mvumi - visiting molleni and leon's birthplace!

Elizabeth from the uni very kindly lent us her car - which we drove to mvumi!

2 tasks here - find leon's birthplace... the mvumi hospital, which was a mission hospital and the best place to have a little one when leon popped out back in the 70's.

As photo 1 shows - we found it :-)

the other task was to find Molleni - she's the matron of the girls school, but as school is on holidays and the rains have come, she was in her shamba (field). So we asked (well, luke did) an askari (guard) where we could go, and he eventually came with us to show us where. We travelled through many shamba villages to her one - which is right on the road slaves used to be taken along, and missionaries used to travel on (john briggs etc.) - missios would try and buy/free slaves when they could.
Anyways, we found molleni (pic 2) and her house built this year (pic 3) and she showed us her shamba with mahindi (corn) and mangoes and rice and millet.... very clever.

then we connected her via the handy mobile phone to hugh and dorothy back home :-)
she was very happy.

new tz license

armed with a brand spanking new tanzanian driving license we're gonna try to drive to mvumi then kongwa.

this was the real heart of my (luke's) tanzanian experience as a child, so i'm really looking forward to showing jane these important parts of my history.

the next few days

hoping to head to mvumi (where leon was born) and kongwa (where Luke's parents worked for 25 years) - both on the map below:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111912803863948993529.00047bb19773dd3f83f74&ll=-6.300284,36.118927&spn=0.619706,0.883026&t=h&z=10


challenge will be getting there with the rains which have washed away some roads.
and finding the mango tree luke planted as a kid.

:-)

some tanzanian mysteries

where do all the people go when the rains come? Such heavy rain! And where do the bugs go? And how do the hundreds of bugs get into houses that have mozzie screens on all windows and doors???

Shopping... where do tanzanians do their shopping? We've been going to one of the expensive mini supermarkets run by some of the muslims here... but the prices and range are western and not sustainable for everything. Do they shop at markets only? Or do they buy different products from different shops (meat from a meat shop, fruit from the market)... it seems a big mystery of a cultural divide.

kangas... worked out (with Elizabeth's help) that kangas can, in fact, be tied over pregnant bumps... and they tend to be the clothing of choice for funerals (for women).

tanzanian christmas 2

1 chatting with family back home on christmas day

 

2 Tanzanian Christmas fare - pilau, bananas, cassava leaves (covered), chicken... potatoes. yum!

 

3 Lunch with Bishop Ntiruka and his family - including his son David, who remembers racing Luke as kids... and David won. Luke doesn't remember the incident :-)

 

4 Dinner on Christmas day at the new dodoma hotel with Bishop Mhogolo, who was at Ridley/Jude's 1976-80, his wife, daughter, her fiance and Jane Window (teaching at the school Luke went to as a youngster!)

 

tanzanian christmas

1.  Jane and Elizabeth at the Uni chapel on Christmas eve - Elizabeth works in IT at the uni, and preached at the 9pm service. She lives next door to the Carr's and we've had a lovely time hanging out with her (plan tonight is for a dvd and some relaxing!). We noted the merry christmas sign had some issues...

 

2. A gigantic snail! Enjoying the rain.

 

3  Christmas morning - making luke some fresh orange juice squeezed as a treat!

 

4 at church.. the english service at the cathedral. during the offering this rooster was given! classic. traditionally such offerings are auctioned at the end of the service.

 

whoops - milo left out of previous blog

milo noted here!

luke's first school, climax club and buying a kanga

The building where luke first went to school - his strongest memory: standing on the concrete lining up for assembly!

This school is also where Laura White (Firth) and Maria Brand (-Starkey) taught :-) Hurrah! Nice to check it out! (Maria and Laura - Jane Window and Irene (mama bishop) said hi! and come back!)

 

The pods Luke used to collect - when they are dry (see photo - it's brown) - they were super handy for percussion instruments!

 

The Climax Club - a place of family fun for the young Prentices... many a soda and swim were enjoyed here!

 

Many women in Tanzania wear 'kangas' - printed on one side, large sheet type pieces of material, with little phrases/proverbs on the bottom that are usually something to do with God (e.g. 'Has not strayed from God's path', 'God alone knows the salvation of man' etc.) So we bought one for Janey - and this little shop was in an area of Saba Saba (seven seven - a clothes market) away from normal foreigner interaction, so we were hardly hassled as we walked through and the prices were not inflated for white faces!

They seem to be worn over other clothes - skirts i think... and readjusted as they come loose over the day... and are handy for use like an apron in the kitchen or while cleaning... but don't go easily over a pregnant bump!

Sites around st john's uni

The tree where Germans conducted their 'justice' during a previous era in Tanzania (the place bodies were hung)

 

A lecture theatre

 

One of the private shops on the uni grounds supplying students with handy things (note the milo on the left!!)

 

Alfred visiting - he was a student at Kongwa, and a teacher, and the principal for a while.

some differences...

contemplating the difference between life here and home

here:

to have milk for breakfast means boiling the milk come fresh from the cow for 4 minutes, then waiting for it to cool so the cream can be scooped off the top.

fresh vegies for lunch means soaking them in iodine to rid them of bugs.

washing the dishes is only necessary if the house helper isn't coming before they're needed next.

going to bed involves tucking in a mosquito net around the mattress, with vigilent searching for mosquitoes who got in before you.

ministry here regularly involves discussions about money and death - not being able to afford anything from food to education, and in 2 days here we've heard of a recent car accident, a 2 yr old died of malaria, one student had 3 relatives die in a month, and that's only from talking to 3 people.

hierarchy affects life.

slow day

having some slow time in dodoma at the carr's place.

watched a west wing and remembered our visit to washington D.C.

watched a dramatised version of John Wycliffe's life in preparation for maybe visiting some reformation sites in Germany/Switzerland.

watched the 'great plains' episode from David Attenburgh's 'Planet Earth' and marvelled at the migrations of herds through the earth and the provision of grass for so many to eat. Good prep for a little safari back in Kenya after the new year.

it's nice to be slow.

dusty dodoma

we flew from arusha (northern tanzania) to dodoma (centre) on this 13
seater plane. it's a cessna 208 caravan. :) the first photo is us
landed at the haydom airstrip right in the middle of nowhere, but on
quite a high plateau.

the little rings are maasai homes seen from the plane (approx
10,000ft). the maasai are a very large tribe/people group in kenya and
tanzania. traditionally nomadic herding people, also known for
drinking a lovely mixture of blood and milk.

clouds over central tanzania as we approach dodoma.

we're staying at neville and elspeth carr's place in dodoma.

and i saw a very pretty and beautiful flower in their garden. almost
as beautiful as my wife, who is positively glowing with our little boy
on board. last week i felt him kicking for the first time. :)

last photo is jane, esther mbogo and me. esther used to play with
fiona when we lived in kongwa.

--
Luke Prentice ... 0401 157 339

In Dodoma

Found an iced coffee in Dodoma!

the roof of africa

the tanzanian flag flying at marangu gate - the entry to the kilimanjaro national park.

 

jane and me enjoying the privilege of being in this part of the world. (i climbed kilimanjaro almost exactly 20 years ago: january 9th, 1990). jane's feeling a bit hot in the morning sun at the rooftop bar of our hotel in moshi.

 

now in arusha, having enjoyed a lovely chinese meal while talking english, swahili, german and chinese. and there are more mosquitoes here...

update on jane

we ventured into moshi town and after asking around a bit we found a place which sold an accurate thermometer (having left 2 decent ones back in melbourne during the mad rush to pack up and move out of lygon st!).

the thermometer read... 37.0 C, which means jane hasn't got a high temp. she's feeling better. still pretty hot here, but that's cos everyone's feeling the heat.

we're off this afternoon to visit marangu this afternoon which is at a higher altitude, so that will be a bit cooler for most of the afternoon.

tomorrow we'll visit st margaret's church here in moshi. this was the church i went to school at when i was a student at the International School of Moshi.

this is where we are: moshi tanzania

jane's feeling unwell

it's pretty hot in moshi. jane's feeling a bit unwell, so we're trying to find some medical help... including skyping family back in oz.

monday we fly to dodoma and good news: we've got a flight all the way from dodoma to nairobi on monday 4th jan!

Hot in moshi

It's hot. Very hot. Progesterone may be helping the heat be felt.
But Luke is hot too.

We're planning a trip to Luke's school (yrs 7 and 8) this afternoon.

Yesterday we caught a bus from Nairobi to Moshi. About 8 hrs. The
Lonely Planet says the road from Nairobi to the border town (Namanga)
is "sealed and in surprisingly good condition". We figured this was by
african standards, or that we travelled after roadworks began, such
that most of our trip was going on detours to the dusty rocky bumpy
road parallel to the sealed road. Perhaps the rain washed it away.

Passports for africans seem to be a piece of paper with stamps on -
perhaps with a photo. Unfortunately some people didn't have
appropriate I.D or documents for travel - when the bus continued in
Tanzania we had lost 2 passengers through the border crossing. After a
wait of more than an hour it was time to move on.

Travelling with Dad in Cambodia and Thailand was good preparation for
this trip. The touting was child's play after Cambodia's capital -
think it helps that Luke can refuse with good swahili. I don't think
the bus went over any holes big enough for the wheels to actually
lodge in... plus it was all during the day.
But I did spend much of the trip with Luke's hankie over my nose -
just another strange thing for a mzungu (white person) to do.

walking in nairobi

in nairobi you have to watch out where you walk.

the pavement seems to be ripped up at random intervals, with holes right at places where you might like to step, or holes on the road that you might step into if you don't watch carefully.

yesterday i was walking behind luke when he suddenly swerved... i was mid-conversation and not looking down.

it wasn't a hole that got me, but a sign post, like for a street sign, but with no sign, and only about a meter tall. having more girth than previously my belly got the full force of walking into it.
Ouch!

Crossing the road is a good adventure.
Being hard of hearing would be dangerous  - it's like a face-off between different types of animals.. perhaps an elephant... large, a little cumbersome (a bus), but gentle to begin with. Then there are the cheetahs, not hungry but in search of something beyond where you are. And you are some kind of gazelle perhaps, not very big or fast but with some courage. So you find a space where the cars have stopped and gingerly step (with as big a herd as you can) between the elephants.
But the elephants may get impatient and start to snort - at each other, at you, at the rhinos (matatus) also around.
So you move top speed - once the elephant gets going it's not waiting for anyone!

And on a quieter street with no traffic build up you best listen carefully for the roar of the rhino (do they roar?) or cheetah as they zoom along the street, making space for themselves by instilling fear into any would-be pedestrian. They go as quick as they come, and long as you are out of their way they take no notice of you.

Such are some first impressions of Africa.

On day 3, having thus far avoided any mosquito bites with paranoid diligence.

:-)

corruption free nairobi

isn't it wonderful that some parts of nairobi are free from corruption! :)

fun at the wedding!

jane, claudi, hardy and me at their wedding party!

sticking out

In China I stood out.
But here in Nairobi I stand out even more.
White skin, light hair and a big belly.

Makes for a lot of staring!
My favourite type of stare is when the person is walking past, but they are so fascinated they stop and turn to watch me pass, then keep turning as they walk away to check on the sight.
Then I catch their eye - and sometimes catch the word 'mzungu', or 'wazungu' (one or two foreigners).

africa's the same

i've been working on this computer for 1/2 an hour and managed to send
2 emails. that's because a homing pigeon could probably carry the data
faster!!

and try international calling ... even to neighbouring tanzania! wow!
what a challenge. it took me about 1 hour of walking around, asking at
several places, waiting and waiting only to make a 30 second phone
call that dropped out because of insufficient credit! so the kiosk
girl went to buy another recharge card and we tried again (a few
times). finally managed to talk to someone in dodoma about flights
with MAF. got the critical information across before it cut out again.

jane's exhausted - actually feeling a bit sick. snotty and very tired
from the crazy days in germany with claudi and hardy. though we had a
really great time with them and their family at the wedding. we're
taking our malaria drugs religiously and easing into the context.

the mix of english and swahili is typical nairobi. i'm having fun
speaking swahili and moving easily in the culture. someone at the
guest house here remembered me from when i was a 1 year-old (nancy)!!

money's another difficult issue here... we've only brought a few
hundred US dollars, but it seems we will need more than we have to get
around. another challenge! :)

ok. i'm heading off for an afternoon sleep...

arrived in kenya

after a big german wedding on saturday (lots of interesting traditions!), and a long overnight trip via cairo, we've now arrived in nairobi, kenya.

tired, but happy to have arrived! africa is a whole lot different from mexico, the US and europe!

arrived in germany!

after a long overnight flight from washington to berlin (via london) we've arrived safely at claudi and hardy's place in halle, germany!

 

had a wonderful evening sharing and talking and catching up... now to get some sleep!

the national christmas tree

chris, tessa, jane and luke at the national christmas tree just outside the white house!

washington

we're staying in washington with chris and tessa ambridge. yesterday it was cold and wet and snowing, but we had fun eating at a local market.

in the evening we visited a few of the sights... here's a photo fo the washington monument at night taken from the lincoln memorial.

but the best news was the birth of Zoe Eve Macrae ... our little niece!

(ps. the weather here today is 0 - 5 degrees C).

new york city

after a late arrival from mexico city, lots of rain and a short night's sleep we set out to explore new york city!

luke enjoying a bagel!
jane in central park.
with the empire state building in the background.

we arrived in washington DC last night at 10pm after a 5 hour bus trip from new york. had a welcomed good night's sleep at chris and tessa's place. maybe venturing out to explore some of the city today, but also trying to take it easy after a very enthusiastic 11 days of travelling so far!

goodbye mexico!

devotion

devotion is everywhere in mexico. from the aztecs who considered it an honour to be sacrified, to the mysterious "virgin of guadalupe" who seems to have captured the hearts of so many.

edgar, charlie and kathryn

in mexico city we had some encouraging time with edgar "el toro" and charlie, kathryn, jonathan and harry fletcher.

it included a superb lunch overlooking the zocalo -- the centre of aztec and mexico history.

mexico city architecture

the contrasts of mexico city -- spanish catholic cathedral and aztec temple.

and an obsession with death.