Voices in the Night

It took several minutes to discern that I was awake and not dreaming. A man's hushed voice was speaking in Swahili to another man who answered in one-word increments. Not familiar with the house we were watching for friends, I tried to remember how far the gate was from our bedroom. It was three in the morning. Should I be hearing voices if they are walking by on the road? Is the night guard inside the gate or outside? I really could not remember.

I tried to stay calm as I evaluated the situation. Trying to understand the hushed voices speaking a language in which my vocabulary is maybe at a toddler level. Realizing that two voices were now many.

The men were rattling the gate, attempting to open it. I grabbed for my headlamp and thought of possible weapons in the house. The house wasn't as secure as ours; the windows here were plentiful and paned; the security bars and windows were one. Even the doors would be little work for anyone with a metal bar.

I decided to try scaring them off. Others have told me that people here who break into houses don't want confrontations, they want stuff they can sell. The power was off but I turned on my headlamp and shone it outside, losing my night vision in the process as the light reflected back at me from the windowpanes. I told Len, who may be the world's deepest sleeper, to get up. He didn't move. I heard the gate opening and footsteps all around the house suddenly, someone trying the front door, footsteps outside the window. I jumped in the bed and shook Len awake, telling him people were outside everywhere. He woke up quickly.

We decided to take the fight outside to them, and when we stepped outside there were four men standing along the front of the yard, all dressed in black, with one or two more men over to my side.

Either we looked scary or scared, and they were trying to come up with the English words to explain to us what was happening. From what we understood, they were from the security company and had been summoned by the panic button at the house. There is one button inside that I knew we had not pushed, and the guard said he didn't push the one on the outside. Whatever caused them to come, I was glad no blood was shed and we all got to have a little excitement that first night in Arusha.

I suspect the night guard accidentally pushed the red panic button as he attempted to switch the power supply over to generator from the non-existent Tanesco source. (the power was out most of the time we were there, which is not really that unusual to us anymore)

Road Trip - Arusha!

We packed up the truck and went to Beverly...well, Tanzanian...Hills. Wanting to take advantage of Ruby's school break to see more of Africa, we decided to go visit friends in Arusha. The kids are expert travellers and the travel went well!

There were plenty of reminders of those whose journey didn't go so well though; we saw at least four wrecked and/or burned out trucks. I took this photo on the way home; when we had passed a few days earlier there were about two dozen people with tin cans trying to scoop up oil that had leaked from this tanker, and others were sorting through the engine for parts.

The road pictured above is the major north-south highway out of Dar es Salaam. It isn't jam-packed, but the lack of passing lanes and the hilly terrain make for some really slow trucks going up hills and around curves. Then there are the buses...passenger buses regularly flew past us, not even slowing down for oncoming traffic. They are huge and pretty much own the road.



I hope they trust in God...they just flew past us
at well over 130 kph on a hilly, narrow road!



So, day one was driving. We arrived in Arusha at sunset, got settled in and ate dinner at a little country-club type place that could have passed for any country club in the U.S. It was close to the place we were staying and we went right to bed after we ate.

Our friends whose house we were staying in had actually just been in our house the night before - they received great news that their 2-year old adoption wait was FINALLY coming to an end, and were on their way to meet their baby for the first time! So we were staying in their house without them, but took the opportunity to pray for them every day and look forward to returning after they settle back in.

Arusha reminded me of what normal air feels like. I had almost forgotten, under the weight of the heat and humidity that is increasing daily in Dar. The Arusha air was light and breathable, and mostly, cool. Eating breakfast outdoors at our friends' house, overlooking Mt. Meru, it was easy to imagine I was in Manitou Springs. There was also an abundance of fresh strawberries, raspberries and lettuce of all kinds, which are not available in Dar.

At one such meal outside, Ruby asked Len, “Daddy, have you ever seen a black hamburger, black like your hair or cow spots?” and another time, “You are the only one in our family with black hair, Daddy. How do you feel about that?” Fortunately, Len is pretty secure in who he is.

The kids loved the yard and gardens, and cool bamboo poles creating a screen of sorts on one side of the porch.

Another place we visited was Shah Industries, which was just as it was pictured online: a dark, long building stuffed full of leather and wooden miscellany and assorted bone, metal and stone trinkets, from pretty jewelry to keychains and coasters. Lamps made from animal skin and bone, chairs of leather and wood, every sort of wall adornment imaginable. In business for over 50 years, almost all of their employees are living with polio or other disabling diseases. But here they learn trade skills and have steady employment. They also had a little garden with all kinds of wood carvings and asian goldfish in a huge tank.

Henry isn't so sure about sitting on the carved chair

Another place we visited was Shanga, a local project that employs deaf and blind men and women to create beautiful beads and items from recycled glass, and also they create metal, paper and wood items from found materials. Len bought me a cool bracelet recycled from old trucks.

Shanga jewelry/sewing shop

Heating glass bottles to create beads. The walls of the workshop are made of glass bottles, and the oven pictured is lined on the outside with beer can metal.

I am in love with Shanga and the work they do! :)

One other stop of note was to one of the many coffee plantations in the area. Len was happy to support their efforts and, while I thought the place was neat, I still find coffee really, really gross.

It did make a pretty picture, though

We were blessed to be able to go to church, share meals, and stay one night with our dear friends Alexis and Jackie Kwamy, who are loving Jesus and kids as well as anyone could, all over Arusha.

A few funny moments from the trip: wild monkeys and baboons running across the road on the way home. Also, roadkill we saw included a small crocodile-like reptile, a huge snake, and some kind of foxy-looking mammal. Roadkill we almost made included two donkeys, which were walking across the road but appeared to have stopped on the other side, but then lurched and ran suddenly right into our path; without smashing the brakes and running into the red dirt along the road, I would have squashed both of them. Thank goodness they were unmanned.

Not the actual donkey I almost hit.

The drive time was about 12 hours each way for us; I am told that it takes most people 10 hours with stops. Maybe we aren’t the fastest drivers here? The police seemed to think we are. We were stopped six times on the way there and three on the way back. Only once were we charged with anything (speeding), while Len was driving.

It was in a little town and the police officer had a radar gun he showed us that said we were going 63 in a 30. I wasn’t sure about that, as we hadn’t seen any speed limit signs, we didn’t see him clock us, and the numbers on the radar appeared to be stuck onto a digital screen, but we paid the 40,000 tsh ticket and went on. I later found out that since we didn’t get a receipt, the money likely went into the man’s pocket.

On the way home we stopped at a rest stop (one of 2 on the 10-hour drive between cities) that is known for its chicken and chips (French fries). We had also stopped at this place on the way there, but had to eat beef as they were out of chicken. So on the way home, we were pleased to get there in time for chicken.


Henry’s eating habits are like many 3 year old boys; he likes starch and sweets. We don’t allow him to overindulge on either, and were delighted when he said he wanted chicken. I tore off a couple of juicy pieces, but he wanted a ‘big’ piece like Len. So, we gave him a thigh and he went at it. We were kind of distracted with Ruby and the business of the place, and didn’t notice Henry again until he was holding a small piece of bone…he had eaten the rest of the thigh, small bones and all! He said he liked the ‘crunchy chicken’.



See the Sea Turtles (aka fish food)

 One Friday night, some friends emailed us with news that they were going to a local beach south of the city to see the sea turtles hatching. Now, before you get too impressed (or angered for you conservationist friends), this was a very controlled event. From the top-secret nesting area, rangers transport selected eggs and hatchlings in coolers, along with part of their nest, and charge a fee for the pleasure of watching these odd-looking little orbs paddle frantically through the sand on their way to the ocean, where something like 90% of them will immediately become fish food. 

Len was working late, so I loaded up the kids and some friends and joined a rather long caravan through the city down to the pier, across a narrow channel on a car ferry, and about 45 minutes further down the beach.

So, with all the zeal of Civil War re-enactors, they emerged from the sand, very dirty at first,

Swimming over and through the sand with amazing speed (they are about the size of the palm of my small-ish hand), they instinctively know which way the water is. Once in a while one would be moving the wrong way but they always seemed to know how to get to the water. I love that they all seem to be optimistic, believing that they are each in the small percentage which will live to adulthood. Dry humor aside, I really was impressed with their determination. :)

Go, little wader!

 I wish I had a picture of my children watching in wonder at the mystery of these tiny marvels, but in between trying to keep Henry from stomping them (they are quite soft) and taking Ruby for a little cooling off period after she found out she didn't get to swim with the sea turtles, I felt fortunate to get the few photos here.

After this event, and further photographing of an amazing moonglow by those not beseiged by preschoolers (this was right before Ruby started K), we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant near the beach. One thing about dining out here is that you need to be VERY patient in waiting for the food; everything is prepared totally from scratch, and I suspect in some cases that people are sent out to purchase ingredients after you order a dish.

Anyway, there is time involved, and it was already after dinner time when we ordered. The kids (there were several families with playmates for Ruby and Henry) were all very patient for the most part, and for that we were all thankful.

When dinner did arrive, it was one plate at a time, and this was my friend Erin's entree, looking at me from across the table:

Notice the cute overbite

This is a pretty normal presentation for fish here (and they are almost always delicious!), although I have never had a fish with so many teeth served to me. I wonder how many baby sea turtles this guy ate before Erin ate him? Very tasty. Circle of life...circle of life.



School Begins!

Ruby beside the huge baobab tree outside her classroom.

Ruby sporting her P.E. uniform before leaving for school.

Over a month ago, when school actually started here, I intended to post a 'first day' type of entry, then it was 'first week', and now I am surprised at the time lapse between my last post and now. So even as I listen to Rubygirl in the next room with Henry, threatening to put his egg in warning (the behavior motivation system used in her K class), we will do our best to give you the picture of this corner of our lives.

The night before Kindergarten, I was a mess. Couldn't sleep, trying to be cheerful and not anxious, maybe doing a decent job on the outside, but failing on the inside. We had visited the classroom that Sunday, as it is also the kids' Sunday school room. Ruby's too-large desk, ready to swallow her up on contact, stood in a small cluster of desks pushed in to each other near Mrs. Graham's modest desk. The names on the other desks made me smile: "Happiness, Timothy, Malik, Ge Gyung". Across the aisle, nearest of the next cluster of desks, was "Asia".

Some of the names were already familiar as well, from the playgroup we have attended weekly almost since we arrived six months ago. Some of the long-time mothers in the group pointed out how just a couple of years ago, there weren't many preschool-age expat children around the area; now we are many strong! Just one of the many provisions I am thankful for as we continue to settle in here. :)

So, back to that first day, we were two among many parents walking their Kindergartners up to class that day. As soon as we entered the room, Henry broke down sobbing. However, realizing that he has much more mommy time than ever, he has quickly recovered from his grief.

Henry with pals at playgroup

Ruby has done very well adjusting to school. She has gotten a good behavior sticker on her chart every day, and loves the daily 'extras' like swimming, P.E., Swahili, music, drama, computers and art. HOPAC's library has also been a huge blessing as Ruby is quickly learning to read and loves to read Barbie and princess books to us at bedtime.

These days, we sometimes walk Ruby up to her classroom, but sometimes we say goodbye at the sidewalk from the parking lot. Our girl is growing up!

One final story for this post - Ruby had her first school-friend playdate last week. It woud have been the week before, but that time Ruby asked her friend (Happiness) for a certain day, they had it all coordinated, told the teacher and their other friends...but didn't tell me. So after a review of playdate protocol, we tried it again Friday. It was precious to see Ruby and Happiness (who is Tanzanian) dressed up as princess fairies, drawing, reading and ordering the universe in their sparkly pink glory.