Happy Holidays From Tanzania!
I have officially decided that being short in Tanzania is a blessing. When you are crammed into a daladala (vans used for transportation here in TZ) with about 15 more people than are supposed to be in said van, being short makes an uncomfortable ride a wee bit better. In one ride on a daladala it is a common occurrence to be handed a live chicken, have someone’s wowowo in your face, elbow on your head, while you are holding some random Tanzanian’s crying baby. One day when riding the daladala someone said, “I can’t figure out if we keep breaking down or if we’re stopping to let out passengers”…haha, it really could go either way. I figure with so many people, in case we crash at least there will be a lot of padding….
Let’s talk about cooking. Anyone who has ever experienced my cooking knows that I am no professional. I must have completely missed out on my parent’s “we’re chefs, opening a restaurant” gene. I cook kind of like I live my life. I think how I live my life can best be described in the words of my mother: “Sarah, you’re a disaster”. Yes mother, I sort of am. Let’s take chapati. Tanzanians love it. Americans love it. Consists of flour and water tu (Swahili for only). Fry that mixture up and you have an amazing little piece of heaven similar to the French crepe. No worries. I figured being so simple I would be able to make it no problem. I honestly have no idea where I went wrong (seeing as how there are only 2 ingredients) but I ended up with what looked like soggy dog food. I just like to chalk that one up to the idea that maybe I was really making dog food, you know, for my dog. Haha, either way, Bridger was happy.
Today I also attempted some cinnamon raisin bread. Yum! I did pretty much everything wrong (I got distracted!): I put all the ingredients in in the wrong order, forgot to use lukewarm water to activate the yeast (who needs activated yeast in bread anyhow?), made two loaves but didn’t really feel like waiting around for two loaves to bake so I put everything into one pot to cook. Got bored waiting for it to cook so I just left my house and hoped the coals burnt out before it burned. All in all, it is some pretty tasty bread if I do say so myself. Maybe I am getting better!
In other news, after many questions from inquisitive Tanzanians about my personal life, I now have a fiancée. His name is Ferdinand (I don’t know why this is the first name that popped into my head, I seemed to be in Spain in the 1500’s at the time of the question). He is living in Colorado and studying to be a doctor currently. He also looks strikingly similar to my friend from Yellowstone, Tyler. They could be twins. He may even come and visit me next year. (As a side note: if you are a male, and thinking about ever visiting me here, there is a good chance that you will need to assume the name Ferdinand before you enter the plane).
As a final thought, I washed my clothes this morning, hung them out to dry, and then it rained all day. So…that is just like putting your clothes in a double cycle on your machine right? Or maybe cold and then colder…
Ohh Baby! I love you!
Oh Sarah. I just miss you so much. I got your letter and loved it. I will be writing you soon. Much to say these days! The daladala sounds great…and I hope to be able to try your chipati when I come there. Although it seems easy, it kind of seemed like an art when I watched the Kenyans make Chipati. I am glad you have found love….and you better invite me to your wedding. Why did you make Ferdinand look like Tyler ? 😉
I’m in CO until Thurs afternoon so I will have internet and would love to skype with you if you have internet as well…email me or something! miss you!
Dad-love you too.
Cece-I can’t wait for you to come!! I will perfect my chapati by then, I promise!! And of course you are invited to my wedding. We are only waiting to get married so that everyone can come. And my fiancee looks like Tyler because at the time of the questions we were looking at all the pictures from back home that I have on my wall. I was explaining that I have a fiancee, and he pointed to a great picture I have of you and Tyler and asked if that was him. Haha, I am an awful liar so there was this awkward pause and then, ”umm, yeah?” Haha.
Steph-I am sorry, I am in my village now so my internet is not up to snuff enough to skype. I can try and give you a call via gmail. It doesn’t always work super well though, fair warning.
Sarah! I miss you friend!!! I definitely have a new appreciation for my short stature;) I bet your chapati will be awesome in no time if it isn’t already. Good luck with the kiddos. You will be a wonderful teacher (whether it be science or English). They will love you, because well, how could they not! Love you!
Sarah – you rock my world! So on the bus, is it difficult to hold a random baby and a random chicken at the same time? Or do you hold the baby and it holds the chicken?