8 Weeks of Swahili lessons
7 Weeks in the lovely, rat-free, wooden banda
6 Snake sightings
5 Hours of Swahili lessons per week-day
4 Nationalities of students at language school this week
3 Tasty meals each day and no food shopping, cooking or cleaning for me!!
2 Muddy children as they played outside for 5 hours every morning
1 Tanzanian nanny to care for my children.
That sums up our time here at Riverside for language school. Tomorrow we have a 9 hour drive back home to Dodoma to start to settle in properly...
Friday 29 January 2010
Tuesday 26 January 2010
Language School- week 7
Our penultimate week has been full of action for us, but a week of inactivity for our computer, as our internet connection stopped working. Hence a late entry for week 7!
The week started with a tale of vermin infestation in "Stone Banda 1": the banda we had stayed in- and hastily moved out of - during our 1st week at Riverside Campsite. The family in residence caught their 1st rat on Sunday morning, followed by several others over the week -and even had rats visiting them at night IN THEIR BED! Ugh!! It was a real-life nightmare for them. They certainly had my sympathy, although I have to say that I am greatly relieved that we were able to move out when we did and have not had 2 months of sharing accommodation with roaming rodents!
Half way through the week, one of the Norwegian boys, aged 4, found another snake. The culprit was quickly dealt with by the Tanzanian staff and lunch was interrupted as we all crowded round to get a good view of the reptile.
We also had an active social agenda this week: a farewell buffet on Sunday for the Richardson family, a meal with Tanzanian friends at their home on Thursday and lunch with new friends, Ken and Diane, in Kilolo village on Saturday (the village I visited in 2002 with the team from St Michael's, London). There were many changes there, including the completion of St Michael's Secondary School, which was just a few walls and is now a school with 300 Tanzanian students!
On the language learning front, we had a hands-on lesson in Tanzanian culture on Friday. 6 of us became campsite chefs. We donned aprons in order to cook lunch for all 30 campsite residents, under the tutelage of our Tanzanian teachers. We started early and got a glimpse of some more culture differences between our convenient western world and life for many Tanzanians. Meal preparation starts from scratch out here, far from the city and takes much longer than I am used to. Here are some of the jobs we did on Friday, which Mr Tesco or Mr Sainsbury would normally have done for us over in the UK:
-sorting and cleaning the rice, to make it ready for cooking
-cracking open and then grating the coconut to make dessicated coconut
-"mincing" the beef - by hand- once it is cooked ( I had that job- it was not my favourite!!)
-taking whole spices and crushing them with mortar + pestle to be able to use them
-killing the chicken- a job for the only male chef of the day: Mr Andrew Parker himself! A job he did with great calm, despite the squeals of the ladies present, not to mention the poor chicken!
-making the bread, the doughnuts, the chapatis and samosas from scratch: I learnt a lot about making pastry and dough!!
-preparing savoury bananas for cooking
Then there was all of the usual vegetable preparation- washing, peeling, chopping- but in plastic bowls, using water which had been delivered earlier from the bore-hole. Cooking the food was another lesson, as we experienced first hand the extra work that goes with using a charcoal stove. As we fried and stirred and boiled different food on the metal grill above the hot coals, the temperature rose- and there were a lot of red cheeks among us white-faced foreigners!
The food was served to happy students and staff and was very tasty, if I say so myself!However, we couldn't help but notice that, due partly to lack of resources and partly through lack of education, kitchen hygiene is not quite as we would expect in England. There has been a constant round of runny tummies among the students and children at the campsite, including Ben, who has had us up for 3 nights in a row, with some interesting nappies for us to deal with. We are learning to appreciate just how we are spoilt in England in terms of access to resources and education.
( Cooking Lesson photos to follow...watch this space).
The week started with a tale of vermin infestation in "Stone Banda 1": the banda we had stayed in- and hastily moved out of - during our 1st week at Riverside Campsite. The family in residence caught their 1st rat on Sunday morning, followed by several others over the week -and even had rats visiting them at night IN THEIR BED! Ugh!! It was a real-life nightmare for them. They certainly had my sympathy, although I have to say that I am greatly relieved that we were able to move out when we did and have not had 2 months of sharing accommodation with roaming rodents!
Half way through the week, one of the Norwegian boys, aged 4, found another snake. The culprit was quickly dealt with by the Tanzanian staff and lunch was interrupted as we all crowded round to get a good view of the reptile.
We also had an active social agenda this week: a farewell buffet on Sunday for the Richardson family, a meal with Tanzanian friends at their home on Thursday and lunch with new friends, Ken and Diane, in Kilolo village on Saturday (the village I visited in 2002 with the team from St Michael's, London). There were many changes there, including the completion of St Michael's Secondary School, which was just a few walls and is now a school with 300 Tanzanian students!
On the language learning front, we had a hands-on lesson in Tanzanian culture on Friday. 6 of us became campsite chefs. We donned aprons in order to cook lunch for all 30 campsite residents, under the tutelage of our Tanzanian teachers. We started early and got a glimpse of some more culture differences between our convenient western world and life for many Tanzanians. Meal preparation starts from scratch out here, far from the city and takes much longer than I am used to. Here are some of the jobs we did on Friday, which Mr Tesco or Mr Sainsbury would normally have done for us over in the UK:
-sorting and cleaning the rice, to make it ready for cooking
-cracking open and then grating the coconut to make dessicated coconut
-"mincing" the beef - by hand- once it is cooked ( I had that job- it was not my favourite!!)
-taking whole spices and crushing them with mortar + pestle to be able to use them
-killing the chicken- a job for the only male chef of the day: Mr Andrew Parker himself! A job he did with great calm, despite the squeals of the ladies present, not to mention the poor chicken!
-making the bread, the doughnuts, the chapatis and samosas from scratch: I learnt a lot about making pastry and dough!!
-preparing savoury bananas for cooking
Then there was all of the usual vegetable preparation- washing, peeling, chopping- but in plastic bowls, using water which had been delivered earlier from the bore-hole. Cooking the food was another lesson, as we experienced first hand the extra work that goes with using a charcoal stove. As we fried and stirred and boiled different food on the metal grill above the hot coals, the temperature rose- and there were a lot of red cheeks among us white-faced foreigners!
The food was served to happy students and staff and was very tasty, if I say so myself!However, we couldn't help but notice that, due partly to lack of resources and partly through lack of education, kitchen hygiene is not quite as we would expect in England. There has been a constant round of runny tummies among the students and children at the campsite, including Ben, who has had us up for 3 nights in a row, with some interesting nappies for us to deal with. We are learning to appreciate just how we are spoilt in England in terms of access to resources and education.
( Cooking Lesson photos to follow...watch this space).
Saturday 16 January 2010
Language School week- 6
Six weeks into our Swahili studies and 2 weeks to go. The pace really slowed down this week, as we went from 1-on-1 lessons to 3 of us sharing a class together, with less opportunity for conversation. However, we have had opportunity to practise the language this week.
On Sunday, we went to a Swahili-speaking church in town. We were an hour late, as we had not been sure of the service time, but we arrived during the singing and before the sermon had started! The sermon was translated into English sentence by sentence, which was very helpful- otherwise we would have been very lost! It was encouraging to recognise a lot of words, even if we struggle to keep up in general conversation.
Then on Monday, we took Esther to see an eye doctor at the diocese "Bartimaus Optical Centre". Her conjunctivitis has been ongoing for 2 months and on Monday her eyes became swollen. The very nice doctor- or maybe he was an optician, as I wasn't too sure of the Swahili on the sign (!!)- was very helpful and the drops and ointment he prescribed have worked wonders. He tolerated my poor Swahili, which made me very happy, although we also had to use English at times! We returned to see him on Friday and then went to the Diocese office of the archbishop, where we met with his friendly secretary, Martha, who I knew from my time in Iringa in 2002. It was lovely to see her again. Then on to the office of Jackson, the General Secretary of the Diocese, who was pleased to meet Andrew, after being put in contact with us by our friend Michael Bennett in London. Jackson promptly invited us to his nearby home, where we were pleased to meet his wife and family and share a cup of "chai" with them. Esther was particularly taken with their baby grand-daughter, Janet, while Ben was very excited by the cows and pig in the garden!
However, the highlight of our week was Wednesday- Esther's 4th birthday! Our little girl got up bright and early, to open her gifts. She played nicely in the morning with nanny Emma and Ben and the other children, despite some tears when Mum had to go to lessons. She enjoyed her enormous cake at the evening meal, shared between the 23 of us here this week. She also shared her birthday with another student, the Norwegian lady here with her husband and their family of 3 boys, with baby number 4 due in June!
The best part for Esther though is the realisation that her birthday is not quite over, as she has more gifts awaiting her in the container... and we heard on Thurday that our container is not just in Tanzania, but has actually reached the MAF compound in Dodoma! What a great surprise!
On Sunday, we went to a Swahili-speaking church in town. We were an hour late, as we had not been sure of the service time, but we arrived during the singing and before the sermon had started! The sermon was translated into English sentence by sentence, which was very helpful- otherwise we would have been very lost! It was encouraging to recognise a lot of words, even if we struggle to keep up in general conversation.
Then on Monday, we took Esther to see an eye doctor at the diocese "Bartimaus Optical Centre". Her conjunctivitis has been ongoing for 2 months and on Monday her eyes became swollen. The very nice doctor- or maybe he was an optician, as I wasn't too sure of the Swahili on the sign (!!)- was very helpful and the drops and ointment he prescribed have worked wonders. He tolerated my poor Swahili, which made me very happy, although we also had to use English at times! We returned to see him on Friday and then went to the Diocese office of the archbishop, where we met with his friendly secretary, Martha, who I knew from my time in Iringa in 2002. It was lovely to see her again. Then on to the office of Jackson, the General Secretary of the Diocese, who was pleased to meet Andrew, after being put in contact with us by our friend Michael Bennett in London. Jackson promptly invited us to his nearby home, where we were pleased to meet his wife and family and share a cup of "chai" with them. Esther was particularly taken with their baby grand-daughter, Janet, while Ben was very excited by the cows and pig in the garden!
However, the highlight of our week was Wednesday- Esther's 4th birthday! Our little girl got up bright and early, to open her gifts. She played nicely in the morning with nanny Emma and Ben and the other children, despite some tears when Mum had to go to lessons. She enjoyed her enormous cake at the evening meal, shared between the 23 of us here this week. She also shared her birthday with another student, the Norwegian lady here with her husband and their family of 3 boys, with baby number 4 due in June!
The best part for Esther though is the realisation that her birthday is not quite over, as she has more gifts awaiting her in the container... and we heard on Thurday that our container is not just in Tanzania, but has actually reached the MAF compound in Dodoma! What a great surprise!
Saturday 9 January 2010
Language School- week 5
We have had some excellent lessons this week.
To avoid having a nanny, which can still upset Ben, we made a special arrangement to split our lessons. Andrew had lessons in the morning and I was taught in the afternoons. It worked well and we had the advantage of one-to-one tuition with a Sawhili teacher. Unfortunately, the system was for this week only, as we were the only students here, apart from one Norwegian girl who has been teaching in Tzanzania for 4 years and had her own advanced lessons. Next week, there will be 4 families here and other students coming in from town for morning lessons. The teachers will be stretched and unable to accommodate our special request for separate lessons. So I went to town this morning and stocked up on "Smarties" to bribe my children when I have to leave them at 8am in the mornings!
During my lessons this week, I had fun translating a basic fable ( Why the giraffe has a Long Neck) into Kiswahili, I played a game of Kiswahili Ludo and had lots of interesting discussion about differences between English and Tanzanian culture -and weather. The weather discussion really highlights just how different 2 countries can be. My teacher has never seen snow and cannot comprehend the concept of minus temperatures. Trying to describe what snow looks or feels like is very tricky! I told her that my poor aunt had had a nasty fall outside in the snow and was hurt, but my teacher looked shocked at the idea of falling over in public and asked if she'd been drinking alcohol!! I had to laugh! I tried to explain that snow is very slippery, whilst defending my poor aunt, who certainly had not been under the influence of alcohol!
As for Esther + Ben, they had lots of fun at the beginning of the week when we met a lovely family from Cape Town, South Africa, who are touring Africa in an enormous camper-van/lorry. They were staying at the campsite for 2 nights. Their children were exactly a year older than our children and they all played so nicely together. Their camper-truck was very impressive and they have had lots of adventures on their travels. Inspiring!
Today, we went into Iringa and visited Philip and Fiona Richardson, friends who have lived here for 7 years and will be returning to reside in the UK next month. They are busy packing up their house, saying farewells and making all the necessary arrangments for moving abroad with their 2 children. We could relate to some of the challenges! It was good to see them before they leave. Photo to follow (internet connection at the campsite does not allow for adding photos!!).
Next week, we do hope that Ben will adapt to going with Nanny Emma again. He has been unsettled at nights again, screaming and not going back to sleep for at least an hour--- meaning very tired parents. However, we have friends and family on the case, who are keeping Ben in their prayers and we are already seeing him settle down, which is wonderful... We hope to give a happy, positive report at the end of next week!
To avoid having a nanny, which can still upset Ben, we made a special arrangement to split our lessons. Andrew had lessons in the morning and I was taught in the afternoons. It worked well and we had the advantage of one-to-one tuition with a Sawhili teacher. Unfortunately, the system was for this week only, as we were the only students here, apart from one Norwegian girl who has been teaching in Tzanzania for 4 years and had her own advanced lessons. Next week, there will be 4 families here and other students coming in from town for morning lessons. The teachers will be stretched and unable to accommodate our special request for separate lessons. So I went to town this morning and stocked up on "Smarties" to bribe my children when I have to leave them at 8am in the mornings!
During my lessons this week, I had fun translating a basic fable ( Why the giraffe has a Long Neck) into Kiswahili, I played a game of Kiswahili Ludo and had lots of interesting discussion about differences between English and Tanzanian culture -and weather. The weather discussion really highlights just how different 2 countries can be. My teacher has never seen snow and cannot comprehend the concept of minus temperatures. Trying to describe what snow looks or feels like is very tricky! I told her that my poor aunt had had a nasty fall outside in the snow and was hurt, but my teacher looked shocked at the idea of falling over in public and asked if she'd been drinking alcohol!! I had to laugh! I tried to explain that snow is very slippery, whilst defending my poor aunt, who certainly had not been under the influence of alcohol!
As for Esther + Ben, they had lots of fun at the beginning of the week when we met a lovely family from Cape Town, South Africa, who are touring Africa in an enormous camper-van/lorry. They were staying at the campsite for 2 nights. Their children were exactly a year older than our children and they all played so nicely together. Their camper-truck was very impressive and they have had lots of adventures on their travels. Inspiring!
Today, we went into Iringa and visited Philip and Fiona Richardson, friends who have lived here for 7 years and will be returning to reside in the UK next month. They are busy packing up their house, saying farewells and making all the necessary arrangments for moving abroad with their 2 children. We could relate to some of the challenges! It was good to see them before they leave. Photo to follow (internet connection at the campsite does not allow for adding photos!!).
Next week, we do hope that Ben will adapt to going with Nanny Emma again. He has been unsettled at nights again, screaming and not going back to sleep for at least an hour--- meaning very tired parents. However, we have friends and family on the case, who are keeping Ben in their prayers and we are already seeing him settle down, which is wonderful... We hope to give a happy, positive report at the end of next week!
Saturday 2 January 2010
More Swahili
We are off to langauge school again on the morning. A 9 hour drive awaits us, and then 4 more weeks of lessons. We are feeling a little apprehensive, as the time here in Dodoma has not afforded much space for further study. We feel like naughty schoolchildren who have not done their homework. We hope the teachers will not get too impatient with us when we return to class and still don't know all the details of the many noun classes!
More importantly, we hope the children settle down better this time and are happier. Ben has been unwell this past week, with a nasty stomach bug and diarrhoea, but is on the mend. Last time we were in Iringa, he struggled with the idea of leaving mum every day. We just hope he will cope better second time round. Esther has also found it difficult and there have been a few tears. So we have a challenge ahead of us, but hopefully weeks 4 - 8 will be a bit easier for the little ones...We'll keep you posted!
More importantly, we hope the children settle down better this time and are happier. Ben has been unwell this past week, with a nasty stomach bug and diarrhoea, but is on the mend. Last time we were in Iringa, he struggled with the idea of leaving mum every day. We just hope he will cope better second time round. Esther has also found it difficult and there have been a few tears. So we have a challenge ahead of us, but hopefully weeks 4 - 8 will be a bit easier for the little ones...We'll keep you posted!
Friday 1 January 2010
Dodoma Photos
A few pictures from Dodoma
Town centre street:
Market stall-holder: taken while out shopping for flour, sugar and vegetables:
Rainy Season: the garden becomes a muddy river!
Town centre street:
Market stall-holder: taken while out shopping for flour, sugar and vegetables:
Rainy Season: the garden becomes a muddy river!
End of Year Adventure
Part of my final day of 2009 was spent locked behind the door of Dodoma prison. It was a scary moment. No crimes had been committed- I simply wanted to buy a doormat for our new home. Such a small task turned out to be quite an adventure in Dodoma, where prisoners make floormats and baskets which we, the general public, can purchase. To do so, we drove up to the prison and made known our desire to buy a mat.
I was told to follow a khaki-uniformed, armed guard through the prison door to speak to another guard, who would arrange the purchase. Naively, I did as I was told, leaving Andrew and the children under the heat of the sun, in the relaxed, pleasant prison grounds. I stepped through a heavy metal door, into the dark interior of Dodoma's "gereza" (prison) and found myself flanked by guards and out of my depth with all of the Swahili spoken around me. The atmosphere abruptly changed: it was tense and intimidating. A swift glance over my shoulder confirmed that the exterior door had been locked and bolted behind me. To my right, 2 fierce-looking guards were busy writing official details on a large ledger. A few steps ahead of me, metal bars revealed a courtyard full of male prisoners in their standard orange overalls, staring at this strange white lady who had appeared before them. As I took in the details of my surroundings, I felt suddenly fearful. Panic seeped through my mind: would they let me out?? what if I was locked up here?? what would Esther and Ben do if the prison guards decided to keep me inside?? I felt my legs shaking...
Then I was brought back to reality as a guard approached to ask me what I wanted. I managed to mumble something in Swahili about buying mats, small ones, that's all I wanted, just to buy a mat, please...To my relief, he nodded and told me to go outside and wait under the tree, where the goods would be brought to us. The door was unlocked and I was let out! Oh, the heady joy of freedom!!
Anyway, we now have 3 lovely doormats and an attractive woven basket! Apparently, most people visiting the prison just wait outside for their goods to be shown to them. Well, at least I had an adventure- and next time we need a mat, I'll know what to do!
As for the remainder of 2009, all passed peacefully and we slept our way into 2010.
We wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR from Dodoma!
I was told to follow a khaki-uniformed, armed guard through the prison door to speak to another guard, who would arrange the purchase. Naively, I did as I was told, leaving Andrew and the children under the heat of the sun, in the relaxed, pleasant prison grounds. I stepped through a heavy metal door, into the dark interior of Dodoma's "gereza" (prison) and found myself flanked by guards and out of my depth with all of the Swahili spoken around me. The atmosphere abruptly changed: it was tense and intimidating. A swift glance over my shoulder confirmed that the exterior door had been locked and bolted behind me. To my right, 2 fierce-looking guards were busy writing official details on a large ledger. A few steps ahead of me, metal bars revealed a courtyard full of male prisoners in their standard orange overalls, staring at this strange white lady who had appeared before them. As I took in the details of my surroundings, I felt suddenly fearful. Panic seeped through my mind: would they let me out?? what if I was locked up here?? what would Esther and Ben do if the prison guards decided to keep me inside?? I felt my legs shaking...
Then I was brought back to reality as a guard approached to ask me what I wanted. I managed to mumble something in Swahili about buying mats, small ones, that's all I wanted, just to buy a mat, please...To my relief, he nodded and told me to go outside and wait under the tree, where the goods would be brought to us. The door was unlocked and I was let out! Oh, the heady joy of freedom!!
Anyway, we now have 3 lovely doormats and an attractive woven basket! Apparently, most people visiting the prison just wait outside for their goods to be shown to them. Well, at least I had an adventure- and next time we need a mat, I'll know what to do!
As for the remainder of 2009, all passed peacefully and we slept our way into 2010.
We wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR from Dodoma!
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