Bits and bobs

I don't have time to write a full post right now, but I feel bad for neglecting my blogging duties. I'm letting down my adoring public.
So here's a few random thoughts and observations...

-I love that there are geckos inside my house. Most of our windows are glazed, but some aren't and there are also vents near the eaves, so plenty of nature inside, but it's no problem other than sometimes there's a slug on your bed. The geckos are awesome, though. Every evening, they'll start to show up on the walls, darting about and being cute. Alex has what he considers a resident pair in his room, and calls them Simon and Garfunkel. They're our malaria-fighting pals.

-I have not seen a single sheep here. When you think about it, this makes total sense and shouldn't be noteworthy. I mean, there can't be much of a market for wool in East Africa (though people do wear sweaters and long pants...while I'm dying in a tank top), and just imagine how sweaty the sheep would get. But still, I was surprised somehow. I guess that since there are lots of goats, cows and chickens everywhere (and boy do they all make themselves heard), I sort of expected some sheep to sort of round out the farmyard scene. But nope, just the ugliest goats I've ever seen.

-I have lost weight since I arrived. Not too much, but enough that my pants were starting to lose the fight against gravity. So I went to the Tengeru market a few weeks ago and bought a used yellow naugahyde belt for 1500Tsh, which is slightly more than a dollar. So now my pants stay up, but the extra fabric bunches at the waist. To complete the fashion-plate image, I had to fix my hair. I'd forgotten to get it cut before I left, and it was getting really heavy and unmanageable. So I went outside to the backyard, and using a pair of child's school scissors (with the cm printed on the blade) and checking my reflection in the window of Lema's truck, I gave myself a trim. Glamour.

-There's a really nice cafe/club/meeting place/bistro/etc in town called Via Via. It's on the grounds of the old German Boma (colonial admin buildings/fort), along with the museum and an arts centre and some other things, and right next to one of the small rivers that goes through Arusha. The restaurant bit is at the top of a small hill, half open to the air and surrounded by mango trees. Today I saw a little chameleon on one of them! The hill makes a little amphitheatre down to a stage. It's green and quiet (except in the evenings when they turn into a club), and has a nice menu with some good Western food. It's a great place to go if we're in town to just grab a table and get some work done with a milkshake or a Fanta. The other day I was there, and they had a KITTEN!! It was the cutest thing - a teensy weensy grey tabby, and he came over and slept on my lap while I chatted with some new friends from the States and worked on my Swahili. I mean, I probably got worms, but it was worth it.