive on the cow path.  

Exercise Time with Mr. Julius

I was taking a break from studying Swahili with Beth, Twyla, and our very patient Tanzanian friend Elipendo in the dining hall after class when I stepped out on the porch and saw my preform students running around the football (soccer) field.  One of the other teachers, Julius, decided they needed some exercise. They were laughing and having a good time as they ran three laps and then did ‘helicopter arms’. He then had them play several active games like Red Rover (anybody remember that one?).  

Julius leading the way.

Julius is one of my favorite teachers here, and the students love him.  He’s been building a model helicopter out of cardboard, a lot of tape, and other bits and pieces with the preform students, which they have proudly showed off to me whenever I’ve had class with them right after him.  Most teachers tend toward lecture-style teaching and have the students spend a lot of time copying pages of notes off the board, so I’m glad to see such a hands-on lesson that really involves the kids who learn experientially rather than just visually.  And when taking them out for some physical activity, he didn't just stand on the side and order them; he was running first, leading the pack.

Radhia saw me watching and waved as they passed by.

Unfortunately, Julius’s last day with the school will be October 31st.  He is a scientist who works for a research project near Mt Kilimanjaro, and he’s been splitting his time doing that four days and week and coming over (nearly a three-hour drive one way) three days a week to teach math and computer skills for us.   So, he’s been working seven days a week, and he feels that his work is slipping in quality, so it’s time to get back on a more reasonable schedule so he can focus. I can’t blame him for that, but we’ll miss him here at the school.

Rainy Season

Well, rainy season isn't supposed to start until well into November, but from the look of things I think it might be starting early this year. 

 

This is the classroom building, by the way.  There's a downstairs; it's built into a hill so the lower level windows look out the other direction.  My classroom is downstairs on the left end.  

Fabric Shopping in Monduli

One of the fun things about living in Africa is the incredible fabrics.  While many African countries have similar types, each place has its own distinctive themes and popular patterns.  I hope to someday be able to tell them apart.  

M was in the market for a new piece of kitenge fabric to have a skirt made with, and I decided I wanted one, too.  Beth, the girls and I looked at the shops in Monduli.  The best one, Mama Joeli's Tailoring, is at the bus station.  We found some nice ones, but there are many more and bigger shops around the market in Arusha, so we decided to wait and look there before buying anything. 

The fabric usually comes in three-meter precut pieces, and usually costs 25000-35000 shillings (twelve to seventeen dollars).  There are so many fun colors and patterns to choose from! 

There are three main types: 

Kitenge, which is thick and heavy, often with a waxy finish.  It is used for many things, including clothing, wraps, curtains, and tablecloths. 

Different patterns (baskets, birds, fruit, etc.) have names and meanings so a woman's choice in fabric to wear can send a message.  

Kanga, which is thinner and lighter.  It is usually used as a wrap, but it can be used for clothes if it's lined.  These often have a message somewhere on them in Swahili, usually proverbs, slogans, aphorisms, or a religious thought.  

It says "The love of God does not count wrongs."

Kikoy, which is woven.  It's usually used for wraps or in home decor.  

 There are many seamstresses and tailors here who make custom dresses and skirts; women wear them a lot here in everyday life, but especially for special occasions.  I'm looking forward to getting one myself!

If you'd like to read more about the history of these fabrics, here are some links:

Slate article about African fabric

Online Kitenge Store, with good photos

Uses of Kitenge Fabric

The Meaning of the Kanga

Rain Boots!

I'm now prepared for the coming rainy season!  I bought boots at the Sunday market this afternoon.

Sunday School at Ngarash Church

One of our older students, Rispa, has been co-teaching a Sunday school class with Janet Allison (one of the American teachers at the school) at Ngarash church of Christ, which is just down the road from the school. She's confident enough now that she taught by herself when Janet was sick last week.

We have a Sunday service on campus every week, which all the students are required to attend.  It is mostly in English, since students are required to speak English on campus, though we do sing in Swahili, too.  However, our service is early enough that it does not overlap with services at the nearby church, so if the students want to attend a Swahili language service, they are allowed to go.  A few of the more mature Christians among them do on a regular basis, while several others stay on campus for an English-language Bible class with Lewis (which I attend as well).  

Sunset over the Savannah

I often keep my phone ready when in the car, because it seems there’s always something beautiful to find.  Tonight we were driving home from Arusha right at sunset. We had already turned off the main highway and were on the road to Monduli. It was beautiful tonight because it’s that little window of time right before the rainy season in which there are clouds to make the scene more dramatic but it’s not yet completely overcast all the time.  I love the sunset light over the savannah.

Errands in Arusha

 On Saturday, Beth (an American who is married to a Tanzanian and lives in our town--I know I've mentioned her before but just in case you haven't read past posts) invited me to come along with her to run errands and do some shopping at the big grocery store in Arusha.  Rebecca came along, too. 

We stopped for lunch at Alpha Burger, which Beth said had pretty good burgers.  They also have fish and chips, chicken, and other things as well.  I tried the burger, and unfortunately, I have to disagree with Beth's assessment.  Cows here are generally left to forage through the dry season, so the meat is extremely lean--and thus very dry.  Also, they don't have hamburger buns as we have them in the US, so they use these big rolls that are really entirely too much bread.  A redeeming feature, however, was that they had both guacamole and barbecue sauce.  I ended up eating guacamole on the burger and eating barbecue sauce on my fries.  Fries aren't my favorite, but they're better here than in the US (at least to me) and anyhow, eating barbecue sauce straight is usually frowned upon in polite society.

We had to pick up some things for the school store, so we drove around the downtown area of Arusha looking for the shop, which we found quickly.  However, parking was not so easy to find, so I took several photos of the downtown streets as Beth circled the block several times.  We drove by the bus station, the soccer stadium, and near the big city market. 

Arusha is the third biggest city in Tanzania with over 400,000 people, and about 300,000 more in the surrounding suburbs, and has been important in Tanzanian history--the agreement with the British in 1961 that Tanganyika (which three years later united with Zanzibar to form modern Tanzania) would become independent was signed here, and after the Rwandan genocide the UN approved setting up the war crimes tribunal in Arusha. 

Here are a few photos around the city:

Cloudy Day on Campus

A cloudy day is rather a nice change (although I'll be tired of them soon enough) after over a month of dry-season blue skies.  Here are a few pictures of the school campus where I spend quite a bit of my time. 

The classroom building is on the left.  In the nearest building on the right is the school office, teachers' lounge, and library. The next building is the new administration building where the secretary, headmaster, and vice headmaster's offices will be moved once construction is completed.  We'll use the space in the current building for more room for teachers, as our current teacher's lounge will be too crowded as we're hiring several more teachers starting in January. The furthest building is the science labs. 

The classroom building.  My class in the first one on the bottom level, with the open door. 

In this little pavilion, there is a small shop where the students can buy snacks, drinks, and basic school supplies.  There are a sink and large work tables that sometimes the cooks come out and use (this was a temporary kitchen while the current dining hall was being built), a ping-pong table, and a big water tank where the students come for drinking water. I love seeing the green upper slopes of Monduli Mountain looming over the school. 

During the week of the 15th, the fourth of the nine weeks of the preform course, we had midterms.  I gave my midterm for civics (actually, life skills: the topics were peer pressure, saying no to drugs, teamwork, and problem solving) on Wednesday and my English midterm on Thursday.  The midterm covered present tense verbs, nouns and pronouns, telling time, reading comprehension, and writing at least three sentences about a given topic.  The two topics were food you like/don't like and describing a typical day, with times (for example, 'I wake up at 7:00.'). 

I went to the school shop (called a duka) and bought a small bag of popcorn and some mango juice as a snack while I sat in the teachers' lounge after class and got started on grading.  I am quite grateful to just have had thirty-six students' exams to grade; I absolutely loved my years in China but I do NOT miss having a hundred and fifty final exams to grade. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how my students have done; the civics exam especially was rather difficult for many simply because of the level of English necessary. 

New Hairstyle

How do you like my new hairstyle?  

I was sitting out on the porch of the school office building late this afternoon when a couple of students, Ellinuru and Hawa, came by to chat.  They are not in my class, as they are in Form 1, but they are two of the friendliest students (sometimes a bit much so) so had introduced themselves to me early on. Students are required to keep their hair short, so those who like to braid hair don't get much chance around here.  I let them mess with mine for a bit, and this was the result.  Don't worry, they'd do a much better job if they were serious; we were just goofing around.  So we then took a few silly pictures.  

Meru from Monduli

On a very clear day, and from the right angle, you can see Mt Meru, fifty kilometers or so away.  It's hard to figure exactly how far it is; all the maps give driving directions, and it's nearly 100 km by car, but of course that's rather circuitous. 

I'm always happy to get a glimpse of the mountain.