The Luckiest Guy in the World

The end of another day here in Arusha.  Dinner (rice and vegetables) is done and I am picking away at the key board so aware of the value of this computer and having an internet connection.  It truly is a window to the world.  And what makes me feel particularly happy at this moment is the love I am receiving from my friends and family around the world.  I can't tell you how it can change a ho-hum day into one where I feel so loved, blessed and happy.  Thanks!

I had a great weekend here.  Saturday evening, after a busy morning and afternoon running around, I went with Caroline to an NGO networking meeting.  Not the turnout nor networking I was hoping for but apparently there was some missed-communication about the venue for the meeting and I think a bunch of people gave up when they showed up at Via-Via and were asked to pay an entrance fee to an art exhibition.  Those of us that showed up together at the same time went to a Japanese restaurant called Sazan, though I learned people were calling it "container".  "Strange name" I thought.  Why in the world are they calling it container and not by it's name, Sazan?  The restaurant, I discovered when we arrived, is actually built in a shipping container.  There were some nice folks there I had not yet met (a couple from Australia who started an orphanage here) and Kim, a new friend from Holland who is here starting her own NGO, was there.  I had not seen Kim in a couple of weeks so it was good to catch up with her.  I just love the Dutch!

After a couple of hours of outdoor seating at the container, Caroline and I met Paul, a good guy from Ireland at the Blue Heron and we sat lazily under the trees; them nursing there beers and me, my club soda.  Gary joined us, too.  Blue Heron is such a cool place; a restaurant, bar, dance floor, shop with local wares all under the most amazing trees and in the midst of a beautiful garden.  At night, the garden is candle lit and filled with cushy chairs, couches and lounges.  It felt strange because the crowd was 95% mazungu (white foreigner) in the midst of black Africa.  Where was I?  It could have been anywhere in Southern California.  Very chill.  We hung out there for awhile and I was inspired to hit the dance floor a couple of times on my own.  It felt so good to dance!  Caroline decided to make it an early night.  We had planned to hit Masai Camp but she wasn't up for it.  Gary said he would like to go and since I had not yet been there and I was all dressed up....well, off into the night we went.

Masai Camp is a huge compound covering acres with outdoor seating around camp fires burning and people catching up with each other.  The circus is in Arusha so some of the performers were on hand to give everyone a taste of the circus.  There were contortionists, gymnasts, and a lady who was dressed in very little shaking her backside faster than the RPMs of a jet engine.  She would have been hauled in for indecent exposure where I am from.  The crowd loved her!  It was nearing 0200 and I was past my prime for the night; seriously.  Just before we left, a girl from the really young crowd came up to me and asked "were you at Blue Heron tonight?"  "Yes, I was." I replied.  "Wow, you're a great dancer!" she said.  I started to laugh (like I can) and said "not bad for an ole guy, huh?"  I could have been her father.  Yikes.

More interesting times on the drive home.  We got lost trying to reach the school and the comfort of my waiting bed.  One wrong turn is all it takes when you are on dirt roads and there are not lights.  Poor Gary, poor me.  We couldn't pull it together for over an hour and finally Gary said "can we just go to my house tonight?"  I thought to myself "why the hell did you wait so long to say that?"  Naturally, I was panicking at the thought of driving around at 0330 not knowing where we were.  the panic escalated when Gary said "I hope we don't run out of gas!" (read: when Gary says he hopes we don't run out of gas, we probably will).  Thankfully for my heart, we arrived at Gary's place and crashed!

Sunday was a real day of rest with the exception of having to launder my underwear in a bucket.  I am living a life of constant camping routines!  Camping to me is the way more than half the world's population lives their daily existence from birth to death.  I joined Caroline to the Njiro Complex for lunch and to debrief with her piking up her stuff at her ex's place hours before.  Glad to be there to listen to her.  We saw at the complex some folks Caroline had worked with at a school here in Arusha so we joined them for lunch.

A couple of hours later, Caroline went home and I joined Paul for one of his famous and regular "sun downers".  Paul is a great guy.  He is working for the Irish Pallottine Order of the Catholic Church here.  The priests are building a new hospital about 5 hours away form Arusha in a remote area of the country and Paul is serving as their project officer.  When I first arrived Paul had me flipping out about everything that could happen to a foreigner here, from robbery to germs to safety to proper security when using the ATM, etc., etc.  Caroline and I get such a kick out of him.  He is a lovely guy.  He kind of reminds me of Norm from "Cheers".  Always looking for someone to join him for his "sun downer" or even for a beer before sun down.  By-the-way, I learned keeping a small bottle of anti-bacterial hand sanitizer in the car is a great way to wash off all those germs you probably picked up after doing whatever you were doing "out there".  Thanks to Paul and his contentious way of going about things.  He has been a good friend here, taking me on a tour of town a couple of weeks ago and showing me where all the NGOs are in town.  He's provided me with an abundance of reading material and reference material to get me going on my job search.

The "sun downer" started at the Kamara Lodge outside of Arusha.  A beautiful hill top lodge with free standing huts amidst the trees and a breathtaking view of Mt Meru and far in the distance and still under all the haze Mt Kilimanjaro.  I really have yet to see Kili in the month I have been here!  Feeling a bit dehydrated I delved into a 1.5 liter of water after chugging a club soda.  Paul enjoyed his (several) "Kili bridi" (cold Kilimanjaro Beers).  We coincidentally met a few of the people who had been at the NGO networking meeting the night before so we had a drink with them, too.

"Kuku and chips?" Paul asked as we walked out of the Karama.  I felt like I was crawling.  It was now 2000 (8:00PM).  "OK" I thought.  I hadn't eaten since about 1300 at lunch.  I said "I'd like to be home and in bed by 2100.  Do you think we can do it?"  "No way" Paul said.  "OK, lets go anyway" I said.  We stopped at Paul's place to close up the curtains and windows and then headed to our favorite place for kuku (chicken) and chips (fries), Nick's Pub.  There we met a couple of Paul's friends and sat with them.  Paul continued with his Kili and I with my water.  I got home at 2200 and went directly to bed!  A good weekend for sure!

I had such a great time in class yesterday with the students.  While I want to get out of being the proverbial English teacher while I am abroad, I have to say having 3 hours of contact with these students per week is amazing.  They show up here everyday half an hour early and leave an hour late.  They are so wanting to change their lives with English and other education, some of them in their twenties with only primary level education.  They are so sweet.  I teach a speaking class and asked them "what did you do last weekend"? so that they could practice the past tense.  It was great; a struggle for many, but I could see they were into it and trying hard.  The day seemed to fly by.

I went to Gary's for dinner to meet a friend of his who flies for Air Tanzania.  I always thought doing aviation capacity building would be great fun and perfect for me with my background.  In the end Gary's friend canceled (he had his dates wrong) and was in Thailand for simulator training.  Gary and I cooked another feast together (Hartebeast stew) with rice.  God, we can do it right in the kitchen.  When we left for the drive back to my place (less than 10 minutes) the car died just outside the driveway.  We rolled back into the gate, closed it and I spent the night and walked home this morning!

I couldn't really get into my groove today.  I was tired having not slept well last night.  Caroline took me to an NGO that restores bicycles so I could get some two wheeled transportation for myself.  They hadn't had a delivery in some time so I opted to ride back with her to the center and wait for the next container (not the Japanese food place) to be delivered.  I've made good progress on a funding proposal I am writing for the center so that feels good.  I also received an email tonight from an organization in Zambia that has my resume and want to talk!  Great news!

OK, time for bed.  Good night world.