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Published: August 14th 2011
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It has been a while since we last updated the blog, so we’re glad to finally have the time to get started.
Since leaving Toronto on July 14th we have visited London and Paris. London is an amazing city with lots to see. We we’re amazed at the architecture and all the pubs. After work the pubs are packed to overflowing with lots of patrons standing just outside, drinking and socializing. We really enjoyed seeing the Tower of London, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, and of course, Buckingham Palace. There is just so much history to see. We took a day tour to Leeds Castle, the White Cliffs of Dover, and Canterbury where we visited the Cathedral. Canterbury is a very unique little town with many narrow winding streets and the cathedral (the head of the Anglican Church) was awe inspiring. The second week we took the “Chunnel” to Paris. The train is amazingly fast and surprisingly smooth and quiet. Paris was different, but in many ways similar to London. We’re not museum people, but we did enjoy visiting the Louvre (the world’s biggest museum, and it really is big). We spent most of a day there. Our condo was near the
Eiffel Tower so we walked past it every day. We did a lot of walking, as walking is possible all over central Paris. Again we made use of the hop-on-hop-off bus to visit most of the sights around the city and it really is the best way get acclimatized. The highlight of our trip to France was our day trip to Normandy. Reviewing the history and actually being where the war took place was an incredible experience; you could almost feel the atmosphere. Jeannie and I were both moved when we visited the memorial grounds at Omaha Beach. After our week concluded in Paris we returned by the Chunnel to London for our flight to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where our real journey will begin.
We left London on Saturday July 30th at about 9:00 p.m. and flew to Doha where we changed planes for our final leg to Dar. We arrived in Dar on Sunday at about noon. Going through customs was a cinch as our residency permits were at the immigration office just as planned, and our driver, Frank, was waiting for us outside the airport. He took us to our hostel, CEFA, on the outskirts of Dar.
The contrast between London/Paris and Dar is quite significant; however, both Jeannie and I felt quite safe and comfortable. Our lodging was just fine. We ate on site and met some travellers from Austria who were exploring Tanzania on their break as teachers on their summer holidays. The next day, Monday, we had time to go to the local Shoprite store which was quite modern and had a lot of supplies that Jeannie and I purchased before the final leg of our journey to our new home in Dodoma. After shopping we walked 10 minutes to the beach on the Indian Ocean. The beach had a cabana and we enjoyed a beer while relaxing in wooden lounge-type chairs. Tuesday, we were expecting our driver, Joshua to pick us up early and drive our new car to Dodoma; however we ran into our first glitch as he had trouble locating the car and then finding the keys. Our contact, who helped us buy the car, was away in England and had forgotten to make the final arrangements and give the car details to his office staff for Joshua. We didn’t get away until about noon so Joshua had to do some
fancy driving to get us to Dodoma before dark. The road is ok, but the traffic, with old broken down trucks and buses, and slowing down through village after village make the travelling adventuresome to say the least. Joshua is an excellent driver and we felt very secure all the way. Our new car that Joshua drove is a 1998 Toyota Rav 4 with about 90,000 km. It is an amazingly good car in remarkably good condition; much better than we expected.
After arriving in Dodoma I drove (on the left side of the road in the dark) the rest of the way following Martin McCann, the husband of Sandy, our contact here at the college. When we arrived we quickly unloaded the car, got a short tour of our new home and then went to the McCann’s for a lovely American dinner of Spaghetti. After getting acquainted, we headed back to our new abode to begin the unpacking.
Our house is concrete throughout with a good sized kitchen, dining area, living room, one master bedroom with two smaller bedrooms, a tiny office and two bathrooms. The furnishings are nice and most importantly our bed is very comfortable. However, we
are still adjusting to sleeping at night under a mosquito net with wild dogs barking and roosters crowing in the very early hours of the morning. Throughout the rest of our first week Jeannie and I spent our time shopping for household items in Dodoma and learning what our duties will be at the college. Shopping is a challenge as there are no shops like the Shoprite in Dar, but only small dukas (a poor flea market stand) throughout the city centre which consist primarily of narrow dusty streets. However, our evenings were mostly spent dining with our new college colleagues. Socializing and greeting people in Tanzania is very important. When you meet a Tanzanian, one must always makes time to shake hands and have a conversation. Jeannie and I have never had so many visitors and friendly people offering their help.
This week we are both starting to settle into our assignment routines. Jeannie is teaching bookkeeping to the secretarial students and helping in the administration office and the library, while I am teaching English to the diploma and degree students. Our day begins at 7:30 am with a half hour church service which includes a lot of beautiful
African voices to many familiar modern hymns. If you have never heard it, it is very rich with rhythm and harmony. It really is a nice way to begin our day, even if we’re not used to the hour since I’ve retired. Classes begin at 8:00 and we have a break at 11:00 where the staff get together for ‘chai’ – tea, coffee and a snack. Our official assignments conclude at 1:30 when many staff and students go for lunch and a short siesta. While we are at work, our girl, Moti, cleans the house, washes and irons our clothes and cooks a major portion of our evening meal. Life is not so bad here in Africa. Our house has not been occupied for a while so our yard has been neglected unlike our neighours whose yards are very well maintained. We had a young student approach us with an offer to clean up our yard like our neighbours and maintain it afterwards. We did not refuse and he has been busy in his off school hours working in the yard.
The students here are wonderful, full of life and a longing to learn. Their English is good, but needs
work. They are very polite and as all Tanzanians, very friendly. The big word here is ‘karibu’ which means, welcome. The other day, we had a young student from outside the college, who I had met at a local duka, drop by for a visit and invite Jeannie and I for a dinner at his house. This is not a polite invite, but a sincere welcome for us to Tanzania. We are looking forward to visiting his house in his village.
We are so very pleased to be here amongst such gracious people who have so very little and from whom we can learn so much. There are many needs, and once we get a little more settled we will look for other ways to help. Life is different, that is for sure, but we anticipate it to be very rewarding and exciting. And the weather is not an issue as every day is the same - sunny, warm and dry.
We want to thank all our family and friends who have offered support by their encouragement, inviting us into their homes for bon voyage get-togethers, offering us assistance with travel advice and offering financial aid for the Tanzanian people,
and to St. Philip’s on-the-hill, Unionville, for making it possible to have a venue for tax-deductible donations. It is wonderful to have so many good folks in our life. We couldn’t have done it without you and we will keep in touch.
Pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/116573555722516782467/AfricaToAug13?authuser=0&feat=directlink
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