New Challenges

I suppose if there's really a character test in all of this for me, this week might be it. I returned to Longido village on Tuesday afternoon, via 'shuttlebus' which runs from Arusha to Nairobi. It was wonderful to see Mt. Longido getting closer over the hour of travelling, and to really fell like I was coming 'home' to the village.

After scurrying about to find someone to help me back to the ADP with my bags (my attempts to prearrange that the night before had gone unheeded at this end) I arrived to face my new reality...living solo in the guest house, now that my former housemates have gone to the city until after Christmas.

The guesthouse is really quite nice...3 double bedrooms, a common living room, dining room and kitchen and indoor plumbing! Cold water only of course, and yes, while there's a flush toilet which is light years ahead of many of the local facilities, it's still just a porcelain hole in the floor. (I'm developing muscles in my knees quite foreign to most North Americans...enough said).

I spent my first evening sitting on my back porch, introducing myself to a family of swallows who've nested in the eaves, watcing other birds and a gorgeous African sunset, sipping lemon tea (after I bravely tackled lighting my kerosene single burner stove...a task I'd formerly left to my housemates). We have 3 hours of diesel generated electricity each evening (7 - 10) so after using that to charge my phone, computer and such, I trundled off for my first solo sleep. Of course it turned out to be one of those noisy nights we have here every few days. Dogs were barking incessantly (I really didn't want to know at what!), the hyenas were laughing, cows kept being rowdy, and of course the ever-present roosters couldn't figure that it was nighttime and they ought to keep quiet. Add a good bit of wind banging at all the windows and doors and I'm sure you'll understand when I say night one alone was a bit nerve-wracking. That did get better the following night...I actually managed a few hours of unbroken sleep, and I know it will continue to get easier. Really glad I had practice living solo back home though! There's a certain reassurance too, in the fact that no one here seems at all concerned about me living alone. I know that if there was anything to fear, they'd be urging me to make other arrangements.

Second day back I resolved to start turning the space into my own, so I splurged and hired a woman to come and give it a really good cleaning. You can sweep an African house about every hour, and remove fresh sand that's managed to come in on shoes, blow in through the windows, etc.etc.. I've got that part mastered, but I just wanted to give the place a real top to bottom washing, and frankly I don't have the strength, equipment or know-how to do that here. Anyhow, ended up with a whole family here while Mama and elder sister tackled the place. Such a treat now...everything is really fresh and clean. Now to see if I can maintain that!

Busy days setting up the new TEMBO office space and trying to get into a routine with my colleagues. And big news! -- I now have a dial-up connection which I can get to by simply toting the laptop to the main village a km away. Connection fees are frighteningly high, though the service itself was quite reasonable to establish. It's just going to make my life so much easier to be able to stay in communication with Canada more often than every 2 weeks. Those of you who want to send emails can do so to my new address: jotu@habari.co.tz Please note though that this is dial-up...and on a cellular system at that, with big per minute connection charges, so PLEASE don't send any attachments, photos, etc... Anything large should continue to come to me at my gmail address, and anything that's really important should be cc'd to both addresses such that I'll be sure to receive (eventually!). I should also be able to keep the blog entries coming faster now, as I'll email them to my son, who can post them for me. Photos will have to wait for my town visits, and hi-speed access. Hope to be in Arusha again December 18-20.

The days fill up quickly. And everything has to be planned such that it makes allowance for nothing ever happening quite as planned. Meeting times are flexible...most often things are late, sometimes they just don't happen. I'm learning a whole new level of patience, and find myself reciting the Serenity Prayer more often than ever before. But, I'm happy to at least slowly see things coming off my to do list, and hopefully my presence here can keep our projects going forward at a reasonable pace.

Yesterday (Thursday), after spending a fairly normal work-day, I was hit hard and fast with some sort of illness. No idea whether I ate or drank something problematic, or whether perhaps I got a touch of malaria. Only know that I was a total feverish mess, with all sorts of G-I distress going on. Luckily there were folks around when it happened and everyone was great about pulling together a plan to ensure I wouldn't be left alone for the night. One of my young buddies here at the ADP was kind enough to agree to move into one of the guest house rooms for the night, so he could take care of me should things get worse. The extra presence was reassuring, and it was a treat to wake up, still a little rough around the edges but much improved, and find that my tea water was already boiled and waiting for me. I'm lying low today as I write this. Definitely on the mend but feeling pretty weak.

I am beginning to feel so much a part of the community here. My circle of rafikis (friends) continues to grow. I keep hearing how much my Kiswahili is coming along, when in fact that's a bit of a joke. I really must find time to focus on my language studies now that I have all of these evenings alone. I'm still limited to basic greetings and such, and am really frustrated by not getting a handle on the languages faster. Oh well...this too will come...patience!!