Monday 26 November 2012

Contradiction

Here we are in Dodoma and outside in the scorching sunshine of our garden, my thermometer reads 39'C.

Inside my lounge, it reads 30'C.


It is hot, hot, hot and so dry and oh-so-dusty!

However, in my mind, I am gearing up for our very exciting trip to England for Christmas, where the weather will be anything but hot, dry and dusty. It will be more like freezing cold, wet and muddy! Conscious that we no longer possess the clothes for such a contrasting climate, I went off to Saba Saba second-hand market in hunt of some warmer gear.

Despite the sweat trickling down our faces and the sun burning us overhead, Saba Saba market seemed to have a wealth of extra-warm winter clothing! It baffles me how such warm clothing ends up in such a hot place as Dodoma! I can't imagine how stall sellers could gain a profit selling wolly hats, gloves, coats and scarves in the sweltering African climate of Dodoma, but there I was unearthing some nice, cozy clothes ready for England! :-)

Here are my bargains, as modelled by the mini-Parkers: a hat for Joel (he just loves the novelty of a fluffy hat!!), 2 sweaters for me (a very appropriate name for these items when I tried them on outside at a Dodoma market stall!!), a winter coat for Esther and one brand new item- a nice bright scarf for me to wear. The colour will remind me of the blue skies of Africa whilst I enjoy the change of weather under the grey Lancashire skies!


Friday 16 November 2012

In Training

We have only had one afternoon of rain so far this season. Dodoma is once again overwhelmingly hot, dry and dusty. However, we live in hope and anticipation of more rain soon!
When it does rain here, all the children get so excited that they rush out to stomp and play in the rain, then rush home to fetch toys to take outside, dirtying my floors with wet, muddy feet on their travels through the house!
In preparation for this, I am training up my boys to use their muscles and give a bit of a hand to clean those dirty floors!


Joel just loves to sweep and mop and is always charging about the house rather dangerously with my broom, so when I recently found this set of mini-broom, mop, bucket and dustpan in town, I snapped it up quick! It's not often that we find suitable toys for sale in Dodoma, so I was very excited! I bargained hard and got a bit of a reduction. It was worth all that time haggling over the price, as I now have a willing helper in training with his own tools -and my own broom safely where I need it! A win-win situation!

Saturday 10 November 2012

Peace at Last!

The noise has STOPPED!!
It is amazing to wake up in the light, to wake up when we choose, to wake up to peace and quiet! I have been having long lie-ins this week, until 6:25am!!
Not only has the noise stopped, but the speakers broadcasting loudly across our neighbourhood have been removed!
 I went around there yesterday to enjoy the view of the roof without the huge, 4-directional speakers that have caused us so much tiredness and stress. What a lovely sight!



Thursday 1 November 2012

It's Here!

The rains started today!! :-)