My Short-lived Stint Living in Tanzania

Good try sending me to TZ, Kenya, but you can't rid of me that easily.  As I mentioned previously, my org shipped me off to a small village, Anjari, about 30 km outside of Moshi, a larger town a couple of hours away from Arusha that is primarily known for its proximity to Mount Kilimanjaro and the starting point for many hikers' journey up the mountain.

In an effort to fulfill another blog request, I took pictures daily of the village, work, and just about anything that struck my fancy. This may not be an entire month in the life of moi thanks to a quick reprieve and subsequent return to Nairobi, but here is a montage of pictures taken throughout Tanzania during my short time there.  Enjoy!

Can't Buy My Love...

But apparently you *can* buy my friends' love.  It's not that my friends don't like my current Curry Delight, it's just that they are very particular (as am I....although my decisions are a bit more biased than theirs) in approving of the guys I date.  I tend to wear blinders around the guys I fancy, constantly ignoring the sound and sage advice of friends to get over my crush on Nairobi's Poster Boy for Players and ignore the flirtations of cute but scandalous mhindis.  However, I have recently discovered a loophole to gain backdoor approval for said men from the judge-y friends.  Bribery.

Africa Is Not A Country

As I am sure most of you are aware, Africa is not a country.  So I don't understand why people insist on referring to it like all the countries here are one and the same.  Each country here has its own political system and individual history.  You cannot judge one country's stability, safety, whatever by what is going on in a completely different area.  It's like deciding to not travel to Texas because there's a protest in D.C.

The Joys of Village Life

So, I moved to Tanzania this past weekend.  When I was told that I would have to transfer to Moshi for work I wasn't sure what to expect.  I had some friends who had lived in Arusha and Moshi before who told me a bit about the region.  What my organization didn't bother to mention to me was that I wasn't moving to Moshi proper, but would be staying 30km outside of town in rural Moshi.  And when I say rural, I mean up the mountain, 40 minutes from town, in the village.  Thanks for the heads up, guys!  Fortunately, I am here with another colleague so I have a partner in crime to experience everything with.