Mzungus!

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Monday - June 13th, 2011 @ 7am
Well, that was a great weekend! The past week has flown by, but I'm happy with time going fast here because 3 months is a long time and I want mummy to get here!! I'm totally enjoying (nearly) every second... everyday is such an adventure. Saturday morning I went to Lukendane for the community clean up- but noone informed me that the kids werent coming.. hm. So, we headed into Arusha for our weekly outing to spoil ourselves! We took the dala (which is ALWAYS interesting) and got off at the top of town, walked down the main street, stopped in at yet another internet carrier place, but the whole wireless modem just isnt gonna work living in usa river. Sorry guys, no video skype! Emails once or twice a week will just have to cut it. Than we went to Africafe - its a super western cafe that some rich brit started (smart/extra rich now).. its really really cute and abslutely doesnt fit in Arusha (or africa) for that matter.. its extremely overpriced for Tanzanian standards, sodas cost 3x more than anywhere else.. BUT it is by far the best meal Ive had in this part of the world, and worth every shilling. Every white person in this region knows about it and goes there... its a little slice of the western world for all of us! Every table was filled while white people, what a trip! I RARELY see white people here, honest, only at the internet cafe and the expensive restaurants in arusha.. and i have to admit, i honestly felt uncomfortable in africafe just beacuse I'm so used to be the only white person for miles and miles and miles, and than suddenly im placed in a sea of 'mzungus'... weird feeling! I got a veggie cheese burger and fries, but its not the same as home. These burgers are amazing, home made and filling with delicious veggies falling out when you take a bite, and its coated in some spice that im not sure what it acutally is, but its heavenly. The fries are like aussie chips, soooooooo good. After that delish treat, we headed about 20 minutes walking down the road and went to an italian gelato shop and i got peanut flavored gelato (AMAZING). Next to the gelato shop is shoprite (the other place where all the mzungus are)- its the only 'super'market in this enture region.. dar es salaam is an 8 hour drive away and thats the next one. They have a lot of imported stuff as well as local stuff.. i just fill my backpack with big water bottles, theyre alot cheaper there.. and get a few biscuits or juice for home. Than we head to the dala dala stop on that side of town and head home! Ohh what a saturday. I'm so full by the end that I only pick at rice and beans for dinner. Dinner is always served around 8.30 which is hard beacuse I'm used to a) not eating anywhere near that late; b) not eating actual meals - i just eat little things throughout the day, its hard for me to eat an actual meal twice a day; and c) i hate eating right before bed, and by 8.30 here im dead and go to bed straight after so my stomach is usually shut off that late. Im almost always in bed by 9 and don't have trouble falling asleep... the days here are SO long- not literally, the sun goes down around 6.45, but the hours just seem to drag out throughout the day. Sunday funday was good, no electricity all day (unitl around 4pm which I rushed to the internet cafe to get in there before they close at 5.30. I did laundry for the first time, and oh boy - its a tough job when you've been raised on how to use a washer/dryer - thanks mom and dad! 😊 But really, it takes so much effort to scrub the clothes, especially because EVERYTHING is so dirty beacuse of the amount of dirt here.. and teaching at the school everyday, im always covered from head to toe in chalk and/or porridge. It took me over an hour to wash probably 6 shirts, one pair of pants, and alot of undies. Everyone here wears the same clothes for days on end, and i try to.. but if something smells, i just cant do it- so i end up having to build my laundry pile. Hm. It was unbelievably sunny all day though, just gorgeous, so the clothes dried quickly. I had to hang my undies in my room to dry so they took much longer to dry. Oh, I forgot to tell you!! I woke up early, had breakfast (oh, I bought some mixed juice thing in arusha and it makes my mornings probably around 15 times better) and than went and sat in a plastic chair in the sun reading my book. Such a great thing... I miss sunbathing. That was the problem, I had to wear a tshirt and long shorts- but let me tell you, I was imagining that I was in Palm Springs with Lace in our bikinis sipping on pina coladas, or in brazil with hernan reading on the beach. Mm mm mm my mind sure takes me on great vacations. I find myself day dreaming often here, always about random things too... like I dream about fondue chocolate fountains, and taking a shower, and sitting in my bedroom in silence. Oh, how I miss you silence.
I wake up every morning between 5 and 6. I dont have to get up until 730ish, but its soooo loud everywhere here, all the time.. so atleast i go to bed early. I think i've said it multiple times, if not to you guys than to everybody else.. but the thing i truly miss most is silence. There's no such thing here, the ONLY way to escape the noise of the world here is to play my ipod (like right now) but im just masking the noise of africa by more familiar noise (right now it's Bon Iver's album "For Emma, Forever Ago." I must admit though, it's quite a good compromise, as close as I'll get to true peace and quiet. The noise is so different thoguh, people in new york city say that there is always noise, taxis and chatting and blah blah.. but the noise here is different. Cows, roosters, american hip hop from battery-operated radios.. wow these guys love their batteries. BEcuase the electricity is constantly out, they have what seems to be an endless supply of batteries so they dont miss a beat on the radios. Every once in a while Enrique or Madonna or Christina will make an appearance, but its generally bad-reception hip hop or local "mbongo flava" or something liek taht. Its the local music, and everyone listens to it and loves it and sings along. Oh my god, I cant believe I've forgotten to tell you - the most frequently heard western artist that I hear here (literally everywhere!!) is Celine Dion. It's hilarious. The gelato shop on Saturday had her entire "best of" album playing. Everyone loves her. They try to sing along too.. or even without the music - the next door neighbor was getting down with her bad self to celine... and let's just say, im not shocked she hasnt been offered a record deal. That's another thing about this place, they all sing.. about everything! And nobody, I mean NOBODY, speaks english.. yet theyve memorized the sounds in order to sing english songs.. the kids have a song for everything, and they are getnerally in english.. but have NO idea what they are saying. No idea! Same with the adults-- whenever the babies here cry (yes, I live with a 6month old and a 2 year old - and dont get me started, I'll take my dad's advice here and filter my thoughts a bit.. this is a 'permanant' record.) Anyways, the adults sing 'happy birthday' in english to her.. HUH??! yes. happy birthday.
I'm off to work, have a good one!

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