Saturday, May 15, 2010

Same Old, Same Old Difference

It's funny, the first time I was here, I would sit down at the internet cafe and feel overwhelmed with all the things I could write on my blog. I felt as though I had so much to say, but I could not say it all, so I would have to choose one particular issue to talk about. Now, however, I struggle to find things to say. I have thought this through and determined that because the first time I was here, everything was a shock; everything was new. Now, I feel as though I am just living my life, so what I say when people ask me "what's up", is a lot like what I would say if I were back in Canada - "...same old, same old." I find that I have to remind myself that the things I do here on a regular basis are things that most people reading this blog have never seen. So, I will take this opportunity to write about my average day in Tanzania, so that you can get a feel for what my "same old, same old" really is.
I usually wake up at 9 am local time here, far earlier than my normal sleep in time at home. At our apartment, I cook, Aubrey does laundry. That's the agreement. So when I wake up, if we have no pressing timeline, I make breakfast. With our most recent trip to the market, we stocked up on several essentials that we were missing before - like eggs. Now, to paint you a more vivid picture of life here, eggs do not come in a carton, as they would back home. Instead, you simply choose the number of eggs you want from the stand at the market, and they put them in a plastic bag. It was laughable how careful we were when we were carrying them back home - I made Aubrey do it, as I have no doubt they would have broken if left in my hands. So lately breakfast has consisted of onion, tomato, carrott and green pepper omlettes with toast that is made in the frying pan - like grilled cheese (hakuna cheese).
After breakfast, we head to either to town or to the White Orange Youth office to meet with one of the employees from the organization to talk about what we plan to do, or what we have done. This usually takes a while, because we have found that people do not really provide you with information here. You have to ask specific questions to get exactly what you are looking for. For example, the second day we were here, we asked if there was anything they wanted us to do. In a very calm, non-rushed sort of way we were informed that they wanted us to finish a grant application.
us - "Oh, great. We have something to do. When does it need to be finished by?"
them - "Tomorrow."
Things like this happen here all the time. What would have happened had we not arrived? The work they had put into the grant thus far probably would have gone to waste. So, in this case, we finished writing most of the grant, asking questions every five seconds because really, we knew nothing about the project. After most of the grant application was done, we found out that there was a hard copy of all the information they had about what they wanted to do with the project in the filing cabinet. We simply just had to laugh, read it over, change what we wrote before, and finish the rest of the grant. That is typically how the meetings at the WOY office go.
After that, we might head to town, to use the internet or run errands. After that, we return home for dinner - a task that has proven quite interesting so far. Cooking at home is so easy compared to here - you have so many more resources. Here, I am cooking on a camping stove. I have a small frying pan and a medium sized pot. There is no fancy sauces, I cannot buy spices because I have no idea what the names are in Swahili, there is no frozen food, and there are no instructions. The first time I really cooked, I made a stir fry with some fresh veggies, seasoned with salt, pepper, and lime, and put it on rice. It wasn't bad, however, there is only so many times you can make the same meal. Last night, was not as big of a success - we attempted spaghetti. They do not sell spaghetti sauce here, so I trusted Aubrey to make it from scratch. She used tomato paste, diluted with water, vegetables and garlic. Sounds right, doesn't it? But, needless to say, we were still pretty hungry by the time we decided we couldn't eat any more of it.
Following our dinner adventures, we have a couple activities to choose from: read, hang out, go out, or watch a movie. There is a pub close by called 'Kool Bar' that is a fun place to be. Many of our local friends go there to hang out and play pool - an activity that I have also engaged in. They are very serious about their pool here. The table and cue ball are slightly smaller and the rules are a bit different; the main one being that if you scratch, your opponent gets to shoot twice. There is a man, who is dressed as though he is a card dealer in Vegas, who racks the balls and monitors who goes next. He lookes horribly out of place in the rugged, casual setting that fills the rest of the bar.
After we come home, or the movie is over etc... it is bed time. I crawl under the new misquito net and hopefully lala salama (sleep peacefully).
That is a day in the life of Tanzanian Graeme

4 comments:

  1. Tanzanian Graeme seems to be "Graeme" to me - minus the "Tanzanian" part. You sound at home there :) We love you and miss you. xoxo.

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  2. When I was first married, I cooked veggies in a small coffee pot and used an electric fry pan to cook meat or make a cake. It was fun when I think of it now. Your spagetti sauce sounded good and you were on the right track. You probably needed peppers, onions, garlic and celery to add more flavour. Enjoying your blogs. Love and Hugs. Grandma

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  3. Graeme, waking up at 4pm everyday does not constitute a normal sleeping time lol. And making Kraft Dinner totally does not count as making breakfast, you're leaving out important details here! Looking forward to seeing you when you get back.

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  4. Krem,

    Don't worry, when I get there we'll have plenty of chili sauce to balance out your cooking.

    See you next week, kaka

    Love,
    Mr. Ndiyo

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