I've written a small blog each day since Monday....but keep forgetting to save!! The ups and downs keep coming but slowly we are assembling our lives here. R has risen from her chagrin at the thought of life here for 5 months and is ready to share with the world again - blog coming soon. Hats off to our eldest daughter who has determinedly blasted through this week. The other 2 are taking small steady steps to becoming accustomed to Tanzania life.
School this week has had sports day, football matches & parents day (same as our parents evening but the parents all just rock up during the day). The nuns had to persuade R not to participate in too many races - fearing sunstroke & dehydration with athletics in the equatorial afternoon sun. She came 2nd in the 200m sprint and pulled off a 3 legged race too (must be all the practice she did with her BF for her sponsored 5mile 3 legged walk before we came, raising money for the Holy Family School). We had a good giggle on parents day looking through exam papers - she & L got dropped into end of term exams on their first week - both of them were a bit put out at being marked wrong on their English papers, when they were indeed right. I couldn't work out the answers for their social studies paper, nor most of their music. The science papers were interesting, impressed R knew modes of transmission for HIV, and maths was impressive - algebra is not on the cards back home yet.
I have managed some work this week, now feeling comfortable leaving girls with our housekeeper. Made my first forays onto the hospital wards to review palliative inpatients. There's a lot of very late stage gynae cancers here - pretty grim stuff with horrendous fistulas & abscesses. I feel very handicapped without the nuances of language to rely on - but I can interpret so much from the tone of voice & body language of the palliative care nurse H who is fantastic. Her main challenge is getting patients access to regular pain relief, as even if it's written up, the nursing staff infrequently give it. We're planning some training sessions for the hospital medical staff & students.
Our home routine has blossomed with the addition of daily rituals and school friends popping by after school. We're looking forward to a rerun of pudding night on Monday. Dance night on Tuesday had to be rescheduled due to the witching hour. Wednesday games night was hilarious - thanks to the MC family for the suggestion of the adverb game (brilliant). 'Aunty' S joined us & taught us an alternative version called the psychiatrist ( though I'm left wondering if my children need one of their own, what with the themes they chose!). Further details can be disclosed if required! We also had out first successful Tanzanian supper for all of us from Mama Africa....B ate something other than just pasta....cue fireworks & champagne corks. The meal in question we shall now need to eat every week - chapatis & beans - yum.
Last but not least, movie night - upgraded with great oven skills to pizza & movie night.
L& B kneading our pizza dough
After school playdates
So here we are on Friday, 3 weeks from our arrival, and I have more than a glimmer of hope that this family can not only stick this out, but perhaps enjoy it as well...…
Loving our email & WhatsApp correspondence with news from home...keep them coming x
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