I'm online! Yay! Twice in one week!

I feel like I have to post now that I'm online- It's become one of those steady rountines now, like brushing one's teeth, or searching the room for lizards at night. Even getting online has acquired an element of routine to it. Generally, I sneak into Fr. Tuzunde's office, sometime when I think he'll be out, armed with some sort of errand (today I'm returning keys for some friends who visited this weekend) and then piddle around on his computer while I wait for him to show up. It's a good deal for both of us actually- I get some sort of tangible reminder that there's a world outside of Ndanda, and he has me out of his hair when he's trying to do work here. Fr. Tuzunde is one of the best parts of living here- He's a portly, serene father with an air of both competence and absolute contentment. Just sitting in the same room with him make the accumulated stress (How am I going to finish grading those papers if the power goes out!? Is that cut on my hand ever going to heal?) gradually dissipate- leaving only a mellow smile in its wake.

This weekend was nice; I had two friends from Mtwara unexpectedly visit, and we spent the weekend catching up, watching movies on Tariq's laptop, and eating out. Ndanda has only two eating establishments (both bars) serving two different dishes (chipsi kuku- chicken and fries, and wali nyama- rice and meat) so the culinary options were exhausted early, leading us to prowl through the local market in search of delicacies. We returned triumphant- a whole kilo of passion fruit for only $1.25! Have you ever tried passion fruit? It's best if you cut off the top and then scoop the seeds out with a spoon, sucking on them for a bit before swallowing them whole. They taste kinda like a pulpy Sweetart- amazing :)

Life here is ambling on at an easy Tanzanian pace. More soon,

Hugs,
Katie