Fueled by chapati mbili and a perfect mug of chai ya rangi, I’m ready to work. I resolved to carry out four chapati to eat along this morning while I worked, in denial about the fact that it’s impossible to eat chapati and type at the same time. It takes two hands to rip…
Tags: calorific
Sometimes, you need to take a step back and laugh. Those who know me are familiar with my meticulousness. I live by my to-do list, my calendar, my smart mailbox of unread messages (beats checking my 40+ folders individually). So when I sat down to review this week’s schedule, I…
Mwihidini’s driving me home again. It’s the night before we leave for Nairobi for Sankalp. I’m sitting in the front for the first time. Usually I prefer to sit in the back, to be driven and to maintain a semblance of decorum. I’m not sure how things are done here,…
Tags: Swahili
(Photo courtesy of Sameer Dossa. Cheers, Sameer!) Mama Kosta is nothing if not a business woman. When we asked her if we could film her for a video, she declined. She hates being in front of a camera, for pictures or video. ‘Tell her what it’s for,’ Adam tells Cecilia….
Tags: Mamas
Moshi is safe. It’s also very clean. It’s peaceful and pretty. If it’s not too late in the morning when I leave the house, I walk into town. I can stay in the shade on the side of the road, and enjoy the walk thinking through things for myself. The…
Tags: Swahili
I can’t decide whether it’s a disadvantage that I can manage to go without food easily. Unlike others, I don’t get irritable when my blood sugar starts to dip when I haven’t eaten in a while. I don’t have to eat immediately after I get up in the morning. I…
Tags: Swahili
I like Mwihidini, whom Adam and I usually refer to simply as Baba. One of our usual taxi drivers, Mwhidini does everything slowly. His slow driving makes me feel safe, and doesn’t jostle me too much as we bounce down my unpaved road. His slow Swahili makes him easy to understand…
Tags: Swahili
‘Hodi!’ we call, waiting to enter the small schoolroom office of Good Hope. ‘Karibu!’ someone calls back, and we enter. We’re meeting with Mama Oliver and Mama Asia, who work here at Good Hope, supporting and educating children and women affected by HIV/AIDS. East Africa has relatively high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates,…
Tags: Good Hope > Mamas
‘Do you need anything before heading home? Wine, food, water?’ ‘I should probably get water.’ We pause to check for cars before crossing the street. Right, left, right again. Or is it left, right, left? No, the former. We’re on the other side here. We enter the grocery store. Mambo….
Tags: Swahili
It’s blissfully cool these mornings. My large, loud ceiling fan churns, pulling up the dew-damp air that spills through my windows onto the floor. Somewhere someone has just lighted a fire; I can smell burning—if I had to guess—charcoal. But the kind of charcoal that looks like a completely burnt…
Tags: SwahiliShe could not function to the rule of: Pipe down—keep down—slow down—don’t do your best, it is not wanted!
–Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Adam and I keep in touch after I accept KARIBU‘s job offer. I suggest that we check in once a week, and we do. On one of these weekly check-ins, he proposes that we take some time upon my arrival to take a few days off. We could hike. There are…
Tags: Swahili
(Happy 295th, Eddy!) I’ll likely publish these belatedly, since I haven’t been able to get around to setting up my blog. I arrive in Tanzania, somewhat surprised that the runway is paved. The smell! It had smelled sweet in Addis, but nothing compared to this! True, it’s not as intoxicating…
Tags: safe and sound
RSS - Posts
Recent Comments