Happy Thanksgiving from Tanzania......

Hooray for another loooong weekend!  Nope, I'm not American, but I'm more than happy to have 2 extra days off for Thanksgiving :)

Time to recap some events from this month:

I have met some koalas (animal day at Hope)

We had parent teacher interviews.  One parent insisted on filming the whole thing on her iPhone (really hard to talk to someone when they have their iPhone in front of their face).  I'm unsure why, since her child and husband were both there too.  I can just imagine it being played back at family gatherings :(

Another interview involved a game of charades, as the child wasn't there, and the Korean family speak very little English and are only just learning Swahili.  I think we managed some form of communication, but it was a rather long 20 mins!

I went out to dinner with this lovely family too, and received the most unusual gift of my teaching career so far: Sanitary pads....just passed casually across the restaurant table with the phrase, "Medium is your size?" I have since had a second packet.....I think they are my suppliers.


This weekend I went with Marenka and her family to Marangu to picnic and swim at the waterfall.  Swimming under a waterfall has to be one of the most relaxing feelings in the world!  Spending time with lovely friends makes it even more special.

This weekend we also went to visit Cici (a local lady in our Bible study) at her newly established preschool.  She is doing an amazing job running everything herself - what a special lady.

God's blessings!

A tour of Moshi courtesy of Coca Cola

One of the first things I noticed when coming to Moshi (16 months ago!) was how much Coca-Cola advertising dominates everything.  It really is the town of red and white!  This makes sense, since there is a really big Coke bottling plant just out of Moshi.  Anyway, here is a tour of Coke-town...see if you can spot the signage in every photo.

Jacaranda trees on the main road from our place into Moshi.
There is a Coke sign there!

The road up to my church.  I love these trees - they come out
at Christmas time and are (surprisingly) called Christmas trees

Sign to the place where I go and attempt to post stuff

The clock tower roundabout.  People often get their wedding photos
taken on the roundabouts. Can you spot the Coca-Cola sign?

Nakumatt - the big supermarket where lots of  Westerners shop.
It has 10 different styles of hot water bottle covers, but
has been known to run out of butter, pasta, milk.....

Even souvenirs cannot escape the red and white....

Woodlands, the supermarket just near our house in Shanty Town.  It doesn't have/use a generator so the ice cream is often mushy but otherwise it's great.

More Christmas trees on our street

So there you have it - the sights of Moshi courtesy of Coca Cola :)

Long weekend trip to Arusha

Trips to Arusha are all about food really.  Arusha is a city 2 hours away and has about double the population of Moshi, meaning really nice places for yummy food.  Last weekend we had Friday off for Nyerere Day (a commemoration of the death of Tanzania's first president) so all piled into the big van for a day out.  It was super exciting because I got to drive!  Last year I drove Bessie (RIP) to school each day but this year we have to be picked up each day and taken to school because there is no spare van at the moment.  So driving to the "big city" was a bit fun :)

First stop: Mt Meru Game Lodge

Pretty grounds...

Hot chocolate!

Random Zebra

Friends :)

Next stop: Blue Heron restaurant

Lasagne!

Next stop: Ice-cream shop

Peanut butter and chocolate...soo nice!

There it is again, just in case you didn't catch the detail..

So those are the sights of Arusha according to me.  This time last year it was all about the Cultural Heritage Museum and scenery, but now it's just about food.  I find it rather funny that I really didn't take pics of much else!

Have a great week!

Moshi Happenings

It has been a ridiculously long time since I've posted anything!  Being here now seems so much like normal life that it is a challenge to remember what might seem interesting to write about.  Also, life is quite full at the moment, with teaching, studying Masters, Swahili lessons, after school tutoring, Bible study, planning for three grades and just normal life stuff.  

I'm loving my bigger class but have to be super organised to make sure each grade is getting what they need.  We have time for fun too, including painting the outside wall of the new school!  The plan was for a pale purple but it ended up a bit more vibrant than expected!  Kids climbing up ladders and balancing on drums - the lack of OH&S here is quite freeing.  We still have half the outside wall to go, then the inside wall.  The kids were so exhausted from their efforts it might take some convincing!

Before: dusting the wall in preparation for painting

I love these kids!  Notice the cool plastic bag shoe covers :)

Making good progress.....no one will have trouble finding the school now....

Chillaxing on the ladder

And we're done...for now!  I think it's a big improvement :)

This year is really special too in that we have heaps of new science equipment.  Last year we had to skip so many experiments because we didn't have the supplies and couldn't get them.  It helps too that I'm more aware of what we can get, and dragging a gas tank to school for an experiment is no big deal!

Looking at cells....hooray for the power being on!

The safety glasses are quite a hit...even when not needed!

An expression of scientific discovery?!

Teachers doing book character day.  I'm a Dalmatian from 101 Dalmatians in case my very pro costume isn't obvious.

I don't think I mentioned last time, but I have a house to myself this year!  There are just five expat teachers (so some more grades are combined) which means four are living in the big front house and I have the little back house all to myself.  At first it was a bit strange after living (and camping) with people for the last year, but now I'm loving it.  I feel so much more relaxed and at home which is really a blessing from God.  I love finding simple ways to make it homely and nice.

Jigsaw puzzle + music on a super windy night

Homely corner

And when the power goes out, I get to light a ridiculous number of candles :)

That's all for now.  God bless!

First weeks back in Moshi

Kili came out to say hi on the ride home from the airport

From the minute I arrived back in Tanzania, it has been super busy - unpacking and washing, meeting new teachers, a new school building and classroom to set up from scratch, an assignment for Masters due in less than a week, as well as all the normal preparation needed to start a new school year.

Up until now, Hope has been renting a building but have now purchased land and built a brand new school!  It is all super exciting but stress levels were pretty high as there was so much to finish before school started.  Here is how it looked just over two weeks ago:

The upper grades block (3rd to 9th grade) + staff room and library

Another two classrooms (this won't be finished until next year)

Looking across to the lower grades block (Nursery- 2nd grade)

My huge massive amazing classroom in need of decorating

It's about triple the size of the room I had last year!

 It's amazing how much can be achieved when the pressure is on.  Some classrooms started without windows and still don't have ceiling boards, doors or electricity, but somehow when the kids arrive it just becomes a beautiful place to be.  I'm so happy to be teaching the same amazing students I had last year, with a few extras as well.  We are still waiting on some desks but are making do for now :)  Here are some pics after all the decorating and preparations:

Door into my classroom......

Ta da!  Check out the huge chalkboard!  

I have more students this year....there is no way they would have fitted in last year's classroom!

Walkway in upper grades block

View of the classroom buildings from the eating area

Huge new soccer field!

Admin block + Essie the van (Bessie has died...RIP Bessie)

Front gate + preschool playground

I haven't taken any student pics yet, but I'm sure my blog will be full of school photos for the next few months!  I could write so much about school related stuff but will leave that for another time.
God bless!