3 days left

Still no internet at the hotel. We did our best version of enforcers, but the hotspot guy was insistent it was a problem at the satellite – and that all of Dodoma was not able to get internet. This was, of course, very interesting, because the internet café’s in the area seem to have internet. No negotiating power on our end – if we say we won’t pay, we’ll just get our id’s cut off – so we wait. Such is Tanzania. I followed up again today, and he seemed shocked that we would be expecting an update…sigh!

We are on the final countdown to coming home or going off on different excursions. Our big presentation is Wednesday, and we are tying up our final deliverable document. It is all heads down work for all of us, interspersed with bits of music sharing and chatting.

Monday evening most of us stayed at the hotel. The food is good with a lot of choice, and it is very relaxing to sit outside in the pleasant breeze in the courtyard. The team is really great and there is a lot of laughing. We were talking about the service in the hotel. It is a very good hotel, and clearly a gathering place for the area. There is a lot of staff here, and each seems to have a very specific job function. There is one for the mosquito net, one for the bug spray, one for the water, one to clean the bathroom, one for the soap, one for the bedroom, one to take laundry, etc. I have a particularly enthusiastic soap person as you can see. Others, however, are not so lucky. Their soap gets taken away daily unless they hide it, and then they only get one bar. The people who service my room are going to give me more soap, whether I like it or not. Perhaps I’ll find a place to donate it, along with a few books I don’t want to carry back.

Each day gets us closer to our trip home. I do miss my friends and family – and of course Shane and Rusty!