October 18-21. Week 2 Language School.

Habari, jina langu ni Fran. Nini mwaustralia. Nini toka miji wa Cairns na nina kaa nji wa Trinity Beach. Tuna jifunza Kiswahili. Nina penda kujifunza Kiswahili. Nita kaa Morogoro na nitakwenda kufanyakazi SEGA, Mikundi. Ijumaa, ilikwenda SEGA kutana wamwanafunzi na mkuu wa shule mwanamke. Leo ni Jumatano. Saa kumi na nusu ni jiono. Sislikwenda mji kuzungumza watanzania.Leo baadaye hotelini sisitakwenda kukula. Asalaamu alekum

Hi my name is Fran. I am Australian. I came from Cairns and lived in Trinity Beach. We are learning Kiswahili. I like learning Kiswahili. I will live in Morogoro and go to work at SEGA, Mikundi. Friday, I went to SEGA to meet the students and the Head Mistress. Today is Wednesday. We went to town to practise talking to Tanzanians. It is 4.30 in the evening. Later today we are going to the hotel to eat. Farewell.


I am getting better at recognising the Kiswahili words and being able to put the sentences together but we had the funniest conversations with the Tanzanians in our adventure into town today!! Firstly Caroline and I went to the tailor whom we had met the other day with Mama J. He was very helpful. We both managed in Kiswahili to organise getting a skirt made. I hope the end product is what we thought we were asking for! We negotiated buying a notebook and envelopes; chatted to the prison warden; tried to buy a sharpener; bought some fabric (numbers, money and time seem to come more easily to me than any other conversation!!); tried to find our way to the Bank of Africa and had to stop a policeman and ask him directions!! I communicated with a lovely Tanzanian lady....I’m still not really sure what we ended up talking about but I thought I was saying that I am learning Kiswahili and am going to be a teacher but I think she interpreted my broken conversation as meaning that I am going to teach Kiswahili....She must have been thinking..."POOR students who get this crazy woman as their teacher!!!” It was lots of fun. The Tanzanians love to talk to mzungus and are very friendly. Some have a good understanding of English but most only know the basic words like: Morning....which they might say as they pass us in the evening. I’m sure it’s the same when they listen to me trying to get the correct words out. They will go home bragging to their family that they talked with the mzungus and I can imagine them laughing about my incorrect choice of words!

I am writing this in my little room and the smell of smoke it strong. Sunday night when we walked back from the restaurant, a large section of the mountains were alight. It was very spectacular sight but we were concerned that with the wild wind that was blowing, there would be a lot of damage done. We have since learned that it is a regular controlled burn to assist nature. Every evening since, we have watched it creep across the face of the mountain, slowly doing its job and making a spectacular picture.

Yesterday was Mike’s (from UK) birthday. We decided that a swim in the pool at the International School of Tanzania would be a treat for for Mike and all those of us who were sweaty, smelly, yuk!!. After classes we caught some taxis, fought the traffic and were rewarded with an hour of blissful relaxation in the 25mtr chlorinated pool, set in the safe, green grounds of the IST.....only 20 minutes walk from my future home!! I was relieved to learn that my shoulder didn't resist the exercise and that my foot was able to take the movement with all stroke disciplines. I slipped through the water thankful that I will have access to such a wonderful resource. It was great to share my oasis and, as a bonus, Polly and her husband and daughter, Martha, were there as well.

Alison (Dar es Salaam) and birthday boy Mike (Zanzibar) standing beneath the beautiful Frangipani tree at the entrance to the swimming pool. We waited for ages for our taxi man to return and when he didn't we wandered down the track towards the glowing sunset

Later that night I joined the 8.30 club and went to the Elvis bar for Mike’s birthday drinks. (Elvis is the name of the manager. He is African and his true name is Elvis!)