Friday May 29, 2009

That morning Ray and Joe woke at 6 am to walk to town and try and get money. Ray's atm card was not useful in any of the machines in southern Tanzania. The rest of us got up slowly, and had a breakfast of eggs and bread (Joseph had brought a loaf of bread and a huge german sausage from Ndanda to the beach house). We called two taxis to take us to Mikindani. Of course, the taxis ran out of gas as soon as we all piled in, and we had to wait for another car to bring enough gas to get us to the destination - this happened on almost every taxi trip we took, Tanzanians do not keep gas in their cars.

We went to the Eco 2 Dive Shop in Mikindani(http://www.eco2tz.com/) where Isabella from England and two boat men took us from the "Yacht Club" to a dive reef about a mile off of the Southern Cross Hotel. Beautiful coral and fish , but not as exciting as the sea snake and spiny fish we had seen the day before. We dropped off Ray, Dan and Kyle at the shore and rode the boat back to the yacht club. Had sodas at the Travlers Rest, a guest house while waiting for the biagio to take us back again to the fish market. For dinner we had squid, octupus and a hard white fish - marginal. After dinner we were just settling in when Mr. Lulukila, Joseph's principle at the school, called and asked us to meet him for drinks at the Southern Cross. He had come to town that day because the school had no electricity, and no money. The state had not sent the budgeted money. So the state run electrical company cut off the electricity, and the students were living without electricity. He had hoped to convince the electrical authorities to turn the electricity back on. From what we saw in the next few days, that was not going to happen.

Daniel, Kyle, Joe and I went and spent some time with Mr Lulukila that night. Then walked back the quarter mile in the pitch dark. I think it might have rained a bit that night.

Mtwara II

So after we met Joe at the airport and went to the guest house, we went for a walk, and to get something to eat. There is a pretentious hotel around the corner from the Benedictine guest house, the Southern Cross Hotel (http://hotels.lonelyplanet.com/tanzania/mtwara-r1977598/southern-cross-hotel-p1044325/) , which has possibly the most beautiful spot on the earth to rest at; but about the worst food.
Afer a lunch of seafood, we went snorkeling nearby, and then walked over to the fish market. Joseph spent a lot of time agonizing over the fish, and then made his choice. As Ray said, it was the worst fresh fish you have ever tasted. I guess the fisherman go out and catch the fish early in the morning, and bring it back to shore, where it sits and bakes (whole), in the hot sun. When it is finally bought, the fish is dry and tasteless.

We had been traveling for two days so we went to bed right after dinner.

Fordham Prep Friends

Tonight JP, Will, Tom, Steve, and Pete met us at the The Tap House in Tuckahoe for dinner. What a great group of friends Joseph had.
I like to remember the first time I saw Pete. I was picking Joseph up in ninth grade from Fordham and had arranged to pick him up Southern Blvd; as I drove up there was my little Joseph in a fist fight with a kid that was twice his size - the exact reason that we took him out of Edgemont! Joseph saw the car, and disengaged himself from the fist fight. I was so upset, I started interrogating him.

The next day I called Fordham and wanted to talk about it. The Prep told me to not to worry, they would take care of it. That day, the counselor called in Peter and Joseph, they made them talk, and pretty much from that day on they were good friends. After that day, his mom would call me to double check the information we were getting from the Prep. I felt good about sending Joseph to the Prep after that day.

Hanging out with all of you makes life seem a little more normal - which it is definitely not. Thanks for the dinner conversation.

Mtwara

From the airport we took two little cabs to the beach house on the Indian Ocean. The beach house is owned by the German Dominican monks, and when we stopped to get the keys from the bishop in charge, Joseph was very nervous because he thought that the monk was upset with him for turning the guest house into a motel for visiting rich americans, which was definitely not the mission. The guest house is for ngo workers who need some R&R; they pay 10 dollars a night, the place is spotless, there is a kitchen and it is a beautiful place with the Indian Ocean in the back yard. We had to share the house with a nurse from a hospital near where Joseph was working, and the bishop (who was very nice) was having business meetings with a very interesting engineer who had lived most of his life in Tanzania, but was originally Ethiopian. His daughter was getting a college education in Washington DC.