The Mystery of the Munching

Last Saturday, we decided to be adventurous and set out to find a nice lunch spot out of town, on a road leading to some interesting rock formations. Apparently, the rocks make a good location for picnics, with some countryside peace + quiet, lots of climbing opportunities for little ones to enjoy and even some local monkeys or baboons to entertain us.
However, we seemed to get a bit lost. We ended up en-route to a couple of quarries, where the only entertainment would be rocks getting blasted to pieces, rather than peace and quiet and nature-watching!
After bumping along sandy tracks for some miles, our grumbling tummies helped us to reach the decision to stop anyway, not too far from one of the quarries, and eat our sandwiches.
We selected a sandy spot on a flattened anthill, with a distant view of a lake, which was rather pleasant. The picnic spot itself was a little dry and barren, with a rather chemical-smelling fire burning in a hollow nearby, but undeterred, we Parkers determined to focus on the pretty yellow flowers nearby and the lake glimmering in the distance. And it has to be said that we had a very nice time on our rather impulsive picnic outing!


There was opportunity to explore the bush a little...


... and I was particularly impressed by these hardy flowers, bursting with bright colour in a dry and sandy environment. It is amazing that they can survive and look so cheerful in such dry earth!


I also liked these tall, dry plants with their impressive spiky heads.


I decided that the seemingly deserted wilderness we found ourselves in would not miss a couple of these dried stalks, so I selected a few to take home, to pop into a vase in our lounge. I thought that would add a lovely element of the outdoors to the interior of our home- bringing an element of the local countryside inside!

Back at the house, I arranged my prized plants in a couple of vases: although I say so myself, they looked rather nice in our home. Andrew agreed and I was quite pleased with the outcome.
However, later that evening, a mysterious munching sound started in our lounge. At first, we ignored it, but as it continued, it became obvious that unknown Living Creatures were busy devouring something very close to the sofa. On further investigation, we realised that the munching sound was coming from the vases of dried flowers...!! We were not quite sure what exactly might be alive in the vases, and what might be eating my impressive plants -and I didn't really want to find out! So reluctantly, I had to take all the dried flowers outside and dispose of them, rather than end up with a home infested with mysterious, hungry, possibly scary creatures from the African bush!!

Food Issues...

There are some new issues I have had to get used to in relation to food over here in Dodoma.
I was thinking about this as I took my Weetabix out of the freezer to prepare our breakfast...!! This handy tip of storing Weetabix in the freezer helps to kill off the unwelcome weevils which like to live in our cereals. The other method I have to rid our cereal of writhing bugs is to sieve it through my colander, with lots of hearty shaking over the sink, to shake that extra protein out of the breakfast flakes!
In fact, breakfast cereals are a luxury here. We are so used to eating cereal for breakfast and have been told how good it is for our children- to give them that "healthy start" for the day- that it is difficult to think of other easy and quick alternatives for the morning energy-boost.
We are fortunate in Dodoma as we can get hold of cereals and even "Kellogs" makes its way onto the shop shelves at our local Asian foodstore. However, it is an expensive way to start the day:
*an average size box of Rice Crispies sets us back about 10,ooo Tanzanian shillings- about £5- whereas I was buying them in Lancashire in October for £2.27 at the nearby shops...

*Similarly, a smaller sized box of Cornflakes out here is almost 8,000 shillings (about £4)- double the price I might expect to pay down at Sainsbury's or Tesco's

*Porridge Oats are also available, with a 500 gram tin costing 5,000 shillings.
Not the cheapest home-breakfast, but we appreciate that these are "foreign" imported foods, which increases the cost.
On the other hand, the children often start their morning with a plate of chopped bananas- a nice, locally produced fruit at only
150 shillings per banana (7p) or free, if we happen to have some bananas on the trees in the MAF compound!

There is a great variety of seasonal fruit- the difficult part is just choosing which particular fruit to purchase...

Stopping by the roadside to buy watermelon:




There is also the issue of baking cakes and biscuits that I am getting used to. I have never baked so much in my life! It seems cake is a prerequisite of MAF get-togethers and if you want cake, you must bake it! My inexperience in this domestic area is becoming glaringly obvious, as I bumble my way through new recipes... Fortunately, the children and Andrew are very forgiving- which is a a good job too- as they have had some funny concoctions to sample this past week: a batch of peanut butter cookies which went horribly wrong somewhere and tasted more like heavy, baked lumps of lard- and my crowning effort of the week: my first gingerbread loaf, which ended up with a bit of a "zing" as I got distracted at a critical point and picked up the wrong spice bottle, adding ground cumin into the cake mix instead of ground ginger!!! (actually, it tastes quite nice- maybe I should re-write the original recipe??)

A further culinary experiment was a new recipe for potato and bacon soup, with muffins. I tried that out on Tuesday lunch, when Esther had her little friend and namesake here for lunch. Judging from their happy smiles, Esther and Esther enjoyed this particlar recipe, so that one is a winner to use again!


Finally, I have been learning to make pizza from scratch, as we had a MAF "farewell" meal last Saturday- a bring-and-share-your-own-homemade-pizza- for 4 MAF families who are leaving Dodoma. It was fun trying out so many different pizza toppings and getting inpsired for my next attempt- and I will try to remain focused on my next baking effort, especially if I need to use my herbs + spices bottles!

At the pizza-evening farewell: the MAF children who are leaving model their "Goodbye T-shirts"- gifts hand-made (literally!) by the remaining Dodoma MAF children:

Africa Time

Just when I think I am adapting to the new culture we are living in, something happens to remind me that I still have a long way to go!
Last Sunday afternoon, Esther and I had tickets to a Gospel Concert at the local Dodoma Hotel.



The tickets and adverts said that the concert started at 2pm. We had guests at home for lunch, so I took my time and decided that the concert would probably start a bit late- since this is Tanzania and often events start later than actually announced. I congratulated myself on being adpated to this new culture as we said goodbye to our lunch guests and set off late- arriving about 2:30.
However, on arrival at the venue, not a soul was to be seen! The large hall and stage were all set up, but it was starkly empty. Downstairs, by the hotel restaurant, I found a couple of other MAF staff who had arrived dutifully at 2pm and an Australian teacher from Esther's school.
Esther, her school teacher and I sat down in the hotel grounds with a soda and waited for the concert to begin... At 3:30, the Hall eventually started to fill, announcements began and the lively music started! There was all the time in the world: things often seem to get going when the people arrive, rather than the more English approach of the event starting whether or not the people have arrived...

Picnic at Zuzu

The Lake near Zuzu


Last Saturday, 3 of us MAF wives made a plan to spend the day together, as our 3 husbands were away working. We all piled into Mirjam's 8-seater 4x4 and headed off with her 3 children, and Angela (whose 3 boys are now all grown up and live in Germany) and myself with our 2 children. Angela has been living in Tanzania for 16 years and has a wealth of local knowledge and suggested a picnic together out in the "bush" near to Dodoma. A great idea!
So we set off with our picnic baskets and after only half an hour's drive, arrived at a beautiful spot near the village of Zuzu, just outside of Dodoma (Dodoma is not a very big city and so an expedition out to the bush does not take long).
It was a wonderful day out and a bit of an insight into some aspects of countryside life, which, although so near to the capital city geographically, is still very different.
We parked the car and set off to explore the area around the lake. The lake is severely reduced- a testament to the dry climate of Dodoma region- but is still a nice change from the city and is the local watering hole for the local livestock, which fascinated Ben:


After a short walk, we met a local "mzee" (older man) who was tending his plot of land. He was very welcoming and after some converstaion, invited us on a tour of his "shamba" (farm). The the papaya growing on his tall fruit trees were very impressive, as was the variety of vegetables growing on the land:


The land can get very dry at this time of year, especially close to the lake:


but the wells are vital as a source of irrigation:


We returned for our picnic and were glad of our comfy picnic blankets on the dry, brushy, grasses:


The children were kept entertained by the constant flow of animal traffic coming to drink at the nearby lake, including donkeys:





In turn, our children entertained the local herdsboys who were quite surprised to find us there on their patch!

Sports Day

Esther's school had a "Sports"/Fun day for all of the Nursery and Reception class children last Tuesday morning. The children had lots of fun, moving around the different activities team by team, with 10 minutes at each activity area before moving on to the next mini-event. It was a lovely occasion, with the parents enjoying themselves as much as the little ones involved! It was rather different from the Sports Day Esther participated in last year in Lancashire, on a lush green field. But the lack of grass here did not diminish the enjoyment had by all!





Esther and her friends enjoyed this race: the "giant ice-cream" race!!




It was interesting to see how Esther's Tanzanian girl-friends had a real advantage in this race, with excellent poise and balance, running at top speed with the beanbag perfectly balanced. Esther was determined to also have a good go and concentrated really hard to keep her beanbag balanced nicely as well!

Nasty Creatures

As I stepped out of my back door this morning, I was greeted by the unwelcome sight of half of a dead lizard, with its partially severed head trickling blood. This was my gift from Moshi the cat! With a shudder of disgust, I brushed it away from the door.
Yet I have to say that a dead lizard is better than the live ticks which still plague Moshi. Although we are able to remove some, the problem persists and if left indoors, the ticks crawl off her and creep around the furniture, looking for a tasty new host. Here is a sample of Moshi's ticks to share with you:



Moshi is now an outdoor cat. We don't want anyone to contract nasty tick-bite sicknesses. It does not seem to bother her too much- there are plenty of other places she can find to sleep:


Andrew has also built her a wooden "cat-house" outside and her food bowls are placed underneath her little house.
Now a new situation has arisen, where Moshi seems to invite all the neighbourhood cats to share in her food and her home. "Hotel Moshi" is a regular hang-out joint for the local feline population! But I would rather have a garden with visiting cats than a home with resident ticks!

Meanwhile, we are not entirely certain whether the nasty little scabies creatures have left Ben alone. Ben has had several treatments that do not appear to have worked (and they are very uncomfortable for him, bless him) and last weekend, we joined him and treated the whole family with the unpleasant-smelling anti-scabies cream, making us a very unsociable family! Then came all the washing of all clothes, bedding and towels. I am just so very grateful for our washing machine- it really does make things easier!

Beauty Tips

If the ladies- and little ladies- of MAF feel the need to get away from the dusty streets of Dodoma...


...and have some time out to relax and be made beautiful, we can join the queue of Tanzanian ladies at our local nail/ beauty salon and have our nails painted...


However, getting a haircut in Dodoma can be more of a problem. It is not easy to find a hairdresser here who is confident with cutting "European"-type hair. Therefore, when a professional hairdresser visits Dodoma, she is inundated with work from the resident "wazungu" (white-skinned people).
This is where Alice comes into the picture. Alice is an American lady who now lives in Moshi and visits MAF Dodoma from time to time. She was a professional hairdresser in the USA for 35 years before coming to Tanzania. Alice arrived here on Tuesday evening and has been cutting hair non-stop since Wednesday! It is funny to live in a community where so many of our friends /neighbours/ colleagues all get a new look in the same week -we have to grab the opportunity of a haircut while we can!!

Diversions

For the past couple of weeks, Dodoma roads were in disarray as work was carried out on the major roundabout in the town centre, which is on our route to school. My early morning route to school to drop off Esther changed without warning. Suddenly, one Tuesday morning, there were roadblocks across several roads and the roundabout was shut. I sought out new ways to get to school, but day by day, different roads were blocked off: just as I found one way to get to school, it would subsequently be blocked the next day! The roadworks seemed to extend to new areas each day.

The school run became quite a challenge! Some days, I decided on the easier option of cycling to school with Esther on the back of my bike. I could get the bike through the roadblocks and use the familiar route. Cycling was not always practical though, if no-one was home to look after Ben or we were giving someone a lift.

So I discovered more of the Tanzanian capital city over the 2 weeks of diversions! I also honed my 4x4 vehicle driving skills, as some of the city roads are more like the surfaces we expect in a rural location:


...and sometimes the dust of Dodoma made visibilty rather poor on the sandy roads.




I also saw more of the city in which we are living- the hustle and bustle of the streets behind the market, seeing new stores and learning about new places where I can go to buy certain goods.


All in all,the diversions brought about an interesting experience!
The roads are now back to normal- and I must say, I do appreciate the time saved on the journey across town and I am appreciating anew the tarred roads and the city roundabout!

Casualty

Just three days after the opening of our new MAF children's playground and already we have a casualty- who happens to be Esther!

Poor Esther had a nasty fall off one of the ladders this afernoon, after spending nearly all day in the playground and having lots of fun. Unfortunately, she lost her footing while descending one of the smaller ladders and fell straight backwards, landing on her back and hitting her head hard on the stony ground on impact.

There is no A+E department in Dodoma for us to rush her to! Instead, the patient was carried through our front door- which was easy, as our house is right next to the playground- admidst much crying and with a frightening amount of blood from her open head wound. We leapt into action with clean towels, a bottle of dettol, a tube of antiseptic wound lotion- and a couple of sweets for the poor little casualty.
It was thought by our neighbour, the MAF First Aider, that stitches would be needed, but we had to wait until the German nurse we know could finish work and come over to check Esther's wound.
When the nurse arrived with her medical kit, she confirmed that a couple of stitches would indeed be needed. So Esther bravely sat on Mum's knee and the procedure took place at our dining table- not sure what Health and Safety in the UK would have to say about that these days (!!), but we were VERY grateful for the medical help and are thankful that nothing more serious happened. Our brave casualty is now tucked up safely in bed with her head carefully stitched and the bleeding stemmed and she is happy and well. We are so thankful for the help we received in a place where getting prompt and correct medical care can often be a real challenge.

MAF Playground

There was great excitement amongst the children of MAF this week.
Over the past 10 weeks, 2 Swiss volunteers have been working hard to create a playground for the children of MAF. There is little in the way of entertainment centres for children in Dodoma, so the creation of a play area saw the completion of a dream for MAF families that have lived in Dodoma. Yesterday, we had the Official Opening Ceremony for 16 MAF children and 3 other children who live on the MAF compounds. Here is the finished play area:


The playground has been sealed off for weeks, while our friendly volunteers shaped the apparatus and created a play area to rival any. Yesterday, a yellow ribbon marked the boundary line where this playground seal has been.


The children gathered with eager anticipation to see whose name would be pulled out of a hat and chosen to cut this yellow ribbon- and so open the playground! However, before the all-important "Cutting Of The Ribbon" could take place, there were speeches and tea and a presentation for Ronnie and Ben, our Swiss volunteers.

It was quite an event!
At 4pm, we started with Musical Statues while we waited for everyone to arrive.
Then came a time to sit down and thank Ronnie and Ben, and present them with a personal book, literally "hand-made" by the children, as it contained a colourful collection of hand-prints of each child who will use the playground.

Next came jelly and ice-cream for all the children at their little tables (it's amazing how versatile our lounge coffee-tables can be!).




Finally, the big moment came when a name was pulled out of the hat! The little one who was chosen is almost 2 years old- she was a little confused by all the fuss- and even more confused by the enormous pair of scissors, which almost dwarfed her! However, with a bit of help from the older children, the ribbon was cut, while her miniature audience carefully monitored every detail of the event:


And then came the moment they have all been waiting for for many weeks! There were great cheers as the children stormed the new play area and leapt onto the equipment! A fun afternoon followed, while the children put each and every piece of playground apparatus to the test.




The parents seemed to enjoy themselves just as much as the little ones- except when the dreaded time arrived to prise unwilling children off the play equipment and convince them that they must leave for bedtime!