My Garden Apartment in Tanzania

Dear family and friends,

Phew! Left the hospital in Nairobi, Kenya...No cast, just a sling and wrap to immobilize my broken arm/shoulder...and drugs to get me past the painful stage.

Flew back to Arusha, Tanzania. Erickson, the driver who had delivered me to the hospital over a week ago came to pick me up and gave me a discount. Anthony the airport staff who had assisted me and checked on me daily via calls and text messages while in the hospital swung by to see me off.

After my one hour flight. I was picked up on the other end by friend Emmanuel since the Kilimanjaro airport is an hour out of Arusha and every bump or touch on my right is painful...even taxi rides are horribly painful...His newish 4-wheel drive car has a smooth ride. Emmanuel delivered me to the apartment that Elia had arranged for me. For about $10 US a day, it's a cute and cozy gem though it's a bit of a commute for many of my friends (and for me since I can't take daladala vans or pikipiki motorcycle taxis for awhile !).

The attached picture is the view from my porch. The rent includes daily cleaning, clean sheets every 3 days, new towels everyday, WiFi, cable (and a TV), optional laundry service (or a clothes line for DIY), a small restaurant for residents open all day (though my little kitchen is quite nice), all utilities, etc. Quiet, a garden court yard, good security... and I'm told it is a mix of people staying short and long term. So far everyone I've seen seems to be African (you know I don't want to live in a mzungu place!).

So my drugs are kicking in and I'm going to take a nap in my 4-poster canopy bed with 4 pillows... Still need to sleep sitting up even though the tissue damage on my left side is almost healed.

Immigration at the airport extended my visa for 3 months without charging me a fee. I feel like I'm living a charmed life right now in spite of my injury (still counting my blessings that I didn't require surgery after all!).

My groceries won't arrive until later, but I had passion fruit and croissants left over (my Nairobi hotel packed me a breakfast due to my 5am pick up) and I had a ripe oozy Camembert cheese that I smuggled across the border (cheese is almost nonexistent in TZ)... Yep, life is pretty good and I'm just in time for the Easter activities...

So I'm kicking back and recovering in Arusha for the next six weeks. Should speak decent Kiswahili by the time I can hoist my pack again!

Hope all is well with you!

Jay
Arusha, Tanzania