You’re getting a few blogs today because the internet was down at the hotel. Electricity is a bit dodgy in Tanzania, and when the power goes out the internet provider needs to refresh his equipment. Unfortunately the guy wasn’t around this weekend, so that’s it – no internet. Honestly, we believe it requires simple restarting – but nobody will let us into the room to do it. We have considered letting ourselves in – but don’t think that’s a very good idea from a legal standpoint. So – hopefully I will be able to find a place to put this in (assume that I have if you are reading this!).
Sunday – the day we selected to relax – turned out to be a really nice day. Late breakfast and some room organizing for the big packup this week, and a run into town.
A smaller group of us headed into town to visit the shops and see if we could find some fabric..some went to buy, other went to just get out. This short errand turned into a few hours of wandering Dodoma, visiting stalls and shops, and walking through their markets. I have to say this is quite different from the Raleigh Farmers Market. Certainly they had potatoes and other vegetables, but there are a few items I’ve never seen – large mounts of tiny dried fish piled high, everywhere, medium dried fish just looking at you when you walked by – just daring us to buy some and try it. The lanes were narrow and this part of the market was covered and dark. It reminded me of some of the markets in Istanbul. After going through the lanes of the markets, we headed down a few more streets with more shops – we’re definitely 
used to shopping around town now, so it didn’t seem unusual that the streets and shops were so dramatically different. Some of the guys were looking for things for their kids (and for themselves of course). Sean managed to get his hands on a Tanzania soccer team jersey. Sandip got this guy to custom make a t-shirt – he’d just have to come back in a few hours. He did do that – and when he got back, not only was the shop closed, but it was completely gone – packed up and carted away. We may never see this t-shirt, but he will continue on the journey to see if we can at least find the store again. We finally took a break after a few hours in the hot sun, having a cool drink at the Cana Lodge. 
We relaxed there for a while, and then headed back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon – relaxing and watching some soccer – Manchester City vs. Manchester United, followed by Chelsea vs. Arsenal. We then had dinner at and played some euchre. Innocent came by to say hi, so we invited him into the game. Denise taught him how to play and paired him with Liz – who was also learning. The game was fun – and of course I cannot recall who won
because it wasn’t me. I’m not sure if Innocent had any idea what he was doing – but I do know he had a great time. He tried to escape once but we were able to hold him hostage til the end of the game.
Our very last weekend here is over. Lots of work to do this week, and a repacking. Wow..this just flew by.
Sunday – the day we selected to relax – turned out to be a really nice day. Late breakfast and some room organizing for the big packup this week, and a run into town.
A smaller group of us headed into town to visit the shops and see if we could find some fabric..some went to buy, other went to just get out. This short errand turned into a few hours of wandering Dodoma, visiting stalls and shops, and walking through their markets. I have to say this is quite different from the Raleigh Farmers Market. Certainly they had potatoes and other vegetables, but there are a few items I’ve never seen – large mounts of tiny dried fish piled high, everywhere, medium dried fish just looking at you when you walked by – just daring us to buy some and try it. The lanes were narrow and this part of the market was covered and dark. It reminded me of some of the markets in Istanbul. After going through the lanes of the markets, we headed down a few more streets with more shops – we’re definitely 
used to shopping around town now, so it didn’t seem unusual that the streets and shops were so dramatically different. Some of the guys were looking for things for their kids (and for themselves of course). Sean managed to get his hands on a Tanzania soccer team jersey. Sandip got this guy to custom make a t-shirt – he’d just have to come back in a few hours. He did do that – and when he got back, not only was the shop closed, but it was completely gone – packed up and carted away. We may never see this t-shirt, but he will continue on the journey to see if we can at least find the store again. We finally took a break after a few hours in the hot sun, having a cool drink at the Cana Lodge. 
We relaxed there for a while, and then headed back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon – relaxing and watching some soccer – Manchester City vs. Manchester United, followed by Chelsea vs. Arsenal. We then had dinner at and played some euchre. Innocent came by to say hi, so we invited him into the game. Denise taught him how to play and paired him with Liz – who was also learning. The game was fun – and of course I cannot recall who won
because it wasn’t me. I’m not sure if Innocent had any idea what he was doing – but I do know he had a great time. He tried to escape once but we were able to hold him hostage til the end of the game.Our very last weekend here is over. Lots of work to do this week, and a repacking. Wow..this just flew by.
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