Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Sunday 4-27-14


4-27-14 Sunday

                We woke up pretty well rested thanks to the actual real mattress (not just a slab of foam on a bed). The internet was finally working and so I was finally able to Skype with my little sister. It was very nice to finally hear her sweet voice. Next came going into the hotel diner for the complimentary breakfast. It turns out that we had to pay for the kids to eat because a double room only allows two people to eat. Breakfast was decent enough, but not that great. I can’t complain too much because I got bacon, and you can’t really go wrong with bacon. The eggs in Morogoro are some of the worst looking eggs I have ever seen. They yolks are this milky whitish yellow color. It makes the eggs very unappetizing, but they still taste okay when you haven’t been able to eat many eggs.

We caught a cab to the dalla dalla station to head back to the village. The bus wasn’t there yet so we waited. It took so long that we didn’t end up having enough time to go back to the market to get the last few things we needed. Hamna Shida, we will be going back in one week when Asa leaves. While we were waiting we saw them serving up this soup that looked green in color and was filled with white guts. This was most likely from a chicken. It was all of the guts, intestines and all. It was a rough sight, I can’t even imagine having to eat something like that. I am very thankful to be from a prosperous country and have the ability to buy food. We called Abdala to check on the status of the dalla dalla for us. Berega One will be there in 15 minutes. 30 minutes later, he will be there in 6 minutes. 20 minutes later, he will be there shortly. 15 minutes later we got on the dalla dalla. I sat in the back with the kids and Asa and Mamaliz were up front. The kids shared a seat. Asa had to help push the bus in order to help it get started. I had to keep reminding Jove to keep his arms and head inside the window otherwise it might get hit by another dalla dalla that came by too close. They drive scarily close to each other here. If his hand is even slightly out of the window he could get it hit off by a motorcycle or some other vehicle. People kept trying to get Ayla and Jove to buy the random crap through the window. Finally Ayla had Jove close the window so they would stop asking them. It was very responsible and grown up of her.

                The dalla dalla was packed with huge bags of rice and other items. Not too bad though since they didn’t try to pack more than one person to a seat. This is a common occurrence on the dalla dalla. People jumped on and off at a few points with the bus not coming to a full stop or even close. I suppose though since Asa had to push the dalla dalla to get it to start, if we stopped to let people off, someone would probably have to push again.

                I still have very bad motion sickness and so the drive was miserable. We finally made it to the river and so we left the dalla dalla and crossed the river. It was nice and low which was nice since it rained all the night before. The kids had a blast crossing. We will have to bring them over to play in the river soon. The truck from the day before was even gone. I guess they were able to unload all the charcoal and get the truck unstuck from the mud.

                Abdala met us on that side of the river to drive us the little ways up to the house since we had a lot of groceries. Asa had to help push that truck to get it started also. The ways of Africa, got to love it. We sat in the back of the truck and waved to the kids as we passed. I feel like a princess in a parade any time we are in a vehicle here. They all love it when we wave to them. So cute the reactions we get from them, and it isn’t just the kids (although they like it more), the adults seem to love it when we wave at them also.

                We made it home and unloaded the food and dirty clothes. I was getting cranky and so Asa and I walked to the pub to pick up a few beers for later. They even had some cold so when we got home we opened two up and shared them between the three of us. At the pub here they keep the soda cold and the beer warm and that is all they sell. So we were quite lucky to get the few cold beers. While sitting and enjoying my beer, one of Mamaliz’s adult students, David, came by to say hello. As it turns out David came to the house specifically to be able to see the pretty blond lady. I guess he fell in love with the last blonde that came to volunteer.

                Mamaliz decided we should make pancakes for dinner but we could not get a recipe since the internet was down again. So I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes (tastes a little different when used with powder milk) and hot dogs. Not what I was expecting but turned out good anyways.

                When the time came to try to get the kids to do their journal, just like every night they turn it into an issue. Ayla tried to write about nothing but snails and how they are slimy. Jove could only think of writing about eating the mango that he just finished eating. Of all the things, that was all they could come up with. We finished off the night by polishing off our new knobs with some coconut oil. Now they not only look awesome but they smell awesome also. The actual term for the knob is Lunga.

No comments:

Post a Comment