Yesterday we did BIG shopping – stove (made in Turkey), refrigerator (made in Japan), sewing machine (China), kettle to boil water (Kenya), buckets (Tanzania), water filter (India), veranda chairs (Malaysia) dishes, glasses, cutlery, iron and ironing board, etc. etc. We gathered everything, including a gas cylinder for our new gas stove, hired a small truck, and brought all our purchases home. We decided that we had spent enough time looking and pricing and that the time was ready to just get this part of settling in over with. We are happy with our purchases and, after one more trip to the main market to buy baskets in order to store things, then we’ll be more nearly ready. About time, I’d say. We still need to make curtains and cushion covers as well.
Today we’re putting things in proper places and Connie is measuring and cutting mattresses in order to make cushions for the couch/chairs. The style here these days seems to be large and overstuffed furniture but we opted for a “simple set”. It consists of five pieces, one a corner piece and the others just four legs with a bottom and a back. They are comfortable ( or they will be when there are cushions on them), nice looking, and relatively inexpensive. By the way, they were delivered on Sunday alright, as promised, only at 5.30 p.m. instead of “between 7 and 8 a.m.”. The problem: the truck needed repair from its work the previous day ……. We were also supposed to get two bookshelves and two bedside tables, but only one bookshelf came out of that lot. Who know when we’ll get the rest!
One of the things that I’ve learned about wood which is different from years ago is that the beautiful hard wood which was used for so much furniture and building is now really prohibitive in price because it has become so scarce (deforestation). This wood, called Mninga (in what language I don’t know), was what we used for all the furniture and even for the supports for the roofing tiles when building the school in Singida because it was readily available at a reasonable price and it can’t be touched by insects so it lasts for a very long time. All of the furniture we have purchased now is made of Cypress, and it’s also nice looking but very different because it is so much lighter, both in color and in weight. We will need to be on the alert to make sure no insects begin to make their homes with us.
It’s nice to cook with more than one burner, and now with a refrigerator we can get milk and a few more things at one time, rather than buying only on a daily basis. There’s a woman not far from here who has onions and tomatoes and who brings fresh green vegetables (spinach, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage) and maybe oranges to sell. But for a bit of a variety we walk to the main road, cross it and go to a small market there, altogether about a 30 minute walk from here. There we can add some papaya, lemons, tangerines, potatoes (both sweet and Irish), bread, beef, bananas. We have only so much strength in our arms so there’s a limit on what we can carry but with an equally distributed weight on both sides it works out alright. I actually need a third arm to carry my umbrella but so far haven’t evolved one yet!
18th July 2009
This morning we went at 6.45 a.m. to pray with our Small Christian Community, and although a bit early, it was nice. There were about 25 adults and probably about the same number of children there. We met at the home of one of the members of the Community, with the older adults and the men sitting on chairs while many of the women and all the children sat on mats on the floor. First we heard a reading from the New Testament, then everyone was welcomed to share their reflections on the reading. There was some good sharing, mostly by the men, and since the Catechist was there, of course he had to offer a rather long reflection. After that there was a time for prayers of petition from the group when we prayed for the needs of the Community. Finally there was a time for announcements and planning on how to take care of the responsibilities that this Community has in the Outstation. For example, tomorrow is the turn of our Community to provide readers and people to offer the gifts for Mass. There was a collection of money so that there is an amount in the kitty in case of need. And we were reminded that the Community had agreed to provide two windows for the church, one from the women and one from the men and so those who hadn’t contributed were asked to do so. Guests were introduced, including ourselves, and finally, there was a closing prayer and people dispersed. Most went to the church to clean it for tomorrow but we were excused from that task and came home. The whole process lasts only about one hour, but it was a nice time to get together with the neighbors who are Catholic.
Yesterday we spent the morning in town, mostly in the market, buying baskets and those small things we still needed for the kitchen. After an enjoyable time in the big town market we started looking for material for covers for the couch cushions, and amazingly enough, found some that both of us like. I had anticipated that it would take awhile to find something but we managed to do it rather quickly. We still don’t have the rest of the furniture, however ……………….
20th July 2009
Yesterday evening we took a walk that we had wanted to take for some time now, to St. Gaspar’s Conference Centre, where we stayed for the first five days after arriving here in Dodoma. As we walk around it’s so interesting to see the relationships between places we know. For example from here to St. Gaspar’s, if one would go by car it would be quite a distance, but by foot it took us only 45 minutes, and since we weren’t walking very fast it was probably only about two miles. We greeted some of the staff there who were on duty and then walked back, ready to cook supper, eat it, try for a shower, and go to bed at our usual early hour.
We have had trouble getting any water to come out of the shower ever since we arrived. We don’t really understand the water system, because there are two 500 lt. water tanks sitting on top of the back porch, and so one would think that there would always be water in order to fill the water heater, even if the water pressure is very low. There’s so much building going on around so I suppose the water needs in the area are huge, and sometimes the pressure is quite low. I don’t think we’ve ever had none at all, but most times there isn’t any coming out of the shower. Oh well, most of my Tanzanian life I’ve used water in buckets for showers, so why should now be any different? The landlord knows of the problem, however, and has something in mind in order to rectify the situation.
This morning I went to town because our bank account now has a number and it needed something put into it. In order to open an account, after all the other paperwork needed, one needs to have a starting balance of 250,000/=, a little less than $200. Of course we still don’t have a check book so the account is unusable until that comes. Little by little . . .
25th July 2009
We have been hoping and waiting for our internet connection and expecting that we would get it this week but this week is finishing and still none. Hopefully next week will find us with that much anticipated communication tool as well as the rest of our furniture.
Connie has finished sewing all the cushion covers and we are hand-stitching them closed now. They look very nice, and we also managed to find some curtain material for the windows in the living room so that’s her next project.
We have been talking to a few people about our work and we have tentative plans to meet with a neighbor who is a teacher at a local secondary school and who is also a member of our local Christian community. We haven’t had our meeting with the Bishop yet but it seems like we had the green light to go ahead so I don’t think that matters. Next week I hope to buy some books and begin preparing some classes so that when the time comes I’ll be ready.
Some days I am reminded about the kindness and thoughtfulness of people and yesterday was one of them. We had been in town, doing things that needed to be done and picking up some other things, like the curtain material. We both had our hands full of bags, and when we got off the dala dala at the end of the road it was about 1.00, with a hot sun and the wind blowing against us. The head wind seems to need a lot of extra effort when walking, especially with my umbrella open and beating against it. Anyway, after a short distance a car stopped to offer us a ride, and how grateful we were. This was a woman who is a manager at St. Gaspar’s Conference Centre which I’ve talked about before, and she lives in the neighborhood so was kind enough to bring us home. Most days I don’t mind that walk but yesterday it seemed like a hard task, and Meela made getting home easy for us. God bless her!
We have a lot of wind here during these months. I don’t know how long it will continue to be so windy but if the weather is like Singida’s, then it will calm down just before the rains start near the end of the year. It makes the windows and doors rattle at night sometimes, but it’s also good for drying clothes quickly and leaving them with little need for ironing!
The other night I heard a hyena howling outside, seemingly not too far away. The dogs were barking crazily at it, of course, but I’m sure he was in the neighborhood. So you see although we’re living in the capital city there’s still a lot of country around.
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