Daily life

Andy writes:
This is a combination of days but could well be one.

Wake at 4.30 – 5.00 with a chorus of dogs barking, cockerels crowing and the sun breaking into the sky. I try to turn over and catch another few hours before getting up.

Rise around 7.00 and jump in the shower, I always have to take courage to get under the cold water, and it’s much easier in the afternoon after a hot and sticky day. Have you ever started to put the shampoo on your hair and the water stops? Well it happens quite regularly, that we have bottles of water handy, just for those moments. Soap in the eyes is unpleasant.

Fill the coffee machine water starts to drop through, only for the electric to be cut before you even have a cup full. Drink what is left.

Eat breakfast and have daily devotion.

Language lessons start at 9.00, well that’s if the teacher made good time, if not we can be waiting until she arrives; several times it was the next day. She did let us know she was unable to make it, after an hour or so.

Lunch time, we try to eat with the kids of the orphanage for lunch as this gives them continuity. Although this can range between 13.00 and 16.00 depending on the cook, this is because some days he has money to buy early, other days he waits for the administrator to hand out the money. This gives us plenty of opportunity to play with the kids.

House hunting, without a vehicle poses difficulties in moving around looking for houses, we found a very nice NGO who have been helping us, one day they lined up a few apartments for us to view. They collected us and took us to the first, only to find out no-one had a key. We travelled to the next no-one home. The third apartment the owner showed us around an unfinished apartment, being very apologetic he offered us his apartment above which had been finished and he would move downstairs. Fourth was a beautiful house and way over our budget, we asked why did you show us this house? Answer well you might have found more money if you liked it. We reluctantly left the last one for that day, still not finding the right place.

Looking for a vehicle, we were taken to an auction yard to look around. We asked which ones were for sale? They are all sold was the reply. How much did this Toyota Hilux with no wheels sell for? 8000 USD, I nearly fell over, I said you must be kidding. Due to import taxes at 100% of the value of the vehicle, prices are just crazy. We are still walking and using the Tap-Taps.

Buying food at the market, you get to know the prices but some stall holders still exaggerate the price. The best way we have found is you give them the correct money, knowing the price and they don’t argue. When you buy fruit it is normally in a pile, mangos are bought in eights and most times the best are on the top, by the time you get to the sixth or seventh the quality has dropped, the contract has taken place when you start putting them into a bag. This is a known trick to get rid of old stock.

Life is full of frustrations, it just feels like we have many every day.


Jutta writes:
Yes, many frustrations, but we try to see them from the positive side. Many things will change as well, as soon as we will move. To keep us going we go once in a while out for dinner, in a place which is fairly cheap, because I can’t live just from rice and beans every day. The other day we went to a chicken ‘restaurant’, the funny thing was they had a toy chicken on each table. I found out, that when you squeeze the chicken, it makes a funny sound, and the waitress comes. I squeezed it a few times, just to see if it works. It worked every time. Poor waitress, smile.