Joyce's B-DAY weekend @ Lake Natron

Dear loyal readers of our blog,

My apologies to all for not posting in what seems like forever. I've been really busy as well as really lazy out here in Moshi. But no worries, let me fill you in on what's been going on. We had a blast this weekend celebrating Joyce's 24th b-day. The original plan was to go to Mombassa, Kenya; however, with all the tension between Somalia and Kenya, we decided pretty early on in the trip that we would avoid Kenya altogether. And I'm very glad we stuck to exploring Tanzania even further. We decided to take a weekend camping trip in Lake Natron which is next to a volcano; Ol Doinyo Lengai. We took a very scenic 8 hour drive to get there, and on the way we spotted giraffes, zebras, wildbeasts, impalas and much more. We were able to hike out to the Lake with our guide Boniface, a Maasai, who taught us so much about the  Maasai culture and life in the area surrounding Lake Natron. At the lake, we were able to watch hundreds of flamingos, walk through a huge patch of mud and flamingo poo, climb grassy hills and just chill out. Soon after, Boniface took us on an amazing hike to a waterfall. Getting there was definately a challenge and hopefully prepared us somewhat for our Mt. Kili climb in less than a week!  Hopefully, the pictures shown below can give you guys at home some sort of indication of the natural beauty we witnessed this past weekend. I'm sure you all will hear about it when we make it back home.

Later days,

J Meez

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Just a small list of simple things I will never take for granted ever again:

1)      Hot water

Brrrrrr.
There are two taps. Left = cold. (occasionally luke warm....for 1 min) Right = freezing. 

2)      Electricity!! 

3)      High speed and consistent internet connection (For those Skype convos!)

4)      Varieties of food

5)      Being able to understand and speak a country’s language

6)      Not having to worry about Malaria (and constantly spraying on deet)

7)      Having a printer!

8)      Bugs that are no bigger than my finger (The last centipede was the stuff of NIGHTMARES I tell ya. Me: “JEFF KILL IT!!!!” Jeff: “I’M TRYING!!!” Jeff throws his flip flop on a MASSIVE black centipede and tries to whack it with his other flip flop....which fails to do anything but give Mr. Centipede a nice back massage. And then it crawls off to who knows where. Wily Mr. Centipede who is the size of my hand still lurks in our house. ::SHIVER :: )

9)      Having a fridge that is actually cold...and that has a door that doesn’t come off the hinges every time you open it

10)  Being able to drink tap water! Mmmm... nothing like the taste of water tablets

11)  Not having to worry about being run over by motorcycles and dalla dallas when crossing the road (Martha had quite the close call today)

12)  Blending in and not being pointed out as Mzungus/giant targets/suckers everywhere we go!

13)  Having more than 2 tops and 4 skirts to wear (sorry, such a first world problem.)

And a few simple things I will MISS

1)      Buying fresh fruit and avocados off the street that come straight off the trees

The most perfect avocado EVAR

2)      Best Bite!! (Martha begs to differ)

3)      Pop in reusable bottles

4)      Perfect weather

5)      MILK and tropical clusters (I’m kind of obsessed)

6)      Being greeted by everyone

7)      Beautiful surroundings (such diverse EVERYTHING here)

Imagine these...in every possible colour. EVERYWHERE.

8)      The kids! The kids!

9)      ALL THE PEOPLE HERE. WISH I COULD TAKE THEM HOME WITH ME. (okay, maybe not ALL)

10)  The happy, optimistic, chill, relaxed, welcoming TIA culture

11)  Dalla dalla rides! (So darn cheap, convenient and fast)

12)  How far the Canadian dollar goes here (beer for a dollar, what?!)

13)  Living with the Tanzacrew! (Our music sharing sessions, our in depth conversations over dinner or beers, power outage nights, dance parties in taxis, dusk runs)

All I can say is that I’m so thankful and blessed to be here in Tanzania, at this fieldwork placement, in this house, with this group of people. And we should all remember to be grateful for EVERYTHING that we have wherever we are, now and always. 

DANCE is the theme of the weekend

*UPDATED with photos!

Sorry to our readers for not posting as often as normally in the past week. It's 70% due to the power outages and 30% due to being out shopping for souvenirs, art pieces and bags, and getting dresses made (Jeff is excluded in the latter, but he's been so patient with us girls in our shopping adventures. Thank you!).

It's getting down to crunch time. We only have 2 more weeks of placement left. Jeff and I have been busy following up on our clients in the community and preparing our final presentation, which will be next week before Albert, one of our preceptors, takes his well-deserved vacation. On Friday, the CCBRT staff threw a goodbye party for Augusto, a previous program manager who has dedicated 16 years to CCBRT including at the headquarters in Dar es Salaam and in Moshi. A whole goat was roasted in his honour. The staff also prepared a DANCE and a song for him and his wife. Augusto is a well-respected figure and if you meet him, you'll understand why so many people praise him. He has done an outstanding job managing the CCBRT centre in Moshi. He takes his time to greet and say "hello" to everyone whenever he is at the centre, and he is always concerned with your well-being. Despite the fact that he is no longer the acting program manager and is in the midst of moving, he still finds time to stop by the centre and ask how Jeff and I are doing. When you talk to him, he really puts you at ease and listens to you.

Jeff and I also threw a dinner party for our CCBRT colleagues the same night.  Jeff & I collaborated in the kitchen and cooked a feast. The menu for dinner was crackers & guacamole, garlic bread & chili, fried rice, mashed potatoes with bacon bits, sweet & sour pineapple chicken, steamed veggies, banana & hazelnut bread, crepes with ice cream, and fruit punch. The DANCE party started when all the guests left except for one of our preceptors, Neo, and her kids. She is such a wonderful mom, and her kids are adorable! We taught them the macarena and YMCA DANCE, and we all had such a blast.

Today is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. According to the UN, the Day aims to "promote a better understanding of disability issues with a focus on the rights of persons with disabilities and gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of the political, social, economic and cultural life of their communities." The Tanzacrew participated in the march and festivities while representing KCMC and CCBRT. None of us have heard about this Day prior to coming here, but it's such a great cause. We hope that wherever you are in the world, you are celebrating this Day and recognizing the importance of inclusive societies. Of course, no celebration is complete without some dancing. After lunch, we danced with the kids and attempted a local line DANCE. I think we've got it...and we can test it out tonight when we go dancing.

Tonight's destination is Club La Liga, the largest club in Moshi. We are going with our CCBRT colleagues: Neo (my preceptor is taking us out, that's how cool she is!) and Masue (expert wheelchair technologist and the best fundi in Moshi). Let's DANCE the night away!

UPDATE: Sadly, Masue didn't join us but we had a blast at La Liga and felt the after effects Sunday morning. One of the highlights of the night was jamming in the car with our cab driver en route to La Liga. Jeff and I went to Mama Alex's house for lunch the next day and ended up drinking with her and her husband until early evening, with the company of our dear preceptor, Neo, who acted as translator. Apparently the best cure for a hangover is some good Tanzanian food and more drinking. And when the powers went out, I put on some tunes on my iPhone and we DANCED. It was one of the best Sundays we had for sure!

-E