Jua = sun, mvua = rain

It’s been a while since I blogged: sorry about that. There was a lot going on so I had no time to write, then there was not so much going on but it’s been too damn hot to do anything! I’m currently in Mtwara with Bart, while both of our colleges are shut for the holidays. We’re here rather than Iringa as he goes back sooner than I do, but also Mtwara is on the coast of the Indian Ocean which is a much nicer place to relax for the holidays. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to do any water sports because shortly after arriving here Bart tore a ligament in his knee, and it has been torturing him that the wind has picked up yet he can’t do any kite-surfing. Snorkelling is not much fun on my own, particularly when I don’t really know my way around to find the best spot, plus leaving anything on the beach (like a pushbike or keys to motorbike to get there, or clothes) means it is likely to get nicked, so I haven’t done much myself either! It is also the rainy season, and when it rains here it pours. It is heavy, and there is a lot of it, so the one occasion we were up to having a dip in the sea it was far too choppy and mucky having had rain earlier that day.

The main roads here in Mtwara (and across Tanzania that I’ve seen) are asphalted (or tarmacked – whatever it’s called!) – or are in the process of being made. When I say ‘made’, I mean covered with stones and made solid. They are bumpy. And of course the side roads are still just dirt, the path of the road carved out from the bush, consisting of the lovely red, silken earth that I referred to in an earlier post. When that gets wet, it is not just slippery: it is incredibly smooth, soft, and squidgy! VSO Mtwara has a 4WD, and it is needed when it rains. There’s no way I would take out the piki piki (motorbike) during or after the rain, unless I wanted to know how it feels to fall off in it: there’s just nothing for the tyres to grip. Now I understand the difficulties the teachers face if they are not living on or near their college, which is what they’re supposed to do would the colleges have sufficient facilities for them, however more often than not teachers have to find accommodation themselves and then also pay for it themselves, and then arrange their own transport. You may say that’s what we need to do in the UK, but not only are we paid more: accommodation is not promised and then not provided.

So not only is it too damn hot to want to do anything; when it rains it is nearly impossible to do anything, so it gives a new perspective on the pace of life here.