Amazing Grace

During the week we normally go to work. At the moment we are switching daily from physio to daycare or doing office work. This way work does not get boring. Nevertheless, there is not a lot happening. In physio we are are training the same kids to stand and walk, in daycare we sing and dance with the children. In the evenings we mostly stream some films or try to watch German TV. After we went to bed quite late on Thursday evening I heard someone knocking on my door. I was a little bit confused but opened the door. On the doorstep to my room stood Anna and Anya holding a candle each and carrying a huge plate with biscuits, mangoes, jelly babies and coconut. The two oft hem had waited until midnight to come and celebrate my birthday. We ate the biscuits and mangoes and of course the two of them had also thought about bringing alcohol. You can get all kind of alcohol in little bags containing one portion. They bought something similar to Amarula called Zanzi which we shared. Sometimes you do not need a big birthday cake because you can simply improvise.

The next day we went to work like always. We played with the kids and did some drawings. As the teacher began to sing the children all surprised me by singing happy birthday in English and Swahili. I was really delighted by the way they sang and drumming the beat on the tables.

Unfortunately weh ad too leave work early today because weh ad planned to go to Iringa for the weekend. Iringa is located in central Tanzania near the capital Dodoma. The bus ride took 7 hours but the landscape we passed was changing all the time. First we passed the Mikumi National Park. By the road we spotted some zebras and giraffes. Not everybody can say that they spent their birthday with wild animals like that :P The scenery changed from dry to green bushland and our bus crawled up a steep hill. On TV shows called “the ten most dangerous places on earth“ you sometimes get to see a road somewhere in Asia which is very narrow and lorries tend to crash. I am sure that the road we passed was built by the same people like the one in Asia. Nevertheless weh ad a great view. Because Iringa is situated on a high plateau we later drove through misty hills. There were so many rocks that I did not think I was still in Africa.

When we finally arrived we wanted to check in at a hostel which our guidebook recommended. The hostel is called Neema meaning something like grace. The Neema includes the hostel, an art workshop and a café and everything is mostly run by disabled people. Sadly the lady at the reception told us that the Neema hostel was fully booked. Nevertheless, she told us to phone a neighbouring hostel called Lutheran Centre. As we waited for a taxi to arrive we had a search in the shop which goes with the art workshop. There they sold beautiful things made of typical african material, self-made jewellery and mould-made paper. The taxi was there very quickly and because we wanted to have dinner we decided to come back the next day. The people in the Lutheran guesthouse were happy to welcome us. The room they gave us was very large, the beds were huge, we had cuddly patchwork blankets and even hot water! We inspected the whole room like excited kids on a school trip do. After we had a little rest we became hungry. Our tourbook said something about an italian restaurant which sold “the best pizza oft the region“. We took a taxi to bring us to our destination. Because Iringa is situated high on a mountain it gets relatively cold there. Although it was still 25°C it was the first time I was freezing and I had even cold feet. I soon forgot about this as I read the menu. I decided to take a pizza with ham and olives, the others took pasta and ravioli. I did not imagine to say this but I have not had a pizza that good for a long time. The dough was crispy, the ham very tasty and there was real mozzarella. Because I have not had any cheese for month I was absolutely happy! It was nice to be able to enjoy the food again.

I slept perfectly wellt hat night with all the nice food and the bed with the warm blanket. Even the breakfast was perfect. We had omelette and homemade fruit juices. Today we wanted to explore Iringa. Thankfully, the town is small enough to just walk around and have a look at everything. We took a walk around the massai market. There you can buy the normal souveniers but a lady gave us a fey braceletts for free. After that we continued to walk to the market. The building is big but very dark. There a man wanted to show us the kitchen. Because we were nosy we followed him in another dark room. Hundreds of pots and pants stood on the floor and in each of them there was some kind of food. They offered all the local dishes like rice or deep-fried pastry. We all had a coke and some food and only paid 1€ each!

After we were completely full we stumbled back into the daylight. Our next plan was to go tot he Neema Craft. Although we could not see the workshop as it is closed during the weekend we went shopping in the shop. They offered pretty dresses, clothes, bags, pillowcases and toys made of the african kanga and kitenge material. Also, they sold bracelets and earrings made of crown caps for example. They even had photoalbums and books made of paper which contained elephant poo! I could have bought everything in that shop not only because there are all handmade by people with different disabilities but also because those things are all unique. I loved one patchwork blanket in particular. We had similar ones in the Lutheran centre and they were made of kitenge leftovers. Unfortunately, someone bought the last blanket before I was able to get hold of it. Afterwards we ended the day in the café. Because the waitresses are all deaf weh ad to communicate with a notepad and an instruction for sign language. Of course we really enjoyed the cake and drinks.

Back in the hotel I could not forget those blankets. I even went to the reception desk and asked them whether they would sell me their blanket. The guy behind the counter was really nice and told me that I could easily order anything I want. He gave me a business card from a person I could contact.

As soon as we got back to Morogoro I put my plan into action. Anna decided to order a big blanket too and Anya wanted to have a small one. I told the lady from the Neema craft and she put my blankets in a box to send them to me via bus.

All in all I have to say that I really enjoyed this trip form y birthday. The climate was very pleasant and the food and hotel were great. I even got a birthday present although it arrived a few days later and I gave it to me by myself :P