The day of many vistors

I woke up around 9am and sat outside basking in the glorious sunshine until around 10am when Kayla came to join me. Our day started off with the usual chat and coffee. I had a chance to read Kayla my past blog posts and she added-in a few good points here and there. Very much appreciated. After we had been sitting outside for a while we got our first visitor, Kayla’s laundry lady, Mama Emani. The reason why she is called this is that Mama is the term given to a mother and her first name, Emani, is after her first child. Interestingly enough, the daughter’s birthday is not celebrated on her actual day of birth but rather on when she has been baptized. 

Our next visitor was Rosie. Rosie is part of the family that we met yesterday when we were walking to the main road to get into town. The family was very welcoming and outside we saw the mother and grandmother tending to the land. Rosie stayed with us for about 2 hours and she practiced her English while I attempted to practice my Swahili. She asked a lot of questions about the US. She was very interested to know what we ate, what my job was, and just general questions about life. Rosie just recently found out that she did not pass the past to get into secondary school. In Tanzania students are taught in Swahili from Primary grade 1 until 7 then they must take a test to get into secondary school. In Primary School it is taught in Swahili but supplemented with English classes to help them prepare for the entrance exam into Secondary school. This exam is given all in English as Secondary School is taught all in English. It’s very tricky because most of the students pail, about 70%, and the teachers who are teaching the students are generally the ones that have failed the test to get into Secondary School themselves. A very messed up system. Rosie is currently taking a computer typing course at the local church to help her get a job as a secretary or cashier.

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Our final visitor of the day was, Kayla’s banana delivery man, Tm. He also used to be Kayla’s watchman. Tm mentioned to Kayla that he wanted to meet me. We have a very basic conversation which thankfully Kayla helped to translate a lot of it for me. 

Kayla began to finish her gardening and I snapped a few photos of Mama Emani doing laundry by hand. (Wasn't able to upload them before posting - check for an update to this blog post later with those photos.) After several hours of basking in the sunlight and enjoying the calm before the storm, the afternoon rain finally came. We took a nice relaxing break before our evening hike. 

Just down the street from where Kayla lives are beautiful rolling hills. We took our soon to be nightly stroll down the hills and back up again. Interestingly enough Kayla had never been to this part of town before I came. Luckily we had a chance to experience it together. Take a look at the stunning pictures below.

Village of Njombe

I got up around 9am while Kayla was still sleeping and sat outside basking in the warm, glorious sunshine.A very nice change of pace from drab and dreary Cincinnati weather. I have found that the weather here is typically nice and sunny in the morning but then it gets cloudy, cold, and rainy in the afternoon because it is the rainy season. In Njombe instead of 4 seasons like we are use to in the sates, it is dry and rainy season here.

Once Kayla got up around noon, we chatted for a while and had coffee, a rarity in Njombe. We got ready to leave around 1pm but the rain had already started to hit by then so we waited it out while watching an episode of Brothers and Sisters.

At 2pm we left for the village. In order to get into town you walk up the main dirt road and then when you get to the paved main road you catch a taxi to take you into town there. It’s about a 15 minute walk. On the way there you see cattle grazing in people’s backyard, women tending to the land, people walking on the road going about their business, and a sprinkling of people building houses.

We got a taxi and Kayla let me sit in the front seat. Initially I said that I would sit in the back but luckily she insisted I sit in the front because several people pile in the back as we make our stops picking up people on the way to talk. Once we got into town, we had about 5 people squished in the back seat. The drive only takes about 15 minutes.

 The start of our walk to the main road, which is paved. On the left hand side is the housing for the police of Njombe and there families. 

 This is the local school. Every morning the children walk to school and beat drums along the way. Traditionally school runs from around 7am to 5pm. They wear uniforms and have about 2 hours of break/ recess time each day.

 Getting closer to the village. It is very typical to see cows grazing on the side of the road.

 A very accurate picture of how a lot of the rods look here. Bumpy and filled with rain-water pot holes. Driving down these roads can be quite the adventure.










In town, we went to the bank first then went to find Kayla’s plumber. Kayla is working on opening up a café here but has hit a few road blocks along the way. It seems that with every step of the process, she has a problem come up. Kayla tells me that the unofficial countries motto here is “Slowly, Slowly”, which opening her café has proved to be very true.

 This is the town hardware/ plumber shop. It is comparable to the US version of Lowe's/ Home Depot. Kayla's plumber helped to sort out all of the details of what we needed to purchase and transporting them to the cafe site.

Kayla’s plumber took us to buy some supplies and we got a water tank that she can use to put on-top-of her café’s roof. The water tank holds 1,000 Liters. We had to get a large work truck to transport our supplies to the site. Unfortunately this is when the second round of rain came and it started to pour, hard. We drove to her café site, off the beaten path and on unpaved dirt roads, where we came to her location. Its set more in a neighborhood-type area rather than in the heart of town. Kayla, her plumber, the driver, and I got out of the truck and ran to her café through the pouring rain. Her plumber and driver were able to hoist the jumbo-sized water tank over the wall to put it by the bathroom while Kayla showed me around the inside of her café. The café is a large, long rectangle-style room which has some tables, chairs, and pillows for now. Kayla told me about her plans for the café and I have no doubt that it will be a success. She wants to have tables outside for people to sit, a cork board on the wall to let people post news/ community updates, and a chalk-board featuring the daily specials. She is hoping for a March 6 open date as there is not that much more left to do. Fingers crossed, she doesn’t experience any more bumps in the road.

Once we were done at the café and we ran back through the rain to the truck, we headed back to a local eatery in town for lunch. Lucky for us we ran into 2 of Kayla’s friends who run the orphanage, Courtney and Corinne. We had a lovely lunch with them. Lucky for my Kayla has been in Tanzania for a year now and coincidentally left the exact same day I did one year ago, February 14. She has helped me navigate Tanzania in soooo many ways. She helps to introduce me to the local community members, converse a bit in Swahili, and know exactly what you should and should not do in Tanzania. For lunch I had a Miranda, an orange soda, and Chips Mayaei, it’s basically an egg-omelet with potatoes in it. It was delicious! Kayla had a ginger soda, which was good but is a little intense for my taste to have a whole bottle in one-sitting. For her entrée she had a soup called white soup, a chicken broth soup with potatoes and cabbage. Chapati is flat bread with veggies bakes into it for a side, its deliciously light bread. Yum!

 Chips Mayaei and greens. Yum! Cola or any kind of soda is very very popular here.













In addition to a delicious lunch, we picked Courtney and Corrinne’s brain about traveling to Malawi. Kayla and I are planning to go there at the beginning of next week. The thing that is different about traveling to Africa than most tourist destinations is that everything can be arranged and changed at the last minute. I have found this to be very helpful during my stay thus far. Before when I was looking to plan my trip, I was going to travel to northern Tanzania and to see Zanzibar but after a 4 hour bus ride on Saturday, no thanks. In order to get to Mt. Kilimanjaro from Njombe where I am it would take about 18 hours on the bus, yikes! Plus, I don’t get to see Kayla very often and would rather spend my time with her and exploring Southern Tanzania rather than the majority of m vacation on a bus.

Once lunch was over, the four of us headed to the local dairy shop to buy milk and cheese. They are able to get very fresh milk and cheese here because the dairy factory is actually just down the street from where Kayla lives. We bought some milk to enjoy for later and the other girls bought milk and cheese for the orphanage. I was standing outside and met suitor number 2 in Africa. As he tried to converse in Swahili with me, I just smiled, nodded and attempted to communicate to the best of my ability. Luckily Corinne helped me have a conversation with him by telling what to say. As all of this way going on a parade of goats appeared before us and started eating the flowers of someone’s garden in-town. Not a strange site to see goats grazing all over Tanzania. We said our goodbyes to Courtney and Corinne.

 This is the shop of the local dairy farm. you are able to get fresh milk, cheese, and yogurt daily. 

Next stop, the market. This is where Kayla does all of her grocery shopping. In Njombe there is no Target or Kroger’s to stop at, rather everything is an open-air farmers market. We bough peanut butter, bananas, and some dried fish for her dog, Basil. I attempted to take pictures but people seemed to get offended as I am a white, foreigner snapping away images of their life-style – an odd site in the small town. After the market shopping was done, we went to get internet vouchers to use later. Here you pay as you go for internet and it only lasts for 24 hours before you have to refill it. It costs about 500 shillings a day which is equivalent to about $.50USD. The exchange rate is ~1450 shilling to $1USD.

 The inside of one of the larger shops in town. They have tons of things you can purchase - coke, butter spread (similar to Country Crock), wine, and house items.

 The local market. Under the building are producer suppliers selling the harvest. On the right side is where other fruit is typically sold - pineapple and bananas.

Once at home I took a nap and Kayla headed next-door to talk to a friend. She was back and I woke up, we began our nightly ritual of watching Brothers and Sisters. We also made bread tonight. Kayla makes fabulous bread and I was lucky enough to help in the process. We called it a night around 1am.

On the way home luckily it was only Kayla and I in the taxi. Nice, quiet, and not crowded. :)

Dam Day!

After a nice relaxing sleep and a very much needed hot shower, we were off to the dam on Sunday to hang out with the local ex-pat community and meet some of Kayla’s friends here in Njombe; the town she lives in. Since this weekly Sunday event is potluck style, Kayla had prepared delicious buttery croissants, phenominal passion-fruit cookies, and fresh guacamole. We left around her house around 10am where we were then picked up by a Dutch family to head to the dam which is about 25 minutes away from where Kayla lives.

 Curvy dirt road that we traveled to get to the boat house.











To get to the dam you drive straight through the middle of town and then on a long, curving back road where you finally arrive at the boat house. Roads here are not paved. Instead it is composed of a red dirt that is very compact. The boat house is a simple wooden structure. Located by the boat house is a large lake that is just next to a expansive lumber field owned by a local company that grows trees that will eventually be made into poles for power lines. It is called the dam because after you take a small hike, the lake is a result of a small dam that is used to help power local properties but also creates a picturesque swimming hole.

 Inside of the boat house. 

View of the lake after the daily rain storm.













We spent the entire day at the dam where we had a pot luck lunch, water skied, and took an adventurous hike throughout the property. I wasn’t as adventurous enough to go water skiing but I had a chance to watch some real pros do it. The lunch was a delicious collection of tasty treats. We also took a hike which turned into quite an unforeseen adventure. Our hike was lead by a fearless 10 year old, Sam. He took us off the beaten path where we saw stunning exotic flowers, several frogs, a gorgeous moth, and lots of tropical plants. Something you really have to watch out for here are biting ants. They are huge. A lot of times you find them when you are gardening and they act like normal ants except for they bite you and it’s apparently very painful. Kayla told us a story about how she found a colony of them in her front yard when she was gardening and went to go get some lighter fluid to kill them. Once she poured the lighter fluid on the colony she thought she had to light a match too! We all had a good laugh at that story.

Once we came back to the house, two kids came over to watch a movie with us, Sam and Lykke. Kayla entertained them while I took a nap. I slept for a long time and got up around 8/9pm.

 Front side of Kayla's house in Njombe.

Front entrance to Kayla's house.













Front road of Kayla's house. 













Kayla and I had movie night and luckily the power did not go out tonight. The big thing to do here is movie night. We had been religiously watching several episodes of Brothers and Sisters every night.

Hello Africa.

Holly Guacamole, I made it to Africa. 

I flew into the Dar Es Salam airport in Tanzania and landed at 3:45am local time. When you first arrive in the Dar Es Salam airport, you are immediately directed to the customs section of the airport where you fill out 2 forms – one for visiting East Africa that is blue and a general immigration form. Both ask about the same standard questions, how long are you staying here, where are you staying, what is your passport number, etc. After filling out those forms you then give your papers plus $100USD to the immigration officer where she looks over everything to make sure that it is correct. If it is, she then gives it to someone behind one of the glass booths that line that back wall of the building. After this step is complete, you then wait in large group of people that somewhat resembles a line but is more like a cattle-corrael until they call your name to come and get your visa. When they called my name, I went up to the window where I was fingerprinted and they took a picture of me. The whole process takes about 10 minutes to complete the Visa and then you are on your way.

After getting my luggage, I headed to the transfers section of the airport as I would need to catch another flight to Iringa. Little did I know that you actually need to transfer airport terminals. After a few confusing minutes I was able to find a taxi and head over to the other airport terminal. At this point it was about 4:30am when I arrived and actually had to wake up the airport workers because I was the first one! I waited for about 1.5 hours until someone else came to the airport to catch the plane. The plane ended up being a very small plane – similar to a chartered private plane in the states. On the flight there were 6 of us, I was the only women. Here it is pretty uncommon for women to travel by themselves. After a 1.5 hour flight to Iringa from Dar, I safely landed closer to my final destination of Njombe. From the airport in Iringa my friend Kayla, whom I would be staying with my entire time in Africa, arranged for a taxi and bus to take me to Njombe where she would meet me at the bus stand.

This is the view from the airport in Iringa.

The drive from the airport to town was stunning. It was my first introduction to Africa. There were lots of people walking on the road, beautiful flowers and scenery to look at, and several small huts were people lived lined the roadways. Once I was in the Iringa town, the taxi driver arranged for me to take a bus to Njombe. In the US buses very closely follow a schedule of when they depart and leave, here not so much. I waited on the bus for about 2 hours before it left. This point it was around noon/ 1pm. We finally left when the bus was full to drove to Njombe, a 4 hour bus ride. One thing that was very eye- opening is that bus drivers are like race car drivers! I was put in the front seat where I had a front-row view of the driver weaving in and out of traffic, barreling down the road, to try and get us to our destination as fast as possible. Sometimes the road would become a 1 lane road because they are widening the road here and we would sit for a while (30 minutes) to wait our turn to be able to drive. While we were waiting people would come up to the bus and sell snacks such as potato chips, drinks, knick-knacks such as socks, cheap jewelry, and wallets to us while we were waiting. Once it was time to go it was a race to see who could get out of the line first to be on the road. Complete and utter collective chaos. Drivers frequently use their bus as a weapon almost, honking as they pass and getting close to other vehicles to inch them off the road. The ride took about 4 hours and I was finally in Njombe.

View from the bus in Irina before we left for our bus ride to Njombe. This is what the market looks like. 

After finally getting to Njombe, I needed to take a Taxi to my friend Kayla’s house. This proved to be a bit of a daunting task because it had rained and the cells towers were down. It is not uncommon here to loose power throughout the day, especially when it rains. I waited at the taxi stand for about 45 minutes until my friend was able to come and get me; finally we were on our way to her house after a long day of travel. While waiting, I met my first suitor in Africa. As he attempted to speak English to me, I could only make out a few words as he was speaking in Swahili, the language of Tanzania. Numerous times he asked to add me on Facebook or what my phone number is, after several tries he finally gave up and moved on. While all of this was going on the 2 women that were working the bus ticket station let me sit behind the counter so I won’t be cornered by this would be suitor. Luckily Kayla came just in the nick of time to pick me up and we were off.

The taxi ride to her house was only about 10/ 15 minutes. Once we got to her house I took a nap and she headed off to a friend’s house for a gathering of the local ex-pat community. Now it was about 7/8pm. I woke up when she came back around 10/ 11pm. We stayed up chatting until 2am, catching up about everything under the sun! At one point while we were talking, the power went out so we conversed by candle light. The power in Southern Tanzania can be very unpredictable at times. Whenever it rains or the weather gets worse that sunny and clear there is a change that the power will go out.