A-town

Arusha, A-town or Arachuga are all names of the city where we live. On saturday I decided to have a walk in town with no other purpose than taking pictures and meeting new people. First thing I did when I got off the daladala was to drink tea with a guy who asked me for money. As we got out from the cafe I was offered coffe from someone else. It's funny how you always find someone to talk with if you have time to stop by and say hello to people. However, I think some people are more curious about mzungu (white person) than other strangers, so I didn't need to walk alone for long time. The people you meet in the streets in Arusha are very different from the people you meet in Norway. In Arusha they greet you. People seek eye contact here, while in Norway people look away. Here people don't find it strange if you talk to them about anything. It's more strange if you look at someone and you keep quiet. Do we have something to learn from Tanzanians?

I went to a football ground where I thought there would be CHRISC activities, but the field was empty. There was a family who lived nearby the field. They invited me home for lunch. I was surprised and happy. How come they invite a foreign stranger to their home to eat lunch? I had not done anything else than talking a little bit to one of the boys. Just imagine, what norwegian family would have invited a foreign stranger for lunch? I was amazed.

More pictures from Arusha in Web album

I've never been drinking tea with someone I don't know before. Nikolas told me about what he is doing in Arusha. 

This famliy invited me home for lunch.

Salimu offers coffe for people who have time to stop by. 

Neema wouldn't let me take her picture before I tried to carry the bananas myself. 

Zanzibar holiday

Now I''m trying to get the blog going again after a loooong time off, so I'll start from some events in February. Lasses family came to visit us in february. They finished the visit on Zanzibar island. I was also invited, but I travelled to Dar es Salaam alone and met the family there. Before I travelled to Dar, I e-mailed my fathers friend Vitus and asked for a reasonable guesthouse to spend the night there. The answer was simple; I couldn't stay at a guesthouse with his family living nearby. I was invited to his familys home, while Vitus himself was in China. His friend picked me up at the bus station and gave me a ride to the familys home. There I got soup, shower and supper before I went to bed. Tanzanian hospitality is wonderful! When I left their home, they welcomed me to come back. So I did, but in between we had a nice holiday on Zanzibar.

We stayed almost at the north peak of the island, close to Nungwi. The life as tourist was very different from our daily life in Arusha. Suddenly we were surrounded by europeans and americans. The Tanzanians we met around the hotel were working in tourism. On a walk to the north peak, we reached a luxury hotel with the cheapest rooms costing about 500 dollars a night. On the way we had passed a village and met some of the fishermen- and women there. One of them told me he couldn't go to school and learn english because he had to go fishing. The same day they planned to go to sea for fishing the whole night. They expected to be back the next morning. After meeting people who struggle for surviving, it looks absurd to find a hotel where they've invested millions in unneccesary luxury. You cannot avoid thinking that there is something wrong with this world. It is also worth mentioning that the people in the village seemed more happy than the guests at the hotel. 

When I came back to Dar I spent three more days at Vitus family before I moved on. In the city I met Phyneous, my contact person in CHRISC who was teaching at Kicking Aids Out workshop. It's always motivating to see engaged people working to help others. 

More pictures on Web album

I had a nice time at Vitus' family.

Zanzibar is a paradice for tourists

Happy tourists on spice safari. 

Participants at Kicking Aids Out workshop

Film

No, I don't miss skiing at all. Many people laughed at us this day. Thanks to Lasse for nice filming. 

Film

Lasse presents how is a normal day at work. Meet our colleauges in CHRISC. 

Film

We have tried to make a compost in our garden to make soil and to reduce the amount of garbage. We've had some problems making our neighbours cooperate about this. Lasse made a film about the results. 

ActNow - Hvordan lage pilau

We had a day off and invited two ladies to teach us to make Tanzanian food. Lasse made a video receipt.

Wall decoration

We just decorated our wall. Lasse was very hungry while we waited for our landlord and his wife to come for supper. In Arusha people are usually late for dinner appointments. So he started drawing pictures for the wall to forget about his stomack screaming for food. Not a bad idea.
Miljøoppgåve

Drawn by Åsmund

Drawn by Lasse

Drawn by Lasse

Drawn by lasse