Moshi As expected, the internet café in Moshi is painfully slow. But at least there is an internet café so I suppose I don't have much to complain about!

Our arrival here was lovely, despite the stifling heat of Kilimanjaro airport. We were picked up by two staff members of our hotel who tried to pack our large bags into they Toyota sedan. One of my suitcases wound up on a girls' lap. She was an airport employee and needed a ride into town, so she picked up my heavy suitcase and kept it on her lap the whole way. They refused to let me do so instead.

The ride into Moshi took an hour, so we got settled into our room around 11pm. Minutes later the manager knocked on our door to inform us that Anthony and Solomon, friends of my mother's who run a small tour company here, were waiting for us at the bar. What a great surprise it was to see them right away! We were exhausted so it was a short visit, but I immediately felt comfortable with them, which is good because it looks like we'll be seeing an awful lot of them and their friend John.

Yesterday we were up at the crack of dawn, were fed a luscious and HUGE breakfast by the hotel clerk Maria. Apparently we were their only guests, which is a shame because it's a very nice hotel ( http://www.amanspardise.com). After a nap, the guys picked us and our bags up 2 hours late (they decided to let us sleep in when instead we were up earlier than most of this town!). We went over to the house my mother was going to rent for a quick visit with the owners. They have some things to move out of there, and want to straighten it out a little bit, so we are staying with our friends in their nice new house until Monday, when we can move into our own place right in town.

We went out for some drinks after at a bar close to CCS, the volunteer org that my mom worked for last fall. I had my first taste of Ugali and rather enjoyed it, it's a corn based staple, kind of like solid cream of wheat, or grits. You roll it up into a little ball in your right hand and pick up some chicken or whatever you're eating with it. Takes some dexterity but it didn't take me too long to pick it up.

Back at the house last night, we talked about the guys' business and what they want to do to make it grow bigger, and we brainstormed some ideas about my mom's bookshop as well. Everything seems filled with promise, but difficult to put into action because of painstakingly slow and corrupt bureaucracy here. We will go to Dar Es Salaam in a couple of weeks to speak to some lawyers and also consult with the Canadian Embassy.

Today we had lunch at a nice local place, and I'm really happy chapatti and samosas are available everywhere. Breakfast for 5 cost 4000 shillings, so US$4.00. Yesterday we ate at an expensive touristy place and it was still only 13000 shillings for 5, so 13 bucks! To think dinner for two back home can easily top the sixty dollar mark…

Well, we're off to find a refrigerator and stove for our house. Then we're going to go to the market to pick up some food, Solomon is a cook and will be making us some delicious meals over the next little while. He's going to help me learn to cook some local food, and I'm going to teach him a few things about Italian and Mexican food and whatever else he wants to learn.

Ok, time to run, internet time's up! More news soon!  ¶ 2/19/2006 12:26:00 AM