Going Up to the School

I'm heading down my road to go up to the school.  The students return today!  Schools have been closed since March 18th because of corona, so we've had about a three and a half month break.  It's not as bad as it could have been; our two-week spring break and our midterm break for the month of June would have been during this time, so we've only actually missed about two months of school time that we would have had. Most of the students are excited to get back; they've been rather bored.  

 

Hedgehog!

Tammy has a special talent that many of you probably don't know about. 

She is an amazing hedgehog-finder. I have lived here for a year and a half and I've never once seen a hedgehog outside.  Then again, I don't tend to be out after dark much.  But she finds them all the time.  She loves them and often tries to make a pet of them, but that has historically not worked out well because they either escape and run away or well, they had dogs. 

She found one on her way back to my house tonight; Deborah and I agreed she could keep it for an hour.  It was really cute, and it seemed more resigned to being photographed and adored than particularly scared. 

Having Fun with Guests

Look who's back in Tanzania!  

The Short family moved away from Tanzania in December, and have been spending a few months visiting the church in Milan (which is where I first knew them; we worked together there from 2007-2009).  However, Tammy had a few things that needed to be finished up here in Tanzania, and they needed to make a trip out of the Schengen area (Europe) so as not to overstay the 90 days that Americans are allowed to stay without getting a visa.  Lewis had already come at the end of January and brought Rebecca with him, and Michela visited some family friends in Scotland for her trip out. So, that left Tammy and Deborah, the youngest daughter.  They arrived in Monduli on February 19th, and will be staying with me for the few weeks they are here. 

Tonight, Deborah and I cooked a big meal of fried chicken, gravy, fried potatoes, and corn, and then we played Phase 10.  It's fun having someone around who likes to play card games! 

Yard Work Without a Yard

You would think, seeing as my house is completely surrounded by pavement and I have no yard at all, that I would have no need to do yard work.  Unfortunately, you would be wrong.  My driveway and patio are all covered by paving stones, which are not grouted in between, so weeds grow up quickly between them after we get any rain at all.  

Fortunately, there are bored children around willing to work for soda money.  Tammy sent Deborah and Camara (a high school student) over on their bicycles to help me pull the weeds.  They worked hard! I hadn't cleaned out the weeds since the rainy season ended in June, so they'd been growing for a good three months.  

Enchilada Night!

As I have mentioned several times before in this blog, I moved into a new apartment in the middle of March.  I gave myself a few weeks to settle in and decorate before celebrating by hosting the crowd of Americans/Canadians here in Monduli for dinner and a time of singing.  We had a pretty good crowd--the Shorts, including Lewis's parents who are visiting, Beth and her family, Fielden and Janet Allison (who work at the school with us), and Ralph and Twyla Williams who live up in Monduli Juu.

Both Lewis and Tammy and Tizo and Beth came with extra folding chairs and folding tables since I don't have any dining room chairs yet, but I do have plenty of couch space.  I made chicken enchiladas as well as had the ingredients out for chicken tacos if anyone preferred.  Chicken enchiladas are one of my favorite things to make for a party, especially outside the US where we don't get Mexican food as much as we'd like.  Everything went pretty well; the only major mishap was when a glass casserole dish broke in the oven and we lost a couple of enchiladas just in case they had glass in them.  Fortunately, I also have a metal pan and had borrowed a second from Michela, so I was still able to have plenty of enchiladas ready when everyone arrived.  

It was nice to spend some time together over a meal, and I also enjoyed singing together after.  I enjoy hosting dinner parties; I hope I get the chance again sometime soon. 

Of course, the youngest and cutest are always at the center of attention. :)

First Morning in My New Home

Good morning, everyone!  Today was the first morning I woke up in my new apartment. As it works out (and this was part of my reason for moving the day I did), it's exam week at school, and I'm not scheduled to proctor any exams today, so I have the day to settle in and unpack. Here's a few pictures from my day:

(Above) The view of my driveway (not that I have a car to park in it) and my gate, from just outside my kitchen door.

My front porch.  I'm still not sure why the wall is a different color on the porch.  

Looking back towards my kitchen door from the gate.

The view from just outside my gate (above and below).  The main roads in Monduli are paved, but the neighborhood roads are all dirt roads.  I have to walk around the cornfield (currently freshly plowed) to get out to the main road.

The view the other way from my gate.

My building from the outside.  The open door to the left is mine. There are several connected apartment and an (unused) shop.  

 An unfinished house across the road.  I like the structure of it, though.  You don't see too many two-story houses around here, and you can see the structure of a spiral staircase inside.  Half-finished houses are a common sight around here.  People don't tend to take a loan to build a house here, or if they do, can't get a big enough loan to do it all at once.  They save up money and build a foundation, or possibly even all of the concrete block part of the house, and then it sits for a year or two while they save up more money to build the roof, run electricity, etc.

The electric pole on my street is a bit concerning.

 We have quite a few of these huge black and white birds in my neighborhood.  They're rather noisy.  My doorbell is a very loud and insistent version of this bird's call, which is maybe not the best because I have to figure out if it's the doorbell or just one of the actual birds on my roof.

Deborah rode her bike over to help out a bit.  She washed the rest of my dishes and helped me unpack a few things. She also hid under a curtain. :) 

I stepped back outside of my gate at sunset, as I can't see much from inside my high walls.

The Guest House

I am living in the Short's guest house for now; eventually, I hope to find my own place, but I'm quite comfortable here for now.  The guest house includes a large bedroom/sitting room, a bathroom, and an office; I'm using the bedroom and bathroom.  Tammy and I rearranged a good bit today and I have things fairly well set up now.  I look forward to decorating a bit as I have time.  I brought some scrapbook papers, some brightly colored fabric, and quite a few printed photos to use to brighten it up quickly.  

I don't have my own kitchen, so I'm eating with the Shorts and I'll chip in money for food and electricity.  The next picture is the view from my door looking towards their house.