Ben's Birthday Bash

Ben is 5!

To celebrate, he had a very special birthday party last week, with 7 little friends and his brother and sister.

The party theme: "Fire Fighters".

The venue: Ben's Fire Station

 The decorations:

The special surprise that we had organised in advance for Ben's party was a visit from the "Airport Fire and Rescue" truck! Ben was delighted as we all rushed round to the MAF hangar to see his party visitors:

 The fire services staff were most kind and helpful and let the children climb on board...

...and visit the roof to see all the ladders and fire equipment.

 Even Joel was excited, despite the roaring noise of the powerful engine and the very high steps to get into the cab. He posed happily with his personal "Fire Fighter Joel" badge!

 The staff then took the children to the edge of the MAF hangar to see the hose pipes in action- and kindly let them all have a turn!

Back at the house, we had time for a few fire-fighter themed games, time for toasting marshmallows on sticks on a BBQ in the garden and then Dad stoked up the BBQ to make some impressive flames. Ben-Birthday-Boy then extinguished the fire with our garden hose!

There was also time for a party tea, of course, and a fire-themed cake!

Now Ben is proud to be 5, after a day of fiery fun to celebrate!

Look...

...what Andrew killed last night!!

This snake was slithering around the MAF compound in the early evening. Andrew's quick-thinking reaction meant that this green reptile didn't stand much of a chance- the head was soon severed with the help of a long stick- which broke in the decapitating process!
Whilst Andrew regretted having to kill it, the potential danger to the residents and especially the children on our MAF compound is too great a risk to leave the creature free and easy. So the beheaded snake spent the night on our patio, after a photo shoot next to my shoe to give a sense of scale!

Happiness is...

Happiness is a plate of home-made chocolate chip biscuits- and some lovely new zip-lock bags to store them in! 

Chocolate chips are a rare delicacy in Dodoma and cannot be picked up at the local shops, so I was thrilled with this gift of real, white chocolate chips, all the way from America! A much appreciated gift from a visiting MAF family (who will be coming to live here in Dodoma in February next year). There was much excitement when I received the above bag of chocolate chips! Out came my recipe book- and the baking began! The happiness continues, since I have so far only used half the bag and there is still opportunity to bake some more delicious chocolate chip biscuits!

The zip-lock bags also need a mention. Ziplock bags are a well-preserved treasure in the kitchens of Dodoma ex-pats. We use them, wash them carefully and hang them out to dry- and then use them again! Several times over! The bags I brought with me to Tanzania from England 18 months ago are starting to look a little ragged- and smell a little stale inside!! So I am very happy that I can now add some sparkly new bags to supplement this rather tired-looking collection of ziplock bags below, hanging up to dry on my washing line:

Meanwhile, whilst happiness to me is new ziplock bags and chocolate chips, the children are made happy in Dodoma with a tasty ice-cream on a hot day! 

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!

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!

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!

It's Here!

The rains started today!! :-)

Contrast

We visited Dar es Salaam a couple of weeks ago when the children had their 2 week school holiday. We enjoyed being close to water at the coast - and the Dar es Salaam rain was a real treat!
 Joel was rather confused about rain- he has never really experienced rain, except as a very small baby, so he was not too sure what to make of it! The last time it really rained in Dodoma was when his grandparents visited in March.

The following week, back at home, the children and I joined a group of friends for a walk around Dodoma's "reservoir". The contrast with our trip to Dar is stark! 449 km (279 miles) from the coast of Dar es Salaam, with no beach, rivers or lakes, we do not expect to see much water.
However, there is usually a bit of water to enjoy looking at in Dodoma's reservoir. But not this month! Not a drop can be seen...neither in the so-called reservoir, nor in the blazing blue skies, where not a cloud is visible and rain seems like a distant memory...

View across Dodoma's reservoir to our parking spot:

Joel contemplates the dry vista on the banks of the reservoir:

Walking with our friends along the dusty, sandy pathways:

Passing herds in search of water.. 

 Ben was fascinated by the bed of the reservoir, which has turned into dry, cracked mud:

 
Our picnic spot was situated nearby. We spread out on mats, sitting on the parched earth- but the dryness and heat did not deter us from enjoying the good company and good snacks on hand!

A Rose In Any Other Place...

...would not be so surprising! But a rose in Dodoma is quite amazing!

This weekend, we have all been enjoying and admiring our very first rose.
I never thought that we could grow a rose in such an arid place as Dodoma, but here is the proof that it can be done:

 We all agree that it has a lovely scent- even Ben deigned to smell the roses! To me, the scent reminds me of Summer in England, even though it is far hotter here than any memories I have of English summertime!

  With the helpful guidance and advice of my gardening-expert neighbour, Margaret, our rose bush has flourished and blossomed- and now I am feeling very inspired with my East African garden!

Shopping for Shoes in Dodoma

Esther has been needing new shoes for a few weeks...

Buying shoes in Dodoma can be a real challenge- especially kids' shoes. There is really only one place to look for shoes: at the second hand clothes market of Saba Saba. The idea of taking 3 small children through the long, dusty alleys, pushing through the crowds and having my children being pointed at, called to in Swahili and having people stroking their hair and skin did not make me look forward to a shoe-shopping trip. I also dreaded the attention created by Joel's pram, which never ceases to amaze many Tanzanians, who do not seem to be able to get over the fact that I do not carry my baby on my back.
Our trip to the Saba Saba market was further delayed by the fact that Esther needed to wear her shoes for school each day. She only gets home in the afternoon, when the heat is at its most uncomfortable. Going out on a shoe-shop trip in the heat just did not appeal! So I had been putting the trip off for rather a long time...

However, last week, Esther and Ben were on their half-term holiday and the shoe situation was getting a bit desperate. The time for the Shoe Quest had arrived! Very early one morning, before the heat and before the crowds, we set off to Saba Saba market...

I am pleased to report that we had an amazingly successful trip on our Quest for New Shoes!
We went directly to the market stall that sells shoes, as recommended by my neighbour. I had never seen this stall before, but was pleasantly surprised to see lots of brand new shoes for sale, alongside the usual second-hand shoes. The stall holder was most helpful, telling me that the new shoes had been driven down from Nairobi. There were several pairs of sandals in Esther's size. It did not take long to select the ones Esther liked and felt comfortable in, at a price which did not require too much bargaining.
The seller was happy for me to get a snap of his shoe stall, with all the new shoes dangling on strings far above the dusty ground and the second-hand shoes piled high on the table behind Esther:

 We were home before the sun got too hot, very pleased with our unexpectedly successful trip. And here are Esther's new sandals!

Flora

There is a shortage of margarine in Dodoma at the moment.

There are 2 shops in town where we can purchase margarine. One shop had no margarine at all today.

The other shop had a stock of about 10 tubs of margarine. I was excited to see that about 8 of those tubs were "Flora"- its the 1st time I've seen such a recognisable UK brand of margarine in Dodoma! I picked up two tubs and headed to the counter...but beat a hasty retreat back to the fridge when I was told that the cost of a single 500 gram tub of margarine would be 12,000 Tanzanian shillings = £4.72!!!
Does anyone know the cost of a 500 gram tub of Flora in a UK shop at the moment?? I am pretty sure it is not close to the Dodoma cost!
I ended up coming home with one of the other 2 tubs of margarine, which seems to be from the Middle East judging by the Arabic writing on the side. It looks pretty decent and was far less expensive. I'm hoping it will taste good on our home-baked bread- despite the fact that the expiry date on the tub is yesterday's date...!

Yellow

Yellow is THE team to be part of at the school Sports Day!

On Friday, I went along to school with Joel, dressed in our yellow outfits, to cheer on Esther and Ben in their races and to support their Yellow Team:

 Joel was not ashamed to support the Yellows, despite being surrounded here by the Reds!

Esther did well in her races- they were so fast, I didn't manage to get many photos!!

Here is the reception Class line-up- a tense moment (for the Mums!) as the competitors get ready to run!

And they're off!

 Poor old Ben took a tumble with a bit of a pile-up on the sports "field", but bravely picked himself up, dusted the sand off and valiantly ran to the finish line, despite being left behind after his topple:

I didn't manage to get any photos of the Parent Races, but am excited to report that I actually managed to win the Mum's Race!! A short moment of glory for me...but a bit too late for this year's Olympics!

Despite our colour preference for Yellow on Friday, earlier in the week Ben and Joel branched out to include other colours in a painting activity at home:

Ben stayed home from school on Monday after being unwell on Sunday with a very high fever. Both Ben and Joel suffered with fevers over 40'C on Sunday, but I'm pleased to report that it was short-lived and by Monday evening, both of them were well again. Monday morning's painting activity must have helped them along the way, with their colourful paintings to cheer them up!