OK – I apologise, I’ve been a bit slack.
What can I say – I’ve been having too much fun? Been too busy saving the world? That was a joke.
Anyway, here’s an update, not too much detail I’m afraid but I’ll make it a new year’s resolution to be better.
It’s been over three months since I arrived and I’m still as happy and settled as ever. I had a couple of ‘three month hangover’ days as I was warned before I came, but aside from the desperate need to go for a walk along the beach and be completely inconspicuous, I got off lightly.
Work has been wonderful – I spend half the time being communications manager, trying to navigate the temperamental internet connection with facebook, picasa and google mail. The other half I spend with the mamas and their sewing business, battling the roads of Arusha in the Land Rover full of veggies, or trying to think of new ways to make money locally. It’s challenging, fun and every day is different.
What can I say – I’ve been having too much fun? Been too busy saving the world? That was a joke.
Anyway, here’s an update, not too much detail I’m afraid but I’ll make it a new year’s resolution to be better.
It’s been over three months since I arrived and I’m still as happy and settled as ever. I had a couple of ‘three month hangover’ days as I was warned before I came, but aside from the desperate need to go for a walk along the beach and be completely inconspicuous, I got off lightly.
Work has been wonderful – I spend half the time being communications manager, trying to navigate the temperamental internet connection with facebook, picasa and google mail. The other half I spend with the mamas and their sewing business, battling the roads of Arusha in the Land Rover full of veggies, or trying to think of new ways to make money locally. It’s challenging, fun and every day is different.
Driving around town is still 50/50 between fun and stressful. The traffic is crazy, the car has a turning circle that would struggle to rival a 747 and I fear driving school here consists of little more than a basic description of how peddles work and which way is forward. I’ve only had one serious run-in with officials that, long story short, led to a parking lot/parking inspector office and one man who chose the wrong day to piss of a crazy mzungo. Having agreed to disagree (I say I wasn’t parked, he said he could care less…pay up), I sat myself down and refused to move. Poor Lucas (our Tanzanian social welfare manager) was starting to wonder whether perhaps I was a crazy mzungo after all. But my bluff worked and I walked away triumphant with only an $8 fine.
The mama’s sewing is one of my favourite roles. Spending Friday afternoons together gossiping over Christmas decorations and pillow cases is the last thing I imagined but one of the best ways to become a friend, not just another volunteer. Their repertoire of merchandise is really taking off and hopefully this weekend’s Christmas fair will reward their hard work. There are a couple of experiments in the mix – namely the hammock I haphazardly put together with Massai Shugas (traditional blankets) and yet has become a favourite for lazy afternoons. If it sells well we’ll look into starting that up as another income stream.
Early in October I got the wonderful task of putting together our twice-yearly trivia night at a local bar. The night was awesome and we had a wonderful result money-wise (approx. $2,500 AUS) but it was a busy month building up to it. Many an afternoon spent pounding the dusty pavements of Arusha paid off but have put my only pair of thongs in a very precarious position – I’m waiting for the blow out any day now.
It can’t all be hard work though – so as a last minute treat I hopped on a plane and headed off to sunny Zanzibar – an island just off the coast. Adam (of all the places to meet a 25 year old PE teacher from Randwick, apparently Arusha is it) and some friends from a local international school were enjoying their school holidays on white sand beaches eating fresh octopus and drinking cold beer. I couldn’t really say no.
Getting there involved a 10 minute walk, a dala dala ride, a mini-bus, one plane, another dala dala, 10 minutes working out which way is up in the crazy market at Stone Town, one last dala dala (this one was open-aired and took nearly 2 hours so that added some variety) and a final 20 minute stroll though the glaring sun to the most spectacular beach – it would want to be after that. Of course everyone else arrived slightly more romantically on a traditional dhow (just call it a wooden boat). Five days were definitely not enough to fully appreciate how nice it is to be dust, commitment and hassle free. If I had moved more than 20 meters from our hammocks I would have more stories to tell, so I’ll just leave you with your jealousy and know I made a very good choice jumping on the plane. Our last couple of days were spent getting lost in the back-alleys of stone town riffling through endless touristy crap and googling at the overpriced but beautiful antiques collected through the many years of Arab occupancy that gives the town such a unique and otherworldly atmosphere. Between the beach and Stone Town, it’s definitely up there on my list of favourite places.
Back to reality and the small things that make life here just that little bit different to anywhere else. Living and working in the same place, with the same people, makes you feel a little bit like you’re on school camp – a very cool and exciting school camp, of course. But breaking the week up seems to be the trick to keeping it all in perspective and getting some breathing space. I go out most weekends with Adam and people I’ve met through him at school. Which means most Sundays are spent nursing mild hangovers and wishing I could jump off the rocks at Tamarama, followed by some soft poached eggs and nice cup of tea. Instead we settle for afternoons spent over a cold beer and a nice leg of goat. Life is tough.
On the home front - I’ve been doing some nesting and my room now contains as much furniture and home made products as is reasonable for a 3x2 meter space. With a purpose built desk, a hand-made hanging wooden four poster bed/mozzie net, some curtains I whipped up one Wednesday evening an a token pot plant I think I’m nearly there. Now I just need to learn to weld and I can rustle up a metal stool I’ve been eyeing off at a local juice bar. I’ve learnt that without a car, beach or long list of people to entertain me I can be quite creative. That or I’m quietly going insane and will soon become one of those people who live only off the land and scraps from the gutter – either way.
Alternatively I’m the new sass & bide, or so Cindy tells me (short-term education vol who will support the theory that I’m slowly losing the finer points of sanity). Last week, after the new camera case I made but before the curtains, I decided to put together a LBD (little black dress for the boys). With NYE around the corner and my only opportunity to wear something clean and mildly revealing I went all out. Given the lack of patterns or any form of training when it comes to haberdashery, I resorted to pinning material to myself and cutting wherever it looked appropriate, hoping it would all miraculously come together. It did. And lucky as that was the last of the material in Arusha.
So, the weeks pass very quickly and just as I settle, Hannah, Sarah and Don prepare to leave. Before you know it three months will be six and I’ll be ‘old’ person. I imagine it will be sad to see the group change so quickly but interesting to see the shift as new people arrive over the coming months.
Christmas plans are still up in the air but I imagine it will be quiet and relaxing (despite the NYE inauguration of the LBD) – which definitely appeals to me. Either way - I’ll do my best to keep you posted.
Missing everyone and love receiving updates (just cause I gave in to a pretentious blog doesn't mean you can stop e-mailing me).
Laws
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