We are soon done and I marvel at-
all the people we have seen, smiling, friendly, oblivious, dumbfounded( the tandem gets the most looks) thousands of people of all ages
all the gardens we have seen- the universality of growing food and trying to make your 'home', property as beautiful as is possible. I do look forward to rejoining that fraternity/sorority and suspect I will garden with a slightly different additude
all the skies we have seen and their ever changing pattern of clouds and colours
when one cycles one has a better vantage point to see the weather ( especially when it is flatter than hilly) and a greater interest in the weather as it certainly can affect the day's experience
all the dogs we have seen( sorry cat lovers but the felines are less obvious and less interested in us so we are are similarly less interested in them)
dogs bark and chase
fortunately the barking is painless and in most situations they chase until their leash stops them of the fence limits them.
those left free are usually old or older, bark once feebly or not at all,stand up out of curiosity or not.
we have been chased only a few times -the first day, within the first 2-3 kms. for me knocking me down as I was just getting used to a fully loaded bike.
As we have cycled further north the dogs have gotten smaller and yelpy ( sorry Ernie) .
easy to ignore because althought persistent they can't reach our ankles
the usual pattern is that the first rider by rouses the dog(s), the second gets the full treatment and the third ( usually me-amb) rides by a tired or resigned dog(s)
Riding allows a View
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thank you
we are nearing the end
I have not entered as much on our blog as I might have liked but we have been busy traveling
I did comment on beer
and food
and the sights of our ever changing scenery
we have been in 14 non English speaking countries ( not including Dubai which we visited twice for hours and never left the airport ( it is now however on my 'life list')
This has created a few problems
the first obviously is communication.
The second more embarassingly is, with my advancing years, my ability to remember a few key and/or polite essential words has almost disappeared.
We have succeeded with sign language, and the variable abilty of our hosts to speak English
Leah and my, French has come in occasionally handy although German would have been much more useful.
Remembering the history ( recent and nor so recent) it is impressive how many languages the locals know and /or understand and how different many of these languages are , plus in the case of Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian they use different alphabets
So we haven't understood conversations, TV or the newspaper so much of what we have appreciated is by inference and observation and much may be wrong.
When we found English speaking 'friends' we pumped them for their opinion on a number of subjects- but never enough
We had Lonely Planet Phrase books that were virtually useless- but great for pressing flowers.
for example here is the translation of 'Thank You" in the languages of the countries we visited in order ( including Estonian where we will be in 2 days)
Swahili: Asante sana
Turkish: teşekkür ederim
Greek: σε ευχαριστώ
Bulgarian: благодаря
Romanian: mulţumesc
Serbian: хвала ти
Croatian: hvala ti
Hungarian: köszönöm
Solvak: ďakujem ti
Czech: děkuji ti
Polish: dziękuję
Lithuanian: ačiū
Latvian: paldies
Estonian: tänan
How can I remeber those
I have not entered as much on our blog as I might have liked but we have been busy traveling
I did comment on beer
and food
and the sights of our ever changing scenery
we have been in 14 non English speaking countries ( not including Dubai which we visited twice for hours and never left the airport ( it is now however on my 'life list')
This has created a few problems
the first obviously is communication.
The second more embarassingly is, with my advancing years, my ability to remember a few key and/or polite essential words has almost disappeared.
We have succeeded with sign language, and the variable abilty of our hosts to speak English
Leah and my, French has come in occasionally handy although German would have been much more useful.
Remembering the history ( recent and nor so recent) it is impressive how many languages the locals know and /or understand and how different many of these languages are , plus in the case of Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian they use different alphabets
So we haven't understood conversations, TV or the newspaper so much of what we have appreciated is by inference and observation and much may be wrong.
When we found English speaking 'friends' we pumped them for their opinion on a number of subjects- but never enough
We had Lonely Planet Phrase books that were virtually useless- but great for pressing flowers.
for example here is the translation of 'Thank You" in the languages of the countries we visited in order ( including Estonian where we will be in 2 days)
Swahili: Asante sana
Turkish: teşekkür ederim
Greek: σε ευχαριστώ
Bulgarian: благодаря
Romanian: mulţumesc
Serbian: хвала ти
Croatian: hvala ti
Hungarian: köszönöm
Solvak: ďakujem ti
Czech: děkuji ti
Polish: dziękuję
Lithuanian: ačiū
Latvian: paldies
Estonian: tänan
How can I remeber those
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A Look At Our Route
day 1 hayrabolu turkey the day of surviving adversity actually -1.1kms( minus although leah will debate this)
day2 havsa turkey 53 kms amazing first day
day 3 edirne turkey 40 kms a bit too much highway
day 4 svelingrad bulgaria 77kms through greece sunny no food in turkey
day 5 rest day in svelingrad sunny
day 6 topolovgrad 66kms cool overcast multiple hill climbs aprox 20-25 kms uphill WITH HEADWINDS
day 7 Nova Zagora overcast , less cold, not windy (until last 5 kms why is that) 69 kms
day 8 Tvarditsa ( can't do accents
no hotel initially but we were directed to a 'guest house that was so perfect we took a rest day for
day 9 rest day a fair bit of rakia ( home made brandy drunk by ambrose- Leah had a gall bladder attack scare
day 10 a climb and an amazing downhill to Veliko Tarnovo a pass route we had not predicted when we did our (leah's )map studying but we garner info as we travel
day 11we take a rest day in VT
day 12 stay in TV and celebrate catholic easter ( eastern orthodox palm sunday) by doing a local cycle without panniers to a historically important monastery (Dryanovski0 with accompanying caves
day 13 Pavlikeni via celebrated churches and monasteries at Arbanassi ( wonderous)
day 14 -our first hotel headache when our planned destination Pordim did not have a hotel so another 20 kms. to Pleven
day 15 rest day
day 16 griff's 14th BDay and our second hotel stress when the hotel in Nikopol existed but WAS CLOSED ( see blog) so we went on to
Belene 100 KMS !!!
day 17 svistov 50 kms from plevan ( read back)
day 18 ferry to romania to Turnu Magurele easter saturday and midnight eatser celebrations
day 19 ( today) our 3rd hotel stressful experience ( easter sunday) hotel in draganesti-olt existed but was closed and again we have to ride on for a total of 98.5 kms to slatina
day 20 to craiova by train (we had lost days and got to far north east because of the hotel stress)
day 21 rest day in Craiova
day 22 train to bailestie and cycled to Vidin, bulgaria via Calafat
Day 23 into serbia and into negotin
day 24 over the carpathians to Donji Milanovac
Day 25 rest day short ride (50km) pannierless to narrowest part of danube
day 26 along danube gorge big tailwind and lots of tunnels sleep in golubac
day 27 croos danube meet nice german cyclists another tailwindy day sleep in bela cryka
day 28 80km day to pancevo great tail wind we were flying
day 29 rest day in belgrade (walked at least 20k
day30 north to ecka (thought to be 75km turned in to 107km after more hotel stres spen night in 4 star!!!
day 31 May Day tired legs and hypoglycemic ambrose into novi sad. hotel finiding a daily adventure. takes and hour of our time
Day 32 rest day in novi sad category 1 (little walking done)
day 33 Odzaci tried to go fishing
day 34 Osijek Croatia
day 35 & 36 in Zagreb ( by train) and back to osijek
day 37 Vinogradi
day 38 Mohacs ( Hungary)
day 39 Baja
day 40 a rest day
day 41 kalosca
day 42 hajos
day 43 kiskunmajsa
day 44 a crazy night in a pencion in that we found on the web but couldn't find in reality for over an hour near tiszakecske
day 45 budapest by train from Cegled (send fedex package)
day 46 rest day, hop on hop off bus tour of Budapest
day 47 meet paul and ed at airport
day 48 ed and pauls turn to do the hop on hop off
day 49 by train to Pilisvorosvar and cycle to Esztergom
day 50 Hurbanovo ( very hot)
day 51 ( today) simon sick ( gastro)so we stop early Surany
day 52 nitra Slovakia
day 53 Nove Mesko
day 54 Uhersky Brod Czech Rep.
day 55 rest day Category 1
day 56 prerov
day 57 Olomouc
day 58 Sumprek our first heavy rain
day 59 Kraliky our second heavy rain
day 60 Klodzko Poland
day 61 Wroclaw
day 62 rest day category 3
day 63 Brzeg
day 64 Klucsbork
day 65 Krakow after a ride and a train from czestochowa
day 66 auschwitz from krakow
day 67 rest day in krakow
day 68 krakow...bye ed.... hi barb
day 69 krakow
day 70 10 hour train =644 kms- tosuwalki
day 71 druskininkai lithuania 100 kms
day 72 alytus .. another heavy rain stopped on the way at Stalin World or Gruto parkas google it fascinating
2.5 weeks to go
………
day2 havsa turkey 53 kms amazing first day
day 3 edirne turkey 40 kms a bit too much highway
day 4 svelingrad bulgaria 77kms through greece sunny no food in turkey
day 5 rest day in svelingrad sunny
day 6 topolovgrad 66kms cool overcast multiple hill climbs aprox 20-25 kms uphill WITH HEADWINDS
day 7 Nova Zagora overcast , less cold, not windy (until last 5 kms why is that) 69 kms
day 8 Tvarditsa ( can't do accents
no hotel initially but we were directed to a 'guest house that was so perfect we took a rest day for
day 9 rest day a fair bit of rakia ( home made brandy drunk by ambrose- Leah had a gall bladder attack scare
day 10 a climb and an amazing downhill to Veliko Tarnovo a pass route we had not predicted when we did our (leah's )map studying but we garner info as we travel
day 11we take a rest day in VT
day 12 stay in TV and celebrate catholic easter ( eastern orthodox palm sunday) by doing a local cycle without panniers to a historically important monastery (Dryanovski0 with accompanying caves
day 13 Pavlikeni via celebrated churches and monasteries at Arbanassi ( wonderous)
day 14 -our first hotel headache when our planned destination Pordim did not have a hotel so another 20 kms. to Pleven
day 15 rest day
day 16 griff's 14th BDay and our second hotel stress when the hotel in Nikopol existed but WAS CLOSED ( see blog) so we went on to
Belene 100 KMS !!!
day 17 svistov 50 kms from plevan ( read back)
day 18 ferry to romania to Turnu Magurele easter saturday and midnight eatser celebrations
day 19 ( today) our 3rd hotel stressful experience ( easter sunday) hotel in draganesti-olt existed but was closed and again we have to ride on for a total of 98.5 kms to slatina
day 20 to craiova by train (we had lost days and got to far north east because of the hotel stress)
day 21 rest day in Craiova
day 22 train to bailestie and cycled to Vidin, bulgaria via Calafat
Day 23 into serbia and into negotin
day 24 over the carpathians to Donji Milanovac
Day 25 rest day short ride (50km) pannierless to narrowest part of danube
day 26 along danube gorge big tailwind and lots of tunnels sleep in golubac
day 27 croos danube meet nice german cyclists another tailwindy day sleep in bela cryka
day 28 80km day to pancevo great tail wind we were flying
day 29 rest day in belgrade (walked at least 20k
day30 north to ecka (thought to be 75km turned in to 107km after more hotel stres spen night in 4 star!!!
day 31 May Day tired legs and hypoglycemic ambrose into novi sad. hotel finiding a daily adventure. takes and hour of our time
Day 32 rest day in novi sad category 1 (little walking done)
day 33 Odzaci tried to go fishing
day 34 Osijek Croatia
day 35 & 36 in Zagreb ( by train) and back to osijek
day 37 Vinogradi
day 38 Mohacs ( Hungary)
day 39 Baja
day 40 a rest day
day 41 kalosca
day 42 hajos
day 43 kiskunmajsa
day 44 a crazy night in a pencion in that we found on the web but couldn't find in reality for over an hour near tiszakecske
day 45 budapest by train from Cegled (send fedex package)
day 46 rest day, hop on hop off bus tour of Budapest
day 47 meet paul and ed at airport
day 48 ed and pauls turn to do the hop on hop off
day 49 by train to Pilisvorosvar and cycle to Esztergom
day 50 Hurbanovo ( very hot)
day 51 ( today) simon sick ( gastro)so we stop early Surany
day 52 nitra Slovakia
day 53 Nove Mesko
day 54 Uhersky Brod Czech Rep.
day 55 rest day Category 1
day 56 prerov
day 57 Olomouc
day 58 Sumprek our first heavy rain
day 59 Kraliky our second heavy rain
day 60 Klodzko Poland
day 61 Wroclaw
day 62 rest day category 3
day 63 Brzeg
day 64 Klucsbork
day 65 Krakow after a ride and a train from czestochowa
day 66 auschwitz from krakow
day 67 rest day in krakow
day 68 krakow...bye ed.... hi barb
day 69 krakow
day 70 10 hour train =644 kms- tosuwalki
day 71 druskininkai lithuania 100 kms
day 72 alytus .. another heavy rain stopped on the way at Stalin World or Gruto parkas google it fascinating
2.5 weeks to go
………
Friday, May 1, 2009
My Prose is Bit Lacking
This blog entry has been floating in my head for a few days,but it wasn't until Maria -my MOA (medical office assistant) of 20 years,office manager, 'older sister', dear friend,plus a large variety of other important roles- commented in a recent e-mail directed to Griffin...
"his prose is a bit lacking,though I certainly get the emotion"
this is the same woman who commented after seeing me jogging( running) and described it as 'plodding' or some similiar term.(and she still works with me-'for me' would be a total misnomer)
Now my lazy Gonzo 'style' of writing has some detractors I am sure.I felt it was necessary to reveal to others that there are high school prose skills still hiding in my grey matter....
We have been cycling for 46 days
We have had maybe 2 hours of rain!! great for us terrible for farmers
We were initially planning a one year vacation and would have cycled June -August.
But with our change to a ten month adventure the cycle portion changed to April -July
and inadvertently we have ended up in a most wonderous time of the year. Spring.
Certainly at home we all love spring and as spring is returning back home all of our friend's and family's e-mails comment on it happily. ( except maybe my family in Calgary and their 'freak= annual' April snow storms.
I suspect there is similar relief, excitement and joy when the weather warms and the snow melts here in the Balkans and Eastern Europe too.
There are two facets of this 'spring thaw' that we have witnessed so clearly from the seats of our bicycles as we we have ridden through rural Turkey, Greece( 1 day),Bulgaria,Romania ,Serbia,Croatia and now Hungary
First, the natural progression of spring.
Leah loves maps and reading them and has poured over our collection for hours before the trip and still daily to create a spectacular rural ride.This maximizes the cycling pleasure and minimizes risk of accident.
As an aside Leah and Griffin met a young French couple who are cycling around the world. They met them in Istanbul in front of the Blue Mosque. The thought of riding bikes through that megalopolis- 10-12 million people, terrible roads and worse drivers- is inconceivable.
Starting in Thrace on the second of April and throughout the early days we had radiantly sunny and warming weather and the plants were just starting to show signs of life.Generally bare ,on closer examination you could see the buds on trees, fruit trees, and vines, all considering the possibility of bursting.
Day by day we could see this botanical process unfold until by the time we were in Central Bulgaria there was a daily progression and procession of flowering trees unfolding before us.
Even our ignorance of which tree was which couldn't dampen the visual enjoyment.
When you are riding a bicycle the view is so important,it makes the ride interesting,it makes the ride pass,it makes you forget any aches or pains or leg fatigue.
Another aside-We were often asked before we left what the boys would do for school.I can go on and on about Geography,history,zoology, cutural studies... but here was Botany before their very eyes.Home schooling ,fitness and adventure every day.
While the tress were flowering and the leaves unfolding the lower plants also began to turn the shoulders of the road into weeds and wildflowers.Yes predominantly green but yellows, whites, blues and purples caught my eyes and I in fact starting to collect them and press them for my journal. Unidentified but colourful. Between flowers and picture taking and age I was always trailing our parade of bicycles.
To balance my flower collection Simon has started a thorn collection.It is surprising how many styles and shapes thorns come in.It is not surprising how difficult it is to transport thorns. But we will.
Beside wild flowers the daffodils and tulips couldn,t help but remind us of home
Then over Easter ( eastern Orhordox Easter was celebrated the week after Roman Catholic Easter this year)the lilacs, mainly violet, some white ,were all of a sudden everywhere.
It felt almost choreographed, as the lilacs seem to lose just a hint of vitality the bearded irises along the road were in bloom,purple my favourite are most common,yellow and white also in the mix and by the time we got to Croatia and Hungary a whole mix of colours and hybrids.
So it is May 15th and the roses and peonies are yelling
The second part of Spring and the botanical awakening is the cultural evidence.
This area is agrarian and besides the large communal farms still in Roamania there is farming on a large scale,market farming and home gardening that is the livelihood of everyone in these small towns.
Sadly ( my judgement) or naturally, these towns are changing. Populations leaving for bigger cities or in the case of EU members to other countries. Those who are making the move are predominantly the young,yet those left behind must still maintain these farms and gardens for income and subsistance.This activity is intense and meticulous. The garden plots, the lawns , the areas between house and road are all cultivated and nutured. In some towns this roadside area has vines trelessed high over the sidewalk. Grapes for homemade wine and rakia(eau de vie) a essential for every household.Great pride is taken in the growing and fermenting.
The large fields are full of winter grain still growing and the beginnings ,just in the last few days, of corn and potato.
Through Serbia and Croatia and now hungary the market farms ars are the latest area of family nad community activity. Medium size fields of beans, peas, carrots, radishes and in Hungary peppers ( for paprika-for goulash) , onions ,garlic and everything else that will make the summer and fall markets ( which we will sadly miss).
It was quite a change when this activity began, because instead of tractors now it was hands and bent backs doing the work.
So winter grains, spring grain planting and slowly germanating, fruit tress and vines flowering, market gardens, farm gardens planted, wild flowers and perennials flowering.
The markets full of early potatoes, last years cellar produce and annuals and tomato plants ready for this year.
We have followed the process and raced the plant's growth as we have headed north
Because of the spectacular weather we have had we are losing the race and now small cherries and minute bunchs of grapes can be seen and the wheat and barley is mature and green swaying with the wind ,which has also been favourable ( at our back).
This area is enormous and flat. we haven't climbed hills for 3 weeks and yet the size is still a fraction of our Canadian prairies.
Spring and maybe this one more than others has been a wonderous, delicious and entertaining time to cycle in this part of the world
"his prose is a bit lacking,though I certainly get the emotion"
this is the same woman who commented after seeing me jogging( running) and described it as 'plodding' or some similiar term.(and she still works with me-'for me' would be a total misnomer)
Now my lazy Gonzo 'style' of writing has some detractors I am sure.I felt it was necessary to reveal to others that there are high school prose skills still hiding in my grey matter....
We have been cycling for 46 days
We have had maybe 2 hours of rain!! great for us terrible for farmers
We were initially planning a one year vacation and would have cycled June -August.
But with our change to a ten month adventure the cycle portion changed to April -July
and inadvertently we have ended up in a most wonderous time of the year. Spring.
Certainly at home we all love spring and as spring is returning back home all of our friend's and family's e-mails comment on it happily. ( except maybe my family in Calgary and their 'freak= annual' April snow storms.
I suspect there is similar relief, excitement and joy when the weather warms and the snow melts here in the Balkans and Eastern Europe too.
There are two facets of this 'spring thaw' that we have witnessed so clearly from the seats of our bicycles as we we have ridden through rural Turkey, Greece( 1 day),Bulgaria,Romania ,Serbia,Croatia and now Hungary
First, the natural progression of spring.
Leah loves maps and reading them and has poured over our collection for hours before the trip and still daily to create a spectacular rural ride.This maximizes the cycling pleasure and minimizes risk of accident.
As an aside Leah and Griffin met a young French couple who are cycling around the world. They met them in Istanbul in front of the Blue Mosque. The thought of riding bikes through that megalopolis- 10-12 million people, terrible roads and worse drivers- is inconceivable.
Starting in Thrace on the second of April and throughout the early days we had radiantly sunny and warming weather and the plants were just starting to show signs of life.Generally bare ,on closer examination you could see the buds on trees, fruit trees, and vines, all considering the possibility of bursting.
Day by day we could see this botanical process unfold until by the time we were in Central Bulgaria there was a daily progression and procession of flowering trees unfolding before us.
Even our ignorance of which tree was which couldn't dampen the visual enjoyment.
When you are riding a bicycle the view is so important,it makes the ride interesting,it makes the ride pass,it makes you forget any aches or pains or leg fatigue.
Another aside-We were often asked before we left what the boys would do for school.I can go on and on about Geography,history,zoology, cutural studies... but here was Botany before their very eyes.Home schooling ,fitness and adventure every day.
While the tress were flowering and the leaves unfolding the lower plants also began to turn the shoulders of the road into weeds and wildflowers.Yes predominantly green but yellows, whites, blues and purples caught my eyes and I in fact starting to collect them and press them for my journal. Unidentified but colourful. Between flowers and picture taking and age I was always trailing our parade of bicycles.
To balance my flower collection Simon has started a thorn collection.It is surprising how many styles and shapes thorns come in.It is not surprising how difficult it is to transport thorns. But we will.
Beside wild flowers the daffodils and tulips couldn,t help but remind us of home
Then over Easter ( eastern Orhordox Easter was celebrated the week after Roman Catholic Easter this year)the lilacs, mainly violet, some white ,were all of a sudden everywhere.
It felt almost choreographed, as the lilacs seem to lose just a hint of vitality the bearded irises along the road were in bloom,purple my favourite are most common,yellow and white also in the mix and by the time we got to Croatia and Hungary a whole mix of colours and hybrids.
So it is May 15th and the roses and peonies are yelling
The second part of Spring and the botanical awakening is the cultural evidence.
This area is agrarian and besides the large communal farms still in Roamania there is farming on a large scale,market farming and home gardening that is the livelihood of everyone in these small towns.
Sadly ( my judgement) or naturally, these towns are changing. Populations leaving for bigger cities or in the case of EU members to other countries. Those who are making the move are predominantly the young,yet those left behind must still maintain these farms and gardens for income and subsistance.This activity is intense and meticulous. The garden plots, the lawns , the areas between house and road are all cultivated and nutured. In some towns this roadside area has vines trelessed high over the sidewalk. Grapes for homemade wine and rakia(eau de vie) a essential for every household.Great pride is taken in the growing and fermenting.
The large fields are full of winter grain still growing and the beginnings ,just in the last few days, of corn and potato.
Through Serbia and Croatia and now hungary the market farms ars are the latest area of family nad community activity. Medium size fields of beans, peas, carrots, radishes and in Hungary peppers ( for paprika-for goulash) , onions ,garlic and everything else that will make the summer and fall markets ( which we will sadly miss).
It was quite a change when this activity began, because instead of tractors now it was hands and bent backs doing the work.
So winter grains, spring grain planting and slowly germanating, fruit tress and vines flowering, market gardens, farm gardens planted, wild flowers and perennials flowering.
The markets full of early potatoes, last years cellar produce and annuals and tomato plants ready for this year.
We have followed the process and raced the plant's growth as we have headed north
Because of the spectacular weather we have had we are losing the race and now small cherries and minute bunchs of grapes can be seen and the wheat and barley is mature and green swaying with the wind ,which has also been favourable ( at our back).
This area is enormous and flat. we haven't climbed hills for 3 weeks and yet the size is still a fraction of our Canadian prairies.
Spring and maybe this one more than others has been a wonderous, delicious and entertaining time to cycle in this part of the world
our trip (so far)
3 emails now on the blog
not to replace e-mail and blog
but if you want to follow
our route
day 1 hayrabolu turkey the day of surviving adversity actually -1.1kms( minus although leah will debate this)
day2 havsa turkey 53 kms amazing first day
day 3 edirne turkey 40 kms a bit too much highway
day 4 svelingrad bulgaria 77kms through greece sunny no food in turkey
day 5 rest day in svelingrad sunny
day 6 topolovgrad 66kms cool overcast multiple hill climbs aprox 20-25 kms uphill WITH HEADWINDS
day 7 Nova Zagora overcast , less cold, not windy (until last 5 kms why is that) 69 kms
mileage debate between gps and cycle computer
leah found a bulgarian map leas detailed scale but the towns are written in bulgarian alphabet -VERY HELPFUL and more details of mileage between towns
route has been perfect -lightly travelled ( although vehicles are limited in this country) rural ride
roads vary from excellent to rutted and amazing potholes ( but these are tolerable
accomodation working out very well and inexpensive
lots of wondeful birds ( mainly LBJ little brown jobs-sy says BBB boring brown birds) all with wonderful songs
food fine
restaurant ordering a humerous endevour
tomorrow 40kms with a significant climb
then rest day
then another larger climb day
fitness and butts improving
us
2nd email
last e-mail re our route went to day 7 Nova Zagora
day 8 Tvardica ( can't do accents
no hotel initially but we were directed to a 'guest house that was so perfect we took a rest day for
day 9 rest day a fair bit of rakia ( home made brandy drunk by ambrose- Leah had a gall bladder attack scare
day 10 a climb and an amazing downhill to Veliko Tarnovo a pass route we had not predicted when we did our (leah's )map studying but we garner info as we travel
day 11we take a rest day in VT
day 12 stay in TVand celebrate catholic easter ( eastern orthodox palm sunday) by doing a local cycle without panniers to a historically important monastery (Dryanovski0 with accompanying caves
day 13 Pavlikeni via celebrated churches and monasteries at Arbanassi ( wonderous)
day 14 -our first hotel headache when our planned destination Pordim did not have a hotel so another 20 kms. to Pleven
day 15 rest day
day 16 griff's 14th BDay and our second hotel stress when the hotel in Nikopol existed but WAS CLOSED ( see blog) so we went on to
Belene 100 KMS !!!
day 17 svistov 50 kms from plevan ( read back)
day 18 ferry to romania to Turnu Magurele easter saturday and midnight eatser celebrations
day 19 ( today) our 3rd hotel stressful experience ( easter sunday) hotel in draganesti-olt existed but was closed and again we have to ride on for a total of 98.5 kms to slatina
tomorrow train to craiova we have headed furhter east and north than planned and will use train to get better positioned, save some energy and time, avoid big roads and experience romanian trains
next few days from romania to Vidin and on to serbia
there you go
hotel stress stressful but there are great positive stories on those days too and the boys are heroes with these challenges
3rd email
day 20 to craiova by train (we had lost days and got to far north east because of the hotel stress)
day 21 rest day in Craiova
day 22 trin to bailste and cycled to Vidin, bulgaria via Calafat
Day 23 into serbia and into negotin
day 24 over the carpathians to Donji Milanovac
Day 25 rest day short ride (50km) paniierless to narrowest part of danube
day 26 along danube gorge big tailwind and lots of tunnels sleep in golubac
day 27 croos danube meet nice german cyclists another tailwindy day sleep in bela cryka
day 28 80km day to pancevo great tail wind we were flying
day 29 rest day in belgrade (walked at least 20k
day30 north to ecka (thought to be 75km turned in to 107km after more hotel stres spen night in 4 star!!!
day 31 May Day tired legs and hypoglycemic ambrose into novi sad. hotel finiding a daily adventure. takes and hour of our time
rest day tommorow. croatia in 2 days. ed and paul in 16
a
not to replace e-mail and blog
but if you want to follow
our route
day 1 hayrabolu turkey the day of surviving adversity actually -1.1kms( minus although leah will debate this)
day2 havsa turkey 53 kms amazing first day
day 3 edirne turkey 40 kms a bit too much highway
day 4 svelingrad bulgaria 77kms through greece sunny no food in turkey
day 5 rest day in svelingrad sunny
day 6 topolovgrad 66kms cool overcast multiple hill climbs aprox 20-25 kms uphill WITH HEADWINDS
day 7 Nova Zagora overcast , less cold, not windy (until last 5 kms why is that) 69 kms
mileage debate between gps and cycle computer
leah found a bulgarian map leas detailed scale but the towns are written in bulgarian alphabet -VERY HELPFUL and more details of mileage between towns
route has been perfect -lightly travelled ( although vehicles are limited in this country) rural ride
roads vary from excellent to rutted and amazing potholes ( but these are tolerable
accomodation working out very well and inexpensive
lots of wondeful birds ( mainly LBJ little brown jobs-sy says BBB boring brown birds) all with wonderful songs
food fine
restaurant ordering a humerous endevour
tomorrow 40kms with a significant climb
then rest day
then another larger climb day
fitness and butts improving
us
2nd email
last e-mail re our route went to day 7 Nova Zagora
day 8 Tvardica ( can't do accents
no hotel initially but we were directed to a 'guest house that was so perfect we took a rest day for
day 9 rest day a fair bit of rakia ( home made brandy drunk by ambrose- Leah had a gall bladder attack scare
day 10 a climb and an amazing downhill to Veliko Tarnovo a pass route we had not predicted when we did our (leah's )map studying but we garner info as we travel
day 11we take a rest day in VT
day 12 stay in TVand celebrate catholic easter ( eastern orthodox palm sunday) by doing a local cycle without panniers to a historically important monastery (Dryanovski0 with accompanying caves
day 13 Pavlikeni via celebrated churches and monasteries at Arbanassi ( wonderous)
day 14 -our first hotel headache when our planned destination Pordim did not have a hotel so another 20 kms. to Pleven
day 15 rest day
day 16 griff's 14th BDay and our second hotel stress when the hotel in Nikopol existed but WAS CLOSED ( see blog) so we went on to
Belene 100 KMS !!!
day 17 svistov 50 kms from plevan ( read back)
day 18 ferry to romania to Turnu Magurele easter saturday and midnight eatser celebrations
day 19 ( today) our 3rd hotel stressful experience ( easter sunday) hotel in draganesti-olt existed but was closed and again we have to ride on for a total of 98.5 kms to slatina
tomorrow train to craiova we have headed furhter east and north than planned and will use train to get better positioned, save some energy and time, avoid big roads and experience romanian trains
next few days from romania to Vidin and on to serbia
there you go
hotel stress stressful but there are great positive stories on those days too and the boys are heroes with these challenges
3rd email
day 20 to craiova by train (we had lost days and got to far north east because of the hotel stress)
day 21 rest day in Craiova
day 22 trin to bailste and cycled to Vidin, bulgaria via Calafat
Day 23 into serbia and into negotin
day 24 over the carpathians to Donji Milanovac
Day 25 rest day short ride (50km) paniierless to narrowest part of danube
day 26 along danube gorge big tailwind and lots of tunnels sleep in golubac
day 27 croos danube meet nice german cyclists another tailwindy day sleep in bela cryka
day 28 80km day to pancevo great tail wind we were flying
day 29 rest day in belgrade (walked at least 20k
day30 north to ecka (thought to be 75km turned in to 107km after more hotel stres spen night in 4 star!!!
day 31 May Day tired legs and hypoglycemic ambrose into novi sad. hotel finiding a daily adventure. takes and hour of our time
rest day tommorow. croatia in 2 days. ed and paul in 16
a
Friday, April 17, 2009
Bulgarian Birthday Surprise
This was meant to be a leaving Bulgaria blog
But it was coincidental with Griffin’s 14th Birthday so that seemed a bit more important subject.
But what it really has become is another chapter in this part of our adventure-
Cycling in Eastern Europe- How it can be (and has been ) exciting and unpredictable constantly.
April 16 2009 Griffin’s 14th and a ride to Nikopol ( on the Danube, on the Romanian border)_A planned 57 km ride.
Stunningly sunny-blue cloudless sky a bit cool but promising to be warm. (Warmest April on record)
Birthday hugs, greetings and special breakfast of croissant (not filled with raisins, cheese or any other filling), jam, fruit with coffee and hot chocolates to follow.
Griffin navigates us out of Pleven ( a busy city) without much of a hitch.
The ride is luscious , rural and varied with hills and flat stretches. Small towns, large farms.
Our first surprise of the day was in Varbica when we find ourselves directed to a dirt road through a farmer’s field ( griffin has an early tumble without injuring himself or sullying his new birthday jersey).This tractor path connects us as promised to the highway we were seeking.
We laughed as we carried on.
Lunch in Milkovica sitting in the town square,young students (more like sy’s age) milling around with ice creams on their lunch break. Introductory English, giggles and pictures taken.
Now just 20 kms. to Nikopol and soon we see the Danube ,wide and slow.The Bulgarian side showing evidence of the communist age with decrepit, rusting factories .I share my understanding of communist history to an interested Simon as we ride the tandem.
We have a late climb before riding into Nikopol , We pass the new ferry terminal (supported by the EU) to Romania.
1430 hours, 66 kms- time to relax. We eventually find the hotel -it wasn’t full, it was CLOSED.
We had been assured that there was a hotel but nobody confirmed that it was open.
So we thought we would head off to Romania only to find that although there was a new ferry terminal. THERE WAS NO FERRY and there wouldn’t be for months.
So we had to find an option, no accommodation and the nearest ‘confirmed’ hotel 35 kms away.
Without any complaining from the boys we headed of to Belene.The sun stayed bright and warm, the ride went easily ( after the 6 km. climb out of Nikopol) and as the GPS and Sy’s bicycle computer both ticked over 100 Kms.we arrived in Belene.
The boys have been surprisingly impressive both physically and mentally in dealing with daily( almost daily) rides. We had planned a 50km/day average but are really closer to 70Km.
We found a hotel.72 Lev/PER PERSON (in contrast with 50-100Lev total- we have been paying up until now)
Fortunately there was a second smaller hotel that has cost us 72 Lev total.
We are here .We had beers, then a delicious Birthday dinner and think we have confirmed that the border crossing 30 kms east is open ( tomorrow’s destination)
So we have done 100 Kms. that hurdle has been cleared.
But we have headed East rather than West so we will have to push a bit in Romania. When we get there.
Our time in Romania has been just fine. Perfect weather ( no rain ) ,lovely route, friendly and helpful people. A small sense of its history and its challenges. Better than expected mileage, accommodation a daily question mark. Our bikes and bodies have been behaving.
The people have been helpful and friendly. Language always a challenge but English is creeping in and on occasions an English speaker gets called to help us out .Our French has come in handy ,German would be better as it is more widely the second, third or fourth language.
We get waves, honks ,curious stares and in smaller villages a look of absolute dumbfoundedness as 3 bikes (one a TANDEM) fly through
Food has been more than adequate, prices reasonable, bread a bit boring. Red wine has improved compared to Turkey and we expect that to continue.
After a few days in Romania we will actually return for a day or two in Bulgaria before Serbia.
100 Kms !!! The Danube!!!- Every day a story that has been unpredicted as the day began. The wonder and appeal of traveling.
But it was coincidental with Griffin’s 14th Birthday so that seemed a bit more important subject.
But what it really has become is another chapter in this part of our adventure-
Cycling in Eastern Europe- How it can be (and has been ) exciting and unpredictable constantly.
April 16 2009 Griffin’s 14th and a ride to Nikopol ( on the Danube, on the Romanian border)_A planned 57 km ride.
Stunningly sunny-blue cloudless sky a bit cool but promising to be warm. (Warmest April on record)
Birthday hugs, greetings and special breakfast of croissant (not filled with raisins, cheese or any other filling), jam, fruit with coffee and hot chocolates to follow.
Griffin navigates us out of Pleven ( a busy city) without much of a hitch.
The ride is luscious , rural and varied with hills and flat stretches. Small towns, large farms.
Our first surprise of the day was in Varbica when we find ourselves directed to a dirt road through a farmer’s field ( griffin has an early tumble without injuring himself or sullying his new birthday jersey).This tractor path connects us as promised to the highway we were seeking.
We laughed as we carried on.
Lunch in Milkovica sitting in the town square,young students (more like sy’s age) milling around with ice creams on their lunch break. Introductory English, giggles and pictures taken.
Now just 20 kms. to Nikopol and soon we see the Danube ,wide and slow.The Bulgarian side showing evidence of the communist age with decrepit, rusting factories .I share my understanding of communist history to an interested Simon as we ride the tandem.
We have a late climb before riding into Nikopol , We pass the new ferry terminal (supported by the EU) to Romania.
1430 hours, 66 kms- time to relax. We eventually find the hotel -it wasn’t full, it was CLOSED.
We had been assured that there was a hotel but nobody confirmed that it was open.
So we thought we would head off to Romania only to find that although there was a new ferry terminal. THERE WAS NO FERRY and there wouldn’t be for months.
So we had to find an option, no accommodation and the nearest ‘confirmed’ hotel 35 kms away.
Without any complaining from the boys we headed of to Belene.The sun stayed bright and warm, the ride went easily ( after the 6 km. climb out of Nikopol) and as the GPS and Sy’s bicycle computer both ticked over 100 Kms.we arrived in Belene.
The boys have been surprisingly impressive both physically and mentally in dealing with daily( almost daily) rides. We had planned a 50km/day average but are really closer to 70Km.
We found a hotel.72 Lev/PER PERSON (in contrast with 50-100Lev total- we have been paying up until now)
Fortunately there was a second smaller hotel that has cost us 72 Lev total.
We are here .We had beers, then a delicious Birthday dinner and think we have confirmed that the border crossing 30 kms east is open ( tomorrow’s destination)
So we have done 100 Kms. that hurdle has been cleared.
But we have headed East rather than West so we will have to push a bit in Romania. When we get there.
Our time in Romania has been just fine. Perfect weather ( no rain ) ,lovely route, friendly and helpful people. A small sense of its history and its challenges. Better than expected mileage, accommodation a daily question mark. Our bikes and bodies have been behaving.
The people have been helpful and friendly. Language always a challenge but English is creeping in and on occasions an English speaker gets called to help us out .Our French has come in handy ,German would be better as it is more widely the second, third or fourth language.
We get waves, honks ,curious stares and in smaller villages a look of absolute dumbfoundedness as 3 bikes (one a TANDEM) fly through
Food has been more than adequate, prices reasonable, bread a bit boring. Red wine has improved compared to Turkey and we expect that to continue.
After a few days in Romania we will actually return for a day or two in Bulgaria before Serbia.
100 Kms !!! The Danube!!!- Every day a story that has been unpredicted as the day began. The wonder and appeal of traveling.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Early in the Cycle
We have left Turkey as of yesterday and begun the cycle 4 days ago! Departure from Istanbul was a bit scattered as we cleaned up final details of sending stuff to Canada (thanks once again Graham and his FedEx discount !!) How could we leave Turkey without succumbing to the carpet salesmen ?? Actually we did not buy a carpet….but a bit of stuff you will have to wait to see, and mostly we had to condense ourselves down to 8 panniers. The weather has warmed for our departure which has helped us to feel confident that we have enough warm clothes and wet weather gear.
Here here Amb’s journal entry for Day 1 of the cycle :
“ I am not sure if you call that a start or a story “
“Our first day of the 3 month last stage. Boys sleep like logs and hard to wake up. Leah and I sleep poorly and awaken early to a spectacular and dramatic call to prayer at the Blue Mosque (just outside our hotel window). Missed breakfast, no cab even though pre-booked, miss our bus (pre-bought tickets). How frustrating that was. The next bus is 30 minutes later and actually leaves an hour later. Sunny to drizzly/windy Thrace. Hyrabolu before noon and we set to work excited with spectators curiously congregating. No parts are missing. A torn plastic bag had not lost anything important but had been worn about by the chain of the tandem. This had been a worry. The first 2 single bikes came together easily, but as we put the tandem together we realize a chain wheel had been badly bent, cogs and ring. We were all devastated. Return to Istanbul may be our only choice, Amb may have to head back for replacement part. BUT the local spectators come to our aid. After tea-ing us (x3) and feeding us and offering cigarettes to Leah and I (really!): 1. They arranged the teeth to be straightened 2. Simon and I are driven to 3 separate places until we find a machinist who was able to straighten the ‘wow’ with an industrial metal press !! And this all without and English !! When Ambrose gets back excited, Leah is distraught about poor pannier fits. We realize we have never placed full panniers on the bikes prior to our crazed departure to fully test the configuration. We solve pannier and rack issues, remount the chain wheel, and Leah and Sy have a small tour with no noise, no skips, no derailing. Hooray !! We sit for another tea and consider our luck (both good and bad).
New pump also had never been used and needed some significant figuring out. At this point we realized we were not going to be cycling today after all and finished up the last few details when an English speaking (fair to good) teacher/internet café owner who helps us find a local hotel/restaurant/teachers residence. He also told us our planned route had a closed boarder crossing, so we plan to change our route……”
Anyways the chain wheel is holding and we are now in Svilengrad (pop’n 20,000 -- get out your maps!) in South-east Bulgaria taking a well earned and needed rest day (Day 5) Mileage has been unexpectedly large (53 km, 42 km, and yesterday’s 77 !! ) to bring us here. We realize daily mileage will be dictated largely by the location of accommodation. The remainder of our cycle in Turkey (the part they call Thrace) was characterized by further unbelievable hospitality and curiosity on the part of the Turkish. At one point an elderly couple stopped us in our tracks and insisted on us waiting while they ran inside and got us apples and oranges for the journey. Lots of hair ruffling and cheek pinching of the boys and apparent absolute delight and amazement in what we are doing, and the participation of the children. Via broken language we list the countries of our journey, and the reaction is incredulity!! People have been incredibly friendly and full of waves and hoots. One challenge early on was dogs on the edges of villages, coming out and chasing us. The first of these were really fierce and I heard Sy on the back of the tandem mumble in tears “I want to go home now”…and I didn’t blame him. However, gratefully the dogs that have followed have been much less scary and convincing and we are learning to ignore and just ride on.
Yesterday we crossed 2 boarders from Turkey to Greece then Greece to Turkey. We cycled though beautifully remote un-traveled feeling NE Greece limping from village to village over 2 unexpected steep long-ish climbs hoping for a Greek lunch along the way. However, the towns were sleepy tiny places with no restaurants so we plugged on with the food we had brought until we finally entered Bulgaria to a completely different feel again. Bulgaria seeming both more western and more poor (which translates into welcome lower costs for accommodation and food). We are staying in a Soviet era monstrosity hotel with commanding huge lobby and hundreds of unfilled rooms. No
Wi-fi internet in our hotel room, however, and so far the towns people much less interested in our tourist identity and lack of language. Virtually no English spoken with one shining exception of a woman named Deanna who has just returned home to Svilengrad after 14 years away studying in England and Switzerland. She has helped us to translate the menu and was a welcoming soul for our first night in Bulgaria.
Language will certainly by a challenge, and the alphabet is of course different (which we have not had to deal with in Tanzania or Turkey). It is amazing how when I think back that each stage of this odyssey has helped to prepare us for the next. First, our time in Africa helped the kids to adjust to being away from home, and to create a sense of home away from home (and daily they comment on what they are missing from Muheza, Sy especially) and to generally get used to the notion of other cultures and languages and how different it all can be. Turkey then prepared us for being nomads and creating ‘home’ with daily rituals and reading aloud and bonding as a family. Turkey introduced the idea of yet another culture, completely different again, and the sense of unbelievable history and complexity of the world. And now we are pursuing for sure the most challenging of all our time away, what with the added layer of intense physicality as well as regularly changing culture, language, alphabets, foods, religions and topography. Really a completely different thing, than spending 6 months stationary in Africa. In Tanzania, I felt that many before us has done what we were doing, but honestly, cycling through Thrace and receiving the hospitality and curiosity we did, made me feel that we were cycling on tiny rough roads where hardly a traveler had been (let alone a family of cyclists). This is both wonderful and a bit anxiety provoking !! (Amb, however, would never admit that… )
The boys are doing amazing on the bikes, Griff burning up the miles on his own bike, fully loaded panniers an all. Riding already 2 days more k’s than he has ever gone in his little life. Simon and I have been on the tandem together, mostly having a great time, him chattering and whistling (!) (are you peddling back there ??) and he seems to feel the wonder and accomplishment of it all almost as much as I am. Not that there wasn’t the odd muttering from the back of “this sucks” on the unexpected long hills yesterday, but I must admit I was thinking the same. It will take us some time to build up fitness and strength as we look ahead to the Balkan Mtns and the bigger Tartars of Slovakia….
Our sad news is that Sally and Rose will not be able to join us as expected in early May due to complications at Rose’s work not allowing her to go. We are all massively disappointed, especially the boys of course, but we are looking forward to cycling with Paul and maybe Ed beginning in mid May.
That’s all for now. Lots more but I have rambled enough. We are missing everyone and starting to get homesick in earnest. Trying to balance that with being fully in the moment here…
Xo Leah
Here here Amb’s journal entry for Day 1 of the cycle :
“ I am not sure if you call that a start or a story “
“Our first day of the 3 month last stage. Boys sleep like logs and hard to wake up. Leah and I sleep poorly and awaken early to a spectacular and dramatic call to prayer at the Blue Mosque (just outside our hotel window). Missed breakfast, no cab even though pre-booked, miss our bus (pre-bought tickets). How frustrating that was. The next bus is 30 minutes later and actually leaves an hour later. Sunny to drizzly/windy Thrace. Hyrabolu before noon and we set to work excited with spectators curiously congregating. No parts are missing. A torn plastic bag had not lost anything important but had been worn about by the chain of the tandem. This had been a worry. The first 2 single bikes came together easily, but as we put the tandem together we realize a chain wheel had been badly bent, cogs and ring. We were all devastated. Return to Istanbul may be our only choice, Amb may have to head back for replacement part. BUT the local spectators come to our aid. After tea-ing us (x3) and feeding us and offering cigarettes to Leah and I (really!): 1. They arranged the teeth to be straightened 2. Simon and I are driven to 3 separate places until we find a machinist who was able to straighten the ‘wow’ with an industrial metal press !! And this all without and English !! When Ambrose gets back excited, Leah is distraught about poor pannier fits. We realize we have never placed full panniers on the bikes prior to our crazed departure to fully test the configuration. We solve pannier and rack issues, remount the chain wheel, and Leah and Sy have a small tour with no noise, no skips, no derailing. Hooray !! We sit for another tea and consider our luck (both good and bad).
New pump also had never been used and needed some significant figuring out. At this point we realized we were not going to be cycling today after all and finished up the last few details when an English speaking (fair to good) teacher/internet café owner who helps us find a local hotel/restaurant/teachers residence. He also told us our planned route had a closed boarder crossing, so we plan to change our route……”
Anyways the chain wheel is holding and we are now in Svilengrad (pop’n 20,000 -- get out your maps!) in South-east Bulgaria taking a well earned and needed rest day (Day 5) Mileage has been unexpectedly large (53 km, 42 km, and yesterday’s 77 !! ) to bring us here. We realize daily mileage will be dictated largely by the location of accommodation. The remainder of our cycle in Turkey (the part they call Thrace) was characterized by further unbelievable hospitality and curiosity on the part of the Turkish. At one point an elderly couple stopped us in our tracks and insisted on us waiting while they ran inside and got us apples and oranges for the journey. Lots of hair ruffling and cheek pinching of the boys and apparent absolute delight and amazement in what we are doing, and the participation of the children. Via broken language we list the countries of our journey, and the reaction is incredulity!! People have been incredibly friendly and full of waves and hoots. One challenge early on was dogs on the edges of villages, coming out and chasing us. The first of these were really fierce and I heard Sy on the back of the tandem mumble in tears “I want to go home now”…and I didn’t blame him. However, gratefully the dogs that have followed have been much less scary and convincing and we are learning to ignore and just ride on.
Yesterday we crossed 2 boarders from Turkey to Greece then Greece to Turkey. We cycled though beautifully remote un-traveled feeling NE Greece limping from village to village over 2 unexpected steep long-ish climbs hoping for a Greek lunch along the way. However, the towns were sleepy tiny places with no restaurants so we plugged on with the food we had brought until we finally entered Bulgaria to a completely different feel again. Bulgaria seeming both more western and more poor (which translates into welcome lower costs for accommodation and food). We are staying in a Soviet era monstrosity hotel with commanding huge lobby and hundreds of unfilled rooms. No
Wi-fi internet in our hotel room, however, and so far the towns people much less interested in our tourist identity and lack of language. Virtually no English spoken with one shining exception of a woman named Deanna who has just returned home to Svilengrad after 14 years away studying in England and Switzerland. She has helped us to translate the menu and was a welcoming soul for our first night in Bulgaria.
Language will certainly by a challenge, and the alphabet is of course different (which we have not had to deal with in Tanzania or Turkey). It is amazing how when I think back that each stage of this odyssey has helped to prepare us for the next. First, our time in Africa helped the kids to adjust to being away from home, and to create a sense of home away from home (and daily they comment on what they are missing from Muheza, Sy especially) and to generally get used to the notion of other cultures and languages and how different it all can be. Turkey then prepared us for being nomads and creating ‘home’ with daily rituals and reading aloud and bonding as a family. Turkey introduced the idea of yet another culture, completely different again, and the sense of unbelievable history and complexity of the world. And now we are pursuing for sure the most challenging of all our time away, what with the added layer of intense physicality as well as regularly changing culture, language, alphabets, foods, religions and topography. Really a completely different thing, than spending 6 months stationary in Africa. In Tanzania, I felt that many before us has done what we were doing, but honestly, cycling through Thrace and receiving the hospitality and curiosity we did, made me feel that we were cycling on tiny rough roads where hardly a traveler had been (let alone a family of cyclists). This is both wonderful and a bit anxiety provoking !! (Amb, however, would never admit that… )
The boys are doing amazing on the bikes, Griff burning up the miles on his own bike, fully loaded panniers an all. Riding already 2 days more k’s than he has ever gone in his little life. Simon and I have been on the tandem together, mostly having a great time, him chattering and whistling (!) (are you peddling back there ??) and he seems to feel the wonder and accomplishment of it all almost as much as I am. Not that there wasn’t the odd muttering from the back of “this sucks” on the unexpected long hills yesterday, but I must admit I was thinking the same. It will take us some time to build up fitness and strength as we look ahead to the Balkan Mtns and the bigger Tartars of Slovakia….
Our sad news is that Sally and Rose will not be able to join us as expected in early May due to complications at Rose’s work not allowing her to go. We are all massively disappointed, especially the boys of course, but we are looking forward to cycling with Paul and maybe Ed beginning in mid May.
That’s all for now. Lots more but I have rambled enough. We are missing everyone and starting to get homesick in earnest. Trying to balance that with being fully in the moment here…
Xo Leah
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Istanbul
Last day in Istanbul and rather than tourist times I did a bunch of traveling around by public transit to do errands ( bus ticket, fed ex) which gave me a different view of things.
my vision of Istanbul is a blend of Paris and Cairo ( as I remember them and assume they are now)
big busy, cosmopolitan,chique,too big. Striving to cope with their size . Enormous wealth while a large portion of poor,old, underemployed and undereducated struggle to survive as life changes faster than they can keep up
my vision of Istanbul is a blend of Paris and Cairo ( as I remember them and assume they are now)
big busy, cosmopolitan,chique,too big. Striving to cope with their size . Enormous wealth while a large portion of poor,old, underemployed and undereducated struggle to survive as life changes faster than they can keep up
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Venturing into Kurdish Anatolia
As I write on the laptop, we are on a bus driving east between Gaziantep and Sanliurfa in Eastern Anatolia of Turkey. This is the southeast and Amb’s long time dream to come here. We are close to the Syrian boarder, but it sounds like visa’s are a major hassle on site so we will not try to go just for the sake of going to Syria. We have nicely stepped off the tourist track which is great ! no more carpet sellers ! Our hotel last night was clearly oriented to Turkish travelers especially businessmen.
Turkey has been amazing. A complete change in everyway, in how we spend our days, the sites, the weather. It was difficult to leave Muheza and make the transition onto something so completely different. I am missing people in Muheza and the team at Bombo. Seems so weird that we can just pick up and go. But as the days slip past I feel more and more clear about the work we will pursue upon our return to Canada fundraising for further development of palliative care….
We have used just about every scrap of clothing we brought as its been much colder than we anticipated (0-8 or so) including some snow in Capadoccia. Istanbul an amazing place of course; we spent a fair bit of time visiting the obligatory museums, palaces, mosques and art galleries. We were a bit disjointed those first few days, learning to be nomads, and with each other 24/7. The family unit even closer now as we sort through all the emotions and challenges of travel (the specifics being totally different than Africa). I look at my family in wonder and know I will look back at this time as an incredible gift, a rich and complex experience for us all, not the least of which is simply to have all this time together so intimately. All of us finding it hard to muster the energy to learn a few words of Turkish (more difficult than Swahili by a longshot) and continue instead to exchange Swahili words between ourselves for comfort. “Pole sana” will be with us forever I think….The Turkish ‘Merhaba’ (hello) helprully close to the Swahili ‘marahaba’ (response to ‘shikamu’ the respectful greeting to an elder)
We moved onto Gallipoli, touring the battlefields, and seeing first hand remnants of the trenches and orienting ourselves to WW1 and how it related to this part of the world. From there to various ruins: Troy, Ephesus, Aphrodesius, Hieropolis (ancient spa city built adjacent to the amazing Pamukkale) and we are seeped in ancient history. Learning tons !!! Amb more knowledgeable than I, both of us staying one step ahead of the kids orienting ourselves to the ancient worlds of the Hittite, Roman, Byzantine, Selyuk, Ottoman etc empires. Amazing to see these places with structures and artifacts dating back to 2000+BC. It is truly humbling and overwhelming to see both all the layers of history here but also the scope of civilization so long ago…
Anyways it has been wonderful to share this time with the kids. They are both great travelers coping very well with the many museums of anthropology and sites of ancient history. Although, I did hear simon grumble recently as we planned our next few days, “ah, not another ruin !!” Certainly the fact that we are traveling through the heart of pistachio and Baclava country helps; food has been fantastic, but with the usual challenges of finding the authentic ‘local’ hot spots and not the more easily visible touristy crap. We are getting pretty good at packing up and relocating, which will be the nature of our existence for the next few months. The bus system is amazing here, efficient, cheap, frequent, comfortable and super easy to go just about anywhere. I guess is reflects such a huge population that makes it so effective. The buses all have a ‘flight attendant’-type person who brings coffee (instant horrible stuff) or tea or fanta orange pop as well as a cake thing usually, although as I write Griffin is worried this ride (2.5 hours) is too short to be eligible for the cake part. Have done 2 overnight rides to date. They are grueling, I find at my advanced age.
Next we went on to Capadoccia (google it). It is a magical region of unusual geological formations due to erosion by wind and rain of repeated layers of volcanic rock. The rock pillars that were formed “fairy houses” as they are called, were carved out into rock houses that were inhabited by (amongst others) persecuted earliest Christians (pre-Byzantine) and the sites to see include amongst the earliest churches carved out of the rock dating from the first and second century. Amb and I did a couple of amazing hikes through the area around Goreme and it was all really quite spellbinding. Incredible visuals of undulating curves and pillars of rock of all shades of reds, pinks and yellows.
Then we left Capadoccia in central Turkey and the well hewn tourist trail and headed south east to the Kurdish part of Turkey. It is amazing, the reactions of subtle disapproval on the part of the Turks in other areas who say there is nothing to see here. The split between the 2 cultures of Turkey persists and is historically complex and we will learn more about it I am sure as we venture into the Kurdish heartland….
We are at the same time looking forward and thinking about the cycle and taking advantage of google maps while we have the fast internet access (frequently with free Wi-fi in the hotel room !!) to research the upcoming weeks and Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Have been watching Michael Pallin’s Eastern Europe series Rose burned on DVD for us, which has been a great adjunct to our own reflections. Paula sent a wonderful book called “Balkan Ghosts” which I am devouring in an effort to make a little bit of sense of the unbelievably complex and tumultuous history of the Balkans…
Griffin is working away at learning how to use the GPS which we will trial on the cycle. The plan is to create the day’s route on the laptop and upload to the GPS for the day (in addition to the variable quality paper maps we have located to date). Thanks to the help of Shauna and Jane who have searched out some hard to locate Eastern Europe GPS maps, and thanks to Susan for getting them to us from Cambridge, this technological learning curve is slowly coming together. Certainly we will not be heading out on well trodden tourist trails! But hopefully the roads will not be too bad ie not too many punctures, as our UK Muheza colleagues would say.
Our only big challenge right now has been ongoing skin stuff particularly for Ambrose, and we are now certain we have brought a serious case of scabies with us from Tanzania!! (It was quite atypical at first, but over the last 2 weeks has become quite classic in its distribution and now spread to me). We have gone around the block twice now with the available treatment here (Kwellada) and washed all the clothes, even borrowed an iron from a hotel to iron them all as a hot drier is not something that seems to exist here. We are hoping this has taken care of it (I have a slightly less severe version, kids spared for the moment, but treated anyways) I have a worry in the back of my mind that I heard at one point Tanzanian scabies is quite resistant to treatment…. but we will have to see how the next week goes…
As inconvenient as it is, we can hardly complain if this is our most serious health complaint to date from Africa !!
Will keep you posted !!
Please look at the photos Griffin has posted of some of the Turkey exploration. Follow the links he has provided if you want to see what we have been up to!
Hello to all and love all around.
Xo Leah
Turkey has been amazing. A complete change in everyway, in how we spend our days, the sites, the weather. It was difficult to leave Muheza and make the transition onto something so completely different. I am missing people in Muheza and the team at Bombo. Seems so weird that we can just pick up and go. But as the days slip past I feel more and more clear about the work we will pursue upon our return to Canada fundraising for further development of palliative care….
We have used just about every scrap of clothing we brought as its been much colder than we anticipated (0-8 or so) including some snow in Capadoccia. Istanbul an amazing place of course; we spent a fair bit of time visiting the obligatory museums, palaces, mosques and art galleries. We were a bit disjointed those first few days, learning to be nomads, and with each other 24/7. The family unit even closer now as we sort through all the emotions and challenges of travel (the specifics being totally different than Africa). I look at my family in wonder and know I will look back at this time as an incredible gift, a rich and complex experience for us all, not the least of which is simply to have all this time together so intimately. All of us finding it hard to muster the energy to learn a few words of Turkish (more difficult than Swahili by a longshot) and continue instead to exchange Swahili words between ourselves for comfort. “Pole sana” will be with us forever I think….The Turkish ‘Merhaba’ (hello) helprully close to the Swahili ‘marahaba’ (response to ‘shikamu’ the respectful greeting to an elder)
We moved onto Gallipoli, touring the battlefields, and seeing first hand remnants of the trenches and orienting ourselves to WW1 and how it related to this part of the world. From there to various ruins: Troy, Ephesus, Aphrodesius, Hieropolis (ancient spa city built adjacent to the amazing Pamukkale) and we are seeped in ancient history. Learning tons !!! Amb more knowledgeable than I, both of us staying one step ahead of the kids orienting ourselves to the ancient worlds of the Hittite, Roman, Byzantine, Selyuk, Ottoman etc empires. Amazing to see these places with structures and artifacts dating back to 2000+BC. It is truly humbling and overwhelming to see both all the layers of history here but also the scope of civilization so long ago…
Anyways it has been wonderful to share this time with the kids. They are both great travelers coping very well with the many museums of anthropology and sites of ancient history. Although, I did hear simon grumble recently as we planned our next few days, “ah, not another ruin !!” Certainly the fact that we are traveling through the heart of pistachio and Baclava country helps; food has been fantastic, but with the usual challenges of finding the authentic ‘local’ hot spots and not the more easily visible touristy crap. We are getting pretty good at packing up and relocating, which will be the nature of our existence for the next few months. The bus system is amazing here, efficient, cheap, frequent, comfortable and super easy to go just about anywhere. I guess is reflects such a huge population that makes it so effective. The buses all have a ‘flight attendant’-type person who brings coffee (instant horrible stuff) or tea or fanta orange pop as well as a cake thing usually, although as I write Griffin is worried this ride (2.5 hours) is too short to be eligible for the cake part. Have done 2 overnight rides to date. They are grueling, I find at my advanced age.
Next we went on to Capadoccia (google it). It is a magical region of unusual geological formations due to erosion by wind and rain of repeated layers of volcanic rock. The rock pillars that were formed “fairy houses” as they are called, were carved out into rock houses that were inhabited by (amongst others) persecuted earliest Christians (pre-Byzantine) and the sites to see include amongst the earliest churches carved out of the rock dating from the first and second century. Amb and I did a couple of amazing hikes through the area around Goreme and it was all really quite spellbinding. Incredible visuals of undulating curves and pillars of rock of all shades of reds, pinks and yellows.
Then we left Capadoccia in central Turkey and the well hewn tourist trail and headed south east to the Kurdish part of Turkey. It is amazing, the reactions of subtle disapproval on the part of the Turks in other areas who say there is nothing to see here. The split between the 2 cultures of Turkey persists and is historically complex and we will learn more about it I am sure as we venture into the Kurdish heartland….
We are at the same time looking forward and thinking about the cycle and taking advantage of google maps while we have the fast internet access (frequently with free Wi-fi in the hotel room !!) to research the upcoming weeks and Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Have been watching Michael Pallin’s Eastern Europe series Rose burned on DVD for us, which has been a great adjunct to our own reflections. Paula sent a wonderful book called “Balkan Ghosts” which I am devouring in an effort to make a little bit of sense of the unbelievably complex and tumultuous history of the Balkans…
Griffin is working away at learning how to use the GPS which we will trial on the cycle. The plan is to create the day’s route on the laptop and upload to the GPS for the day (in addition to the variable quality paper maps we have located to date). Thanks to the help of Shauna and Jane who have searched out some hard to locate Eastern Europe GPS maps, and thanks to Susan for getting them to us from Cambridge, this technological learning curve is slowly coming together. Certainly we will not be heading out on well trodden tourist trails! But hopefully the roads will not be too bad ie not too many punctures, as our UK Muheza colleagues would say.
Our only big challenge right now has been ongoing skin stuff particularly for Ambrose, and we are now certain we have brought a serious case of scabies with us from Tanzania!! (It was quite atypical at first, but over the last 2 weeks has become quite classic in its distribution and now spread to me). We have gone around the block twice now with the available treatment here (Kwellada) and washed all the clothes, even borrowed an iron from a hotel to iron them all as a hot drier is not something that seems to exist here. We are hoping this has taken care of it (I have a slightly less severe version, kids spared for the moment, but treated anyways) I have a worry in the back of my mind that I heard at one point Tanzanian scabies is quite resistant to treatment…. but we will have to see how the next week goes…
As inconvenient as it is, we can hardly complain if this is our most serious health complaint to date from Africa !!
Will keep you posted !!
Please look at the photos Griffin has posted of some of the Turkey exploration. Follow the links he has provided if you want to see what we have been up to!
Hello to all and love all around.
Xo Leah
Beer, Baklava and Buses
Beer
Tanaznia
almost completely lagers
very tasty ,when cold on a hot day
760 Tanzanian Shillings when bought by the case 600 cc bottle ( 1000 TzSh.=1$Cn aprox)
1300-3000 when bought at hotels and bars
UK
I almost totally drink bitter
a truly favourite drink of mine . usually delicious, always different
great memories or great pints and pubs
2.50 -3.20 (pounds don't ask the conversion just drink it)
I only drink them in pubs.
Turkey
most are pilsner , one is a Double pilsner???
Efes the most popular also makes a dark
2.17-2.56 Turkish lira in grocery store
4-5 TL in restaurants and bars
( multiply by .75 for Canadian dollar)
Baklava
mmmmmmmmm
It is bought in Baklavari ( like Patiserie)
Big glass windows- trays and trays of honey oozing Baklava
All shapes and sizes a variety of ingredients and tastes
How can one resist
12-22 TL/kg ( we have Never bought a kilo at one time) usually buy an assortment
Buses
In Turkey a mix between VIA trains ( Canadian) and planes
quite a change from Tanzania where price is not a concern but you feel like a sardine and you hope that the bus will make it.
Reminds Leah and I of our bus rides in Chile.
New, big, clean,Turkish TV
Refreshments served by Attendants ( almost always male) juice, water, cakes ( usually with raisins so Ambrose gets 4),tea -always with sugar and COFFEE..
Usually Nescafe 3:1 packets bad instant coffee,milk powder, sugar.( it satisfies Leah's addiction but nothing more).
The buses are never over full, they have large areas for baggage.They are reasonable but travel in Turkey is more expensive than we anticipated.
We took 2 overnight buses-saving money-losing sleep
No washrooms on buses so you have to WAIT
we travelled across Turkey on buses and enjoyed them thotoughly
Beer
Tanaznia
almost completely lagers
very tasty ,when cold on a hot day
760 Tanzanian Shillings when bought by the case 600 cc bottle ( 1000 TzSh.=1$Cn aprox)
1300-3000 when bought at hotels and bars
UK
I almost totally drink bitter
a truly favourite drink of mine . usually delicious, always different
great memories or great pints and pubs
2.50 -3.20 (pounds don't ask the conversion just drink it)
I only drink them in pubs.
Turkey
most are pilsner , one is a Double pilsner???
Efes the most popular also makes a dark
2.17-2.56 Turkish lira in grocery store
4-5 TL in restaurants and bars
( multiply by .75 for Canadian dollar)
Baklava
mmmmmmmmm
It is bought in Baklavari ( like Patiserie)
Big glass windows- trays and trays of honey oozing Baklava
All shapes and sizes a variety of ingredients and tastes
How can one resist
12-22 TL/kg ( we have Never bought a kilo at one time) usually buy an assortment
Buses
In Turkey a mix between VIA trains ( Canadian) and planes
quite a change from Tanzania where price is not a concern but you feel like a sardine and you hope that the bus will make it.
Reminds Leah and I of our bus rides in Chile.
New, big, clean,Turkish TV
Refreshments served by Attendants ( almost always male) juice, water, cakes ( usually with raisins so Ambrose gets 4),tea -always with sugar and COFFEE..
Usually Nescafe 3:1 packets bad instant coffee,milk powder, sugar.( it satisfies Leah's addiction but nothing more).
The buses are never over full, they have large areas for baggage.They are reasonable but travel in Turkey is more expensive than we anticipated.
We took 2 overnight buses-saving money-losing sleep
No washrooms on buses so you have to WAIT
we travelled across Turkey on buses and enjoyed them thotoughly
Friday, March 20, 2009
Photos of Our trip
Please check out some of our photos
Gallipoli : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69561&id=584266324&l=d52a5ee257
Troy : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70489&id=584266324&l=72762d687c
Ephuseus : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70697&id=584266324&l=6405208f8f
Gallipoli : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69561&id=584266324&l=d52a5ee257
Troy : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70489&id=584266324&l=72762d687c
Ephuseus : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70697&id=584266324&l=6405208f8f
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Out of Istanbul
just some thoughts from Selcuk ,Turkey
We left Muheza less than 2 weeks ago!!! -it seems eons ago and distant in memory
struggling to keep it close to our heart and mind.
-after calling Muheza 'home' for 6months...."meet you at home" " great to be back home" we are now on the road as tourists and home has again become Hazlitt Creek Rd.
- after being hot all the time , i haven't sweated in 13 days and we are cold here in Turkey.
-travelling by bus here in Turkey is more like our time in Chile and much different from the speed, crowds and 'sense of safety' in Tanzania
-Turkey the land of baclava, olives and feta for breakfast...all good
-bus ride yesterday from Cannakkale to Izmir and saw an old Turkish man as sheep herder and contrasted that with the young Masai boys we saw as goat and cow herders.
-Turkish language is a challenge to pronounce or remember vocabulary, yet the people are very friendly nd willing to cope with our sign language( we will have to get use to this a s we travel in Eastern Europe. We sometimes slip into Swahili pleasantries.
-Turkish toilets cost, yesterday we spents 5.50 turkish Kira in .50, and .75 denominations
-home schooling this week included Galipoli(WW1), Troy( and that silly horse), and today at Ephesus a spectacular archeological site of Greek and Roman remains
Thinking about points east and also planning our first stages of cycling from Thrace to Greece and into Bulgaria
Boys traveling very well
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Out of Africa into Canbridge
Muheza -Cambridge now there is a contrast.
There are banners for the 800th Anniversary celebrations ot the Cambridge University ( wonder what was happening near Muheza 800 years ago)
Their one similarity is a dependence on bicycles for local travel.
Cambridge is so familiar from visits before and so different from where we have just been.
We had pears, croissant and wine
we saw green grass and field lacrosse and 'our breath' (5 degrees)
We had a day trip to London ( including an overwhelming map and travel store for the next legs)
pints of bitter
wonderful to see and hug Susan and Philip
and packing and repacking
For someone who likes to travel light and simply this combination of 'Trips" with varying weather and varying activities is a challenge and Books , numerous and heavy.
we would have very much struggled without our friends here in Cambridge( Kate and Tim, Susan and Philip)
We will sleep at Heathrow tonight since our flight tomorrow is 0930 and you must be there 0730 (not like Victoria) and bus travel to Heathrow takes 3 hours.
Trying very hard to enjoy the next chapters without making Muheza only a dream.
I miss it.
There are banners for the 800th Anniversary celebrations ot the Cambridge University ( wonder what was happening near Muheza 800 years ago)
Their one similarity is a dependence on bicycles for local travel.
Cambridge is so familiar from visits before and so different from where we have just been.
We had pears, croissant and wine
we saw green grass and field lacrosse and 'our breath' (5 degrees)
We had a day trip to London ( including an overwhelming map and travel store for the next legs)
pints of bitter
wonderful to see and hug Susan and Philip
and packing and repacking
For someone who likes to travel light and simply this combination of 'Trips" with varying weather and varying activities is a challenge and Books , numerous and heavy.
we would have very much struggled without our friends here in Cambridge( Kate and Tim, Susan and Philip)
We will sleep at Heathrow tonight since our flight tomorrow is 0930 and you must be there 0730 (not like Victoria) and bus travel to Heathrow takes 3 hours.
Trying very hard to enjoy the next chapters without making Muheza only a dream.
I miss it.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Pancake Breakfasts
In writing report mode and got a bit carried away Sunday morning
A Plan to Think about Starting to make Pancakes for Breakfast
Ferbuary,22, 2009
1)Prayer
2) take attendance and identify the number of consumers of pancakes
3)Plan ETC ( estimated time of consumption)
4)Plane ENC ( estimated number of consumption)
5) Maple syrup 5.1 how to divvy it up, /pancake
/person
5.2 plan for leftover MS
6) cooking
7) table setting
8) eating
9) cleanup
10) debrief and problem solve for further pancake breakfasts
A Plan to Think about Starting to make Pancakes for Breakfast
Ferbuary,22, 2009
1)Prayer
2) take attendance and identify the number of consumers of pancakes
3)Plan ETC ( estimated time of consumption)
4)Plane ENC ( estimated number of consumption)
5) Maple syrup 5.1 how to divvy it up, /pancake
/person
5.2 plan for leftover MS
6) cooking
7) table setting
8) eating
9) cleanup
10) debrief and problem solve for further pancake breakfasts
Pancake Breakfasts
In writing report mode and got a bit carried away Sunday morning
A Plan to Think about Starting to make Pancakes for Breakfast
Ferbuary,22, 2009
1)Prayer
2) take attendance and identify the number of consumers of pancakes
3)Plan ETC ( estimated time of consumption)
4)Plane ENC ( estimated number of consumption)
5) Maple syrup 5.1 how to divvy it up, /pancake
/person
5.2 plan for leftover MS
6) cooking
7) table setting
8) eating
9) cleanup
10) debrief and problem solve for further pancake breakfasts
A Plan to Think about Starting to make Pancakes for Breakfast
Ferbuary,22, 2009
1)Prayer
2) take attendance and identify the number of consumers of pancakes
3)Plan ETC ( estimated time of consumption)
4)Plane ENC ( estimated number of consumption)
5) Maple syrup 5.1 how to divvy it up, /pancake
/person
5.2 plan for leftover MS
6) cooking
7) table setting
8) eating
9) cleanup
10) debrief and problem solve for further pancake breakfasts
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Dinners in Muheza
Dinners
With less than 2 weeks to go ,
And most dinners consumed,
It felt like time to finish this series.
I will not tell you what I(we) miss( the list is not really that long)
Typical Tanzanian diiner items
Ugali ( a corn flour ball) very bland best enjoyed with anything with flavour
The more impoverished the local the less associated dishes
Meat with a saucy gravy tomatoey sometimes spicey( peppers) sauce is typical.
I have had it 3 times.
Boys stopped have school lunches because of it
Beans and rice.
Loads of beans options.
Best eaten with hot sauce.
Mchicha boiled/steamed and then fried bitter greens( generically spinach) usually with onions
The greens seem to be a variety of types depending on what is
available ..Paula was able to imitate the proper preparation and cooking better than I using the ‘Kazan’ technique of cooking bitter greens
cassava, grilled tough corn
meat dishes are either grilled meat ( beef or goat, chicken)
or meat in sauce beef, goat, chicken
being on the coast fish is plentiful
typically small fried bony fish about 3“ or a salted anchovie –like fish, bought dried in the market , served in toamoto sauce ( which I finally tasted last week)
but here on Sundays the fisher come to Muheza and we have fresh fish, steaks ( often called ‘tuna’) of all kinds,small to medium whole fish fried and twice large whole fish baked
but ingredients for musungu cooking musungu food in Tanzania are abundant
veggies – classic
carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes onions, garlic, peppers( green or hot)
occasional eggplant, zuchini, leeks
less classic or familiar
okra
eggplant- like yellow veggies
(eventually pictures will be added)
-pasta, cheese, tomato sauce ,meat sauce
-pizza veggie and meat ( bacon, mince)
-chapattis/paratha frozen or freshly made by juliette go with anything but we also make a taco like rollup with options of ground meat, cheese, onions, cucumbers, peppers, yogurt,
tomatoes
-frittata looking not much different than at home.
at home ( our Canadian home) we have stolen a recipe from Sally and Rose –‘Tuscan Chicken’
roasted splayed whole chicken on a bed of fennel, lemons, olives, garlic cloves, herbs
here we have ‘Muheza Chicken’ –same whole splayed chicken( a bit scrawnier and stringier), definitely free range, tender up well, in a similar roasting pot
on a bed of leeks or onions, green peppers, occasional other roast veggies, garlic cloves, limes, salt and pepper. Served with mashed potatoes made the way my dad taught me (warm the milk before adding)
at home ( that same Canadian place) often on Friday is nachos night at same sally and rose- previously mentioned- ‘s house ( is there another sally and rose really??)
No nachos here
But we have Chips and miyai( eggs) occasionally with sausages added
Chips made by street vendors , picked up at just the right time by Griffin ( and now Sy occesionally joins him) added to whipped egg as it fries
Sausages are lame packaged breakfast sausage( i do miss galloping goose sausages.. OK I said it)
Virtually all is 100 mile diet ( although condiments-hot sauce,pickle/chutney soya sauce , and our one true luxury olive oil do find there way to Tanzania and our table)
Salad is either tomato/cucumber/avocado( 10-20 cents each)
Or “Deb’s “ salad ( yes our dear friend deb lefrank) purple onion, mango( less than 10 cents each),lime and tomato… colourful and deelish
SO what is missing
You got it
Dessert, treats, postres, sweeties,kitindamlo
Fresh fruit ( often pineapple or banana -which I have eaten more of than in the last 10 years) can go only so far
We do miss sweets although cookies can be bought and a local dryish and less sweet cake is available and enjoyed - it ain’t Flan, chocolate mouse, chocolate anything
If Susan Griffith is reading this she might think about this as she hosts us in Cambridge in less than 2 weeks
No late night ice cream for me ( although last week while visiting friends in Arusha before our safari-lots of chicken, lots of rice- we were treated to PISTACHIO ICE CREAM…. MY FAVOURITE FLAVOUR)
Wine has been less than 5 glasses in 5.5 months although we did try a Tanzanian Rose ( once). Cold lagers work fine , the colder the better
Lots of water
And as I wrap up this final installment and we wrap up our final days here I will go have a small nip(60.2 % alcohol) of a’bunadh speyide single malt . brought by joel already a month ago.
cheers
With less than 2 weeks to go ,
And most dinners consumed,
It felt like time to finish this series.
I will not tell you what I(we) miss( the list is not really that long)
Typical Tanzanian diiner items
Ugali ( a corn flour ball) very bland best enjoyed with anything with flavour
The more impoverished the local the less associated dishes
Meat with a saucy gravy tomatoey sometimes spicey( peppers) sauce is typical.
I have had it 3 times.
Boys stopped have school lunches because of it
Beans and rice.
Loads of beans options.
Best eaten with hot sauce.
Mchicha boiled/steamed and then fried bitter greens( generically spinach) usually with onions
The greens seem to be a variety of types depending on what is
available ..Paula was able to imitate the proper preparation and cooking better than I using the ‘Kazan’ technique of cooking bitter greens
cassava, grilled tough corn
meat dishes are either grilled meat ( beef or goat, chicken)
or meat in sauce beef, goat, chicken
being on the coast fish is plentiful
typically small fried bony fish about 3“ or a salted anchovie –like fish, bought dried in the market , served in toamoto sauce ( which I finally tasted last week)
but here on Sundays the fisher come to Muheza and we have fresh fish, steaks ( often called ‘tuna’) of all kinds,small to medium whole fish fried and twice large whole fish baked
but ingredients for musungu cooking musungu food in Tanzania are abundant
veggies – classic
carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes onions, garlic, peppers( green or hot)
occasional eggplant, zuchini, leeks
less classic or familiar
okra
eggplant- like yellow veggies
(eventually pictures will be added)
-pasta, cheese, tomato sauce ,meat sauce
-pizza veggie and meat ( bacon, mince)
-chapattis/paratha frozen or freshly made by juliette go with anything but we also make a taco like rollup with options of ground meat, cheese, onions, cucumbers, peppers, yogurt,
tomatoes
-frittata looking not much different than at home.
at home ( our Canadian home) we have stolen a recipe from Sally and Rose –‘Tuscan Chicken’
roasted splayed whole chicken on a bed of fennel, lemons, olives, garlic cloves, herbs
here we have ‘Muheza Chicken’ –same whole splayed chicken( a bit scrawnier and stringier), definitely free range, tender up well, in a similar roasting pot
on a bed of leeks or onions, green peppers, occasional other roast veggies, garlic cloves, limes, salt and pepper. Served with mashed potatoes made the way my dad taught me (warm the milk before adding)
at home ( that same Canadian place) often on Friday is nachos night at same sally and rose- previously mentioned- ‘s house ( is there another sally and rose really??)
No nachos here
But we have Chips and miyai( eggs) occasionally with sausages added
Chips made by street vendors , picked up at just the right time by Griffin ( and now Sy occesionally joins him) added to whipped egg as it fries
Sausages are lame packaged breakfast sausage( i do miss galloping goose sausages.. OK I said it)
Virtually all is 100 mile diet ( although condiments-hot sauce,pickle/chutney soya sauce , and our one true luxury olive oil do find there way to Tanzania and our table)
Salad is either tomato/cucumber/avocado( 10-20 cents each)
Or “Deb’s “ salad ( yes our dear friend deb lefrank) purple onion, mango( less than 10 cents each),lime and tomato… colourful and deelish
SO what is missing
You got it
Dessert, treats, postres, sweeties,kitindamlo
Fresh fruit ( often pineapple or banana -which I have eaten more of than in the last 10 years) can go only so far
We do miss sweets although cookies can be bought and a local dryish and less sweet cake is available and enjoyed - it ain’t Flan, chocolate mouse, chocolate anything
If Susan Griffith is reading this she might think about this as she hosts us in Cambridge in less than 2 weeks
No late night ice cream for me ( although last week while visiting friends in Arusha before our safari-lots of chicken, lots of rice- we were treated to PISTACHIO ICE CREAM…. MY FAVOURITE FLAVOUR)
Wine has been less than 5 glasses in 5.5 months although we did try a Tanzanian Rose ( once). Cold lagers work fine , the colder the better
Lots of water
And as I wrap up this final installment and we wrap up our final days here I will go have a small nip(60.2 % alcohol) of a’bunadh speyide single malt . brought by joel already a month ago.
cheers
Living Deep and Wide
We are nearing the end and I haven’t blogged for a while. Hello out there ! Amazingly it feels like there is no time for reflecting in a blog!! How can that be, that we are so busy here even at altered African heat-pace ?
Lots to reflect upon. We had wonderful visitations by friends in January, first by Joel and Paula, overlapping by one night with my previous office partner Fiona Manning and friend Stephanie and their lovely 11 year old daughters. Joel and Paula made the epic journey for just 2 weeks with us, and they were wonderful to be with, such ardent explorers, keenly interested in anything and everything. Made us feel like we were living at the end of the anthropologic rainbow here in Muheza, and like our little family adventure was unparalleled. It was so nice to see Fiona, with whom I have shared so many clinical hours and reflect upon the medicine here with fresh eyes. Stephanie had lived near Mt Kilimanjaro with her family for almost a year, last year, and was now visiting her placement in follow-up and was a wealth of stories for comparing and contrasting our experiences.
Most recently we spent a week “on safari” which was other worldly. We had an amazing time !! We spent 3 full days in the Serengeti, then one each in Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. These are unbelievable places teeming with wildlife you can hardly imagine. I know I will both date myself and trigger childhood memories for many of you when I mention Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom on Sunday nights and say that it was surreal to actually see all of these great beasts in action and linger for long minutes and hours just watching. And these are not distant sightings !! We were metres away at times from 4 of the “big 5” (lion, water buffalo, leopard, rhino and elephant). It is like a giant (massive) reverse zoo, where we are the ones in the captivity of the car while the animals wander around us, seemingly quite oblivious to us (of course, simply desensitized to the thousands of vehicles who quietly watch them annually).
We were greeted by huge herds of migrating wildebeests and zebras (who travel together as one has good eyesight complimented by the amazing hearing of the other…have already forgotten which has which), and they were calving so saw lots of wee ones. Huge numbers into the tens of thousands and a real sense of a ‘migration’. Then it all unfolded over the days with multiple sightings of elephants, giraffes (my personal favorite!) tons of different gizelle/impala type creatures, water buffalo, cheetas with vultures post kill, lions (again lazy and satiated post grizzly wildebeest kill) , hippos and crocodiles in the wet pools, wart hogs, hyenas and jackals to name a few ! Ambrose became obsessed with the birds, and our guide Lawrence was highly knowledgeable and we identified over 100 of the 530 species that grace the park. They were the most beautiful colourful and curious of creatures, in all shapes and sizes of bodies, bills and feet. We will need to do a separate slide show just of our safari as it was truly an experience overflowing with the wonders of mother nature. The role and presence of the Massai also another interesting layer of local history and modern age lessons in traditional land use vs conservation (reminds me of first nation issues in Canada).
To think that we had contemplated not doing safari, as we were put off by the intensely unpleasant ‘vicious’ (as one medical student put it) aspects of the Safari business! Fortunately we were able to find a quite painless connection via the husband of a nurse at the hospital and we got a great price and wonderful guide and had the time of our lives. It was wonderful to see the kids so enthralled, especially Simon, who gleefully exclaimed “I could do this forever…”. This was why he came to Tanzania really, and now that the Safari is over he is quite ready to move on…
After Safari we returned to Muheza to no water and no power, and still find some North American ability in us to whine, and moan (it is 35 – 40 degrees after all) despite the fact that no-one in Muheza has water and everywhere we look, the industry of water transport and selling is milling about like activity in an ant hill. I find myself secretly thinking about a hot shower in Cambridge, and the temperature being cold enough to want one. I am also thinking about riding my bike with gears and silence (no clunks) without sweat pouring off and then dried in an uncomfortably itchy crust.
And so we are down to the last 2 weeks of work life here. We still have a few important teaching wrap-up sessions at Bombo, and the nursing school and in fact I am procrastinating on the final power point prep to write this blog ! Just before Safari, Ambrose and I shared the highlight of our time here when we funded a 2 day palliative care workshop (with some of the donor dollars from all of you!!) at Bombo Hospital. ‘So what ?’ you may say….BUT what is important is in the details. I had suggested we do an intro to Palliative Care lecture (thinking of an hour or 2) for the new satellite CTC clinics (the name given for clinics that care for people with HIV) that were opening in the Tanga region. Our little team took the idea and ran with it and before we knew it, it had become 2 days and 23 participants that included not only the new CTCs but also TAWG (Tanga Aids Working Group who do home based care), the Red Cross (home based care) and the head nurses from all the wards at Bombo Hospital. The best part was that several of the sessions (pain assessment, HIV related pain, and communicating bad news ) were delivered in Swahili by our new PC team at Bombo. This was so amazing, to see the confidence and passion that they brought to the teaching and how competently they had taken on the role of being leaders and educators in PC. This was a moment of great pride and satisfaction for Amb and I, and we now feel like a seed has been solidly planted. There is of course lots of next steps, we are discussing with them (more training needed for these leaders, money for a program, and staffing…etc) We will have our fundraising work cut out for us upon our return…However, this work becomes a joy, when we feel such affection for the individuals and have such a positive sense of their caring and their leadership skills.
Dr. Violet Bakari, the leader of the team, continues to reveal her powerful self to us in a quiet understated manner. Just yesterday, she had our family to her house for lunch and we were welcomed in a fully Tanzanian way, and had the opportunity to make a deeper connection and planning for the future. She shared with us her HIV + status (which had escaped our knowing over the last several months) and more about her health history and work accomplishments. She has worked closely with Dr. Mtatifiko over the last 3 years and has developed the Bombo CTC herself into the thriving functional arm of the hospital that it is. She only began her own ARV treatment in 2004 and was very sick prior to that, so this is really a remarkable accomplishment. She is now a picture of good health and is a success story of ARV accessibility. And now she quietly creates the palliative arm for the hospital, competently bringing the right folks together and building capacity in them. Gladly we will be able to work with her from afar over the next months and years as we look to the future.
Things at Teule, however, continue in a sea of politics and dysfunction. Amb has really given it the college try as they say, using his wonderful management and conflict resolution skills, that he brings from being Chief of Staff at SPH. But to date we have not shifted the milleu, and the 2 sides are deeply divided, and when we leave, so will leave the palliative care in the hospital. At Teule Hospitali we ended up doing precisely what we did not want to do, which was to provide direct service (some 80 plus consults between us) but not build capacity in Tanzanians. Those patients I am sure benefited from our presence here but sadly we will leave (unless some miracle happens in the last 2 weeks!!) without a lasting impact on program development. The reasons are complex and educative (of Tanzania, resource poor settings, of tribal traditions, of HIV/AIDS foreign aid sequelae, of religious leadership, of personality and leadership) but too long for a blog entry.
The whole thing of ARV (anti-retroviral) care in Tanzania is mind-boggling. These are complex treatments with side-effects, and need for absolute unwavering adherence to avoid viral resistance. The system of delivery is new since 2005 or so, constantly changing and expanding at an explosive rate to large numbers of people. However, the anthropology of its impact is not simple and completely different from the introduction of ARVs in a place like Canada. We met a young German MD at Bombo, whose partner is in fact a social anthropologist looking at peoples experience of ARVs both from clinician and patient/family perspectives, and I will be keen to stay in touch with them and learn more of this important research. In Canada, introducing treatments like active HIV care is difficult even when the health care delivery in general is advanced and layered and rich. Here, they are grappling with this complex beast when there is no reliable water, or power or basic medicines, shortage of health care professionals, and the majority by a long shot of the populous live in remote rural villages!
But most importantly I have realized, is that it is a completely different starting place in terms of the lay knowledge base around one’s body and health and disease. For example I saw a patient at Bombo who had advanced breast cancer. Her right breast was consumed by a large mass (peau d’orange for the medical folks) visible spread of the cancer along lymph nodes just under the skin one could see as a lumpy track heading for her arm pit, big lump under her right armpit, and swollen right arm, visible enlarged liver full of metastases. My point is that this cancer had been brewing for years unknown to her. She came to hospital because her right arm was swollen and painful. Think how quickly a typical woman in Canada would have been into her doc had she found a breast lump!! By contrast this woman, had no idea anything was wrong with her breast, and had never heard of cancer. This is a single story representative of a very common scenario. So in the HIV context we can not expect any knowledge base around the idea of germs, bacteria or viruses, let alone viral mutation, infections, or disease transmission. Of course this is changing especially now that treatment is available. Sadly, we are seeing a 2nd wave of deaths, because of course people feel well on ARVs and then think they don’t need them anymore, or side-effects (such as appetite stimulation in the context of not having enough food to eat) make it impossible to continue. All of this is a tall order for HIV educators and care providers, like Violet, and we are blown away by their adaptability, and resilience.
Bus crashes have been a terrible recent theme. Traffic/driving here is unbelievable scary. Speeding, reckless passing, poor vehicle conditions ( 5 gallon portable gas tank at our feet in the dala dala…) . By far and away the most risky thing we have done is to travel to Tanga twice a week and take the bus to Arusha for Safari….Terrible fatalities in the last month on our little stretch of highway, both speed related on the part of careless bus drivers, have resulted in dozens of fatalities. I will not miss this aspect at all. Always feels like a terrible leap of faith to get in a car/bus and go somewhere.
Anyways enough heavy stuff. Ambrose and I look at each other on a daily basis and marvel at the time we have shared here. For all the ups and downs, it has exceeded our wildest hopes as an experience for our family. We have been blessed with a safe and fascinating time here, and solid connections to individuals who have touched us and welcomed us despite our lousy Swahili acquisition, and odd Canadian way of being. I am cherishing the last few bike rides with the boys up to school, and my solo weekend rides through the sisal fields (now much more able to identify birds etc post safari). We are dividing up the last of the donor money between funding vulnerable children to school, provisions for palliative care, support for home based care, and a myriad of other little bits here and there. We feel honoured to have been trusted to share this money around, and grateful to have such concrete directly helpful spots to put it. We will prepare a report of all the homes it found.
It has been unbelievable to watch the boys develop and blossom and adapt. As my mother would have said, “my buttons are bursting with pride”. Each in their own way in their own time, they have come, and learned and shared of themselves. They zoom around Muheza on their bikes, competently exchanging the long multiple Swahili greetings, visiting the various fundi, bargaining at the market and generally taking it all in. Since returning to school in January, there is suddenly a young lad named Ally who rides with us to school, and a gaggle of boys have appeared at our house daily after school. Language still a barrier, but they have the commonness of curiosity in each other. I am so glad we persevered with Holy Family Primary School and didn’t bail to the International expat school in tanga.
And to watch my sweetie Ambrose dive into this time in Africa, has been an affirmation of love and wonder. As we all have seen him give, for this and that, and shared in his endless ability to just ‘get stuff done’ and find the time for everyone and everything, so he has given to Tanzania in the same Ambrose style. (Not that I don’t get very tired of being ‘Mrs. Dr. Ambrose’ and quietly accepting my less visible role….) But together we are a good team (it is the first time we have worked together so closely), and have had the gift of a similar way of seeing things, and endless discussions about life and death and HIV , foreign aid and Africa and human-ness and parenting. I will cherish these six months as a rich and wonderful journey. As one friend wrote in an email, a time of ‘living deep and wide’.
Lots to reflect upon. We had wonderful visitations by friends in January, first by Joel and Paula, overlapping by one night with my previous office partner Fiona Manning and friend Stephanie and their lovely 11 year old daughters. Joel and Paula made the epic journey for just 2 weeks with us, and they were wonderful to be with, such ardent explorers, keenly interested in anything and everything. Made us feel like we were living at the end of the anthropologic rainbow here in Muheza, and like our little family adventure was unparalleled. It was so nice to see Fiona, with whom I have shared so many clinical hours and reflect upon the medicine here with fresh eyes. Stephanie had lived near Mt Kilimanjaro with her family for almost a year, last year, and was now visiting her placement in follow-up and was a wealth of stories for comparing and contrasting our experiences.
Most recently we spent a week “on safari” which was other worldly. We had an amazing time !! We spent 3 full days in the Serengeti, then one each in Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. These are unbelievable places teeming with wildlife you can hardly imagine. I know I will both date myself and trigger childhood memories for many of you when I mention Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom on Sunday nights and say that it was surreal to actually see all of these great beasts in action and linger for long minutes and hours just watching. And these are not distant sightings !! We were metres away at times from 4 of the “big 5” (lion, water buffalo, leopard, rhino and elephant). It is like a giant (massive) reverse zoo, where we are the ones in the captivity of the car while the animals wander around us, seemingly quite oblivious to us (of course, simply desensitized to the thousands of vehicles who quietly watch them annually).
We were greeted by huge herds of migrating wildebeests and zebras (who travel together as one has good eyesight complimented by the amazing hearing of the other…have already forgotten which has which), and they were calving so saw lots of wee ones. Huge numbers into the tens of thousands and a real sense of a ‘migration’. Then it all unfolded over the days with multiple sightings of elephants, giraffes (my personal favorite!) tons of different gizelle/impala type creatures, water buffalo, cheetas with vultures post kill, lions (again lazy and satiated post grizzly wildebeest kill) , hippos and crocodiles in the wet pools, wart hogs, hyenas and jackals to name a few ! Ambrose became obsessed with the birds, and our guide Lawrence was highly knowledgeable and we identified over 100 of the 530 species that grace the park. They were the most beautiful colourful and curious of creatures, in all shapes and sizes of bodies, bills and feet. We will need to do a separate slide show just of our safari as it was truly an experience overflowing with the wonders of mother nature. The role and presence of the Massai also another interesting layer of local history and modern age lessons in traditional land use vs conservation (reminds me of first nation issues in Canada).
To think that we had contemplated not doing safari, as we were put off by the intensely unpleasant ‘vicious’ (as one medical student put it) aspects of the Safari business! Fortunately we were able to find a quite painless connection via the husband of a nurse at the hospital and we got a great price and wonderful guide and had the time of our lives. It was wonderful to see the kids so enthralled, especially Simon, who gleefully exclaimed “I could do this forever…”. This was why he came to Tanzania really, and now that the Safari is over he is quite ready to move on…
After Safari we returned to Muheza to no water and no power, and still find some North American ability in us to whine, and moan (it is 35 – 40 degrees after all) despite the fact that no-one in Muheza has water and everywhere we look, the industry of water transport and selling is milling about like activity in an ant hill. I find myself secretly thinking about a hot shower in Cambridge, and the temperature being cold enough to want one. I am also thinking about riding my bike with gears and silence (no clunks) without sweat pouring off and then dried in an uncomfortably itchy crust.
And so we are down to the last 2 weeks of work life here. We still have a few important teaching wrap-up sessions at Bombo, and the nursing school and in fact I am procrastinating on the final power point prep to write this blog ! Just before Safari, Ambrose and I shared the highlight of our time here when we funded a 2 day palliative care workshop (with some of the donor dollars from all of you!!) at Bombo Hospital. ‘So what ?’ you may say….BUT what is important is in the details. I had suggested we do an intro to Palliative Care lecture (thinking of an hour or 2) for the new satellite CTC clinics (the name given for clinics that care for people with HIV) that were opening in the Tanga region. Our little team took the idea and ran with it and before we knew it, it had become 2 days and 23 participants that included not only the new CTCs but also TAWG (Tanga Aids Working Group who do home based care), the Red Cross (home based care) and the head nurses from all the wards at Bombo Hospital. The best part was that several of the sessions (pain assessment, HIV related pain, and communicating bad news ) were delivered in Swahili by our new PC team at Bombo. This was so amazing, to see the confidence and passion that they brought to the teaching and how competently they had taken on the role of being leaders and educators in PC. This was a moment of great pride and satisfaction for Amb and I, and we now feel like a seed has been solidly planted. There is of course lots of next steps, we are discussing with them (more training needed for these leaders, money for a program, and staffing…etc) We will have our fundraising work cut out for us upon our return…However, this work becomes a joy, when we feel such affection for the individuals and have such a positive sense of their caring and their leadership skills.
Dr. Violet Bakari, the leader of the team, continues to reveal her powerful self to us in a quiet understated manner. Just yesterday, she had our family to her house for lunch and we were welcomed in a fully Tanzanian way, and had the opportunity to make a deeper connection and planning for the future. She shared with us her HIV + status (which had escaped our knowing over the last several months) and more about her health history and work accomplishments. She has worked closely with Dr. Mtatifiko over the last 3 years and has developed the Bombo CTC herself into the thriving functional arm of the hospital that it is. She only began her own ARV treatment in 2004 and was very sick prior to that, so this is really a remarkable accomplishment. She is now a picture of good health and is a success story of ARV accessibility. And now she quietly creates the palliative arm for the hospital, competently bringing the right folks together and building capacity in them. Gladly we will be able to work with her from afar over the next months and years as we look to the future.
Things at Teule, however, continue in a sea of politics and dysfunction. Amb has really given it the college try as they say, using his wonderful management and conflict resolution skills, that he brings from being Chief of Staff at SPH. But to date we have not shifted the milleu, and the 2 sides are deeply divided, and when we leave, so will leave the palliative care in the hospital. At Teule Hospitali we ended up doing precisely what we did not want to do, which was to provide direct service (some 80 plus consults between us) but not build capacity in Tanzanians. Those patients I am sure benefited from our presence here but sadly we will leave (unless some miracle happens in the last 2 weeks!!) without a lasting impact on program development. The reasons are complex and educative (of Tanzania, resource poor settings, of tribal traditions, of HIV/AIDS foreign aid sequelae, of religious leadership, of personality and leadership) but too long for a blog entry.
The whole thing of ARV (anti-retroviral) care in Tanzania is mind-boggling. These are complex treatments with side-effects, and need for absolute unwavering adherence to avoid viral resistance. The system of delivery is new since 2005 or so, constantly changing and expanding at an explosive rate to large numbers of people. However, the anthropology of its impact is not simple and completely different from the introduction of ARVs in a place like Canada. We met a young German MD at Bombo, whose partner is in fact a social anthropologist looking at peoples experience of ARVs both from clinician and patient/family perspectives, and I will be keen to stay in touch with them and learn more of this important research. In Canada, introducing treatments like active HIV care is difficult even when the health care delivery in general is advanced and layered and rich. Here, they are grappling with this complex beast when there is no reliable water, or power or basic medicines, shortage of health care professionals, and the majority by a long shot of the populous live in remote rural villages!
But most importantly I have realized, is that it is a completely different starting place in terms of the lay knowledge base around one’s body and health and disease. For example I saw a patient at Bombo who had advanced breast cancer. Her right breast was consumed by a large mass (peau d’orange for the medical folks) visible spread of the cancer along lymph nodes just under the skin one could see as a lumpy track heading for her arm pit, big lump under her right armpit, and swollen right arm, visible enlarged liver full of metastases. My point is that this cancer had been brewing for years unknown to her. She came to hospital because her right arm was swollen and painful. Think how quickly a typical woman in Canada would have been into her doc had she found a breast lump!! By contrast this woman, had no idea anything was wrong with her breast, and had never heard of cancer. This is a single story representative of a very common scenario. So in the HIV context we can not expect any knowledge base around the idea of germs, bacteria or viruses, let alone viral mutation, infections, or disease transmission. Of course this is changing especially now that treatment is available. Sadly, we are seeing a 2nd wave of deaths, because of course people feel well on ARVs and then think they don’t need them anymore, or side-effects (such as appetite stimulation in the context of not having enough food to eat) make it impossible to continue. All of this is a tall order for HIV educators and care providers, like Violet, and we are blown away by their adaptability, and resilience.
Bus crashes have been a terrible recent theme. Traffic/driving here is unbelievable scary. Speeding, reckless passing, poor vehicle conditions ( 5 gallon portable gas tank at our feet in the dala dala…) . By far and away the most risky thing we have done is to travel to Tanga twice a week and take the bus to Arusha for Safari….Terrible fatalities in the last month on our little stretch of highway, both speed related on the part of careless bus drivers, have resulted in dozens of fatalities. I will not miss this aspect at all. Always feels like a terrible leap of faith to get in a car/bus and go somewhere.
Anyways enough heavy stuff. Ambrose and I look at each other on a daily basis and marvel at the time we have shared here. For all the ups and downs, it has exceeded our wildest hopes as an experience for our family. We have been blessed with a safe and fascinating time here, and solid connections to individuals who have touched us and welcomed us despite our lousy Swahili acquisition, and odd Canadian way of being. I am cherishing the last few bike rides with the boys up to school, and my solo weekend rides through the sisal fields (now much more able to identify birds etc post safari). We are dividing up the last of the donor money between funding vulnerable children to school, provisions for palliative care, support for home based care, and a myriad of other little bits here and there. We feel honoured to have been trusted to share this money around, and grateful to have such concrete directly helpful spots to put it. We will prepare a report of all the homes it found.
It has been unbelievable to watch the boys develop and blossom and adapt. As my mother would have said, “my buttons are bursting with pride”. Each in their own way in their own time, they have come, and learned and shared of themselves. They zoom around Muheza on their bikes, competently exchanging the long multiple Swahili greetings, visiting the various fundi, bargaining at the market and generally taking it all in. Since returning to school in January, there is suddenly a young lad named Ally who rides with us to school, and a gaggle of boys have appeared at our house daily after school. Language still a barrier, but they have the commonness of curiosity in each other. I am so glad we persevered with Holy Family Primary School and didn’t bail to the International expat school in tanga.
And to watch my sweetie Ambrose dive into this time in Africa, has been an affirmation of love and wonder. As we all have seen him give, for this and that, and shared in his endless ability to just ‘get stuff done’ and find the time for everyone and everything, so he has given to Tanzania in the same Ambrose style. (Not that I don’t get very tired of being ‘Mrs. Dr. Ambrose’ and quietly accepting my less visible role….) But together we are a good team (it is the first time we have worked together so closely), and have had the gift of a similar way of seeing things, and endless discussions about life and death and HIV , foreign aid and Africa and human-ness and parenting. I will cherish these six months as a rich and wonderful journey. As one friend wrote in an email, a time of ‘living deep and wide’.
Quick Blog
2 weeks ago I was struggling with the idea of leaving
the safari trip took us away
made us tourists
and gave us time to talk about end game, goodbyes, final reports
add to that , upon our return in Muheza, no water and no electricity with high heat
and the thought of leaving seems easier and clearer
in actual fact leaving and a transition to a new part of this trip , will happen whether I am ready or not
the safari trip took us away
made us tourists
and gave us time to talk about end game, goodbyes, final reports
add to that , upon our return in Muheza, no water and no electricity with high heat
and the thought of leaving seems easier and clearer
in actual fact leaving and a transition to a new part of this trip , will happen whether I am ready or not
Saturday, February 7, 2009
departure looming
As departure looms
Roasted and Ground last kilo of coffee (sadly)
Turkish coffee not far off( not so sadly)
Wonder if I ill be able to get back into the routine
of morning showers for cleanliness
Instead of nightly showers to cool off
Roasted and Ground last kilo of coffee (sadly)
Turkish coffee not far off( not so sadly)
Wonder if I ill be able to get back into the routine
of morning showers for cleanliness
Instead of nightly showers to cool off
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
What will we miss?
What will we most miss?
The ants ( by the thousands)
The bats ( by the hundreds)
Or the gheckos (by the dozens)
What ya Think!!!
The ants ( by the thousands)
The bats ( by the hundreds)
Or the gheckos (by the dozens)
What ya Think!!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
A lovely day
Kid’s Club Goes to the YaCHt Club
YaCHt Club because Swahili is phonetic , all letters are pronounced( no silent ch). It was a non written language “ translated “ or transcribed into the English alphabet by Missionaries.
So today the Diana Center ( the palliative care center in Muheza ) took 91ish kids plus support staff to the YaCHt Club of Tanga for a semi annual outing.
All these kids are HIV Positive. They are a mix of ages from about 4 to 15, boys and girls.
Their health is variable
Coughs are common , some small for their age, some malnourished.
Many ,not all, are on ARVs( anti- retrovirals)
They come weekly to the center for health and social activities
Some are orphans( in Tanzania the loss of even one parent qualifies you for that title.)
The kids started assembling about 0800( 0200 swahili time)
Parents, family members or guardians dropping them off and those that lived in the ‘burbs ‘ of muheza were picked up.
Those with some sort of finery were wearing it, a number had good jeans, better shoes and dresses and some wore the best finery they had ,that was sadly less fine.
Simon recently ruptured his ear drum while swimming and snorkeling, came with us but could not indulge in water play, he is being a trooper with drops and pills for a klebsiella/pseudomonas infection in that ear( for you medical folk out there). Griff had gone in earlier with friends and their kids who are having sailing lessons and he sailed on his own in one of the dinghies, his first sailing experience and he enjoyed it.
We packed into 4 Dala dalas ( the local transport- Toyota panel van sized vehicles full of seats always overfilled and today was no exception.)
We headed off and not a kilometer out the small thin little boy next to me began too vomit, too soon for car-sickness, maybe excitement, or maybe an unwell lad. A plastic bag appeared and eventually a cloth and he fell asleep on my lap occasionally raising his head, looking for the bag and retching a bit more.
There was some bus singing( more on Leah’s dala dala) and then the YaCHt club was invaded.Many had not been on a Dala dala before but even more had not even seen the ocean.
So beach play-soccer balls, skipping ropes - sodas and samosa for morning snack and then a fairly unselfconscious change into swimwear , or not, for a play in the shallows. These kids are not swimmers. There was some concern that they may be drowners.
The next treat in a day full of treats was a boat ride around the bay in a sail boat owned by a displaced Zimbabwean musungu ( white guy) . Just motored but they loved it. Leah was asked if she could swim and when she answered in the affirmative she was invited on the ride in case of disaster( which would have been a terrible disaster) but all went without a hitch.
There was a 45 minute ( wasungu or Swahili time) period where lunch was not yet ready and the children were restless and the Diana staff who really came for a day at the YaCHt club themselves were enjoying their second or third beer,and kids starting wandering all over. There was a small hint of looming chaos and a ‘never invited back’ sort of scenario. But some of the non beer drinking staff made up games and songs and lunch was eventually served
Sodas again, rice, plantain stew, chicken, and stewed bitter greens called mcheecha. All deelish.
AND THEN
Ice cream and cookies!!
I had not seen tubs of ice cream since being here and there they were, vanilla AND chocolate .We did not give them a choice ( would they know what they were choosing between??). It was all consumed.
My little vomiting friend with the large sad eyes wanted dessert too but the coordinator thought better of it much to his sadness so I gave him 2 servings of cookies, small not too sweet, seemed reasonable. He was not happy about that but ate them without hesitation.
Clean up , pack up, final beers for some. Connecting lost swimsuits or finery with its proper owner and then up to the buses
On my way up I collected a plastic bag for my little friend assuming he would sit beside me . Besides the fact that I was assigned to a different vehicle I did see him on my way to the dala dala with a Bowl of CHOCOLATE ice cream. Hope his ride was uneventful.
All in all a heart warming experience in an already warm place.
27 days to go !!! AARRGGGHHHH
2310 hrs ( wasungu time) 31/1/09 and it is raining!! Always appreciated
goodnight
YaCHt Club because Swahili is phonetic , all letters are pronounced( no silent ch). It was a non written language “ translated “ or transcribed into the English alphabet by Missionaries.
So today the Diana Center ( the palliative care center in Muheza ) took 91ish kids plus support staff to the YaCHt Club of Tanga for a semi annual outing.
All these kids are HIV Positive. They are a mix of ages from about 4 to 15, boys and girls.
Their health is variable
Coughs are common , some small for their age, some malnourished.
Many ,not all, are on ARVs( anti- retrovirals)
They come weekly to the center for health and social activities
Some are orphans( in Tanzania the loss of even one parent qualifies you for that title.)
The kids started assembling about 0800( 0200 swahili time)
Parents, family members or guardians dropping them off and those that lived in the ‘burbs ‘ of muheza were picked up.
Those with some sort of finery were wearing it, a number had good jeans, better shoes and dresses and some wore the best finery they had ,that was sadly less fine.
Simon recently ruptured his ear drum while swimming and snorkeling, came with us but could not indulge in water play, he is being a trooper with drops and pills for a klebsiella/pseudomonas infection in that ear( for you medical folk out there). Griff had gone in earlier with friends and their kids who are having sailing lessons and he sailed on his own in one of the dinghies, his first sailing experience and he enjoyed it.
We packed into 4 Dala dalas ( the local transport- Toyota panel van sized vehicles full of seats always overfilled and today was no exception.)
We headed off and not a kilometer out the small thin little boy next to me began too vomit, too soon for car-sickness, maybe excitement, or maybe an unwell lad. A plastic bag appeared and eventually a cloth and he fell asleep on my lap occasionally raising his head, looking for the bag and retching a bit more.
There was some bus singing( more on Leah’s dala dala) and then the YaCHt club was invaded.Many had not been on a Dala dala before but even more had not even seen the ocean.
So beach play-soccer balls, skipping ropes - sodas and samosa for morning snack and then a fairly unselfconscious change into swimwear , or not, for a play in the shallows. These kids are not swimmers. There was some concern that they may be drowners.
The next treat in a day full of treats was a boat ride around the bay in a sail boat owned by a displaced Zimbabwean musungu ( white guy) . Just motored but they loved it. Leah was asked if she could swim and when she answered in the affirmative she was invited on the ride in case of disaster( which would have been a terrible disaster) but all went without a hitch.
There was a 45 minute ( wasungu or Swahili time) period where lunch was not yet ready and the children were restless and the Diana staff who really came for a day at the YaCHt club themselves were enjoying their second or third beer,and kids starting wandering all over. There was a small hint of looming chaos and a ‘never invited back’ sort of scenario. But some of the non beer drinking staff made up games and songs and lunch was eventually served
Sodas again, rice, plantain stew, chicken, and stewed bitter greens called mcheecha. All deelish.
AND THEN
Ice cream and cookies!!
I had not seen tubs of ice cream since being here and there they were, vanilla AND chocolate .We did not give them a choice ( would they know what they were choosing between??). It was all consumed.
My little vomiting friend with the large sad eyes wanted dessert too but the coordinator thought better of it much to his sadness so I gave him 2 servings of cookies, small not too sweet, seemed reasonable. He was not happy about that but ate them without hesitation.
Clean up , pack up, final beers for some. Connecting lost swimsuits or finery with its proper owner and then up to the buses
On my way up I collected a plastic bag for my little friend assuming he would sit beside me . Besides the fact that I was assigned to a different vehicle I did see him on my way to the dala dala with a Bowl of CHOCOLATE ice cream. Hope his ride was uneventful.
All in all a heart warming experience in an already warm place.
27 days to go !!! AARRGGGHHHH
2310 hrs ( wasungu time) 31/1/09 and it is raining!! Always appreciated
goodnight
Lunches in Muheza
Lunches in Muheza
Before I start I should let you know that I did get a few responses about the definition of Foodie and wether I am a member of such a club ( and even if I where the badge with honour.both e-mails and letter referred to official definitions and general habits. I enjoyed the correspondence and the comments gave me something to chew on.
Trying to avoid labels most of my life ( exept ,father, friend, doctor,husband…) I think my essys are more a way to share some of what we see here and maybe part of what we can slightly understand here so that you can get a feel or even a ‘taste ‘ of our time here. Consider it an anthropological assessment through the eyes and mouth of a person who can appreciate socity through it foods and…… no never mind let’s call it foods for thought,as best as I can see or taste them , no more no less from a person who rarely misses a meal or leaves food behind.
Lunch really has only one word- Juliette –
She is in charge of lunches at “hillview” from Monday to Friday ( except holidays and on the weekends we make do or eat leftovers from Juliettes weekday lunches.
There is little variety ( although some). Yet I ( for one O never tire of them
I think the general theme dates back to Richard and Karilyn( we see this now after spending 2 days with them and enjoying a delicious lumch of soup and bread.
So that is lunch soup and bread.
The variations include condiments and additons to the soup like cheese, yogurt, hotsauce and bread variations chapattis -2 types , classic bready greasy and a crepe-like batter with onions. MMMMM, and recently rose’s banana bread (now part of Juliette’s repetoire)
Although Juliette cleans and does our laundry ( irons too although not our socks, underwear and T-shirts anymore) lunch is something she insists on being involved with>
Leftovers from diner, +/- eggsalad , tunafish or peanut butter and jam sandwiches can be added to lunch but they are more common on weekends. By lunch time cold water is essential.
So the only other lunches of note , besides those when traveling to new destinations –all unique and none worth reporting- are our lunches in Tanga either on weekend errands and swim or our almost twice weekly visits for teaching and rounds.
The Food palace atsy Indian curries and western food, very slowly created , but tasty.
Mkonge hotel( site of rose’s last catan victory in Tanzania), overpriced remnant of colonial days, swimming pool, colour TV with soccer regularly available, good food just too much guilt associated.
Yacht club -ditto to Mkonge without TV or pool, ocean swim available.
But lately samosa to go from patwas diner with or without fruit juice or lassi.
Lunches are tasty , usually a chance to slow down and get out of the heat, nothing special but rarely disappointing.
Before I start I should let you know that I did get a few responses about the definition of Foodie and wether I am a member of such a club ( and even if I where the badge with honour.both e-mails and letter referred to official definitions and general habits. I enjoyed the correspondence and the comments gave me something to chew on.
Trying to avoid labels most of my life ( exept ,father, friend, doctor,husband…) I think my essys are more a way to share some of what we see here and maybe part of what we can slightly understand here so that you can get a feel or even a ‘taste ‘ of our time here. Consider it an anthropological assessment through the eyes and mouth of a person who can appreciate socity through it foods and…… no never mind let’s call it foods for thought,as best as I can see or taste them , no more no less from a person who rarely misses a meal or leaves food behind.
Lunch really has only one word- Juliette –
She is in charge of lunches at “hillview” from Monday to Friday ( except holidays and on the weekends we make do or eat leftovers from Juliettes weekday lunches.
There is little variety ( although some). Yet I ( for one O never tire of them
I think the general theme dates back to Richard and Karilyn( we see this now after spending 2 days with them and enjoying a delicious lumch of soup and bread.
So that is lunch soup and bread.
The variations include condiments and additons to the soup like cheese, yogurt, hotsauce and bread variations chapattis -2 types , classic bready greasy and a crepe-like batter with onions. MMMMM, and recently rose’s banana bread (now part of Juliette’s repetoire)
Although Juliette cleans and does our laundry ( irons too although not our socks, underwear and T-shirts anymore) lunch is something she insists on being involved with>
Leftovers from diner, +/- eggsalad , tunafish or peanut butter and jam sandwiches can be added to lunch but they are more common on weekends. By lunch time cold water is essential.
So the only other lunches of note , besides those when traveling to new destinations –all unique and none worth reporting- are our lunches in Tanga either on weekend errands and swim or our almost twice weekly visits for teaching and rounds.
The Food palace atsy Indian curries and western food, very slowly created , but tasty.
Mkonge hotel( site of rose’s last catan victory in Tanzania), overpriced remnant of colonial days, swimming pool, colour TV with soccer regularly available, good food just too much guilt associated.
Yacht club -ditto to Mkonge without TV or pool, ocean swim available.
But lately samosa to go from patwas diner with or without fruit juice or lassi.
Lunches are tasty , usually a chance to slow down and get out of the heat, nothing special but rarely disappointing.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
We Don't Want To Leave
Departure 4 weeks tomorrow
Getting excited about next adventures
Cycling group e-mailing and planning too
BUT
I (we) are in no hurry to leave MUHEZA
Getting excited about next adventures
Cycling group e-mailing and planning too
BUT
I (we) are in no hurry to leave MUHEZA
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Swahili time,Mzungu Time,and Recent Logistical Errors in Tanzania
1) Swahili Time….. the time in Tanzania told by Tanzainas is different than ‘our’ 24 hour clock
It doesn’t affect us usually because most hospital, school, bus… events have been converted to our clock. But it was curious to learn that 0600 our time is actually 0000 hrs. so 0900 is 3o’clock for locals and 1400 hrs. would then be 8 o’clock Tanzanian/Swahili time. This is a generally functional system because it seems things slowly start around 0600 hrs. and since we are close to the equator ( but clearly less so as you go south) the days are not very variable in their sunrise/ sunset pattern with sunrise around 0600 hrs.. There you go. FYI
2)Mzungu time…...We experienced a vivid example of this today….We are at a resort on the Indian Ocean with Joel and Paula ( called Peponi) and Leah and I are travelling to a small town Pangani where ware doing some palliative care outreach ( to far to drive back and forth from muheza daily so we made this into a break for the kids too)
I texted the hospital palliative care team at Pangani on Tuesday to set up our morning meeting. I suggested we arrive at 0900 ( our time -ignore previous essay ) and Edith Chuma the ‘matron’= Headnurse said that 0800 would b better for the staff. So Leah and I got up at 0600 ( 0000 Swahili time –refer to previous essay) had water and Paula’s banana bread deelish .. NO coffee (refer to essay on breakfasts in Tanzania) and we walk out to the road and eventually a passing Dala Dala takes us to Pangani ( our boys and and Jand P still resting comfortably). Walk in Pangani to hospital arrive 0810 and Edith is just arriving and we are escorted to the DMO’s ( District medical Officer) office, sign the guest book, “de rigeur” and eventually start our lecture about 0910!!
Last week a meeting was called at 1400 hours- important strategizing meeting. Leah and I and Sally were there at 1401 hrs … meeting started at 1425 hours . we all laughed
.Even here( after 5 months) we can’t slow ourselves totally to the pace or the apprectiation of time as the locals do
3)Logistaical Nightmares of the week
We met a few weeks ago in Dar es Salaam a cab driver who was very helpful ( our friend Juma was not available) he gave us his card .. Jonas” Logistical Expert”
This week I should have had a Logistical Expert.
i) Monday we contact Edith Chuma at Pangaini District Hospiatl ( see 2 above) to confirm our arrival. This after numerous text messages and e-mails and attempt at faxes in December. Much to my horror she was expecting us next week. This after we had coordinated time at Peponi with the boys, and Joel and Paula and then to connect ( in 2 days) with Fiona Manning and Stephanie and their girls( friends from Victoria) for a further 2 days here. The next day she texted back and said she would work things out.
ii) We arrived at peponi and they had no record or our reservation!!!! after numerous calls and e-mails by Leah in December and January. Although it was initially a bit stressful , they did get us into the family banda (sleeps 6)… Curiously the place is empty except for us so I am still not sure about the initial hesitation.
iii) Last night was the inauguration of Barak Obama we dined here at Peponi after a lovely day of travel and and a before dinner swim. They have a TV here so we were excited to se his speech. Dinner was started with Paula’s beans and cold beers (all quite fartogenic) at the banda and then delicious fish and prawns and pasta for dinner. Paula offered to treat the adults to a brandy and locally famous Peponi Brownies for the boys as we watch the speech .I (I) had calculated the time difference at 9 hours earlier even though I knew Victoria was 11 hours earlier and I am well aware it is 3 hours different between the west coats and Toronto/Washington DC. So we sat down as Barak kissed Laura Bush goodbye and sadly realized that we had missed the speech, we had missed history, I had miscalculated.
Where are those Logistic Experts when you need one.
It doesn’t affect us usually because most hospital, school, bus… events have been converted to our clock. But it was curious to learn that 0600 our time is actually 0000 hrs. so 0900 is 3o’clock for locals and 1400 hrs. would then be 8 o’clock Tanzanian/Swahili time. This is a generally functional system because it seems things slowly start around 0600 hrs. and since we are close to the equator ( but clearly less so as you go south) the days are not very variable in their sunrise/ sunset pattern with sunrise around 0600 hrs.. There you go. FYI
2)Mzungu time…...We experienced a vivid example of this today….We are at a resort on the Indian Ocean with Joel and Paula ( called Peponi) and Leah and I are travelling to a small town Pangani where ware doing some palliative care outreach ( to far to drive back and forth from muheza daily so we made this into a break for the kids too)
I texted the hospital palliative care team at Pangani on Tuesday to set up our morning meeting. I suggested we arrive at 0900 ( our time -ignore previous essay ) and Edith Chuma the ‘matron’= Headnurse said that 0800 would b better for the staff. So Leah and I got up at 0600 ( 0000 Swahili time –refer to previous essay) had water and Paula’s banana bread deelish .. NO coffee (refer to essay on breakfasts in Tanzania) and we walk out to the road and eventually a passing Dala Dala takes us to Pangani ( our boys and and Jand P still resting comfortably). Walk in Pangani to hospital arrive 0810 and Edith is just arriving and we are escorted to the DMO’s ( District medical Officer) office, sign the guest book, “de rigeur” and eventually start our lecture about 0910!!
Last week a meeting was called at 1400 hours- important strategizing meeting. Leah and I and Sally were there at 1401 hrs … meeting started at 1425 hours . we all laughed
.Even here( after 5 months) we can’t slow ourselves totally to the pace or the apprectiation of time as the locals do
3)Logistaical Nightmares of the week
We met a few weeks ago in Dar es Salaam a cab driver who was very helpful ( our friend Juma was not available) he gave us his card .. Jonas” Logistical Expert”
This week I should have had a Logistical Expert.
i) Monday we contact Edith Chuma at Pangaini District Hospiatl ( see 2 above) to confirm our arrival. This after numerous text messages and e-mails and attempt at faxes in December. Much to my horror she was expecting us next week. This after we had coordinated time at Peponi with the boys, and Joel and Paula and then to connect ( in 2 days) with Fiona Manning and Stephanie and their girls( friends from Victoria) for a further 2 days here. The next day she texted back and said she would work things out.
ii) We arrived at peponi and they had no record or our reservation!!!! after numerous calls and e-mails by Leah in December and January. Although it was initially a bit stressful , they did get us into the family banda (sleeps 6)… Curiously the place is empty except for us so I am still not sure about the initial hesitation.
iii) Last night was the inauguration of Barak Obama we dined here at Peponi after a lovely day of travel and and a before dinner swim. They have a TV here so we were excited to se his speech. Dinner was started with Paula’s beans and cold beers (all quite fartogenic) at the banda and then delicious fish and prawns and pasta for dinner. Paula offered to treat the adults to a brandy and locally famous Peponi Brownies for the boys as we watch the speech .I (I) had calculated the time difference at 9 hours earlier even though I knew Victoria was 11 hours earlier and I am well aware it is 3 hours different between the west coats and Toronto/Washington DC. So we sat down as Barak kissed Laura Bush goodbye and sadly realized that we had missed the speech, we had missed history, I had miscalculated.
Where are those Logistic Experts when you need one.
Friday, January 16, 2009
4 days in Muheza
When everyday is new and unusual and sometimes difficult,here is an intriguing set of 4 days
Only the funny,disturbing, interesting, frustrating -story- telling bits
DAY 1( was a Friday) while I was in Tanga with griffin ,working and successfully erranding Leah was discovering and cleaning the maggot ridden, dead rat that had shorted out our stove so that cooking had been impossible and breathing even worse. While cleaning the stove with some eventual help from Juliette and Athmani they also discovered that our running water was dirtier than usual and the holding tank was found to be holding surface insects and had a bottom full of black slime that also needed cleaning.
All nauseophilic events.
Day 2 found Leah ill with nausea and malaise and I had bad diarrhea ( no more details necessary) unlikely related to the water issues ( see day 1) which was probably a newly discovered chronic state.
After a history of recurrent power outages and blackouts ,day 2 developed POWER SURGES- where the fans felt like they might lift us off the ground or blow us away- and POWER FADES- where lights dimmed to almost imperceptible and the fan blades circled slow enough to be counted. We didn’t trust the stove so chips and miyii( eggs) and meat (unnamed) skewers, from street vendors for dinner.
Even before dinner some local lads ( new to us) came to our door. I thought, to borrow a soccer ball. We had decided only to lend out the ball to boys we knew ( as a general policy not because of any historical losses). They didn’t want a ball. They had a big plastic weave bag that once held 25 Kgs. of flour.They seemed to want to sell me the contents.
So I looked in.
A 2 foot ( maybe ½ meter) in diameter tortoise!! Why should I be surprised?
So I called all family members and friends and friend’s family members to see it and watch it poke its head out and run( ya right) for cover.
After our curiosity and wonder had been satisfied and pictures taken( hopefully attached), I realized they did mean to sell it and if we did not buy it they would terrorize it, or kill it, or sell it to someone else who might do similiarly nasty things to it. So I bought it.
2000 Tz. Sh. Down from an opening gambit of 5000.
Now what.
First I waited until its captors, who were trying decide how to divide up their windfall, hd left. I would have loved to have understood that conversation.
Then more pictures including video as it (he/she) wondered off.
I needed to insure that the initial captors were not watching my compassionate act with thoughts of recapture and resale.
All went well,including the tortoise.
So for about 25 minutes I owned a tortoise in Tanzania.
Day 3 more fades than surges until later in the day so we were able to cook fish and play Catan. ( Griffin and an Aussie student named James-the problem being the other Australian medical student’s name is also James.
Leah felt better and my bowels settled ( no details necessary).
Around dinner time (before Catan) we realized we had no running water. Was this due to local water rationing which until now we had seemingly been protected by or was it pump failure due to the electrical variability.No idea.
No prebed showers.
Day 4 sadly at 0400 hrs Alex and Emily had their house terrorized by 4-5 men and an attempted burglary was thwarted only when we( Hatibu –our night guard- and I)arrived and Alex surrendered some money. It was only the noise of our arrival not any physical presence that scared them away.We did not actually see them, but the evidence of their attempt was physically clear and Emily and Alex were very shaken.
The next day found us with no water , no new pump available and the whole community quite upset and worried about the assault. Until their house is made more secure they will stay with us.
4 Days in Muheza.
Only the funny,disturbing, interesting, frustrating -story- telling bits
DAY 1( was a Friday) while I was in Tanga with griffin ,working and successfully erranding Leah was discovering and cleaning the maggot ridden, dead rat that had shorted out our stove so that cooking had been impossible and breathing even worse. While cleaning the stove with some eventual help from Juliette and Athmani they also discovered that our running water was dirtier than usual and the holding tank was found to be holding surface insects and had a bottom full of black slime that also needed cleaning.
All nauseophilic events.
Day 2 found Leah ill with nausea and malaise and I had bad diarrhea ( no more details necessary) unlikely related to the water issues ( see day 1) which was probably a newly discovered chronic state.
After a history of recurrent power outages and blackouts ,day 2 developed POWER SURGES- where the fans felt like they might lift us off the ground or blow us away- and POWER FADES- where lights dimmed to almost imperceptible and the fan blades circled slow enough to be counted. We didn’t trust the stove so chips and miyii( eggs) and meat (unnamed) skewers, from street vendors for dinner.
Even before dinner some local lads ( new to us) came to our door. I thought, to borrow a soccer ball. We had decided only to lend out the ball to boys we knew ( as a general policy not because of any historical losses). They didn’t want a ball. They had a big plastic weave bag that once held 25 Kgs. of flour.They seemed to want to sell me the contents.
So I looked in.
A 2 foot ( maybe ½ meter) in diameter tortoise!! Why should I be surprised?
So I called all family members and friends and friend’s family members to see it and watch it poke its head out and run( ya right) for cover.
After our curiosity and wonder had been satisfied and pictures taken( hopefully attached), I realized they did mean to sell it and if we did not buy it they would terrorize it, or kill it, or sell it to someone else who might do similiarly nasty things to it. So I bought it.
2000 Tz. Sh. Down from an opening gambit of 5000.
Now what.
First I waited until its captors, who were trying decide how to divide up their windfall, hd left. I would have loved to have understood that conversation.
Then more pictures including video as it (he/she) wondered off.
I needed to insure that the initial captors were not watching my compassionate act with thoughts of recapture and resale.
All went well,including the tortoise.
So for about 25 minutes I owned a tortoise in Tanzania.
Day 3 more fades than surges until later in the day so we were able to cook fish and play Catan. ( Griffin and an Aussie student named James-the problem being the other Australian medical student’s name is also James.
Leah felt better and my bowels settled ( no details necessary).
Around dinner time (before Catan) we realized we had no running water. Was this due to local water rationing which until now we had seemingly been protected by or was it pump failure due to the electrical variability.No idea.
No prebed showers.
Day 4 sadly at 0400 hrs Alex and Emily had their house terrorized by 4-5 men and an attempted burglary was thwarted only when we( Hatibu –our night guard- and I)arrived and Alex surrendered some money. It was only the noise of our arrival not any physical presence that scared them away.We did not actually see them, but the evidence of their attempt was physically clear and Emily and Alex were very shaken.
The next day found us with no water , no new pump available and the whole community quite upset and worried about the assault. Until their house is made more secure they will stay with us.
4 Days in Muheza.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Breakfast Foodie Blog
Breakfasts
Breakfasts have 2 general themes – simple and special .
For Leah there is also the simple and special breakfast theme but ……NOT BEFORE COFFEE ( since I described coffee with beverages in the previous ‘foodie’ blog I will give no more details except that griff tried his first coffee yesterday)
Simple breakfasts are on work and school days.
Cereal available but expensive, not in our 100 mile diet and not popular amongst us and the Rice Krispies didn’t really go Snap Krackle Pop very well.
Toast and Tanzanian peanut butter made in Arusha.- Arusha is North Central Tanzania on the way to the Serengeti ( very tasty and no added sugar) and/or Tanzanian Jam also made in Arusha ( more like jelly and lots of sugar added) with a variety of flavours classic strawberry and raspberry but also mango, watermelon,safari mix , pear, apple and others.
We make granola with oats,cashews, groundnuts, local honey and I eat it with raisins, but as many of you know the rest of my family have a psychological aversion to raisins, created and reinforced by their mother.
Lately Griffin has been making oat porridge ( Neil Neate will be proud of him for that)
Eggs are very plentiful ,15-20 cents each . clearly free range( the chickens are everywhere and we have a local rooster alarm clock) scrambled, boiled ,fried always an option and still simple.
But Special Breakfast ahh there is a treat.
Omelets, Toast, French Toast, Pancakes and Bacon are courses in one combination or another qualifying breakfast as special.
Fresh fruit bananas, oranges, jack fruit, pineapple also makes special breakfast nutritious too.
But really the topper to special breakfast is CANADIAN MAPLE SYRUP. ( clearly disqualified from any 100 mile diet in Tanzania but patritic too) First brought to us when Sally and Rose came to visit ( just having S&R here made it a special breakfast) and then Leah brought some back during her Canadian interlude ( she even brought an extra litre for Emily and Alex’s Christmas gift , now the have ‘special’ breakfast too)….. used sparingly except by Simon the CMS makes our special breakfast ( the most important meal of the day) oh so special.
Breakfasts have 2 general themes – simple and special .
For Leah there is also the simple and special breakfast theme but ……NOT BEFORE COFFEE ( since I described coffee with beverages in the previous ‘foodie’ blog I will give no more details except that griff tried his first coffee yesterday)
Simple breakfasts are on work and school days.
Cereal available but expensive, not in our 100 mile diet and not popular amongst us and the Rice Krispies didn’t really go Snap Krackle Pop very well.
Toast and Tanzanian peanut butter made in Arusha.- Arusha is North Central Tanzania on the way to the Serengeti ( very tasty and no added sugar) and/or Tanzanian Jam also made in Arusha ( more like jelly and lots of sugar added) with a variety of flavours classic strawberry and raspberry but also mango, watermelon,safari mix , pear, apple and others.
We make granola with oats,cashews, groundnuts, local honey and I eat it with raisins, but as many of you know the rest of my family have a psychological aversion to raisins, created and reinforced by their mother.
Lately Griffin has been making oat porridge ( Neil Neate will be proud of him for that)
Eggs are very plentiful ,15-20 cents each . clearly free range( the chickens are everywhere and we have a local rooster alarm clock) scrambled, boiled ,fried always an option and still simple.
But Special Breakfast ahh there is a treat.
Omelets, Toast, French Toast, Pancakes and Bacon are courses in one combination or another qualifying breakfast as special.
Fresh fruit bananas, oranges, jack fruit, pineapple also makes special breakfast nutritious too.
But really the topper to special breakfast is CANADIAN MAPLE SYRUP. ( clearly disqualified from any 100 mile diet in Tanzania but patritic too) First brought to us when Sally and Rose came to visit ( just having S&R here made it a special breakfast) and then Leah brought some back during her Canadian interlude ( she even brought an extra litre for Emily and Alex’s Christmas gift , now the have ‘special’ breakfast too)….. used sparingly except by Simon the CMS makes our special breakfast ( the most important meal of the day) oh so special.
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