Nathan and I were so sad to see Irene go Thursday night, but the show must go on here in Tanzania! We’ve had a busy weekend between Dar and Kisarawe with lots of time spent going place to place, hence the title of this post.
First, on Thursday, we had a farewell dinner for Irene with our MUSC colleagues Claire and Stephanie at Ali’s Chicken. The chicken sekala was delicious, but I think we'd all agree the garlic naan was the best part (besides the good company of course).
On Friday, Nathan and I met with the director of Madaktari Africa named Marijn. Madaktari is a US non-profit that trains cardiologists in Africa. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant at Slipway with an awesome sea view. From there, we could see the factory that inspired Roald Dahl to write Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We enjoyed hearing about her experiences here in Tanzania since she moved from the Netherlands, first as a veterinarian and now with Madaktari. During the course of our conversation, she mentioned that there is no word in Swahili that means “maintenance,” which helps explain why it doesn’t appear to be a priority in regards to many of the medical devices we encounter. Hopefully she will be able to connect us to even more hospitals in Tanzania!
We headed back to Kisarawe on Saturday. The traffic was terrible as usual in Dar, so we didn’t get back until midafternoon. We did stop along the way for a coconut break though (sorry you missed it Irene!) A late lunch of ugali and kitimoto (pork) was waiting for us when we arrived in Kisarawe. Weston had fun laughing at us struggling to eat the ugali with our hands, but we were pros by the end of the meal. The Kisarawe District Hospital called us about an urgent issue with the x-ray machine, but when we got there, the power was out and there was nothing we could do. We will go back on Monday to try again.
Weston invited us to spend Saturday evening with him and his family at their home. To get there, we took two dala dalas (vans/buses that are packed with people--picture from the inside below) and boda bodas (motorcycles). His home is as beautiful as his kids are cute! They have a large plot of land with their own wells and solar power. After dinner, we went to a local bar to watch the Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Juventus. Thanks to the heavy rainy season, Weston’s car got stuck in a flooded portion of the road. Lucky for Nathan, this meant the opportunity to drive Weston’s other car (with the steering wheel on the right side) in order to tow it when pushing wasn’t enough. I helped get Weston’s driver side window unstuck though, so I’ll let you decide who the real hero of the day was.
