Fun Sunday

Ahh. So glad a friend came and so glad I'm making friends. Anna was to join Saundra and I at a restaurant on the ocean today but her mother developed malaria and she took her in for treatment. Quite a few people I've met have had malaria, seems almost like a flu here as often as it seems to go around.  I'm grateful for the bug stuff I've been using, switched to a more natural one to keep the mosquitoes away and it has worked, a miracle considering how many bites I get in Iowa usually.  Saundra and I met at the Mediterrano restaurant without Anna since she was caring for her mom (who is the same age as me.sigh) It was quite lovely, right on the Indian Ocean (see photos).  We shared humus, a piece of steak and mashed potatoes and a bottle of wine. Next time I would not get the meat, tough, needed to be sliced into little bits. Yummy mashed potatoes though, we mixed in the garlic that came with the humus. very nice.  Then we walked on the beach, ended the day at a "mall" supermarket and target/walmart kind of store. We dropped off Saundra first so I could see the hostel she is staying out, just ok. but there is a dribbling shower and the shopping trip was for a plastic tub to go with the pail she'd fill up for her cold water bath.  Pretty sad, also the hostel is near nothing, it is on the campus of the Univ. of Dar es Salaam but they can't walk alone outside the gate, even in daylight, limited dribbling cold water, and no internet. Poor for faculty and students, many of whom have contact with family only via email or skype with no or little phone capabilities. Anna had told someone at work that it was not a good place to put faculty and students up. One person asked if it was safe though. She said yes, there is a guard with a gun. Hmm, reassuring eh?  I am, again, grateful for where I am staying.

The Indian ocean-quite warm, it felt great. The sand is that soft sugary sand. But some areas have garbage, others just seaweed. Or that eel (see photo). Kids were playing in the waves, jumping in the sand. Some things are the same across the world.