Variety ...

I've been starting my updates with a title, which seems to come naturally, usually over what has been a highlight or a focal point.  Except now.  For the past couple of days, by the time I sit down to actually write this, the internet connection has been lost.  I've been assured that this is rather uncommon, but it means now that so much has happened since Thursday morning it seems like a lifetime ago and yet has gone so incredibly quickly.

There have been 2 families visiting here this week.  They're from Vancouver and both mums are PE teachers back home.  The entire families are well connected and well versed in a variety of sports, and so on Thursday they were over at the Usa campus (1st - 3rd form high school) teaching the kids there how to play baseball.  So I was over at the Usa Campus photographing it all, as well as doing some other jobs like staff photos and a couple of extra requests.  I'm not sure who had the most fun really.  The kids loved it, and it was amazing that most of them - if not all of them - had never held a baseball bat before and certainly had never seen, not to mention worn, a baseball glove.  But some of them were certainly naturals.  The Canadians were also having a wonderful time, and considering they were donating all the equipment they had bought over to the school, it was quite something.  And of course I was as happy as Larry, or as the proverbial pig in whatsit just having a job where I was outdoors all day and being a photographer.

After lunch, it was the school assembly.  Usually this follows a pattern - a prayer, the national anthem, the school song and then announcements from the headmaster.  As there were visitors there, they had to get up on stage and introduce themselves.  Then this time there was a play put on by the students, and then the prizes were handed out.  This week it was slightly different though, because next week the school is having elections.  When I was at school, these would have been for the school Captain and Vice Captain and then for the Prefects.  At the Usa campus, they are called President, Vice President and then there is a Secretary General and then Minister (and also Deputy Minister) for such things as Education, Discipline, Food and Health, Security, Environment and Cleanliness.  It was quite an eye opener.  The students who had nominated themselves, or had been nominated for each of the positions, came up on stage and they were given about two minutes to give a speech on why they should be elected for the position.  Then the headmaster asked if anyone had any questions for the speaker.

There was a 3rd form girl who had nominated for the President, and she gave quite a good speech I thought.  There were a couple of questions, and since she was the only person who had nominated for this position, the next was Vice President.  A boy had nominated for this position, so he got up and gave his speech.  He didn't look as confident as the girl before him, and then when it came to questions from the rest of the students there was a hush.  Then one girl at the back put her hand up, and so they took the microphone down to her.  She wanted to know why he, as a boy, had only nominated himself for Vice President.  Why hadn't he nominated himself for President?  After all, she said, a girl had nominated for President.  I thought it was quite an interesting question, and the poor boy on stage looked at first a little flumoxed by the question.  He looked out of the assembly area for about 30 seconds and then he said, "You know, if you're smart, and you decide you're going to build a house, you don't start with the roof."

I was amazed.  Such a great answer.  I looked at the Canadian parents, and saw they too were gobsmacked.  He got a cheer from the kids for the answer, but I don't think they understood what a great answer it was.  I'd like to come back in 10 years time and find out what that boy is doing with his life.

And so we left after assembly, and I came back to Moshono here to download images and check to see if there were any changes to my schedule for Friday.  Also in the afternoons, after my school work has finished, I've been heading over to the travel side of things and usually spend a couple of hours working with Gemma, and to spend the days with my camera and then a couple of hours back in the travel world, it's perfect.

On Friday my schedule had me heading into town with Brad, who does the shopping for the school.  He's a young British lad who has just done a degree in Criminology, which sounded fascinating.  So on Friday morning we headed out with one of the school buses to the stationery shop, and then to the Arusha markets to get next few day's supply of tomatoes, ginger, capsicums, onions and then to a mixture of other market stall holders and shops around town for a mixture of things like soap, oil, eggs, toilet brushes, chai etc.  As well as getting the photographs, I also had to get quite a bit of information from each Mama or shopkeeper, and so Alice came with me (she's admin) as translator.  It gave her a morning out of the office as well.  We went back to school for lunch, and then in the afternoon we took the truck to collect the bags of choroko, which is a type of green lentil.  We buy 100kg bags.  This wasn't as simple as phoning Richard and letting him know many hours in advance when we would be arriving and that we needed 10 x 100kg bags of it.  Being Africa, it took many more hours but it was a totally different type of afternoon for me and I wouldn't have swapped it for anything.

And now it's Saturday, so we only work until noon.  I had heaps of "office work" to do - downloading images, labelling them, and then trying to put them all on DVDs.  Then at noon, there is a school bus going into town, and so there was a mad scramble for me to catch the bus, because I'd got sidetracked chatting to the Canadian visitors, who were flying out today as well.

Ellena and I had to do the kitty shopping, but first we had lunch in a cafe in town.  There seems to be a supply around now of coke light, so I'm happy.  And we had a lovely lunch and then walked down to Shopright, which is "the" big supermarket that everyone seems to do their kitty shopping at for most things except fruit and veg.  We get those from  the 'Vege Mammas' stall which is on the way back, just near the Impala roundabout.  When we got to Shopright though, there in the carpark was an Acacia overland truck - they had done a shop as well and were just loading it into the truck.  That brought back all sorts of memories I can tell you. Either side of the supermarket there are also various shops and cafes, including the French one which sells wines, cheeses, pates etc etc etc.

And today has been my most extravagantly expensive day here so far.  And I'm not talking about my $1.75 lunch.  Or the huge delicious pineapples that work out to be about $1.20 each.  Or the mangoes.  This afternoon I went back to Agnes, the dressmaker.  My wardrobe has increased drastically.  I bought the materials last week, and this afternoon went to pick them up, and she made any alterations necessary.  So the fabrics, plus 2 lined tops, 2 lined skirts, 3 lined dresses (all cotton) and 2 handbags all up cost $74.  And the fact that I've got dresses and skirts is not a typo either .....

So to continue the spending theme, tonight a few of us went out to the cinema.  There is another area of Arusha where there is a cinema, a swish looking supermarket (with cans of diet PEPSI), lots of restaurants, souvenir and clothing shops and a few clubs.  So we bought our cinema tickets and then Ellena said she was buying popcorn.  I decided not to, and when we were seated she said I needed to try it.  I'm glad I didn't know about it because I would have happily scoffed a whole bag of it - caramel drizzled popcorn.  And the film was 'Burlesque' which we all thoroughly enjoyed and then caught a taxi back to school.

Tomorrow we're all out to lunch to celebrate Shean's 50th birthday so that will be interesting.  Actually, it's tomorrow technically now, so I'm going to sign off and add a few pics. 

Alex won't be surprised to see this pic, and he knows I love my carrots ....  but even I haven't bought this many in one go!

This is how the locals usually get their veges home.  One day a few of us thought we ought to try it.  I even saw a girl who had a whole hand of bananas in a washing tub, balanced at such an angle (and without any material padding either between her head and the tub) that it looked like she was wearing a beret ...

This little girl is the daughter of one of the Vege Mammas at the market.  She was sitting on the carrots in the school bus having a wow of a time

While we were waiting for Richard to organise himself with the 100kg bags of choroko, this little boy came into the shop next door to buy a bottle of coke.  He could only just reach high enough to hand over his coins and take his coke

Traffic on the way home.  Friday afternoon.  Further up there was a dingle at the roundabout, then some roadworks and the usual assortment of traffic on the road.  Sometimes it is quicker to walk, but the view wouldn't be as good!

Check out the guy on the pushbike - with all those white bags tied on the back.  Every few hundred metres he had to stop and adjust the load, and then nearly lost it starting to peddle again.  But he won.

Yes, I did have to look twice at this motorcycle guy .....  nice one eh dad?