Friday 26 August 2011

Where are you Son ?

My 6.30pm meeting is late. That is how it rolls with meetings here, Tanzanian time and all that!

We just had a power cut and the bloke in the hat that sent the Jaegermeister over, which I gave to the girl in the table next to me, came over and slapped me on the back. He is South African and an oaf.
He has now staggered off and the power has come back on. 5 star hotel and no electricity for 15 minutes
and the only light in the entire place was the glow from this screen. I still love the oooohs when the power goes off and the ahhhs when it comes back on. They don't have candles here you see, as its on the edge of a cliff and its kinda breezy.

My wee Nokia has a great wee flashlight which comes in useful at times.
Asana and Mandisa have very kindly asked me out to dinner at 9pm but its too late for me to eat.
The couple next to me have just ordered lobster and it looks divine!
This is the Hotel where the Vodacom CEO will be staying and its where the Whirlwind Aviation guys keep their chopper, which I incidently booked this morning. I've never booked a chopper before.

Oaf has just sent over another Jaegermeister. Am sending it back.

Friday!

And its 6.12pm.. sunset is imminent..Have spent the last 2 hours sat right at the edge of the Karembezi Cafe overlooking the Indian Ocean. It was a hectic morning, stuck in traffic for ages before meeting Sarah t her home for lunch. We had an amazing chicken, coconut spicy veggie, egg noodle dish which her chef, Tonic made from the Wagamama Cookbook. Awesome!

Then she dropped me here and headed off to the airport to catch a flight to Zanzibar for the weekend.
Since found out she had the plane to herself!
Just about to meet a friend to discuss a job offer at 6.30pm.

A waiter has just turned up at my table with a shot of Jaigermeister sent over by a bloke in a hat at the bar. How very odd! Can't quite see him as I am short sighted. Blue tshirt, blue cap, tan.

He is now giving me the thumbs up.

www.hotelseacliff.com

T.I.A.

I was in the supermarket the other day, an Indian one in town and I was on a mission to buy a cold, fizzy drink. In Swahili cold is barridi. Anyway, I was craving a diet pepsi or coke and even though I had promised Nino I would stop drinking it, I couldn't resist it. ( I have been drinking soda water and lime since he left ).

So, I got said bottle ( cold ) of diet pepsi and went to join a friend and when I opened it, it was flat. IE no gas. Whatsoever. So I ran back to the shop ( well waled actually as it was 30 degrees yesterday and humid ) and explained that it was flat. The sales assistant told me to speak to the Indian man behind the counter, the manager. Something about him being behind this counter made him management. Anyway! I explained that the drink was flat and asked whether I could swap it for a fizzy one. He shook his head and explained that it was not his fault or his problem. If I wanted another one I would have to buy it and write a letter to Mr Pepsi. ( !? Eh ?! ) I chuckled a bit as there was now a queue forming behind me ( nosey customers I suspect as there was not till at this counter ) I suggested that this was not great customer service and he said, ah yes, you have to go to the UK for that. Eh!? He then said, as did 3 people in the queue behind me, at the same time. " T.I.A."


If you've seen Blood Diamond you'll get it ( if you haven't I suggest you watch it as it is a top film )
We all fell about laughing "This is Africa" that is what you're telling me? Big smiles all round as we all laughed.

I then proceeded to the fridge to get another diet pepsi, shook it you see to see if it was fizzy, shook several bottles ( now have 3 staff members assisting me ) and they were all flat. Went to the other fridge where the non cold drinks were and shook them.. all flat! One dude then told me that because it was pepsi light that it wouldnt fizz up as much as the full sugar pepsi - nope that didn't work either, I then gave him diet sprite to shake, whilst i shook up full sugar sprite.. and they both fizzed up the same!
They all think this is hilarious now, them Mr Manager goes to the cold fridge and gives me 2 free cans of pepsi light.

Apparently once you leave the shop, its the government or the manufacturer you have to contact, as its not the manager's problem.
I went in this morning to buy some water and they gave me a free eco bag : )
Happy Days.

The 10 Principles of Spiritual Optimism

When I first arrived here, I was a bit lost, so it appears that things have worked out just as they are meant to. It's been an amazing two weeks and this month will end beautifully with the opening of the Kind Heart Africa School and me making a life changing decision...( still contemplating bits and bobs )

I have read an inordinate amount of books since I arrived here, almost 3 months to the day, in fact it is 3 months to the day on Sunday, when the School opens - freaky timing!! Anyway, I can breathe a sigh of relief as I can now stay here until the 24th of September.

One of the books I read is Why is God Laughing by Deepak Chopra. I'm not a Chopra fan per se and the story in the book is pretty mince ( managed to swap it for a battered copy of Out of Africa at the Yacht Club in Tanga ) but there was one section which I really did enjoy and here is a summary of the most salient points :

The healthiest response to life is laughter.
There's always a reason to be grateful.
You belong to the scheme of the Universe.
There's nothing to be afraid of, you're safe.
Your soul cherishes every aspect of your life.
There is a plan and your soul knows what it is.
Ecstasy is the energy of spirit, when life flows, ecstasy is natural.
There is a creative solution to every problem.
Every possibility holds the promise of abundance.
Obstacles are opportunities in disguise.
Freedom is letting go.

Actually, that is 11.

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Meeting Up

Fiona, Lorraine, Alison, Lisa, Niki, Frank, David, Colin, Dougie, Heather, Suzanne, Colin D, Michelle, Caroline, Lorraine and Angela... hope to see you all when I am back!!!!

Will mostly be hanging out with Charlee and also want to catch up with Nicole, The Allan Family and John J and Vicky too.

I shall also be making a visit to the dentist, doctor and the hairdresser.
Would also love a wee trip to Jura to see Claire and Andy and breathe in some really fresh air!

On the shopping list is a new camera ( the one that has been with me for the last 10 years is deid and my laptop needs fixed, the last quote from apple was £750 to fix it ) Oh lord!

Jerry Burns

is one of the most beautiful women I have ever know. She's an incredible soul with a wonderful songwriting and singing talent. She's fragile, funny and fabulous.

I met her at Bobby Paterson's funeral. She sang. She took our breath away. I told her and we became friends - I later discovered that she's friends with Karen Smyth and Fiona White, 2 other fabulous girlfriends. Jerry and I also share a love of sparkles, vintage clothing and a few other things.

One of my favourite recollections of an afternoon with Jerry was lipgloss bingo ( improvised ) at a Mad Hatter's tea Party I was hosting in Oran Mor for Marie Curie Cancer Care, followed by cocktails with Karen Smyth in Bobar. That was a fun Sunday.

I keep all her FB messages and always smile whenever we are in contact, she is so poetically brilliant.

So very grateful to count her as a very special friend. Yes, she is the brother of Gerard M Burns.. boyo that family are talented.

Can't actually find the words to express how wonderful she is, those friends we have in common know...

Listen to her on i-tunes, you'll be bewitched by her.

Blackberry..

..soon to have one here. Hurrah! Means I can use BBM, facebook, email and take calls as my current handset is pants!

Would be nice to have some communication with my pals who aren't i-phoned up..not sure actually how many of my pals still have a bberry as everyone seems to have iphones these days!!


Frightening

.. Statistic ( I actually loathe statistics as I can never usually remember them but I can remember this one )

80% of Tanzanian people live on less than a $ a day.

KHA

40 likes on our facebook page and 46 stories now... still a long way to go if the book is to happen.
Allan Brown has very kindly offered to put me in touch with his publishers, he suggested they may be interested as they also publish all of Alexander McCall Smith's books... that would be amazing!!!!!

Joe Aitken, Fiona Hutchison and James Docherty are all doing their best to help get more stories in.
Guy Fee has written a truly brilliant one! He is an award winning screenwriter and also a dad and a very good friend since I was 15, so I am chuffed that he's delivered such a beauty! I can even see some illustrations with this book too.. how cool would that be!?

Really hoping that Vodacom will also come onboard with some sponsorship. I've learned a lot about Tanzania through working with them so far..

Resulta

Early morning meeting at the Temple with Pannasekara and he had composed a lovely letter to Immigration - The Director of Affairs, to ask for an extension on my visa. Sometimes they grant it, sometimes they don't and as I keep hearing from everyone, this country runs on money and corruption. Haven't experienced it myself and I hope that continues to be the case.

We went to the Immigration offices this morning where we were greeted by an Amazonianly tall Tanzanian with a big gun and a big grin. He spoke to me in Swahili.. thankfully I nailed it and managed to get a 'bomba!" in there and I also told him that I love Tanzania. He laughed and then said I was a beautiful blue eyed Mzungu. Well, he got the mzungu and the blue yes bit right!

Filled in a form, then Pannasekara ran off to photocopy my passport. There was no power at the Immigration offices. I watched him run off through the carpark with his robes flailing about inthe wind.. he didn't know that I was watching him, though he may have heard me laugh. When he returned he called his friend Happy who works there and explained the situation. He then gave her some money and also the chap who was dealing with me. The offices are like a step back to the 70's. Everything is concrete and glass. When you talk to them you have to bend down and speak through the part in the glass at the counter for documents as the circular part which you should speak through is so high up you'd need to be 6ft at least, or stand on a chair, though there are no chairs, even the seats are concrete.

I was supposed to find out at 1pm if I got the extension and if I'd have to pay for it. I was late as the meeting I was at with Vodacom at Mlimani City ran over and I got stuck in traffic. Narrowly missed 2 crashes. The drivers here, well some of them at least, seem to have a deathwish. Sarah and I also narrowly avoided a collision on the way there too.

At Vodacom, I met many employees, 2 of which had studied in Scotland. Jocelyn who is the Brand Manager studied at Herriott Watt and Albert who is in Finance, at Strathclyde Uni. Hope to catch up with them again soon and listen to their chat from God's Country!

Currently at the Movenpick waiting til 2pm when I have to go back to Immigration. Everything is crossed!

Sunday 21 August 2011

Everything is just as it should be..

I don't know what's occuring but things are happening at a lightning speed.
Was provisionally booked by Fiona for a hosting job at East Kilbride Shopping Centre in October.
Just heard back from her that they have gone for a lesser well known host.
Suits me beautifully as I have been offered a job here on that date. In fact I've been offered partnership
of a production company. Yikes!

Lynn Harris

Top gal and groovy BBC Gardener has very kindly arranged to send me some supplies here for the School. So very kind of her and every little bit helps! The other day Nino bought 5 footballs for the kids as the only thing they had for a ball was old plastic bags wrapped up in a net!?

Kind Heart Africa Page

.. now has 20 + likes.. on Facebook hurrah!

He

He seeks beauty and joy wherever he goes.
He's sensitive, kind, exceptionally good fun and incredibly spiritual.
He has a big heart and is on a mission to do voluntary projects across 4 continents over the period of a year.
Today he was giving out wheelchairs to poor, elderly women in South Africa.
Last week he was taking spellbindingly beautiful photographs on safari and then photographing a resort in Muchamvi, Zanzibar.
I've never met someone so utterly sorted on every level. He's been to dark places and travelled a lot and I don't meant to far flung
destinations, though he has achieved that too in terms of air miles and passport stamps.
He makes me laugh and makes me cry and makes me feel very safe.
I've never met anyone like him though he is very like my gorgeous friend Susie Pearl.
He's older and wiser than me and still a big kid at heart.
He's in South Africa for 3 months and then I sincerely hope he'll come to Scotland for a period of time.
He takes stunning shots of landscapes and I'm sure he will enjoy and love all that Scotland has to offer.

Asana

Asana

Is impossibly beautiful, half Ghanian and half English, she's a lawyer here, on secondment here from London.
Her beauty captivates many admirers and she's flirtatious which makes her even more beguiling.
We try to see each other regularly for dinner and Asana has very kindly made a donation to the Kind Heart Africa School
buy investing £200 to buy materials. Buying her gifts this week.. as the school opening ceremony is now less than 10 days away.

I was supposed to be on a night out with her last night, though I couldn't go as I was so tired after a hectic week. All I was fit for was TV and sleep. It sounds like I missed a great night involving sea sickness, a frenchman, toes and a boat then a party.

Seeing her on Monday night for a Korean meal. I think we'll need an agenda for all topics to be discussed as its been a while! Even though we don't know each other very well, we share our woops and woes and I'm looking forward to catching up on all her news!

freaking out!

Visa

My visa expires on the 27th August, not long now.
I am going to try and meet with the Police Commissioner Mr Kova to see whether or not
he will be able to write me a letter to immigration to see if they will extend it til the 15 September
on the basis that I am doing voluntary work for KHA.

Afterwards I plan to come back and work my socks off ( flip flops actually as I no longer wear socks )
on projects with Sarah Scott.

I am set to be working with her, the two of us, on our clients Vodacom and NBC Bank. I don't have a business visa
so technically can't earn any money. Working out a package now with Sarah. Fingers crossed I will be able to
come back and work as I really do love it here and there are massive opportunities to create exceptional events
and the work is fun. Already have come up with some straplines for our business cards..

" We do suits, swimsuits"

And it means I can continue to do even more work with Kind Heart Africa...

Still at it!

Stories

Mrs Noel G aka Sara McDonald, Jack McConnell, Stuart Cosgrove and Josie D'Arby are just some of the famous names that have agreed to donate a story for the KInd Heart Africa project.
My ain is to collect 365 and have them published as a children's book. Published and sold in the UK with all proceeds going to the Kind Heart Africa School.
Haven't a scooby abut publishing or where to start.. can't be that difficult!
A children's bedtime story book, filled with lovely stories created by Scottish children, friends and a few famous peeps. I'm sure it would sell well in the UK, especially with the charity angle and perhaps
if I can get more famous names onboard.

I have 40 today - 21/08/11

If you're reading this and would like to contribute, please email yours to hsuttie@mac.com
They can be any length, as long as its original.
Thinking about trying to set up a competition with Schools. Have asked the lovely James from Material what he thinks...
Ideally, it would be great to do it with the support of a newspaper.. if we did a competition it would be a good way to stimulate Scottish kids to get creative
and help their African dadas and kakas ( sisters & brothers ) who are a lot less fortunate than they are.

Pat & Glen

Pat & Glen

Are a couple I met in Tanga at the Yacht Club. They very kindly gave us the drinks vouchers that they had no use for.
When I say we, I mean I was sitting with K, Anita and Jim. The American couple have been here in Tz in the mountains near Tanga
for 2 years, they are part of the Peace Corps and are teaching. Pat is 68, Glen is 73. They both looked fit and had lots of energy
as you can see in my blog pix on FB.

They sold up their home and followed Pat's dream, which was to teach kids in Africa. She used to teach English in the US.
What a trip! They live in very basic accommodation and mabnage to skype their children and do emails and internet stuff once a week.
They were beaming with joy. Jim explained that this trip has probably saved their lives, he shared a statistic with me ( I can never remember them, ever ! )
and it was that a large % of the US senior citizens die within 6 months to a year of retiring..I'm sure they've got amazing stories and memories to share with their grandchildren.

Charlee

Charlee

Has gone back to my folks and I'm wondering how she is.
My parents are getting on now and Charlee is high energy, they've never had a dog before
and C being the social pup that she is, is always roundabout mum's feet. I know she had
a blast staying with the Allan family and I'm sure she misses them.. though she probably doesn't as I suspect
that in some ways, our four legged friends are more smart sometimes than us humans.

Had a blub this morning as there was a movie on about dogs, no idea what it was called but a great Dane
featured and there were the voices of Keifer Sutherland and Owen Wilson. I'd give anything to play with her right now
and have a cuddle!! Cannot wait to see her when I return. She will be 10 in December. My friends have kids, I have Charlee.

Beautiful...

http://www.ninofoto.com/

Beauty... click the link to ponder it

Clothes

Clothes

I so underpacked. Living in battered sundresses and fit flops. So not 'me' though me these days, isn't me from then, whenever then was, if you know what I mean!?
When I come back I will be going on mega shopping trip to get the right things.. going to meetings in a sundress
is not cool sometimes..

Slightly nervous about revisiting all of my worldy possessions which are currently costing me £300 per month ( I know, how much!? )
to be kept in storage. Its a horrid space where all my stuff was hurriedly dumped. Every single thing I own.
Will visit it only when I need to. Too many memories and too much stuff to go through in order to pull out shoes and clothes.
Can't remember the last time I wore one of my beautiful vintage pieces, I guess I'll appreciate them all the more when I am finally ready to revisit
all my bits and bobs.

The weather now gets hotter and hotter and more humid. When I arrived at the end of May it was winter and every day now its heating up.
Apparently December, January, February is unbearable and that came from the locals. HELP! I will melt.
Can't imagine wearing skinny jeans, knee length boots, a jumper and a jacket when I get home!?

Brian

Brian

Is my ex boyfriend from many moons ago.. We dated for almost 8 years from when I was 17.
He moved to Australia, I went to visit him to consider what we were doing with our relationship when I was 25
and to spend 6 weeks on a holiday which was paid for by Ron McCulloch as a thank you for coming up
for the brand name 'Home' for his nightclub in Sydney and then London. Those were the halcyon days of Big Beat.

Keeping this brief, I arrived in Oz and 2 days later, I knew the relationship was over and on the same day I received a call from my then agent
David Meehan to tell me that the TV job I had auditioned for I had got. WOOP!!!!!!! and DRAT!!!!!! at the same time.. as I still wanted to hang out on Oz with Brian
and of course Ron and his then girlfriend Julie ( now his wife ) However. twas not to be as ITV2 and Princess Productions asked me to return to London within 48 hours.
So off I went back to London to start my TV presenting career in earnest. Brian and I kept in touch when he was in London managing HOME. Before then when I saw him in Glasgow
at the 10th anniversary of The Tunnel I could not bring myself to speak to him as he was joined at the hip to his new girlfriend Joanna. They were like Posh & Becks wearing matching outfits.
I was jealous of them moving on and she was a London IT girl, with a wealthy family and lots of toys to play with. Brian and I still saw each other in London and I always enjoyed seeing him as he
had been such a huge part of my growing up.. I was with him for the best part of 8 years! He then fell in love with an Aussie girl he met in London and he moved to Oz where he married a girl ( gutted I can't remember her name )
and they had 2 kids Frankie & Lola.

Ron & Julie are still in Oz. Gutted I missed their surprise wedding. They and Brian have fallen out. I don't know what Brian is doing now
but I was thrilled to receive a tweet from him, it was his first ever tweet and I am the only person he follows at the mo.
I welled up instantly as it was such a lovely tweet and I was also saddened to see that his mission in life = bringing up frankie and lola as a single parent.
He's not on Facebook and there's no profile pic on twitter. I would so love to hear all of his news from the last 10 years.
He is a good man and very touched that he took the time to tweet me. I think he read The Sun article, or perhaps someone told him about it, I don't know.

The Big Yin

Thoroughly spoiled today.. Billy Connolly in a Columbo movie and Alan Cumming and Brian Cox in a movie. LOVING hearing all these Scottish accents! And on the same day the doggy movie was on TV : )

My Irish friend Jim has just called me from Tanga, which is weird as I was just thinking about him earlier.. off to email him my news as the sun is setting and the end of another great day in Tanzania.

Saturday 20 August 2011

Thursday 11 August 2011

Safari

Going on it tomorrow at 9am with Nino. So excited I cannot sleep. Oh and its 29 degrees and I can't find the A/C remote control. Am so PMT it wouldn't surprise me if I flushed it down the loo.

The full moon is tomorrow and that is important to the Buddhist calendar, so seeing Pannasekara for breakfast tomorrow.

We are still working on Vodacom here. It appears to be down to timing..Somalia is getting extensive news coverage at the moment, so perhaps the timing is a bit skew wiff.

Still hopeful that more stories will continue to be sent to me and more people will like the Kind Heart Africa Facebook page..only 6 people like it which is a bit disappointing when you consider most of the guff pages that are set up for example "X joined the group that admits to picking their nose'  : (

The Badminton Club

Just in from a fab evening with Pannasekara and Jim ( Irish Jim ) and his nephew Michael.
MIchael's half dutch/half Irish, 19 and practises 3 forms of martial arts. FIT does not do him justice!

We had the best Indian meal I have ever had at The Badminton Club.

It's run by Sikkhs and is literally a massive outdoor courtyward surrounded by badminton courts, a playground and a massive screen showing silent old black and white Indian movies. The waiters don't speak English, only Swahili, so it was a bit of a challenge!

We had 4 starters, 4 mains and 3 desserts and 2 soft drinks each - the damage was £20.

Weirdly atmospheeric with Indian music and many mosquitoes, but it was a top night with some great chat and laughs with Panna.

I think I will be back to play badminton at some point and definitely back for a meal, it was decidedly delicious.

Texts

Went through my phone earlier tonight and deleted some old text messages..one of the ones that stands out in a cool an weird way..me to Anita.. "hey lady! what you up to ?"
her response.. "hey! i'm at dinner with chaka khan..x`'

Just a typical Thursday night out in Dar Es Salaam!???

The Children

..have arrived 27 of them, 2 girls the rest boys.. aged 3 - 12.
There are only 8 bunk beds, so they are sharing some 4 to a bunk..
Also they only have 1 football, the other is a ball shaped thing, made out of plastic bags rolled in a tight net.. hoping to get some beds and balls this week and also help make a football pitch.

Some great progress has been made at the school, just need now to upload the photos but iphoto keeps crashing.. Feeling very odd as my camera is bust and my laptop is on its last legs.. : (

Jim

Is the Irish man I met at Tanga.
He is in his 50's and is volunteering out here doing teaching in the mountains near Tanga and today he is in Dar ( Thursday ).

He's a complete dude! Lived in Amsterdam for 13 years and made a living as a kind of Mr Nice many moons ago. If you've read the book you'll know what I mean. Seeing him for coffee at 10.30 then for a chat later after my meeting and after he's been to the beach.

Bedtime Reading

..Last night after a wonderful evening with Nino and then Pannasekara joined us.
I have never laughed so much in months.
Mojo is coming back.
All i need to do now is get fit and super healthy physically.
The meditation and reading and the universe delivering me a beautiful friend and support in Nino
is amazing.

Nino is a superb photographer and he is off on an adventure today ( Thursday ) with Panna up to the school. I wish I was able to go but I have meetings today with Sarah re the NBC project and then with Anthony about some work then I am hopefully seeing Asana for dinner. Also! Very excited today to be seeing Jim, the Irish Man that I met in Tanga.

My bedtime reading was The United Republic of Tanzania's National Guidelines for the Establishment and Management of Children's Homes.. no wonder I fell asleep!


The Italian Stallion

Finally responded to one of my texts and I asked him "Habari Yaku ? How are you my friend ?
Haven't been to Runway of late so I haven't seen him..
His response.."I'm horny!"
Mine "Congratulations!"

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Nino

I am so lucky!
Met a beautiful man yesterday at the hotel. He has just arrived from Hungary and we started chatting. He's a photographer from Melbourne, on a bit of a world trip doing voluntary work teaching and also holding men's groups and doing therapy sessions. He is visiting 4 continents on his voluntary trip.

Dead ringer for a fit, young Dustin Hoffman and he has twinkly eyes and beautiful hands. He's very softly spoken, I think he's half Hungarian and half Australian. He is so laid back he's practically horizontal.
Am going to introduce him to Pannasekara as he is from Sri Lanka and Nino has also offered to take portraits of the children.

I met him on the day that my camera decided to not work : (
I'm seeing him for dinner later this evening, then we are going to meet Pannasekara.
He's off to Zanzibar at the weekend to take photos of hotels and Sarah has asked me to head over to her beach house in Znz to brainstorm for the Vodacom job.



He's very spiritual and from what I can gath is leading an incredibly enchanted life.. Free from stress, anxiety and worry and filled with beauty, adventure and meeting interesting people. A lot of what he spoke to me about completely resonates with me.

Looking forward to this evening, enjoying this moement and off for lunch. Thankfully the Somalian President has left the building and is heading back home~

Nick The MIner

Just spent an hour or so chatting with Nick, he is from London, 30 something and is running a mining project here. He's been in Tanzania, working near the Zambian border for where he mines for gold with another Englishman and employs local Tanzanians in Baya/ ( sp ? )

He's had an interesting time here - he was imprisoned for 2 weeks after him and his colleague were set up by a Tanzanian mine owner. The IPG and the British Consul were involved in securing their safe release. They were set up and faced charges of corruption, theft and a few other charges I can't recall. They were facing 20 years in prison and attended meetings with lawyers and gunmen. I could have listened to him for ages.. He's got some great stories. He's here in Dar for the entire month of August, he's on a break so will hopefully catch up with him at some point!

We swapped stories on our experiences of the Tanzania way , which is the lassez faire way.. very laid back, no sense of urgency and no sense of honesty when there is a problem/challenge..they do not like to share bad news, so tend to gloss over it ..

Nick's been to all of the local haunts here, some of which I dodin't even know existed so next time he's heading out he's going to invite me along!

Somalia & Tanzania

http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2011/08/10/tanzania-donates-food-for-somalia

This is why the Somalina President is here..

Beamer!!!

The Somalian President

I arrived at the Hyatt Regency Kilimanjaro Hotel earlier this morning and found that metal detectors and extra security was at the hotel.
Lots of sooped up vehicles and men with guns.

Said my good mornings to the staff - they laugh at my Swahili and as I was about to collect my other bag from the security do dha
managed to trip on the carpet and fell flat in front of a man who was  on his way out of the hotel.
Gasps as 4 BIG black men picked me up and handed my my bags...Mam, are you ok ?"
BEAMER!!!! And i got a fright to be honest!!

Toddled off as they watched me head to business servicves.. The receptionists were all laughing.who was that I asked?
" You landed at the President of Somalia's feet" and they all giggled.

TI am clumsy. of that there is no doubt and its not the first time I've tripped up and the people here always laugh!!!!!
They never really show concern, its too funny m they see the funny side of everthing. How refreshing.

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Masai

Panna and the Masai

Some people here think of Panna as a Masao.
They were red clothes and most of them still live in the remote areas and herd cattle and goats as their main livelihood, they're
well known for their bravery and are afraid of noone. I was once told that they protect from their heart.

When people see him in his Monk get up they think he is Masai, it doesn't bother him - in fact he enters into a bit of banter
with the locals and because people think of the Masai as very brave, he also feels that he is very brave.

He must be, he's hanging out with me, either that or he's well I dunno!

Mr T

Mr Tanzania just called me!
Mario is also Masai.. so that is culturally very unsual for him to be a model.
I've invited him to the opening ceremony of the school and he called to tell me today ( Tuesday 9th August )
that he is coming with friends and could we provide transport. I think sooo!

I now have 55 numbers saved in my phone. Quality not quantity.. and they are all quality!!

You can see Mario in my blog pix on FB.

A very special tree

The  Bhodi Tree

The Buddhist Community in Tanzania decided to bring a seedling of a Bodhi Tree from Sri Lanka. IN 1919 it was taken from Anuradhapura  City in Sri Lanka and brought over and planted at the templehere in Dar.
The mother tree was brought to Sri Lanka from Inidia, it was grown from one branch of the mian Bodhi tree where Gautama Buddha attained full Enlightenment. After 90 yeas the tree here in Dar has grown so much that is covers almost a quarter of an acre. It did not bear seedlings until 2002 when the seeds were germinated into seedlings, some of which were planted in other parts of the country - Morogoro, The Botanical Gardens  and Butiyama, former President Nyere's home as well as other countries in Africa, namely Kenya, Malawi and South Africa.

You can see pix of the tree in my blog pix on FB.

The Buddhist Temple

The Old Buddhist Temple Building

After meeting Dee Rathod who was one of the first of the Sri Lankan community to set up here and she helped her parents build the Buddha by hand, I'm even more intrigued.
She told me she can't spend time alone in front of the statue as she has been paranoid since she was a child, that she put the left foot on the wrong way round. I can report that this
is not the case! : )

The building was completed in 1927 and has 2 rooms, a sitting room ( where I have sat many of an evening using the internet, drinking tea and chatting with Panna and his Sri Lankan friends )
kitchen, store room and bathroom. In the days when this was built the country was called Tanganyika which was a British protectorate and got her independence  on 9th December 1961.
Yn 1964 Tanganyika & Zanzibar united to become Tanzania. The Sri Lankan community used this hall for the social meetings, religious services and other activities.

The Shrine Room and Pagoda was built in 1956.
In Buddhism they have three most venerated and sacred things - the first one is the Pagoda/Chetiya/Dagaba, the second is the Bodhi Tree and the third is Buddha's statue/shrine room.

Pix in blog pix on FB

Panna

Panna

Panna can speak a number of languages - I've heard him, ,myself speak Spanish, English and he is fluent in Kiswahili.
In Tanzania there are nearly 120 trines. In the past, tribal languages were used as the norm, however Prsident Nyere selected Kiswahili as the national language when Tanzania gained her independence in 1964. Kenya & Uganda also use this language to a lesser extent.

Learning the lingo stands you in good stead with the locals and apart from anything else, the majority of the population can't speak English.

Panna didn't go to classes, he learned by speaking with the guard at the temple - Hamisi, who introduced me to the bey boo fruit, or whatever it is called! He also told me to eat the nut in the middle, which as I have found out, you are not supposed to do!?

Anyway, he continued to learn on the bus, at the shops and in everyday situations and weirdly people think he is Africa from how the perceive how he sounds and how he looks.

There are lots of pix of Panna in Blog Pix on Facebook.

Anita Part 2

Anita is lovely, a very special friend here in Dar, I'd like to write more about her but I am respecting her privacy.
Hopefully seeing her tonight as her friends from school in the States, Sylvia & her sister Natalie are heading back to California.
I think she's having dinner at her home, should be good as Hamila makes great food!

There are pix of Anita on my FB page under Blog Pix.

Pearl of Wisdom

Susie Pearl

Is the most amazing woman I know, so lucky and appreciative to be able to count her as a very dear friend.
I think of her often and I thought of her again last night ( Wed 8th August ) whilst re reading one of my favourite books - Out of Africa.
I'm enjoying it more as I now have an idea of what Africa is like after being her for 2 months or so, so it is even more enjoyable!!

I'm only a few chapters in, as I'm taking my time to read it and Chapter 4, A Gazelle is a lovely story about.. a gazelle.
Her name is Lulu which is Swahili for Pear. Susie Lulu!!

Fingers crossed Susie will be able to come out here and work her magic and soak up what magic there is here.
I also know she'll get in like a house on fire and already Shay from Monier 2000 calls her Amazing Susie and he hasn't even met her yet!

In the know..apparently!

Kessie

Told me that I have met a lot of very important people in the short time that I have been here.
The Chief of Police and Kinjae - he knows both of them and laughed when I told him about my trip to Tanga
and also the afternoon at the Police Station. He gasped when I showed him, Mr Kova's business card.
"Oh Evah.. you have met many important people..very important!"  and then he chuckled!

Saved the pics of him and Rita to my flash stick thing. He was well chuffed!!!

Sunday 7 August 2011

Sri Lankan Ladies

Met a lovely lady last Tuesday with Pannasekara, he told me she was a special lady. She was.

Her name is Dee Rathod and she is a business woman and she means business.
She lives with her mum who is 88. I find it difficult to place her age, maybe 60 at the most. She looks very well and had a very young spirit, she told me she likes to take the mickey out of Panna. Ha!

Her husband Keith sadly passed away in April last year and only last week her young maid died from HIV. I will spare you and myself from re-sharing the harowing details of her demise.

Oh man.. power cut. Will revisit later!!!

Niki

Longmuir is a Goddess! She is one of my most dear friends. She's been with me through thick and thin, lots of tears and endless laughing sessions. She does have the most contagious laugh and great energy so she is wonderful to be around. I so wished I could have spoken to her on Thursday..

She just sent me a story for the children at the KHA School and posted a pic of her and an elephant on my wall. Love it!

I miss her in every sense and hope to see her when I am home though I think she may be with her lovely man Michael in Budapest..

Wobble

Uh oh..birthday approaching.. I'm In Africa, no idea what to do next or where to go.. visa runs out on the 28th and as fate would have it that is the day of the opening ceremony of the Kind Heart Africa School and I MUST be there.. I so want to be there!!!!!!!

Not sure when to go home, or what to do, where to live.
Being single with no kinds, no boy friend, no f/t job and no mortgage does have great advantages though I don't know how long I want to do continuing with none of the above.

Might head home on the 29th or 30th of Augst if I can, for a bit.
Would like to see GP, dentist, hairdresser after my dog, my friends and my family.. All my stuff is in storage, so it will be another slap dash packing job from my folks if I come back here. Can't face the storage unit, its too sad.

Anita

is 24, beautiful, tall, slim, funny, very laid back, grounded, spiritual, ambitious, generous and is like a sister to me here.. 'dada' as they say in Swahili.

We can talk for hours on end and she is one of the wittiest, most sorted young women I know, she is also a fantastic mum to Peras and David. I'd like to write more on her but some things are private and cannot be shared.

Suffice to say we will always remain friends I feel, no matter the distance...

The Bonners

..just received an email from Lisa with a pic of her lovely new daughter Matilda who must just be only a week old and she is BEAUTIFUL! much like her mum and her 4 year old sister Emily...

I think I am getting broody! Oh dear. No boyfriend either. Pah!

0784 932897

is my phone number here and I didn't think it would recieve incoming calls.. it is a brick you see and also a pay as you go ditty and as I have no idea how much a text is or a call is.. i am clueless..

Utterly delighted to have received a call from a long lost lover on Thursday morning at 7.30am our time here. We are 2 hours ahead of the UK so I was surprised

to have got a call so early
for it to have been international
for him to have found my number
for him to call me
for him to have been so warm/kind/interested to talk to ( we had not spoken in over a year at his request )

Sometimes you can't choose who you fall in love with and this was one which was destined never to go anywhere...sometimes though its not the destination its the journey.

I'm happy here full stop. I did have a big smile on my face all day that day and I allowed myself to revisit our happiest times in my head.. only for 5 mins obviously as I am doing my darndest to 'be' in the moment.

It was a case of wrong time, wrong place with this particular gentleman.. however I learned a lot, had superb fun and am a better person for spending the time with him that I was lucky to have spent.

Thursday Last Week

..6am and I arrive promptly at Anita's house as Mustaffah - the very reliable and punctual driver ( he is unusual here ) drops me off bang on time. Feeling a bit sleepy but excited about my trip to Tanga and having fun with a kanga..

Anyway, pressed the buzzer and as usual there is never a hurry here in Africa.
I wait and it begins to rain, I wait and then it begins to pour, I wait and then I am completely drowned.. MASSIVE rain shower - short and intense.

I buzz again, the door opens.. and.. the rain goes off!
Greeted by Anita and Jeans in their PJs and they're laughing their heads off, as am I!!!

You do shower twice a day here, just maybe not in the space of an hour!

Page 3 - The News

My favourite story from the weekend papers.. The Citizen on Saturday 6th August to be precise...in summary :

'Power blues become boon to barber'.

Dar Es Salaam. As the majority of the Tanzanian business community feels the pinch, due to ongoing power blues, one man is experiencing a boom for the same reason.

Iddi Dilunga, a 64 year old abrber does not need the national power grid connection to keep his business afloat.

A decades old shady mango tree, a triangular mirror, a wooden chair, a pair of scissors, a razor blade and comb are all that comprise his open air barber shop in the Kinondoni District.

He said "My clientele had grown considerably during this power rationing period. I wish I could divide myself into two or three to cater for the increased demand."

LOVE that story!

One of my favourites!

when about to speak of one to another
consider first if you would say it directly to that person -

same intention
same words
same tone

if not, its best to remain silent..

More Buddhist Sayings

every thought we conceive
each act we commit in the present
creates the conditions we will encounter in our future..

Buddhist Sayings..

loving others is caring as much about their happiness as our own

Buddhist Sayings

counteract greed with contentment
if something new comes our way be content
if it passes us by be content..

Buddhist Sayings

problems do not cause suffering
the cause is how we choose to react to the problems..

Buddhist Sayings

the awakened person
stil showers all loving kindness
and understanding
even when
cast out by relatives
scorned by friends
rejected by colleagues
ignored by strangers.

Buddhist Sayings

one who is liberated
thinks what he wishes
and does not think
any thought he does not wish to.

Buddhist Sayings

calm the mind
let go of pain
let go of sorrow
let go of bitterness
heal the heart..
find joy
find serenity
find equanimity

Path To Peace

.. Is a book the Buddha gave me. He's not really a Buddha, but a Buddhist Monk - Pannasekara but for the sake of this blog, I shall call him the Buddha.

Here are some of my favourite little thoughts & sayings from a book he gave me.. you have to pay it forward.. so here goes..

a drop of rain falls gently  on a leaf and slowly rolls off
it does not have thoughts of like or dislike, it does not attach
likewise, our minfs should see everything clearly
withour differentiation, without attaching..

Tanga

Just back ( Sunday evening ) from a wee holiday to Tanga with Anita, her husband K, kids David ( 4 ), Peras ( almost 2 ), Jeans and Hamila.
Hamila is from Tanga and looks after the kids fulltime with Anita & K. Jeans is K's niece and also lives with them.

Had a lovely time chilling at The Yacht Club and met some interesting people.
Also ran into Kwang, Sarah's friend who is living in her home at the moment.
They're both teenagers and help out with the kids and cooking and Hamila is teaching me Swahili, though her English isn't very good, so I am struggling a bit and also trying to help her with her English!

It's pretty remote, by the sea and very very chilled. Read a lot, played with the kids and hung out at the Yacht Club where I managed to swap one of my books for Out of Africa, which just happens to be one of my favourite books and I was looking for a copy here - tried 4 different branches of A Novel Idea to no avail, then came across a very old and battered copy at the Yacht Club. Hurrah!

We headed back thid morning, we left at 11.15am and arrived back to Anita's for dinner at 4.30pm.. Am working back the way after a lovely few days, well read, well slept, well fed and well watered! It rained quite a lot so there was no sunbathing to be done, which is all good in my book! Factor 50 doesn't really lend itself to a tan for me!

Monday 1 August 2011

Monday 8 July

Had morning coffee with Panna today at the Movenpick. It was 10 000TSH, that is equivalent to a days wages for a builder at the School. No more expensive coffees for me!

We went to Chanika today ( 30km outside of Dar ) and it took us hours to get there. The traffiki here is seriously mental. We sat at one set of lights for almost 20 minutes!!

We also visited the Tanzanian equivalent of Homebase or B&Q. Quite an experience!

When we arrived at the School it was great to see lots of progress. You can see that from my pics.
16 children will be welcomed to the School this Thursday.

Panna made me laugh out loud today when he said I need Panna x 5 in duplicate, meaning he needs 10 of himself to make sure everything is done as there are so many things to do.
He is completely in charge of everything and its quite amazing to see him in action.

He told me today he is off to Spain on the 15th of September until mid October. He asked me what my plan was, I told him I don't have one, which is true. Kind of liberating but also kind of unsettling...