Lists

Just over 8 weeks until I leave Tanzania. A few weeks ago I started two lists, one of things I will miss and another of things I will not miss. The lists have been growing rapidly and so far they continue to be pretty much exactly equal in length. Just for fun, here are some items from both lists:

Some things I will miss

My colleagues and friends!!! This item outweighs any of the others by an order of magnitude.

speaking Swahili

speaking “Swanglish” (bad mix of Swahili and English)

flowers blooming all year round

hearing reggae blasting from stores and on the dalla-dalla

Umoja Ensemble

Ndoto

jamming with reggae musicians and others

some of the restaurants

seeing Mt. Meru

being around people who have lived in many parts of the world

speaking French with our landlady Annie

the landscape

living in a country that has lions, zebras, elephants, giraffes…

people wearing bright colours

buying African fabric and having dresses made

geckos

Maasai

sleeping under mosquito netting

kissing people on the cheek to say hello, European style

all the different accents with which people speak English

beautiful trees, flowers and birds

the big African sky

living in the southern hemisphere

seeing Orion all year

singing in Jimmy’s taxi

riding the dalla-dalla to work

fresh pineapple juice

seeing people carrying a wide variety of things on their heads

Some thiings I will NOT miss

slow internet

texting (I don’t do this at home but it’s the main form of communication here)

not being able to walk at night

insects (although we have lots in Canada too of course!)

not having window screens

slugs

times when we have no electricity

times when we have no water

bad roads

the low water pressure in our shower

not having an oven

wearing insect repellant instead of perfume

the smell of burning garbage

the long commute to work

working 6 days a week

people accosting me to try to sell me things

no toilet paper in so many washrooms

the song “Sawa Sawa Sawa”

not being able to use debit and credit cards

mud

dust

bargaining

how shopping for anything is a mission

hearing, “Hey mzungu!”

Ndoto camp weekend!

We just spent a great weekend rehearsing with our Umoja Ensemble kids and some of our instrumental students for the Ndoto show which will take place June 16. To this point we had been teaching the Umoja Ensemble kids a new part of the show each week, and teaching the instrumental parts to our students, but this was the first time we brought it all together.

Everyone worked hard and played hard, and on Sunday afternoon we even had our first run-through of the show. Lots to work on still, but it's going to be great! And a good time was had by all!

Here is a link to pictures from the weekend: http://www.flickr.com/photos/umojamusic/sets/72157629465809514/

And the Ndoto web page has been updated with pictures and video:
 http://daniellewilliamsmusic.com/ndoto-project.html

Thank you Danielle for putting both of these things together! 

One more set of pictures from Brian

These are mostly landscapes:

 https://picasaweb.google.com/117570881383373391672/AfricaLandscapes?authkey=Gv1sRgCN7B9p2P7qOa7AE#

More pictures from Brian's visit

Here's a link to more of Brian's pictures -- these are of people:

https://picasaweb.google.com/thesbrian/AfricaPeople?authkey=Gv1sRgCNnWr4mh0vvcdA

Safari pictures!

Here is a link to Brian's Picasaweb album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/thesbrian/AfricaAnimals?authkey=Gv1sRgCLfMyKTt9oyMSw

Brian's Visit to Tanzania

There will be a lot more pictures to see – Brian is a “photo Otto” after all – but meanwhile here is a summary of our thoroughly enjoyable, action-packed week.

Saturday March 31: Jimmy (my taxi driver and good friend) and I drove to the airport to meet Brian’s flight at 11pm. He arrived on time, with all his luggage!

Sunday April 1: After one night’s sleep Brian had no signs of jet lag at all. (That is something both of us are grateful for – neither of us have experience jet lag in life so far.) In the morning we walked downtown and had breakfast at Africafe, visited the Maasai craft market, and walked around town so Brian could experience some of the sights and sounds of Arusha. In the evening we went out for drinks and dinner with my good friend Ingeborg. 

Brian singing "Lili Marlene" for Ingeborg (special request!)

at Lake Duluti Lodge

Monday April 2: The safari began! Our driver/guide Boniface picked us up in the morning and we drove to Lake Manyara National Park, where we had a wonderful day seeing elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeasts, buffalo, hippos, gazelles, monkeys, baboons, and a great assortment of exotic birds.

Tembo! (elephant)

perfectly posed twiga (giraffe)

Tuesday April 3: Boniface drove us to Ngorongoro Crater, where we spent the day driving around in search of animals – and we saw many! In addition to those mentioned above, we saw lions (including 3 sets of lioness + 2 cubs) , rhinos (from a distance), hyenas, and a cheetah.  Boniface impressed us with his knowledge and  his incredibly sharp eyes – he could see something that looked like a dark-coloured blob in the distance and recognize right away what kind of animal it was. He is obviously highly skilled and enjoys his work; he said it was what he had wanted to do from the time he was a boy. Training to be a safari guide requires two and a half years of school plus at least a year of apprenticeship with an experienced guide.

Watoto wa simba (lion cubs)

Wednesday April 4 (Marlee’s birthday, by the way): To the Serengeti! After seeing many animals on the way, the vast plains of the Serengeti at first seemed empty of animals. Later in the day we began to see more – even a leopard in a tree! The high point was watching a cheetah walk through the long grass and cross the road.

Thursday April 5: Saw many more animals during our morning drive in the Serengeti, including a large herd of elephants up close.

 We arrived back in Arusha in the late afternoon. In the evening we went to hear the house band at Via Via, a local band who play mostly Tanzanian pop music and reggae.

Friday April 6: No visit to Arusha is complete without the experience of traveling by dalla-dalla, so we took a long ride to the Snake Park, where we saw some of Tanzania’s formidable poisonous serpents – all safely behind glass, of course.

one of the non-poisonous variety

We then traveled back into town and spent the afternoon at the Cultural Centre with its beautiful art gallery.

 In the evening we joined my colleague and friend David Seng’enge – one of the best guitar players in Tanzania, and his son Ray – one of my students and an amazing improviser on violin – for a jam session and performance at Blue Heron.( http://www.blue-heron-tanzania.com/index.html) What a great eclectic combination of music: Tanzanian, Reggae, Canadian folk, African styles, Jazz – and Ray and I even jammed on some J.S. Bach!

Saturday April 7: We went with Jimmy and two guides on a hike to a nearby waterfall. The drive to our start point was treacherous, on a narrow, slippery dirt road that was under construction – great driving by Jimmy! The hike itself also had its precarious points as it was on a muddy descending slope, and more than once one of the guides had to catch me from slipping. The view from the bottom was well worth the effort though.

with our guides Akron and Joshua

  In the evening we attended a great collaborative live music performance: a kora player from Senegal, David on guitar, Mama C (jazz/blues singer based in Arusha), excellent local musicians on bass, drums, keyboard and hand drums, plus a few other traditional African instruments whose names I don’t know. The music was an exhilarating fusion of reggae, jazz, blues, and African styles. Before the band started we saw an excellent dance performance by three hip-hop dancers, about the best I’ve seen anywhere. A great evening.

Sunday April 9: A day of visiting friends. Lunch with David and his family, an afternoon drink with Umoja’s administrator Annette, supper at Jimmy and Lilian’s house with their family. Got to love Tanzanian hospitality! Jimmy drove Brian to the airport at 3am.

A great week all around. Back to work on Wednesday for the final term, 11 weeks till I return home to Canada.