End of Semester and Census Holidays. August. 2012.

I am finally on holidays after nearly 2 months of 24/7 flat out at school. We worked really hard to settle our new girls whilst the young volunteers were with us. It's amazing how much a person can fit into 24 hours....day after day...after day! But...it was a fantastically productive time!
Having already been officially on holidays for one week, I am actually feeling like I am really on holidays as I am packed and ready to fly to Egypt in less than 24hours! 2 weeks in Africa....yes Egypt IS in Africa .... I have promised Gem that we will try very hard to avoid ingesting any water from the Nile! We don't want to follow the disaster she experienced at the start of her Egyptian tour nearly 2 years ago!

The first week of my holidays was spent:
...traveling with the Form 2's and some of my wonderful colleagues/friends on a Field trip to Tanga, the picturesque north eastern, coastal town of Tz;

....returning to Morogoro for a week of meetings and finalising school stuff and a bit of socialising...;

....helping Ashlie and Camilla finalise things, farewell friends and pack as they headed off on their trip to Rwanda... then taking them to Msamvu, bus depot and saying painful farewells;

....visiting TRA for the 5th session (each session consisting of at least 3 visits on different days and standing in queues to go over the same information and processes to get my TIN: Taxation Identification Number which had been issued in January but we think the typist made a mistake so consequently the whole process became very, very complicated!!!) to actually hold in my hands (on Mum's birthday 10 August) the paperwork and essential sticker (I started processing back on Gemmas's birthday January 19) for Jack, my car!! Hongera! I realised that dealing with car transfers/taxes/insurances etc in Tz is just as frustrating and nearly as time consuming as dealing with transport stuff in Melbourne! Language was a barrier but thanks to my dear Tz friends, we finally succeeded! Asante sana Alex, Mustafa, Hermedi kwa kwa kusaidia zako.

Lucy and the mandazi she made for me.

 .... sleeping over at Pauline's with Winston, her husband and darling little Milka: loved it!!. I had been planning a visit for nearly 18months;

 Milka grooving!

.... I have done so many things since I stated this blog earlier today and it's now less hours before we fly!! In that time we actually got our tickets; finalised and confirmed our tour; booked some accommodation in Luxor; cleaned and packed Hanna's house, and repacked my ever growing bags to take back to Morogoro/SEGA. (I am nearing the 2 year mark of my placement and nearly all of our intake has gone home to their own countries, together with many others who came after us!!The only fun things about friends leaving is that they leave behind little bits and pieces of themselves with me. My house is full of random memorabilia and useful things from my friends all over the world. I love this because I feel that they are still here with me as the miscellaneous bits remind me of them often.  One exciting thing I scored recently was a really strong can opener! Now Hanna has given me her favourite African boots (aka Crocs) in the color I really wanted!! Good comes to all those who wait! "Hee.. hee!!"); tried to improve our beauty by covering up those persistent greys hairs; ate some food and shared a beer or two....
But, now I have to go and complete the clean up and take it all to Pushpa's house. We will only have our travel backpacks....

Oh.....off on another adventure!

Can't wait to share it with you!