Dust: A Rant

Today is the first day of November.  This is significant because everyone in Tanzania tells me that November is when the rains begin.  Alright then, rain.

We did not wake to a torrential downpour.  No, we woke to another sunny day that is obscured by only the 100 trillion particulates in the air known as dust.  Ugh, the dust!!!  Why does it have to be so bad?  Why can't it stay in its behind-the-sofas and on-top-of-unread-books home?  Why does it have to reside in my throat, on every flat surface, under the fingernails, upon the computer keyboard and all over the resident toddler in the house?  Oh, right, because hardly any of the roads are paved!

A short cut around traffic.  Picture not even taken through the car window.

Not to paint you a primitive picture of where we live.  Far from it, in fact.  We have the "World Wide Web," wi-fi no less, and even laminate flooring in our house!  There is even, wait for it, a washing machine!

But just beyond the doors of this technology mecca is a dirt road.  Actually, many dirt roads.  I would say about 70 percent of the roads in Arusha are paved.  Not bad considering just 10 years ago that number was probably more like 20 percent.  But those roads are mostly in the commercial areas.  All residential areas and "short cuts" have graded but unpaved roads.  Which as you can imagine generates a lot of dust in a place that hasn’t seen rain in about 6 months.  A less conceited person might wonder "Oh no, what about the crops?  Isn't agriculture the major industry in Tanzania?"  Yeahyeahyeah.... what about our nasal passages, people!  Dust + 20 month old petri dish = lots of colds! 

You're probably thinking this situation warrants some kind of humanitarian intervention that should be addressed by a little spare change from Mr. Gates?  Well, that would be nice.  But we'll settle for you joining us for this little glass of whine and maybe a prayer or two for some rain before bed.  In fact, if you need a reason beyond this self-centered moan, a good downpour would help disperse the masses who are gathering in town to celebrate/contest the pending election results from yesterday.

More perspective on The Dust from our good friends here, 66% of whom have already gone back to 'Merica.

This is my dance space, this is your dance space

This is where I demonstrate to my parents that majoring in Anthropology in undergrad at a private university was a good idea (and why Roger should keep working hard so as to service that student loan). And p.s. any one catch the pop culture reference in the title.  Hint: if you don't get it, you must have slept through the 1980's and Jennifer Grey's acting career.

Both Roger and I have traveled to many developing countries in Africa and Latin America.  One of the big consistencies of culture in these places is the notion of personal space and how much it differs from our own American ways.  In Tanzania it's no different.  If you are waiting to prepay your electricity or pay your water bill you will no doubt have the great fortune of waiting in a line.  And if you're the only white person in that line (and this is where you see my insensitive side), you will no doubt be smelling the body odor of your queue companions (not to say that they're not smellin' each other tho too!).  And that's because they standsofreakingclosetoyou.  I never get used to it.  I try my best to strike an obstructionist pose, with my hand on my hips or a big bag on my shoulder, but its of no use.

The smell, well, I wouldn't say it's conducive to any yogic breathing techniques, but mouth breathing is manageable for the time being.  It's the touchingandcloseness and it just gives me the heebygeebies quite frankly.  Now I know what it feels like when Apple releases a new generation of the iPhone.

I took my anthropological curiosity to the natural next level - Wikipedia.  First of all, did you know there is an actual science for this, it's called Proxemics!  Geez, what highest freestanding mountain have I been living under?   As Wikipedia notes, personal space violations occur when a person feels a space that is "psychologically theirs" has been invaded.  Hmm, interesting... entitlement.  It also goes on to note that definitions of personal space can be influenced by living conditions (densely populated vs. spread out) and affluence.  Then it starts getting fuzzy for me (neuroscientist, feel free to weigh in here) when it mentions that personal space boundaries are suspected to have something to do with the development of the amygdala versus damage to it.

Let's just leave it at the former explanation, that it all has to do with population density and affluence.  I won't try and speculate any further in an area I know nothing about!  But, neat!  Anyone else find this as compelling as I do?  Now send some Speed Sticks over here STAT!

Technical Difficulties & Note

The power cut season is upon us.  Thought we'd fare a little better, at least until the end of Oct when presidential elections are, but no such luck.  We are facing 3 - 8 hours of power cuts on a nearly daily basis (at least since Saturday) which means no internet either.  There are definitely workarounds for this situation but we haven't yet fully set up our Plan B.  So I apologize for the light posting lately.  Fear not, post writing continues, but just in Word until I can get online for a long time and post like crazy.

Additionally, I have changed the link to the photo albums on the right.  Instead of posting every individual photo album, I have made one big link to our entire Picassa web album.  When it's updated, I will let you know.  Sorry for any incomplete albums - uploading pics is very slow here so I chug along as I'm able.

Lastly, I will be eliminating the archives from the side and replacing it with a keyword search.  All posts will contain 'labels' that reflect the topic of the post and the labels will be displayed at right (in a cool cloud format!).

p.s. if you have any suggestions or comments for enhancing the functionality of the blog or if you don't find it user-friendly, please pass along.  Also, would love to have suggestions for topics as well!

Life in Arusha - Really? You have to stop your car there?

Driving in Arusha requires a lot of cojones.  You have to be as bold and aggressive as you are defensive.  The majority of all roads (including the HIGHWAY to Nairobi) are technically one lane in both directions as noted by the dashed line down the middle.  But drivers generally treat the road as their own personal lane/road and don't really regard any other co-habitants, such as cars, people, bicycles and mkokoteni's.  Although we have adapted well to this new style of driving, I never cease to be amazed on a daily basis by some of the manoeuvrings I witness (or even pull myself!).  Usually what it involves is a  mini bus blazing up the center of the road to leap about 100 places in line of traffic.  It doesn't matter that the passage between the two lanes is narrower than the width of a mini bus, they'll find a way through.  In many ways, it's like a game of chicken.  It's simultaneously obnoxious and terrifying.

A particularly irritating manoeuvre is when a vehicle breaks down/gets in a wreck/has a flat tire, they will stop in the exact place the malfunction occurred and impose their personal inconvenience upon all traffic.  Last week while traveling up the bumpy dirt track to my friend's house, a sedan car broke down at a narrow point in the road (a point in which two cars can barely pass at the same point).  I was a couple cars back and thought maybe the car was just going slow so as not to bottom out.  But then what should I see?  The trunk pop open, a red tarp pulled out and very neatly laid under the front of the car (really? you break down so much you have a tarp in your trunk!?).

Since I had to queue up to attempt a passing of this [insert derogatory name calling here], I was able to reach for my camera and snap this (but no time to adjust the white balance, Dad!):

You will note how tight it was for that sedan car on the left.  Try stuffing our big fat 4Runner through there!  And to top it off, the pedestrians don't even move!

Stttrrrreeeeeetchhhhhhhh!

Ah, well that was a nice long hibernation! So what did I miss? A trip to America? A new business for Becky? A new bicycle for Roger? Like a bazillion new teeth for Millie? Whoa, I need to get caught up! Where do I begin? How about with this.....

We are now back from 3 - 4 glorious weeks in the good U.S. of A. Our batteries are recharged, we have some new threads and our equilibrium is totally skewed from driving on the right side of the road. If we didn't get to see you, we're very sorry! It was a whirlwind trip covering manymany miles with just enough time in between to sneak in a few gallons of ice cream and a visit or 100 to Target. We even brought a little of Africa to DC with us... a mere 3 days after we arrived, there was a massive power outage (due to an equally massive thunderstorm) that lasted for 24 hours at Chez Nana's, but much longer at other people's houses. Plus, everything got very peaceful and quite and we felt very disoriented without hearing any generators humming outside out windows. That's just how hard core our life is here in Arusha, ample square footage and UN-provided generator.

I have lost count of how many teeth are in the danger zone that is Millie's mouth. A few too many close calls and I finally learned my lesson and don't stick my finger in there any more. Rest assured, there are plenty and they are plenty sharp. Along with teeth come plenty of words! Ball, no, bottle, dog, no, balloon, car, no, bye-bye, walk, milk, apple, no, nose and loads of things in Swahili as well. She is even advancing from one syllable words and starting to put words together, like "gwak?" which is code for 'Go for a walk?' Moreover, her comprehension is very good and communication between parent and child is becoming easier!

All this independence in the talking department is giving her the confidence to test her independence in other ways as well. She likes to see just how high she can climb on a chair before we stop her and see how many bounces on the sofa it takes before she bounces off. Not to mention she is keen to the secret that green specks in her food = vegetable and has learned to turn her nose up at them.

Millie loves songs. In fact, a few came in quite handy on the flight back from America. The Itsy Bitsy Spider worked wonders on settling her down while the hours trickled by. When possible, we go to a music play group on Friday's and Millie really loves it. Most songs are quite dynamic and interactive but she just gets the hang of it right as the song is ending. Except last week she had built up so much excitement from all the songs that by the time we were singing Old MacDonald she jumped into the middle of the circle and was stomping her foot up and down and flapping her hands makin' her Biloxi, Mississippi relatives real proud!

Not About Millie

I am nearly ready to admit that it's time to rename this blog It's Millie Time because that is basically all we cover. And despite my promises to get better about blogging more regularly, I don't seem to be following through, do I? Why is that? I think its because living in East Africa with a child has become normal and ordinary. Not boring. Just, normal. But it's hard to remember that what is normal for us, may be noteworthy to you, dear readers. So here are a few tidbits that characterize our life here and are unique about the culture:

- we drive on the left side of the road, and at any given moment you are watching out for motorcycles, bikes, cars, pedestrians, wooden carts, donkeys, cows, chickens and children.

- there are also 2ft deep x 3 ft wide uncovered drainage ditches lining each side of the road. did i mention they have no grate over them? so if you swerve too far (in order to dodge above mentioned road co-habitants) you're kind of screwed (i have witnessed a few cars in these ditches, including a brand new Range Rover!). and with minimal street lights, this is particularly nerve racking at night!

- the 'long rains' have started. that seems to mean cloudy days, and lots of rain on and off in the morning. makes morning walks with Millie more difficult. as well as having dry clothes.

- long rains also mean the invasion of the kono kono's - slugs and snails (which give becky the heebejeebees like no other, no thanks to my fear mongering brother who told an impressionable little Becky at the tender age of 8 that she would turn into a slug after having stepped on one BAREFOOT).

- the electricity in our house is pre-paid. it's called luku. we go to the central power company, give them our meter number and about $45, then they generate a unique 16-digit code which we enter into our meter that keeps the lights on (except when there are power cuts!) for about a month. the other day i went to buy our luku and the power company had no electricity, nor a generator!

- when you come to Tanzania (I said 'when' people, not 'if'!), the first Swahili word you will learn without a doubt is 'Karibu.' it literally translates into 'you are welcome' but also really means 'get close' (but not in a creepy-invade-my-personal-space kind of way). you hear it everywhere. when you walk into shops, restaurants, passing the ladies on the street selling tea.... everywhere. it is also a response to 'thank you.' it reminds me of the use of 'aloha' in Hawaii in that i think it sets the tone of the culture - very open and welcoming.

- we don't have a TV, but we have a computer so sometimes at night we watch DVD's that we borrow from friends or that we've received in generous care packages. so far we've made it through five seasons of West Wing, first season of Glee and now we're working our way through Arrested Development.

- except on Weds nights, we play bridge with our dear friends Katie & Ollie

- if you want to get take out here, there are basically two options - Indian food or grilled chicken. both are very good, but sometimes you would just do anything for a pad thai or pupusa!

- probably the third or fourth word you would learn in Tanzania (WHEN you come) is 'pole' (poe-lay). it means 'sorry' or 'i extend my sympathies to you.' you use it the same way you would use 'sorry' in English for the most part, but you also use it to convey your sympathies to anyone doing any kind of work. for example, when Millie and I walk in the morning, I usually carry her in the backpack and people tell me 'pole' presumably for the task of carting around a 20lb baby on my shoulders (roger gets it too when he's out running). but then, the person telling me 'pole' is usually hauling two 100lb sacks of grain on a bike or cutting grass with a machete or doing some other form of insanely hard manual labor, yet they feel sympathy for me and my $100 baby backpack!

So does this jive with the image you had of our life here? Note I didn't mention the fanning of palm fronds while we sit atop our four poster beds being fed grapes by servants in long white robes. I figured you all naturally assumed that part!

Chugging Along

I guess I spoke too soon. The same day I told you all how we seemed to be skipping the dry season was the same day the rains stopped. The rainy season went out with a bang - thunder, flooding, mud pits, the works! But now the dust seems to have become unsettled from its prior compact and muddy state and is milling about everywhere. And you know the expression "it's Africa hot?" I guess I understand where that comes from now. It is quite toasty on this side of the equator and we're doing what we can to be cool like the Fonz.

We have started fairly regular trips to the pool on Saturdays. Millie seems to really enjoy the water and doesn't have much fear of going straight into the water despite its chilly temps. When not in the pool on the weekends we keep busy with errands, lunches out and sometimes play dates on Sunday afternoon. Millie is developing quite the cadre of friends in town, including a 8 month old boy who just moved in upstairs. The play dates are turning Millie into quite the little Martha Stewart protege. With finesse and grace, she deftly offers pumpkin pancakes to her friends, shares her toys, yanks their hair and puts her finger in their eye all the while never ruffling the hand crocheted doilies. It's quite a sight!

Family life aside, we're all just plugging away at our various endeavors. Roger is dishing up international justice with a side of fries, Millie (on her own) is putting one foot in front of the other and taking on the world and I'm still working on my Nobel prize in home economics. So it's pretty much business as usual. But I am FINALLY uploading some pictures to Picassa so keep checking back for some exclusive coverage on a few fun things we've been doing the past couple months - climbing Mt. Meru, traveling to Nairobi, spending New Years in the African bush and visiting hot springs. Also, did you know that Roger has been training for the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon? The big day is the last weekend in Feb.

p.s. does anyone know how to make a picture embedded in the blog post have a caption? If the picture I posted above had a caption, it would say "Bye bye rain!"

For the Grandparents - It's Millie Time

Today Millie is ten months old. And the theme from this point forward (for many years?) is on the move. She is no longer content to explore and experience the world from the comfort of a car seat/baby backpack/Mama's arms - she wants to touch and taste for herself. And now she has the skills to do so - crawling, cruising and even walking! Check out a video we posted on the right to see her in action. She also has a voice and hand gestures that she loves to use, particularly waving, which she does at the mere hint of a familiar face. You should see us as we set off for our walks around the neighborhood - it's as if a hometown hero has returned and is parading through the streets and all her fans are waving at her. Except the street is dirt, the car is a vintage Graco stroller and her fans are the security guards from the surrounding houses!

Most notably, she has uttered the two most important and precious syllables known to babykind - ma ma. And as the generous soul that she is, she's even thrown a few 'dada's' out there at choice moments during the day (when Roger returns from work). It seems like such a critical time to be constantly talking to her and pointing things out. In fact, during our daily walks I have initiated a rigorous training regime for turning her into a prizewinning U.S. state and world capital ninja (just like her mama). Instead of a pageant mom I'll be a geography bee mom!

If you asked Millie what the highlight of Month 10 was, I don't know if she'll say the trip to Nairobi, the visit from Santa or the new year celebrated on safari, but she had quite a full month. We seem to have skipped the dry season and the long rains (as opposed to the short rains of Sept - Nov) have arrived. The day alternates between sunny and torrential downpour making it very difficult to plan a day much less leave the house, so we're going to have to start getting creative! But there are plenty of electric sockets, unlocked cabinets and breakable photo equipment around to keep us busy, I imagine. Looking forward to some more teeth, more solo steps, play dates and new foods in month 11.

p.s. sorry for the delay in this post. with the rains have come inconsistent internet service. just coming off a three day internet deprivation, can you imagine?!