HOUSE HUNTING IN DAR

Searching for a home is always a stressful experience. There's usually a time constraint (have to be out of the last place and have no where else to live) and if the market is busy places disappear quickly leaving little time to think the big decision through.

House hunting in a third world country, however, brings a whole new level of challenges and frustrations to the experience. Add to this that we are looking for a place that is livable as an expat (we like having running water and don't want chickens running around our yard) but are looking at a range that's significantly lower than most ridiculously overpriced expat homes... basically the result isn't fun.

In Dar, most rental house hunting is done through agents found either through recommendations or through classified ads in expat publications. These agents generally don't have their own vehicles so they make an appointment to meet you at a gas station or somewhere like that and then you drive around to various places together in your car. System isn't really that bad since there isn't much in the way of street signs or house numbers so giving directions to many places is very difficult.

To start with, the agent is generally very late so you sit around in the heat waiting for them. Then they take you on a tour of parts of the city you didn't know existed (and probably could have happily never seen) to look at places that are often out of your budget, horribly located or just horrible. And as though that isn't bad enough, half the time the agents didn't actually bother to arrange the house key so you sit around outside for 20 min and can't even see inside the house.

We were actually qiute lucky with the houses and saw quite a few nice options. The problem is things are being taken up at an astonishing rate... by the time we'd seen a few places (a few adys later) the earlier places were all gone.

This process is frustrating enough in itself (we're both grumpy after two hours of driving around without seeing inside a single house), once you actually find a place you have to try to negotiate. Most owners demand one year up front payment and often a house will need some repairs. So you negotiate how much you want to pay each month, how many months in advance you want to pay and what repairs need to be done (and who will pay for them).

And if you've made it through all that and the house is still available (and you still want to live together) then you finally get to sign a contract, arrange to pay the owner a hell of a lot of money and start hoping and praying the place doesn't fall apart after a month or flood in the rainy season.

It's a lovely process. Fortunately we managed to keep our sense of humor through most of it.

I am thrilled that after only two and a half weeks (that felt more like 2 months) we have found a house we are very happy with. Three bedroom, decent sized garden, full air/con and a landlord that's actually interested in taking good care of the place.

Will post photos next week.

In meanwhile, happy holidays!

Stories from Tanzania

I don't really have a lot of stories to add to the photos from the Vancouver trip. We had an amazing time tourist-ing around Vancouver and visiting the family and picking up all the things that we can't get back home. Chris was introduced to all-you-can-eat-sushi and agrees it is possibly on of the greatest things on earth. Otherwise, we had fun, it was over way too quickly and we hope to be able to visit again soon... next time with a stop on the East Coast as well.

So moving on to more recent adventures...

My house is located on a route we call short cut road because it cuts from the peninsula to one of the main roads in town (most foreigners live on the peninsula... Chris lives way down that other main road). So basically there's a dirt road that cuts across between the two through a residential area. During traffic, this could easily cut half an hour out of your drive. Unfortunately, this road is often in too poor condition for many vehicles and as there's construction along one stretch of it, they haven't fixed it up in ages.

Two weeks ago, they finally began major repair work on the entire road. I was thrilled. Then it rained. and rained. and rained. It's not often that we get this much rain during the so called dry season. The drainage ditches that were being built along the side of the road for just this reason were completely flooded. So after a day and a half of rain I cautiously attempt to get back to my place. I'll try to get a photo of the water line next to my car but the water level was probably a few inches higher than the bottom of my door. I could feel water lapping against the bottom of the car. And the worst part is that with all the road work, no one had any idea of where the ditches where and was constantly at risk of veering into one and suddenly dropping several feet.

I got in and back out and then it rained more so I went to stay at Chris's rather than risk my car dying.

This photo was taken the next morning. Water level had gone down a little and it gets a little deeper after the turn.

But there are also some very convenient aspects to this city. After a year in Tanzania, my international driver's licence had expired. I don't think you actually need an international licence but there's no way I'd want to hand over my BC licence to a cop here if stopped so it was handy to have a secondary one. So I decided to get a local licence. The licence itself costs 10,000/= (around $9) but to get it requires standing in 10 different lines in 8 different buildings and dealing with way more government officials than I have interest in dealing with. So, the easy solution is to pay someone 15,000/= ($12) to do it for you. Apparently they even had to go take an eye exam for me and passed with flying colors delivering my new licence to me within half a day. If only I could get stuff done this easily all the time.

Not a whole lot to report otherwise. Last weekend was Chris and my one year anniversary which we celebrated by going to south beach for two nights. Had a lovely, relaxing time. Hope to start making a regular thing of little weekends away as we really need some time away from town occasionally.

hope everyone's well.

Vancouver

K... for a change: PHOTOS FIRST! Stories to come...





Misc Vancouver pics

Pesky Raccoons at Stanley park


Quality time with the kitty

very late birthday cake

Sand Castle competition at Harrison Hot Springs

Whistler Visit

So proud...

Wine tour in the Okanagan

Amsterdam

Sadaani and the Goat Races (August in Dar)

August was a big month in Dar... We went to Sadaani National Park for the long weekend to celebrate my birthday, Robyn's birthday, Chris's 5 year anniversary in Tanzania and Shamba 1's 20th birthday (Chris's Land Rover) and later in the month was the biggest social event of the year, the Goat Races.

Goat Races:

Sadaani:

The Beard

another year begins...

I can now add Dar to the list of places I've celebrated my birthday (Israel, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Italy, Greece and Dar).

I have not come through on my promise of Paris photos yet though I will get to it someday I'm sure. I have been so busy since getting back into town that I haven't had a moment to transfer photos.

Work has been pretty busy and still adjusting to the hours (the early wake up, the ridiculous traffic and the lack of time to do any of my errands). Things are starting to pick up and flow a little better now. Getting over that initial 'don't know anything' phase at a new job.

I've also moved into a new place. It's very nice but has been a struggle to get in and get everything sorted because I've been so busy with other things. Okay, really shouldn't complain cause I came home the other day to find all my stuff had been unpacked for me and put away in the cabinets. I still have to sort and organize but at least I'm not living in chaos while I do it. Also enjoying the new luxory of leaving dishes or laundry and coming back to find them clean and put away. Could definitely get used to this. Do still need to sort out my new bed and get rid of the old one and all that. Then hopefully some day soon I can have a housewarming party. Hopefully will get photos of the new place up soon too.

Much of the delay has been caused by my booked up weekends. During the week I'm at work all day then in traffic and then too worn out to get much done. But also last weekend, being my birthday, we spent sunday out at white sands (a beach north of dar) having lunch and enjoying the beach and a few drinks. Oh, and got cool presents! an external hard drive from my brother, work clothing from my parents (SO necessary) and really stunning lighting fixtures for my new room from Chris. k... lighting fixtures doesn't sound all that exciting bit they're really really nice and I don't have any nice things here so very cool.

And next weekend's a long weekend so a group of us are heading camping. Should be nice cause this place is in a national park so there's wildlife but it's also on the beach. It's always a fine balance between maximizing your time off and away with also needing some time to get organized for the following week.

So things are good... more updates soon... and photos too hopefully.

long long overdue update...

Ok... Here I was starting to think that people weren't really reading my blog anymore and all of a sudden I get several comments about how long it's been since my last update.

Well, there is a reason there was such a long lapse which I'll explain in a moment. But first, I'm requesting some feedback. Blog? no Blog? was thinking to switch to group emails to allow for less public and less google-able communication... especially for work related stuff, not liking the public blog so much. So please, let me know what you think either through comments on the blog or to my email. That way if I switch to emails I'll also know who to include.

So, at first there was no blogging because I wasn't doing anything worth blogging about. Only thing that happened during that time is that I moved to a new place: a studio apartment on the peninsula with a/c and hot water and cable tv (yay movie channels!) Otherwise, things werenot so much fum... car needed lots of repairs, weather wasn't steller, didn't have a whole lot to occupy myself with.

then there was a delay because of work. I was going through an interview process that kept getting longer and longer but I kept waiting so I could tell everyone about the job and then I started with pretty much no notice and was very busy and then took off to Paris- which is where I am blogging from now.

Work: Am now the new events manager for a south african company with an office in tanzania that deals mostly with marketing and promotions but is branching out into events in Dar. I think it'll be a great opportunity and very interesting. I have great co-workers. Plus they've approved two trips within my first couple of months on the job because they were already booked when I started so yay for flexibility. It'll definitely be a lot of work and long hours and it's been three years since I last worked full time so a bit of an adjustment for me but at least it will be interesting.

Paris: I am currently in Paris for 10 days with the family. We're staying in a nice (but small) flat and walking more than I've walked in ages so I'm constantly sore. Hilight so far was a bike tour to Versaille including a lovely picnic in the gardens. Monday is Bastille Day and my long time travel companion Caroline will be joining us so I'm very excited for that as well. Heading back to Dar in Wednesday. Will do a Paris blog and post photos when I'm back.

K, it's time for bed here but will post again soon with more about Paris and work. Now have good, reliable internet connection so communication should be much improved. Hope everyone is well... would love to hear from you all!

SA photos

saw hundreds of vultures drawn to a zebra carcass not far from this tree.

Got stuck in the mud at the farm where rain had washed away the crossing. Brian bravely offered his weight to ensure the car didn't flip onto Chris while he set up the jack. The girls were enjoying our coffee. No, actually we were helping move rocks to put under the tyres













beautiful views at the national park across the road.

At the national park... very 'Lion King'

Chris and his niece, Kate

at the national park... the close side of the river is SA and the other sided is Zimbabe. Botswana is to the left.

South Africa and Nairobi Flies

So it was a very very busy lead up to the Rugby Ball in mid-April. Lots of running around getting things organized but I enjoy it mostly. The event was great and everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves.

The morning after the ball we rushed to the airport after only 4 hours of sleep to catch our fight to South Africa. We were met at the airport by Chris's Aunt and Uncle who gave us a ride to his parents' house where we picked up the car and head out to the farm.

Chris's parents' farm is located near the Zimbabwe and Botswana border. It's a beautiful property with wildlife on it and across the road from a lovely national park and game reserve. Some of the evenings we could hear lions in the distance. We stayed at his parents' house there with his sister and her family who were visiting from London. On the farm is also the Mopane Bush Lodge was is absolutely beautiful. We spent several days at the farm just hanging out and going on some game drives. A friend of Chris's came up to join us with his girlfriend for a couple of days as well. It was very relaxing though I managed to get sick with a nasty cold.

We then head down to Joburg for a couple of days of hectic shopping. Things in SA are VERY cheap for those spending US dollars. Mostly Chris picked up stuff for work but we also got a multi-regional DVD player and some clothing and DVDs. I was definitely not feeling ready to head back to rainy, muddy Dar but fortunately, when it came time to leave the flight was cancelled. In fact, it was cancelled two days in a row. Would have been great except for the large amounts of time spent at Joburg airport. Don't feel like I got to see much of South Africa but it was a much needed break. Overall, had a fantastic time.

Back in Dar life was not so thrilling. The roads were actually worse than before and the power was going off regularly. And then, a few days after arriving, I discovered a weird rash on my neck and face. By morning it was very red and sore. Went to a local doctor who said it was fungus on my neck and an allergic reaction on my face... very suspicious. Got a cream. Tried the cream. Rash continued to spread to new places and became more like blisters and more painful. Finally went to the good clinic and paid a lot of money to be told that this is the result of squashing a Nairobi Fly against my neck. When crushed, this small beetle excretes a toxin that causes blistering, pain and itchiness. lovely. So, several days of antibiotics and creams later, it is slowly healing. Annoyingly slowly, in fact. But at least it doesn't hurt anymore and I have anti-histamines for the itchiness. My face, at least, is all better with no scars or marks left.

My laptop died. My watch died. Cell phone still works.

My evenings have been very busy seeing friends which was a welcome distraction from the frustrations of the week. A few people I havn't seen in a while are passing through at the moment. Finally got my car fixed which is VERY nice. It's now running great but still needs a few little fixes here and there that'll get done in time. I am now full on looking for an apartment for June.

And I think that just about brings us up to date.

Have booked flights to Paris for ten days in early July to meet the family... very exciting. And at least as exciting, Chris and I have finally purchased our tickets to Vancouver. We'll be in town Sept 8 -21. VERY EXCITED!!! Look forward to seeing some of you then.

Hope everyone's well!

Photos to follow.

Been a long month...

So, life's been a bit of an adventure lately.

First, I bought a car. Think it was a pretty decent deal. Was very very very excited about it. Got it checked out and everything. Buying it was a hassle because it turned out the registration and insurance were both expired so a little sketchy diriving it around and a lot of up front costs but that's okay.

Bought the car Thursday and then went to Arusha for the weekend to work at the Rugby Game. It was a good chance to see how things work at the national games and meet some of the sponsors and fun to see Chris play. It was my first live rugby game.... very violent sport but exciting. The game was against an excellent Kenyan team and the Tanzania Twigas lost but it was a great game.

Flew back to Dar Saturday and drove down to south beach where six of us stayed at what will some day be a really nice lodge but at this point is still having electicity issues. Issues aside it was beautiful and we had a great and relaxing time. Unfortunately, Chris had been unable to pick up his car saturday so we drove down in my new car. On the way home the rain started. about twenty minutes from home, in the pouring rain, my car died. Mid-drive. I was more than slightly upset but the windows were all foggy from the rain so we had plenty of space for tic-tac-toe and hangman games while awaiting our rescuers. We spent two hours hanging out in the car. As you can see, we did manage to keep smiling. That was 4 days ago. It's still not fixed. I'm not impressed.

Also, hasn't stopped raining since. The rainy season here started monday and it is a site to be seen. I will try to get photos next time of Chris's landrover up to the door in water as the streets all turn into lakes and rivers. My friends' house got flooded with 8 inches of water so I'm considering myself lucky to have a dry place to hole up for the next couple of months. Hopefully I'll have a car to get around in too.

In other news, I have finally set myself up with internet on my laptop and it seems pretty good so hopefully communication and photo posting will improve. Work has been very busy. I have resigned at the university part time and continue my involvement with the rugby sponsorship and event planning as well. We have a black tie ball coming up soon so very busy with that at the moment. Also, have bought tickets to South Africa for mid April which is very exciting. Chris's parents own a large property and high end lodge in northern south africa and we'll be spending a week there and a few days in Joburg as well. Been a lot of frustrations lately here so I'm really looking forward to the break.

We did a photo shoot for the rugby ball ads... we have a running theme of having the players in the ads and trying to make it funny so we tried to capture the idea of the event in this photo: the guys get rugby, the girls get to dress up. Not sure how I ended up having to do it... these go up on big roadsite billboards!

Plans

Have been having a very hard time getting online lately, hence no update. The last couple of weeks have been all about making plans and finally starting to move on some of the changes I wanted to make.

1. Last week I started working part time with a woman who does sports development, fundraising, event management, etc. Basically, we raise awareness and funds for sports clubs. I'm focusing mostly on the local and national rugby teams and the affiliated junior leagues for now and we have a big event coming up this weekend that looks like it's coming together quite well. It's fun to be doing this kind of thing again.

2. A couple of weeks ago I started swahili lessons. Now I just need to actually practice and hopefully I'll be spewing bad swahili in no time. Really quite excited about it.

3. I've met a lovely american couple, Robyn and Brandt, who I will hopefully be moving in with soon. Still have some details to sort out and, of course, we need to find a place. Also very exciting. The whole rental system here is completely nuts. First of all, prices are completely out of touch with reality. It's a challenge to find a decent place under $800/mo (usually quite a bit more) but for that amount you can find some incredably dodgy places. Secondly, most landlords want you to pay a whole year in advance. Which is quite a challenge when you pay for everything in cash and the largest note is equivelant to just under $10. I guess it's understandable since they really have no way of tracking you down later if you haven't paid but still, a little excessive and a logistical challenge when you can only withdraw aprox $350 at a time from the ATM (not to mention withdrawal fees start to add up).

4. I have decided to buy a car. Transportation here is a constant frustration and I'm spending so much money on taxi's it's ridiculous. Looking for a small SUV (because it needs to be high enough to get over the pot holes and huge rainy season puddles). This is possibly the most exciting of the exciting news except that I want the damn thing right now but have to wait to find something first. And yes, apparently cars get paid for in cash as well. lovely.

I think that's it for now. Hope everyone's well.

winter

I have recently returned from two weeks visiting family in Israel. When I left Dar, it was around 40 degrees and when I arrived in Israel it was zero. So, I finally got a little winter in my winter. Definitely did not have enough warm clothing and had a constant supply of tea entering my system to keep from freezing to death (okay, obviously a *slight* exaggeration). Despite the freezing temperatures, it was nice to see everybody. I hadn't been to Israel in almost three years. I also had the chance to meet some new people... my dad's cousin's daughters, a friend's five week old baby and a slight introduction to my soon-to-be new baby cousin who should be joining us in around a month but looks very cute in the ultrasound photos. Though I'm now living geographically a lot closer to Israel, the trip takes forever. The 5-6 hours at the over-airconditioned Addis Ababa airport plus an hour delay in both directions meant I spent a total of around 15 hours on planes and in airports each way.

Back in Dar, it seems that winter has arrived as well. Though it was insanely muggy when I first arrived, the weather since has cooled considerably and it's been cloudy for the last several days. Everyone keeps telling me "the rains are coming" in a slightly disconcerting way that makes me think I need to build an arc. I am finally starting to settle back in to life in Dar. After arriving on Friday, I was whisked directly off to the beach for the weekend. It was a really nice place and a very relaxing weekend. There's something about a hammock that defines vacation for me.

Then it was back to Dar where my room was being used by someone else so I had to move all my stuff down the hall until yesterday when my room opened up again and I had to move everything back up the hall and finally got to unpack and start to settle in.

That's all for the update... will try to post photos soon.

Happy New Year

I think this is the first time since moving to Vancouver that I was away for New Year's Eve. I marked it here in Dar spending the night on the beach with friends. Also spent Christmas Day on the beach. I really like celebrating winter holidays on the beach. Though I would really enjoy a day of snow out here once in a while. The holidays have come and gone but we've certainly had some fun. Chelsea has been here visiting for the last two weeks and we wandered the city a little but mostly just chatted and giggled and played cards and caught up on life. We infused some christmas spirit into the holiday by making home made decorations for the tree. We also got out to Zanzibar for a few days. The highlight of zanzibar was just meeting up with Natasha and Jen and having a mini-IPMP reunion. We also got out to a water park last Sunday which was so much fun. We got there early in the morning and had the place to ourselves for the first couple of hours. We rented these mats that make it so much more pleasant to slide down and I actually slide head first down a steep slide 6 stories high!!! So proud of myself. Anyway, have had a great vacation and don't mind going back to work knowing that in just over a week I'm heading to Israel for two weeks off. yay! holiday photos to come...