Durham to Moshi in 36 hours

From Winter to Summer in 36 hours. 

You did see 3 peaks in the previous blog, but so wonderful

John could care less about what a homeless man he looks, but it was cold

The jolt of an old body seems to attack John and I now with relative frequency.  In particular, this occurs because we plan our trips to Tanzania when we find the weather particularly unpleasant in one country or another.  So, for instance, we have frequently returned to Moshi in July or August when weather is balmy, but in the US, boiling hot.  Our friends in Moshi think that they know boiling hot, but they don’t know 100+ degrees with 100 percent humidity.  And generally, the temperature in Moshi drops drastically after the sun goes down.  And, they don’t know the 12 degrees that Boone is currently experiencing, for even in the Moshi winter, the temperature rarely drops below 50 or 55 degrees. (we all complain when it gets that cold). Certainly however, traveling for 36 hours is intense enough, and moving from one weather pattern and one time zone to another is amazing, and the older we get the more we have difficulty.

Date palm tree loaded with fruit

This trip, at least for me, has been just fine thank you.  It is hot, and it is more humid than usual.  For some reason, the long rains seem just around the corner and my hair looks like a lion’s.  But, it is cool at night, hot but bearable during the day, beautiful in the am. (and you don’t have to be outside too much in the middle of the day thank heavens).  So—hear is the jolt!

just a few of the eggplants

Just a few of the banana peppers

Just a few of the Mangoes ( birds are feasting)

We arrived to the beauty of our yard in Moshi and all the hard work that Pauli had done while we were gone and he was entertaining other visitors.  The manure that he engineered had paid off.  I have never seen banana peppers or eggplant so fabulous and HUGE. 

This is the biggest most beautiful eggplant I have ever seen in my life!

part of Palmetto tree

The tree—all the palmetto trees (look Julia) is loaded with fruit and the new plants are blooming. (and this isn’t really the right season).

When we arrived, we hit the road.  I had immediate CAB activities and realized how lucky we have been to have Elizabeth on the ground as our co-leader of research activities, and how lucky we are to have such an active CAB.  I have tried to catch up with as many of my “girl” friends as I can and more to come next week.  (all are active in health related activities in which we are involved in the community).  John has spent every day in meetings and activities until at least 6 at night and then on e-mail to Duke for another several hours.  We have a wonderful new emergency room attending Kathryn who is with us for another week, and who is amazing.   

Kathryn in a moment between pages and pages of readings

Charlie is guarding his girls

Charlie in his full beauty

Prices are higher on everything, but with our garden and our fruit, at least we have some break.  And, the love right now is our Rooster, Charlie who came from our wonderful carver in Marangu (Mamba) and has grown to be a beautiful guy who is not mean to his hens, but looks just magnificent.   

It seems that food for our chickens is plentiful, and it is warm enough that they don’t need any little crocheted coats.  Perhaps the best thing that happened was that we were able to buy Zantel Internet sticks.  After our Voda sticks were slower than possibly imaginable, we tried them.   They now seem compatible with both Apple’s and the KCMC compound. The price was much cheaper, and they are much faster. 

So, life is good.  We will wait until next week.!