Happy New Year

So it's already 2019 in Australia...we celebrated Perth time in the company of Aunty S with pudding night and a dance off. Here on the African continent the music is pumping up out in the inky, close night; the bass beat vibrating through bones. Back in the UK I can imagine log fires, cosy jumpers and a bottle of wine??
The talk of New Year Resolutions released a torrent of pent up emotion from our middle daughter who has been battling homesickness since our arrival. Where her Mummy & Daddy only produced more tears and stored fears, finally her older sister has broken into the overwhelming feelings.... we have tiptoed out to leave R serenading with lullabies on her ukulele.
So emotionally exhausted we bid farewell to the year that has set us off on this adventure. This time last year, our plan was a mere seed of an idea. Has it been worth it, yes, I think, despite these upsets.....at least I hope she won't be having therapy for it in years to come. Those of you who know the hours of angst I put into parenting will be reassured that these upsets are no different from home, just directed in a different way. Perhaps surprisingly, PP is proving easier here.
What has New Years Eve surmounted to today? A pop into the hospital, a check at the post office for mail (none), a request for more electricity, the unpacking from our Christmas holiday, the anticipation of more water supplies (disappointingly none, following from last weeks full tank), the usual round of meal preparations, finding of pants, tidying of stuff, mediation of bickering, playing of games.....life. We have covered many topics in our usual rounds of discussions....civil war, the meaning of life, how do bats give birth (they have to catch their babies before they fall to the ground), why are we here in Muheza, where to go at the weekend....
Which leaves me mulling at the end of the day, at the end of the year on the meaning of life. Many people have taught me many things, and I know I'll still be figuring it out on the last day of my life. My conclusions so far: we are too egotistical to think we have any meaning; the meaning can be whatever you choose it to be; life is precious, short and until you accept what you have you will forever be searching for what you have not; choose love; share this planet wisely; treat others as you wish to be treated yourself; surround yourself with people who hold the mirror up and help you be the best of you. So thank you to all you wonderful people who have made me who I am, and continue to tirelessly support, listen, laugh and share so much love. 2019 brings the remainder of my 40th year...may the adventure continue....

Pictures say it all..

Nominations so far for the biggest/weirdest load...

Goats go to market....they don't seem too unimpressed

Beach basket shop

Timber bikes

Home sweet home...well almost

Coming home to a familiar house, albeit with everything covered in a fine coating of red dust, was more of a comfort than we thought after a blissful week on Ushongo beach. B declared on our drive back that she wanted to spend the rest of her childhood here in Africa (turns out on clarification that meant on holiday by the sea).
M's sense of caution was overridden by all our pleas for 'just a little bit longer'.....and it nearly undid us. We got a bit lost leaving our hotel, bemused a few villages by driving through them twice, had a long wait for the car ferry to cross the Pangani river  and then just when I thought I'd pulled it off (being only 5km south of Muheza as the sun was about to set) fate stepped in to say 'I told you so'. FLAT TYRE. Actually turned out to be a great experience of Tanzanian generosity and kindness, fortunately being on the edge of a village and with a multitude of motorcycles, when we discovered that although we had a spare tyre, no appropriate jack for the beast of a vehicle we were in.
Crowds began to gather, help summoned, and before we knew it we had 2 good jacks and extra muscles busy helping M under the car. In a surprisingly short period of time we waved goodbye to the giggling hordes of children hiding behind their mother's skirts, the group of eager young men who had rushed to our aid, and whom we think was the village chief, resplendent in white wellies (although he may have been an off duty police officer - hard to know).
We return home richer in friendships, with a promise to visit Arusha to stay with the lovely French/English/Danish family, and an offer to use a magnificent beach house from another expat family anytime we like.
The end of 2018 is drawing in, our time here is accelerating, we may well rapidly run out of weekends to fit in all the things we'd still like to do, and hopefully that will get us through the hotter, harder weekdays.

I often find I have a running commentary in my head of all the moments/experiences/thoughts I would like to jot down but rarely manage to commit them to 'paper' by the time parental duties are done. So a few snapshots inside my head:

Crunching sand underfoot, star splattered sky overhead, children clad only in swimmers as we walk back along the beach from a neighbouring lodge, returning from supper. Trying ever so hard to be brave in the knowledge that the beach is swarming with crabs all making their way to the sea for their night hunt. A mistake to turn on the torch to see there is more crab than sand....

Juicy, dripping mangoes...yup still love them. My parents always said the only way to eat a good mango is sitting in the bath. Shame we don't have a bath...instead we just fight over who gets to suck the flesh off the stone.

Sitting on the hard wooden benches on the car ferry crossing the Pangani river. We have been recommended to go on a river trip to see crocodiles so the girls are nervous at the open sides. All passengers have to get out of their vehicles for the crossing, so we sit debating our actions if a croc decides to jump on board. I mistakenly bring up some of the local history, as Pangani was slave port, though smaller than the slaving centre of Bagamayo further south. It is said that one of the main town buildings had a live slave buried at each corner when the foundations were lain, in the belief that it strengthen the building. Horrifying.

There, that'll do....I shall to a photo catch up tomorrow....and introduce you to our motorbike/bicycle competition; what's the most/largest thing we have seen strapped to the back of them.

It's a hard life....

Completely indulgent and a complete contrast to life in Muheza....but we are having a heavenly Christmas break. A fascinating mix of other families are staying in this lovely lodge south of Pangani. The girls are thick as thieves with new buddies, and it's no bad thing for them all to have some time apart with other people. R is currently hanging out in the beachside bar playing monopoly with a new bosom buddy (it's 8pm here) and they've all been roaming freely. There's a South African family of teens, a Belgium family from Dubai, an English family on Safari & Beach holiday and a French/English family who live in Tanzania. The last have an 11 & 7 yr old girl, so we are happily sharing meals and are trying out a small sailing dhow with them tomorrow. Fascinating to have insights into all these different multinational lives going on around the world. I can easily see how appealing having a paid job with the ability to have a house with air-con, international school  and a car etc could be.  Not sure our children would necessarily agree, particularly L who has calculated that we have 103 days left! We had a magical Christmas dinner of Lobster under the stars with the scent of cinnamon candles and the local choir singing. Tonight we contrasted by dining at the nearby village 'restaurant' beach shack with fish and chips at a fraction of the cost....although B did then ask as we strolled back amongst the scuttling crabs as to when supper was going to be. All so relaxed....I think this is our first 2 week holiday as a family and a very good thing to. M has a lot lined up surgery wise when we get back, there are 10 more days of holiday until school starts. Some negotiation to be done on B's home tutor and then we shall see how the new term goes for a more regular work for me....

Father Christmas found us...

Much anxiety has been relieved this morning on finding our African stockings had been filled. Father Christmas evidently can stop in Tanzania on request.

The ladies in Muheza who made them for me thought I was a bit odd! Trying to explain why I wanted 5 giant socks which weren't for wearing and which an old man would fill with presents in the middle of the night caused much hilarity!!

Merry Christmas

Stockings are up....fingers are crossed that Santa will stop....and YAY to a Christmas sipping coconuts by the Indian Ocean.
A Merry Christmas to all our wonderful friends and family....peace and goodwill to all xxx

Ruth: Our safari

Hi Ruth's back!!! - Finally!!!

Sos it's been soooo long guys!!! So little time, so much to type! Know what I mean?!? Well, anyway, back to business... So you've probably heard quite a lot of the stuff that's been going on around here recentally from mum and dad - not  the same, I know, I'm the legend round 'ere! But you know what we've been up to at least so lets crack on. Ok, so, we've just been on a three day safari and, well, IT WAS EPICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We saw I don't know hom mny different species of animal!!!!! And all of them were super cool here's a list of thoses I can remember at the mo:

• Loads of different species of antelope 
• Warthog 
• flamingo 
• hippo 
• rhino - they're super rare and guess how many we saw? - 4 - 4 out of 40 in the park - isn't  that just epic??!! And one of them was a baby too!!
• lions - we saw a male one super close up and I even got a video of it weeing on someone's car - 'll see if I can post that!!
• zebra 
• giraffe 
• elephants 
• leopards - they're really rare we were so lucky to see them - and so close as well, they were only about 10m away from us!!!
• monkeys 
• baboons - oh I've got a good story to tell about baboons!!

So we were sitting in the car waiting for our driver to come back from doing a couple of bits & bobs. He had just dashed back to close his window, so we thought it might be a good idea to close ours. Mum was on the case but then suddenly she started calling for me to look behind me. I thought there was something funny going on with the baboons behind us, but when I turned around I had the fright of my life. There, sitting in my window, less than 2cm away from my face, was a not exactly small baboon sitting there looking like it was about to jump on top of me at any moment. And the fact that mum had just been telling us all not to aggravate the baboons as they can be vicious and get ferocious about food, did not help either!! What happened next was extremely fast. I jumped out of my skin and started screaming (which probably thinking about it now wasn't the best thing to do). The baboon was milliseconds away from jumping into the car which would have caused absolute mayhem, tehn daddy lunged at it which made it jump back. Mum shut the window quickly and all was done. Except my heart kept beating at 100mph for at least 10mins after.

Right, actually think that's enough for today, catch up soon,

Ruth!!! :-) :-) ;-) ;-) 

  

Sisterly awe at the crater

Worth it....YES! All completely awed by the  phenomenon that is the Ngorogoro crater...even if you do share it with numerous other safari trucks. Couldn't quite believe I wasn't in an Attenborough program. Found four  of the 40 black rhinos that live in the crater and all felt suitably chagrined at mankind's destruction in the world to find out that the 60,000 strong population in 1970 plummeted to just 2000 in 2016. Thankfully they've doubled their numbers in the last 2 years, but quite a lesson in endangered species for the girls.
Amazed we've all been gripped enough to stay awake until the drives back to base as the early starts and long journeys are fairly sleep inducing. Requests for lunch are getting earlier....9.30 from B today....but thankfully the lunchboxes are generous. We ate in the car overlooking a hippo pool on the advice of our driver as a watchful black kite was waiting to swoop down to steal sandwiches ....we got out to stretch our legs but felt a little odd knowing we'd been in close vicinity of a lion only 10mins earlier!
Our last animal encounter of the day was on leaving the conservation area. Waiting for our driver, I was just about to warn the girls to close their windows when the reason for the warning appeared. R got the fright of her life turning to the window to find herself face to face with a big baboon in the process of climbing in. Her scream paused him long enough for M's reaction to kick in and for the baboon to beat a hasty retreat. A moment longer and I suspect the baboon would've been stealing the biscuits being munched on the back seat!
Highlights of today: R - lion, L- lion, B - R screaming!!!!

Off on Safari

We issued a tricky ultimatum to 1 of our girls this morning. Luckily they made the right choice and we didn’t end up leaving her & Daddy behind in Muheza. 

It was a fragile exit – we needed to be at the petrol station at 7.30 for the 8am bus – but as always when energies are directed at negotiating children out the door we ended up leaving some things behind…like the carefully chilled water I had popped in the freezer, the charger for the camera (please let the battery last for this trip, the time it shall be used most), a pair of binoculars, oh and we didn’t open the calendar and get the bag of snowmen jelly babies I had sneaked from one of wonderful Christmas packages.

Some days I think I could give Kofi Annan a run for his money on the negotiation front but not this one. Nonetheless we got to the petrol station at the appointed time and then waited (not without some anxiety as to whether I’d booked us on to a real bus on that day & time). We waited, and waited and started to worry we were in the wrong place……a couple of phone calls and a walk over to the bus station reaffirmed that we were in the correct place…until we finally saw the bus with the correct name…pulling into the bus station (where we were not). Only 45 mins late.  A few mins later and after much flagging by the bus ticket man & our hospital car driver our bags were shoved on & we were shoved through the door. They give you approx. 10secs to get in your seat before it screeches back out into the bedlam of motorcycles. Thankfully we got bottoms on seats & heaved a big sigh of relief. I firmly put all thoughts of road safety to the back of my mind (Tanzania doesn’t have the greatest safety record with buses…and when you see how fast they drive & how they overtake you’ll see why).

Tahmeed Luxury Coach was well worn but certainly luxurious compared to most of the normal buses. Aircon to 27c, tvs from the ceiling with loud Tanzanian pop music & gyrating scantily clad women, tvs in the backs of seats (1 in 4 which worked….M got to watch a movie and B got to watch Minions) and large reclining, if a little worn, seats. We got a pee stop after 2 hours, a bus change in the middle of nowhere half way through – the coach abruptly pulled off road & we were instructed to climb out  & swap buses with passengers coming the other direction. 7 hours of road later we arrived in Moshi. The landscape certainly changed along the way, with the verdant Usambara mountains and piles of plums for sale giving way to vast arid expanses and finally a cloud covered horizon beyond which lurked Kilimanjaro.

We disembarked into the chaos of Moshi bus station, trying to deduce who was the safari organiser that was meant to be meeting us. You are literally bombarded with questions, offers of taxi and all manners of things to buy. We found a corner of shade, called him and awaited pick up.

In amongst all this my phone has died….it has not got a great track record of crashing when the batter gets too low. This time it felt like it was going to spontaneously combust and although M has seemed to have managed to reset it I now have to wait until we’re back in Muheza to use my English sim card to set up my Whatsapp again. So for the moment I haven’t been able to receive messages for 48hrs and shan’t be able to communicate until we return back to our house on Sunday afternoon (23^rd). So don’t panic if I haven’t replied!

We had a night in Moshi, where a miscommunication re sleeping arrangements saw me sleeping like sardines with the younger 2 in a very small double bed. I can’t really call it sleeping, but more like a hot yoga deep meditation session in which I occasionally got whacked round the face. It was a relief we had planned an early start with our driver collecting us at 6am.

I am writing this in a Lodge at the edge of the escarpment to the Rift Valley. Tomorrow Ngorogoro awaits. Today however was a magical first safari day….all the girls unanimous in their enjoyment, not only of zooming round with us all hanging out the top of raised roof landrover, but with the stunning vistas and wildlife. B declared it her most favourite thing in the whole world to do.

Tangarire national park lived up to it’s reputation for Elephants and Baobab trees. I could have watched elephants all day, such majestic animals and so many of them, so close up. But we also loved our first experience of giraffes, zebras, impalas & warthogs plus all the splendid coloured and shaped birds including vultures, storks, ostriches and swallows! Our driver was diligently hunting down big cats for us and we managed 2 distant sightings of lions, although too far for much enthusiasm from 5 year old who really just wanted to keep showing Gerry the giraffes. Monkeys caused trouble at lunchtime – we were prey to their lunch stealing tricks and then enjoyed watching the same befall any newcomers to the picnic areas. They beat seagulls in the pasty stealing stakes. And on our final drive leaving the park our driver was stunned to find us, not 1 but 3 leopards (though M thinks 4) to watch.  L was busy finishing off her chicken leg from lunch, much to B’s consternation that the leopards might hop into our car for it.

I now have a lot of photos to cull, the girls are worn out…as are we…..but ready for another early start tomorrow to dip down into the famous crater. Photos to follow….(or have a look at M's: follow the link to the surgeon's musings)

Holidays are coming

Here starts our Christmas holidays......a 'dream' combination of safari this week and then Christmas by the Indian Ocean next week! Not even a hint of work from me at the moment but no guilt as this is our scheduled holiday time...we had a long debate about whether to spend Christmas in our African home in Muheza. Pros & cons on both sides but the offer of the hospice car for the whole week swung it (they are closed until the New Year)...to good an opportunity to miss having a vehicle to explore the coast further south.
So tomorrow we board our first bus and hopefully arrive 6 hours later in Moshi. I am full of anticipation for our first view of the great Mount Kilimanjaro. R has been doing some volcano prep work and filled me full of facts. At over 5km high it's Africa's largest mountain and amongst the world's largest volcanoes, though many 100,000s years since it was last active. At least a handful of people die each year trying to reach the summit......we shan't be amongst them on this trip. Just trying to work out the logistics of both parents going on a hike and leaving the girls at the bottom or for M & R to meander up...I'm not so fussed about reaching the top, more keen just to admire it.
My mind as usual, jumps around ever so fast.....shall fill you in on the details of the safari experience afterwards. We're trying 3 days.....wondering at what point a 5 yr old has enough of sitting in a car looking at wildlife. Been trying to persuade them all that we could do a walking safari (my horse skills sadly preclude a horse back safari) but they look askance at the thought that if perchance a wild beast wanted to eat us then the guide would likely have to intervene. No, they are not distressed at the thought that we might get eaten/hurt.... it is more that the animal might get shot. I fear my birthday hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti will have to wait for another day.
I have been polishing my domestic goddess halo with daily Christmas activities...although maybe not quite earth mother enough to have suggested the girls use all the beer bottle tops to decorate our door wreath. I am sufficiently rose tinted to skim over the moments where I'd quite like to walk out the door & keep on walking.....as on the whole this family adventure is molding us all in the positive direction little by little. So, bar the occasional star wars movie, the girls are spending hours making houses of cards, playing marbles, endless lego, plenty of crafting, reading.....we're just seriously lacking on the exercise front (and I suspect where the less angelic moments come from). Just too hot to contemplate running around outside.
M however, puts us all to shame with a morning run, on which R occasionally joins him. Never having had a problem with talking myself out of a run, I find the humidity is even less compelling. I am helping that halo with my mini yoga class stuck to the back of the door...thanks to my gorgeous sis for my personalised morning routine (check out anandapanda.yoga if you live anywhere near the South Downs).
M is also wearing his domestic god halo with pride.....I am due a reminder of gratitude to have picked such a Fundi (handyman) to help me through life! Yes I totally take it for granted that my husband can wire up defunct fans, install a gas cooker so that the house doesn't explode, fix everything and anything and be an all round engineer. We all know that every partnership share out the household chores...I unashamedly handed over the DIY mantle years ago. I may groan at his perfectionist tendencies, but what a relief to have someone who can solve most of our daily problems.

Move over mince pies.....Mango season is here!

Oh yes....the true reason for our trip to sub Saharan Africa has arrived....MANGOES. I think I may even be a week behind....we get given so many pineapples, oranges and papayas that I haven't needed to venture to the fruit market. Apparently they've been available for a good 10 days but today is the first day I spotted them on a street stall. B is being offered a 'zawadi: gift'. We bought 2 big mangoes for 50p and she was given her little one which she polished off at great speed. Wondering how many days until we're bored of them....or will it be like my mince pie addiction and never wear off.

5 yr old around town...

Another day out on the town with my mini celeb...she's resolutely not a blogger but I thought I'd share in pictures the things a 5 yr old notices and wants to take photos of. So, as follows, B's photo diary of errands in town...total distance covered approx. 2km - time taken 2.5hrs!

The Bus Station: piles of oranges waiting to be sold to the next busload of passengers. This picture looks far too calm - we're about to make a run for it across the road, between the many racing boda bodas (motorcycles) whilst declining rides from most of them. 

Feeling very proud of ourselves for having tracked down the correct bus ticket seller (there are many different bus companies) and purchased our tickets for our trip up to Moshi for our safari this week. At least we hope we have bought the right tickets.....we shall find out at 8am on the specified day. I now have to break it to Beth that we actually are going to need a whole lot more cash and must walk on to the ATM & then come back. (180,000 shillings return  - about £60).

At the post office - yes, she is better at me at counting out the money!

Checking out the brick maker - you can just about make out the brick press in the background. The brick maker is taking a break in the shade... think B could have stayed all day to watch and has requested a trip to a brick factory back home.....any ideas where we go for that?

Next trade to admire.. the timber boys...hot work loading this lot up.

I am getting berated for missing a photo opportunity of motorbike carrying mountain of baskets....think she needs her own camera!

We couldn't understand enough Swahili to work out if these chickens are for sale or whether they are battery hens for laying eggs. Our housekeeper tells us we can buy cage eggs or rubbish eggs (which are actually the free range ones, more expensive ones. I assume rubbish applies to the fact that they scratch around in the rubbish)

Admiring sweetcorn growing in the dirty ditch......she was all for climbing down to start harvesting

First sign of Christmas that we have spotted outside of our own festive home

Best thing about being out with B - she is all for marching up and quizzing people on what their doing & what their name is. Puts me right out of my comfort zone but also means everyone loves us coming up to chat & attempt to ask them questions. 

Christmas tree: take 2

So the first tropical tree died....and then we spotted this at the roadside.

The usual route....across the track

It is a sign of normalisation that I am not needing to write every day to share all the new experiences. The first day here I had to overcome a strong urge just to stay in the house....it was overwhelming to consider stepping out in the heat to the stares of everyone (albeit friendly) on the street. 5 weeks in, the interest in us is still evident but it is more like walking into the town back home. I can throw back the replies to greetings without stumbling on my tongue, I can ask how much things are and understand the answer (a daughter on hand still helps with the numbers). I still cause hilarity in my attempts at kiswahili in the shops but I seem to be understood and often get a lesson back. We've had a half week back in muheza with Christmas activities....bidding farewell to the Hereford team whom our children have already planned to move in with on our return to the UK. Aunty S has return from Safari....phew we have someone to play psychiatrist with again.
I have booked our safari for next week....we watched the lion king in preparation last night....B has not watched it before: though may be dissapointed in the lack of synchronized animal routines in the wild.
And I have interviewed a law graduate for the chief post of B home care/teaching....just need to negotiate a salary or else I am in danger of paying someone more than it's worth for me to go out to work for free...hmmm.

Baby hats

Ingenious!

My secret addiction...

OK so maybe not so secret but the thing I could happily eat every day...mince pies (I have been known to make them my 5 a day) I am so hooked that yes I did bring mincemeat with us! And today's calendar activity...make mince pies for mummy to eat.
So we're back in muheza and activities to pass the hot day. B is happy to be ensconced back in her Lego. R has spent her time sorting the med students scrubs...a vast cupboard full of assorted greens & blues....now organised in her regimented piles of sizes. She has purloined the XXXL ones to make baby hats. A request by the muheza team to introduce hats for neonates.....like the knitted ones in SCBU back home. Except this bunch of babies are going to look like smurfs.
We've also been for some Xmas shopping with the Masai bead lady in town.
Tomorrow I have a tutorial to give, cervical screening to observe (want to see if they do the vinegar method here), Xmas stockings to collect (commissioned I'm African material), and a home tutor/nanny to meet. Busy, busy....but all happy.

The sea is cold?

Having been brought up to enjoy bracing swims, and carefully cultivated the 'this is lovely' dip in the sea attitude in my own offspring, I fear all is undone. B declined to join me this morning as it was 'too chilly'. Have I forever ruined us for the British coast? I admit I too felt a bit chilly, so shall take it as a good sign of acclimatisation. It has been overcast for 2 days and blissfully cool so the sand hasn't done it's usually heating up to a furnace trick. On other days, the tidal pools have got too hot to paddle in, and when the sea comes back you may as well be in a hot bath.....just need bubbles & a good book.

Cowries

Is it possible to lead a life just sitting watching the sea? Normally I find it hard just to sit and be but there's something about watching the tides come and go that makes you realise the insignificance of humans. We certainly are wreaking an ongoing force of destruction on this planet but I suspect once we are long gone the oceans will still rise and fall.
And how, I hear you thinking, is she possibly having time to sit and think philosophical thoughts. Well the 3 children are as one right now (setting up a crab residential home).....love it when they're on the same team & I am surplus to requirements...though I have probably jinxed it now. You may yet be rescued from my mind turning to the meaning of life....and that ever burning question....how do ants work out where sweet stuff is??? Can they smell...or is it a chemical signal....how do they appear within minutes of food/drink spillages?
I am also meant to be prepping for this week's tutorial...
And I almost didn't explain the title and start to my mindful day....every step towards the sea for a morning swim with B revealed another cowrie shell....like a trail of breadcrumbs ....13 in all...would that make me a millionaire in ancient Cornwall?

L's first forays into photography

portrait of the artist

How do you know you're feeling better?

I think tucking into giant prawns is a very good sign...whether it's the metronidazole or otherwise I am back to feeling human.
A weekend in paradise is just what the doctor ordered!! That and the company of the Hereford team who graciously engaged our children in endless card games & pool play whilst their parents had some much needed downtime.

 

I am treating us girls to an extra couple of nights here in Peponi whilst M takes the others back for work in Muheza tomorrow. It's their first week of school holidays so I think limiting ourselves to only a few days in the hustle & bustle back in town is wise. Although, having spent virtually the last month nonstop in each others company it feels very odd to be here for a night without M.

One of the big pluses (although could be seen as one of the challenges!) of the last month is that we have eaten virtually all our meals together (except for lunches with the girls at school). It is not uncommon in the UK for us to only eat together at weekends as M is usually gone before the girls are up and then more often than not returns to a plate to heat up.

My mind has been turning this weekend as to what happens after these school holidays. We had arranged, after many hours of being passed around in circles, that the girls' schools could keep their places for our return. It turns out that it's not very simple to go off volunteering & not jeopardise your children's opportunities back home. However, a wonderful person somewhere deep in the county council realised that there are many ways of keeping a child registered with a school, other than being committed to a young offenders institution. I digress...but ultimately as long as they are attending school here, then school back home can welcome us back with open arms. And here in lies the problem...school here may well be more than the smallest person can bear, and  may be pushing it a step too far for the middle one. But if we admit defeat on school here....then do I renege on my promise that they can go back to their beloved village school when we get home??

I know plenty of you would also be asking how am I going to manage work for me if I'm home schooling. And yes, a bit of work for me is important for my experience of this place, for my sanity, and for the breadth of things I have to offer (on top of old mcdonald lessons & xmas crafts). So....here's my plan......home school for bit in mornings, then source lovely Tanzanian lady to look after B at home (have realised that although housekeeper is lovely, asking her to engage with 5 yr old whilst doing mountains of laundry each day is pushing it) whilst I work for bit, then home for more 'school' in afternoons. 

Will see how L fares after the holidays - keen for her to do some school, mainly so she has a change of scene for some of the day. But this was never going to be a breeze for our homegirl, who I think would rather have missed her parents & stayed home with the bunnies.

Have been experimenting with home school styles - thanks Mum for those years of ad hoc maths on the beach, trips to museums dressed as romans etc. My conclusion so far is that child led learning really does seem to work! B had stubbornly decided we were not going to do lessons at home. But having asked her what she wanted to do, we then worked through telling the time, counting in roman numerals, currency, counting in 2s, 5s & 10s, researching African wildlife (now how many of you know how many eggs a crocodile lays? or how many of them make it to adulthood? or how many spots there are on a giraffe?), weighing & measuring and writing poetry...all in an hour & a half of intense interest. And she didn't even realise we were doing 'schoolwork'. Cue me reading lots of home school blogs.

But as they say, the best laid plans......trying to do it all never really works- but maybe this will be a happy medium. 

But first I am in travel agent mode, booking our safari for next week and then something for Christmas week. So many amazing things to do in this country.....

Made it out of bed....

to admire the little elves handiwork!

Eugh....

Feeling more sympathetic towards my children now I'm having a taste of what they've been through. All 3 girls much brighter today, but I've not ventured far from the loo or my bed. M managed to finish early & come home to help...much to my relief. But they have been incredible....working harmoniously all morning painting the salt dough decorations we made yesterday (advent day 5 activity). Normally I'd have a small amount of anxiety as to what the state of the place would be but I haven't felt well enough to care or see. I've just lain here listening to happy voices searching for thread to string them up by, washing up, making more paper chains (advent day 2 activity) and opening today's calendar. They've even been out to the drinks stall over the road to make sure I've been drinking. Hoping the angelic peace will last now dad's home.  I just need to find the metronidazole...don't want to put up with this for long...we're heading to peponi tomorrow for the weekend.

Bodily fluids.....

Inevitably the time has come for the onslaught of one of the worst bits of parenting - clearing up vomit & worse. Poor girls...B felt poorly over the weekend, but no explosions; R incapable of enjoying the pool on Sunday & vomited in the car on the way back to Muheza...made it to school yesterday but fluctuating temps & nausea....L spent all night vomiting etc. The only saving grace being they managed to alternate use of the toilet & bowl...although on that schedule I didn't get much sleep. Today has been a write off with us all lying exhausted on our beds. Slight improvement this evening...so wish me luck for the night ahead.

Hard to recall the other things I wanted to record now I'm in a haze of exhaustion. But yesterday gave me another satisfying outing for visits in the villages. Long drive this week up into the foothills of the Usambara mountains. We passed lots of cocoa trees, with many houses drying sheets of cocoa pods out the front. Lots of pretty 'gardens' amongst the villages and several streams for us to cross, which I imagine may be far more torrents in the wet season. My medical knowledge overstretched this time...need to swot up on a lot of topics. Plenty of things I'm sure I'll never see again in my career.....severe toxoplasmosis infection amongst others. One of the homes insisted on serving us 'lunch'....I am wondering if I am yet to pay the price of this - but as the palliative care nurse and student pharmacist tuck in I felt too rude not to. Firstly they bring a bowl & jug of water to wash our hands. Then we were treated to freshly boiled milk in elegant teacups & a large pile of chapatis. Almost too much for me sitting in a shower of my own sweat as the sun cooked us slowly through the tin roof, and the overwhelming smell of cow from the shed next door.

Out on visits

                                                Cocoa beans drying in the sun

Made it back just in time to see the end of prize day at school - R got a prize for her 3 legged race. Sister G ran out of prizes so the remainder will be handed out on the last day of term - which she has brought forward to tomorrow. Sadly I don't think the girls will be up to it yet tomorrow - they shall miss wishing Merry Christmas to their classmates. Thankfully we managed to squeeze in a class photo with L's class, but R's class we'll have to do after the holidays. I need to decide re B over the holidays, but she really hasn't settled at all at school so we may end up doing more of a combination  home schooling after Christmas. They are now off until 9th January so we are busy planning safaris etc

Prize giving

L's class

R's teacher Sister I & her Xmas decorations