More Peninsula Happenings

I have to admit, finding stuff to include in a blog entry is starting to get a bit hard. I guess we’ve only ourselves to blame for this lack of news. In February we broke our cardinal “Tanzania” rule- to make at least one visit somewhere interesting each month. November had us arriving in Tanzania, so Dar was the interesting place that month I guess. We did Mikumi in December followed by Zanzibar shortly afterwards. From early January to late March- not a lot! That will be rectified next weekend hopefully- more on that later. In the meantime what to say? Well I guess I need to do the writing equivalent of making a silk purse from a sow’s ear and talk some more about our day to day life here over the past weeks.

We’re still nice and settled here at home. The boys are happy at their schools and Kieran’s French is coming along very well indeed. In fact one welcome side effect of Kieran’s new schooling is that Rohan has started to take an interest in his new language. In typical Rohan style, this was not hinted at in advance- just a one off recitation of the days of the week in French to show us he was on the case!

Last weekend, we decided to dip our toes in the local cultural scene. One of Soma’s friends- a trainee medic called Devaki, suggested we go to a local bar- the Sweet Eazy at Oyster Bay on Saturday night. There is usually a band playing there and that night the Soweto String Quartet was top of the bill. A decent international band (assuming that the Soweto bit was genuine) playing at a club only a few minutes’ drive from home (close enough for a quick dash back should the boys overwhelm the babysitter again) seemed ideal and we accepted.

Saturday night sure enough found us on the roof terrace of the bar along with, it seemed, half the peninsula. Luckily we had a table booked- sadly it was right behind a large speaker. By the time they came on to play at about half past ten, Devaki and myself had seen off a couple of bottles of white wine (Soma was the designated driver as compensation for her night out with Praveena, watching a scandalously long Hindi movie). I was at first slightly bemused to find the quartet had five members but then realised that in a fit of solidarity, the band had dressed their technician in the same performing getup that they had. To be honest at that stage you could have put Girls Aloud on stage and I would have accepted that they were the Soweto String Quartet! Their set was good- not the classical music the name suggests. They worked their way through a medley of Paul Simon classics, some well known local gospel music and a variety of other pop music. They finished up at about midnight and we headed home- one of us at least destined for a sore head the next morning!

Last Thursday night found us hosting once again. This time it was a meeting of prospective volunteers for a local deaf school- the slightly unfortunately named Buguruni School for the Deaf. We encountered this school via a friend of Soma’s- Lucy. Lucy is normally a management consultant in London but has taken a year out of her career to come to Tanzania and offer her business skills to this school- fundraising, general organisation etc. She has made a start on things but the end of her assignment is starting to loom a little and she is looking for people to carry on her work. Soma has volunteered along with an America lady called Tori and a Dane called Ane- Kirstine. They will be the “three wise women” who will help run the school. I volunteered to help a bit too- a bit of fundraising and also helping with their accounts and governance.

Anyway, the meeting started off with the ladies discussing some of the stuff produced for sale by the school’s sewing class- a conversation which rapidly descended into a general waffle about sewing. I sat in my chair contemplating firstly whether the school’s name reflected the new England football manager’s selection policy for strikers and secondly whether it would be seen as rude if I just headed over to Dirk’s for a beer. In the end I just got a beer from the fridge and read a book.

By the end of the evening though, talk of sewing had moved onto fundraising and other matters and by the end we’d covered quite a few useful things. We’ll both be helping out with the school as much as possible- there really isn’t much social support here for people so being born deaf is a very tough lot in life. I had my fair share of hearing problems as a child but was treated well and can cope with the residual loss I have. I would not have been so lucky had I been born here instead of England. Fate, it seems, has conspired to help me repay some of that good luck. I’ll post more about the school as we get more involved so stay tuned!

Anyway, a couple of days on and what more to say? I’ve had a useful learning experience from Dirk, who instructed me in the noble art of homebrew. I’d never heard of Pineapple Beer before and am pretty sure I never would have had I remained in the UK. The recipe is pretty simple- pineapples, sugar, water, yeast and raisins- and I now have a few litres fermenting in the kitchen. It should be ready on Tuesday so I’ll post the recipe then if it’s any good.

Hopefully the next post will be a little more exciting. Easter is next weekend and Soma is busy booking another holiday for us. We’re hoping to head up north this time. It looks like Soma has managed to get stuff booked- a charter flight up to a small airstrip at Manyara, an afternoon spent visting Lake Manyara and its large colony of flamingos, before driving up to Ngorongoro Crater for a couple of days. As expected on the northern circuit, it’s quite expensive but then what else to do? We didn’t decide to come all the way to Tanzania and then stay at home all the time! Whatever happens, we’re determined to do a bit more travel next weekend so should have some news and some nice pictures next posting.