We’ve been here for a month now and just as we hoped, it’s been an adventure. I have yet to see an elephant, but work has been keeping us plenty busy and we’re enjoying our time out here. Some fun events to report on…
Shortly after arriving we made friends with another Belgium expat named Reuben. Reuben worked at what the expat community refers to as the “rat project.” This project does exactly what it sounds like, deal with rats. The rat project is a lab at the local university, SUA, which trains rats to sniff out landmines. Yes, it is just as weird as it sounds but after living here for long enough, the fact that there is a facility that trains rats to sniff out landmines located in the jungle of central Tanzania… things don’t seem to sound as far fetched anymore…
We had a wonderful experience hiking up the local mountain. Our house sits midway up the base of the mountain so going for hikes is not only accessible, but a part of our everyday walk. It was an incredibly experience as we hiked through warm rain for most of it, until we came upon a beautiful waterfall and got plenty of pictures. Midway through the hike it really started to pour and we ducked into a local mud hut where the hut-owner, a toothless old woman, started to make fun of our funny appearances and I gave her a Nutella and banana sandwich as a “thank you” for hosting us. Walking up the mountain, the language of the locals changed from Swahili to Uluguru. At times I felt like I was on the Forest Moon of Endor.
That night we went out with Reuben and our co-worker to a local bar for live music. It was interesting to say the least, especially because women generally don’t go out to bars here unless they’re selling something. It was fun getting to meet the other ‘rat-people’ and having locals try to get you to buy them beer though it probably won’t be an experience that we will try very often. I think that we’ve finally come to the conclusion that we’re not ‘bar’ people…
theglobalduo 