Liz in Mpwapwa again
on Kev in Tanzania (Tanzania), 20/Jul/2009 06:43, 34 days ago
I am on the ball this week - all up to date!Monday 13th JulyWent to work today to see what was going on and to see if the students were back yet. They are not which is a shame because I am missing the teaching! Shocking news that Thad had had his laptop stolen from the office on Sunday! Even more shocking was that is was a‘cousin’ of Lubuva’s that did it! I am always careful to lock office whenever I am not in there. They managed to get laptop back but police did not want to give it to him, they claimed it was ‘evidence’…As I was at work Liz went for a walk around Mpwapwa and we met back at my house for lunch (baked beans and omelette!). In the afternoon I made another banoffee pie as Liz really likes it (me too!) and we decided to have a real date in the evening (much more fun than our‘distance dates’).I cooked some soya meat and cous cous, which despite sounding horrible is very nice and we ate it with some wine and watched the‘Usual Suspects’ on my laptop (awesome film!).At around 10pm we went outside to do some star gazing, Liz showed me the scorpion and Sagittarius (which looks like a tea pot!) I was able to find Centaur and Libra. The stars are much brighter down here and being so close to the equator you can see ones from both hemispheres!Tuesday 14th JulyIt was no power Tuesday and Liz went for a walk again whilst I was at work. Power cut off at 9.30am ish so I went home and met Liz. Simple lunch of leftovers and in the afternoon we played more‘sh*t head’ and I am still currently winning, much to Liz’s annoyance (very competitive them Aussies!).I decided that the eggs the chickens were sitting on have been there long enough and would have hatched by now. So I got them and test them in water. If they float they are bad and if they sink they should be ok to eat. I was not going to take any chances and broke them all in the garden, nice and far from the house– they smelt! Liz took photos and teased me calling me a murderer!In the evening we met Matayo at posta bridge and went to‘Sleepy Chicken’ for some beers, Matayo was pleased to see Liz and was happy she has quit smoking (as am I!) We ate chipsi mayai and it seemed like we were only just here!Wednesday 15th JulyLiz came to work with me today as she wanted to update her laptop. Lubuva was happy to see Liz again and told her she should work at the TTC here! Liz’s updates took ages as she needed a new version of McAfee and also service pack 1 for Vista.We went to Hafuns for lunch where Liz had rice and beans and I had Pilau Kuku (chicken Pilau). It was very nice and filled me up good. I do not eat meat often and do miss it a little.In the afternoon we decided to watch‘Lethal Weapon’ as it had been a while and then we cooked fake meat spaghetti for Thad and Matayo as they were coming over to play scrabble.As usual Thad was running on Tanzania time as was a little late but this gave me and Matayo time to pop down to the duka to get some Tusker beer (Matayo only drinks Kenyan beer!)The scrabble was fun, we had nice food, beer and wine and due to some dodgy Liz scoring she won and I seemed to lose half of my points to finish last, but it was all good fun!Thursday 16th JulyLiz’s last day in Mpwapwa, she cooked me pancakes for breakfast (which were nice, by the second attempted, due to dodgy flour…)We went to the TTC and Matayo was there with Thad trying to sort out his VISA for the USA.Liz and I had leftovers for a picnic on the porch and she made some eggy bread (bread dipped in whipped egg and fried– Yummy!)We watched some‘Scrubs’ series 7 which Liz had a friend send (I managed to watch a couple back home in UK) and then had some exercise by walking up Tigo hill, it was a little windy on the top and on the way back down the hill we found a big Baobab tree with pegs in the trunk for the honey pickers. I climbed up a little and Liz took a photo.I cooked Bombay potatoes for dinner and Liz did the rice (she is better than me at cooking Tanzanian rice…) I used a packet of spices from home but still want to try to perfect my own Bombay sauce. It was very hot and tasty and we played more cards but as we both were tired and Liz was catching the bus in the morning we had an early night.Friday 17th JulyTook Liz to TTC where the bus stops at 6am and waved her off, I then went home and back to bed! Was sad as won’t be seeing Liz again for a month…Thad had another run in with thieves! Someone tried to steal his curtains while he was in the house reading! I guess it was the same thieves whole stole the ones from the TTC… My curtains are rubbish and hopefully not worth stealing! Plus the guard would be back tonight.I ate the Bombay potato leftovers for lunch, I was given the keys to TTC and asked if I would open up in the morning on Saturday at 8am! No problem says I.Watched Marx Brothers in‘Duck Soup’ in the evening and had an early night but was sad to have an empty bed…Saturday 18th JulyI got up early and opened up ICT. It was good because I was Hannah’s birthday and as I was opening up it meant that I could send her the birthday greeting I had made her.As I figured I would be in ICT most of the day I made myself a hearty breakfast of beans and potatoes (Potatoes cooked the night before).Thad came to ICT around 1pm and Lubuva and Allan were still in Dodoma buying a safe for the server room.For lunch I went to see Matayo, crazy Kingboy bumped into me and I did not want to have lunch with him so went to Matayo first and we chatted until he got bored and left. Matayo and I then went to Hafuns for rice and beans.I had some water delivered which was helpful as was running very low and wanted to do some cleaning!Watched another Marx Brothers film‘Big Store’ in the evening. Love watching them, so many childhood memories and I notice even more funny things these days especially Groucho Marx - genius!I had an early night was planning to get up early Sunday for a jog!Sunday 19th JulyGot up at 6.30am and went for a little jog– it was very cold and windy for Tanzania (I have acclimatised methinks) I went down the football pitch and intended to jog around it 3 times just to get back into the swing running but ended up doing that and also jogging home too! Felt good but a little achey today, want to try and do the sametomorrow but will have to get up at 6am to make sure I can be on work on time.After the jog I went back to bed for a hour or so to warm up and then went into town to buy some eggs and chaptis. Jojo the chick has 4‘mums’ now as all the broody hens think he is theirs! This means he will be spoilt and also means the hens will not lay eggs which is rubbish (I could separate them but its mean and they are more pets than egg machines)After an omelette breakfast I did my clothes washing and then finally decided to try and make some daal (lentil curry) I did not have much faith in my ability or the quality of the lentils but surprised myself by cooking up some very nice food!The afternoon I went down to TTC as Thad wanted to play some games, spent a few hours doing that (whilst quietly feeling a little guilty about abusing the resources…)Had another early night– its counteracting my early rising…Monday 20th JulyWas ambushed on the way to work by the Vice-Principle who told me I was on duty this week– great! It burst my bubble and I am a little grumpy today…I chaired the staff meeting (there should be two of us but my partner is‘ill’) is it not much fun as its all in Swahili and 6 mobile phones went off… Never really know the duties for staff on duty and no one ever seems to want to tell me…Things will perk up, I have daal for lunch and have had lots of nice emails.Going to write some letters tomorrow when the power fails as it does on TuesdaysTake care