Day 124 – Monday 31st May 2010

The first day of my school holiday, and so a nice lie in or breakfast in bed?

Neither.

We had a very bad night’s sleep with dogs going mad for several hours and so woke before seven in such a grump that we both got up.

The morning didn’t get much better.

Luckily time went by quite quickly without much incident, and we were soon heading home, via the post office.

We have a package. It looks like Armorel’s birthday present from her parents has arrived, but we can’t quite get it yet.

First we take the notification slip from our box to the post office.

We then are sent across town to the Tanzanian Revenue.

Here we explain we have a package that we would like to open.

We then drive a customs officer back to the post office.

The customs officer and Armorel open the package together and look at the contents. (Luckily he was in a good mood, and as you can see from the pictures, he didn’t make us open everything.)

When he was satisfied we weren’t smuggling anything in, we received our bill and import tax duty.

50p.

We then, with our package, drove the customs officer back to his office, said our thanks and headed home.

A interesting interlude, and for a bill of only 50p I think we won’t complain.

As you can see, it was well worth it, an emergency box.

And the day has continued to get better, a phone call from my brother and sister-in-law, and occasional sentences from our niece Eva, and then a phone call from Arm’s parents and Gran.

Thank you all so much. They mean so much, and on a day like today it is so appreciated.

Day 123 – Sunday 30th May 2010

What a beautiful morning!

We cycle to church under a perfect blue sky. Armorel spoke excellently on the trinity, producing a 3 braid woollen bracelet / bookmark (for the large wristed) to remind us of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the whole congregation.

Very powerfully spoken.

We planned to have lunch with Jim and Margaret who are the couple that were here when we first arrived, but then headed back to the UK. Jim is a retired doctor who comes to help at the clinic, and they had arrived in Tabora today.

However, they hadn’t, their flight was delayed so they didn’t make lunch but we had a lovely time anyway, and in fact spent all afternoon at the hotel, relaxing and chatting, and managing to watch the England vs. Japan game out the corner of one eye.

This evening we chatted to my folks on Skype. They are coming to visit next week, so we were busy trying to sort out travel arrangements. It is proving complicated.

We are so excited.

Planet Earth is nearly over, but tonight’s episode was a challenge. We go to bed feeling slightly ashamed to be a human and to be part of the destruction of our planet.

What are we called to do?

Day 122 – Saturday 29th May 2010

We always like heading to the market early on Saturday morning. It has a wonderfully relaxed feel to the place, where we manage to have fun, chat with the sellers and receive much less hassle. It is also significantly cooler.

This morning we took Yvonne along with us to show her around and help her get one or two bits and pieces. You could easily get lost and spends days in the market if you aren’t careful.

We have bought the largest Avocado we have ever seen. Sorry that we didn’t take a photo. The lady selling it, whose stall is a regular on our shopping route, told us we had to buy it because it was fat like her.

We obliged.

We spent the early afternoon relaxing at home. Armorel is preaching at church tomorrow and so was preparing, whilst I read my book and snoozed in the sun.

At 4pm Baraka and Zawadi came over for an English lesson and we then watched ‘Charlotte’s Web’ together. Well Armorel did. The rest of us got distracted in a game of tickle and missed most of the film. Which if you have not seen is nowhere near as good as the book and not worth it.

Day 121 – Friday 28th May 2010

Today is the last day of school, and I am a little scared. The reason for this fear was a simple comment from another teacher,

“Make sure you are ready. This is not like England.”

He was right. At 9am we were all called together for an assembly. After 30 minutes the head of the school board and the manager got up to go. I naively thought that this was the end of the assembly. Everything was in Swahili so I was completely lost.

“What’s happening now?”

“The meeting is now officially open.”

This could be a long one.

Suddenly an hour in, as I am staring into space and dreaming of a Mr Whippy with Flake, I hear my name being called.

“Mr John, come and speak to the students about the importance of school.”

I kept it brief. It is a shame everyone else didn’t.

2 hours 28 minutes. The longest assembly of my life. We even had a student question and answer session, mainly about the toilets. It is always about the toilets.

Armorel’s day at the clinic wasn’t much better, and I think it is safest to leave it at that.

This afternoon I headed to Friday football in the hope of a change in my fortune. I dug out my old Yeovil shirt and headed off.

4-1 up inside the first 30 minutes and I had scored two, including a belter for 25 yards.

The rest of the game is a blur, and somehow it finished 4-4.

Tonight our family came over for dinner and John and I talked about pig enclosures.

Yes, we are getting pigs! Two piglets are on their way when their house is completed. 

Baraka and I played around with the cut grass this afternoon. This is the moment we attacked Armorel with great handfuls!

Day 120 – Thursday 27th May 2010

There are only two more days of term left, and so today I had to finish off all the reports. It makes a change to only have 80, and not the 350 I am used to writing and checking. However, the added complication was the requirement to complete in Swahili.

Luckily fellow colleagues gave me some good lines to use.

“Dhaifu sana”

“Fanya bidii kwenye somo la sayansi”

Shame I used the first one a lot. It means ‘very poor.’

Anyone fancy trying to translate the second?

Armorel had nearly as an exciting day. She spent over 7 hours sat listening to an AIDS prevention organisation explaining how to apply for grants and funding. It was worth the torment, if the clinic is successful, but I did feel sorry for her.

Tonight we have Yvonne over for dinner. She is a student studying the relationship between hygiene and health in HIV patients, and is based at the clinic.

A lovely evening was had, though we are flagging.

Bring on Friday.

Day 119 – Wednesday 26th May 2010

I leave the girls sleeping as I dash into work this morning. I am not teaching but am running the morning assembly. I change the content at the last moment and speak about ‘how we should all behave.’

My main aim is to direct my comments at the teachers who have an obsession with the cane. I felt I was challenging and provocative.

However, two teachers left the assembly only to find another punishable student.

I do not get this! It makes me so angry!

It is sick and wrong!

Alex and Armorel had a last dash around the market to see if there were any souvenirs, and they also needed to restock on tea bags.

Her flight left just after lunch, for a trip via Nairobi, thanks to BA cabin crew. All seems to be going well.

Armorel headed into work this afternoon, whilst I designed a new clinic brochure and helped write some patient information leaflets. I now know all about gout!

Thank you Alex for the visit and all the goodies.

It seems quiet already!

Day 118 – Tuesday 25th May 2010

On my cycle to work this morning I came across a most amusing site.

A man sat in the middle of the road, holding a large pig by his tail.

The pig, screaming, decided to show his disgust by relieving himself on the sat man.

At which point his friend appeared, grabbed the pig’s ears and tried to drag the big down the road. The man holding the tail, now pushing the pig’s backside, joined in as the pig continued to scream.

Armorel and Alex saw no pigs on their tour of the Catholic mission clinic on the other side of town this morning, though by Alex’s reactions, the state of the delivery table was just a shock.

We headed out for dinner for Alex’s last night, and the slow service was even slower than usual. Tired and exhausted we headed home for an early night. Alex leaves tomorrow lunchtime.