03.09.2010 Two happy anniversaries, and a cacophony of noise
Cockerels screeching before dawn and cockerels screaming after dawn. Oh yeah also at 4 o’clock…plus after dark. Bird calls of all varieties with a sprinkling of bat sounds. The hospital bell ringing at 6.00 am and at 6.30 am for good measure. Patient’s families cooking, sweeping, chatting, and on occasion, arguing at 04.30 am. Cows and goats having a chat sporadically. Children playing footie outside my house every evening. Babies crying, and families crying. Wind through the palms and bamboo. The doctor next door snoring in unison with my ascari (night guard). A two day wedding celebration with band parade. These are just a small spattering of the sounds I hear from my room within a day. Some I love, but others….well I can safely say that I love ear plugs! Especially now someone with a nifty set of speakers has decided that playing Celine Dion and Bongo flava at 06.30 am is the best decision ever! Glass is used sparingly here, and so windows are normally made up of metal mosquito netting , and slats of glass you can incline open. Yet it does allow the feeling of outdoor living!
My last few weeks have been all about getting used to my surroundings and them getting used to me. I am now known at the market, and have my favourite stall holders.I buy my take away beer from the local bars, and have got a good little deal going on with a man in theatres at the hospital who sells me samosas. I went on my third dalla dalla ride ever to Ndanda (again not on my own, I am working up to that!). It is an experience, even when only a short distance. You are crammed in much like when people try and break the record on how many people can you fit into a mini. Yet in this case, the mini moves!
Work was for the first month a time of trial and error. I asked many questions; some useful, others apparently not so much! People tried to help me, and sometimes I just became more confused, but now I seem to have developed a flow to some degree! Monica my colleague has returned, and now we are getting down to the nitty gritty of me being here, i.e. training, quality assurance, and a bit of health and safety. I will bore you with that another time, when I have something more to impress you with.
I take chai (tea) with the lab staff, and it gives me time to practice my Kiswahili! I am enjoying it, and feel like I can identify more and more words. It is just speaking that I find tricky! I have the greeting down, and the good byes, and I can say what I did at the weekend and last night, or will do next weekend and tomorrow, but it’s slow! They are patient with me, and are enjoying the fact that I want to learn; plus it gives them the opportunity to have a great laugh, moist of I at my expense but hey!
It has been my birthday since my last blog, and it ended up being a three day extravaganza! Tony and Barbara the other English VSO volunteers returned from England just in time. A lovely lady called Sherilyn (HELLO CHICK!) also arrived from London as an occupational therapist volunteer. She only stays for one month, but it is great to have her bubbly personality around. She joined the celebrations, along with the normal crowd. On my birthday, I was cooked dinner and had a lovely evening of chatting and relaxing. I had worked on my birthday, which is something I try hard to never ever do! But a well sang happy birthday from the lab staff made it worth it!
On the Friday, we went out on the town! In Nyangao this means chipsi mayai (chips in an omelette) or chipsi kuku (chicken and chips) washed down with beer! We sit in almost complete darkness at the bars as there are very few lights, but it makes the Milky Way even more beautiful. So it was a great night of chatting and stargazing. On the Saturday, I did something that I have never done before, I cooked a stew. Oh yeah baby, a stew! Now for those who know me well, cooking from scratch is not a usual occurrence for me, and as it would be a main course at my birthday party that night, thus I was very nervous indeed. The meat here is tough, ( I counted 42 chews per mouthful when I mistakenly fried it like a steak!) and I was doubly worried that it would be both tasteless and inedible. I apparently need not have feared, because it was a success, and we had a banquet, with everyone bringing a dish and some drinks. I was made a delicious birthday cake by Barbara, and I was spoilt with gifts of Parmesan cheese and chocolate all the way from England, plus a beautiful scarf from my housemate Faith!
The next day I went to Ndanda to swim in the lake within the woods. This exclusive pool is where the bruvers and sisters go to kick off their uniforms and have some down time….separately obviously! As it is deep, and I am not the bravest of swimmers, I tend to just go on a nature trail. It is part of the hydroelectricity network they have in Ndanda, and is part of the natural spring there, and all the bottled water from the area originates from this one place. It is a fascinating piece of natural and human engineering…apparently, but all I know is it tastes good. Here in Nyangao we can drink from the tap, as there is a closed water system. However, it tastes of the water you use to wash your mouth out when you have a sore throat or dental abscess (nice), so we take big bottles in Helga, Tony and Brabara’s trusty steed (car), and we nick their water! Not sure how we will continue that when T&B leave at the end of the year!
On my nature trail, I discovered that the ants rule Ndanda, and there are more about that I remember seeing even in the Ecuadorian rainforest! The butterflies and dragonflies are amazing, and there are some seriously funky white frogs that just like to endlessly sunbathe, and look petrified (as dead and old..not scared). There is also a Moniter lizard that likes to swim there on occasion, but as yet I have not spied him, but I have one in the roof at home in Nyangao, so I am not missing out.
During our trip to Ndanda, I also met another VSO volunteer called Hazel. She is a doctor who lives in Sheffield, but she was born and brought up in Maidstone! First I go all the way to Ecuador joined by a fellow Maidstonian (Hey Hans!), and now on my adventure here, I am joined by another one! I also met another VSO volunteer in Dar Es Salaam who grew up and lived in a street near me in Gillingham! It truly is a crazy small world!
13/09/2010 Moon gazing and Sun worshipping
So last week nearly everyone was either out looking for the moon, or listening to the radio to hear news about it. I was one of the many excitedly staring into the sky. I have not gone anymore crazy than I already am, but I was desperate for it to be a holiday! It has been Ramadan for the last month, and for Muslims and other villagers alike the arrival of the moon heralds the end of the fast, the beginning of the feast, and a day off work. For me it meant a three day weekend and a trip to the beach house at Mtwara.
The whole week, there had been changing opinions on when this holiday would begin. At morning meetings, the Tanzanian doctors would despair at us volunteers on our inability to deal with the spontaneity of it all! We had to plan for the holiday…that’s the Western way. Then we heard that Mecca had declared Friday to be the holiday, but Kenya were declaring that celebrations would begin on Saturday!! In the end however, we decided to give up and let thousands of years of tradition decide, and waited for the moon to arrive.
On Wednesday night no moon, so we went to work the next day, hopeful that tomorrow would be the day as Mecca had said. On Thursday night, it appeared that the sky would remain dark and moonless. However, at about 8.00pm a cheer rang out throughout the village, and the excited whoops of youngsters and children signalled the news that Eid-el-Fitr had arrived. The air was electric with excitement, and it was confirmed by our ascari, who still has to work over the holiday regardless. He still seemed excited and happy, and so I was interested to see how the holiday would affect the village, Muslim, Catholic, and Anglican alike. I however could not see the moon! Strange.
So the next day the call to prayer was loud and frequent, and four cows were butchered at the side of the road to celebrate the holiday. I slept in a whole 45 minutes, and then went to take the Dalla Dalla with Tony and Barbara to Mtwara. This journey can take up to 4 hours, and so I was dreading it a little, but I needed to understand where to get off when I venture out alone!
We only stood an hour, and the whole journey only took 2.5 hours. Speedy! Before I knew it, we were in the beach house, and the relaxation time could begin. The first thing was treat food shopping. Mama Tupe’s is a small shop run by a Polish lady, who sells some amazing things! This includes salami, sausages, and Heinz baked beans! Now to you that may seem dull, but to me that is the elixir of life! The others and I settled down to salami sandwiches, before we went to snorkel. Now my last trip here ended in a sprained ankle, so I was nervous. This time my flip-flops broke, and the jagged sea bed totally destroyed my feet! Maybe I will sort myself out for next time, and actually do it! Still this place is stunning, and it makes the rock pools in Cornwall and Reculver bay look like muddy puddles!
On returning to the beach house, we were met by hoardes of young children and teenagers dressed in their Sunday best walking along the beach and paddling. The beach quickly turned into a festival of people and colours, all laughing and enjoying themselves. We then decided to go for a swim. Sherilyn who was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in London, sat quietly on the beach, as all the children played around her. As soon as us white people went into the sea, the children started to play “try and touch the Mzungu”. This involves swimming as close as you can to a white/ sun burnt person before they see you. When the aforementioned person has you in their sights, you have to scream in delight and swim away as quickly as possible. After about 10 minutes of playing this, I went to sit by Sherilyn, and in seconds we were surrounded by children all checking out the Mzungu. Sherilyn laughed that of all the people she chose to hang with she chose the one that sticks out the most! I did not mind the audience, as children are sweet, and just like to watch how us White Europeans act. Yet sometimes it can feel like we are in a zoo! It suprises me sometimes, because there are many ex pats working in Mtwara, and so the children are exposed to Wazungus, but still they are fascinated and enthralled by the fair ones.
I also met a fantastic Tanzanian Father, who originally comes from Goa. He has been with the church for 45 years, and in the nicest possible way…it has provided him with wonderful generosity, friendliness, knowledge, and also a touch of pure madness! He was staying with his sister and nephew, and after returning from dinner, he ushered Sherilyn and me outside. He then produced a 3 litre bottle of Jaegermesiter, and a bottle of Afrika coco (Chocolate/coconut liqueur). He taught Sherilyn all about the wonders of Jaegermester, whilst discussing world politics. He also told us that his church had been destroyed by a falling Mango tree. Poor guy, but he knows how to drink away his sorrows! I do hope he finds a way to rebuild, so if your that way inclined please pray for him!
The weekend was a wonderful success, but we left Sherilyn at the beach house. This was a wrench for me, but good for her, as she got to spend her last week in Tanzania in paradise, with a crazy but delightful Catholic priest as company. I hope they don’t finish the bottle Jaeger!
