Normal?

What is normal? Up until a few months ago normal it was the predictability of life in the US. Changing of seasons, continuous power, things happening when it should, church life, school life and the list goes on. Now normal is very different. I realized last week as we were traveling to one of the only Malls in Dar that the sights, sounds and smells of TZ are normal to me now.  Things like:

Dar Traffic

Dar traffic,

the African landscape,

the baobab trees,

12 hours of day light,

the heat,

unpredictable power,

lizards running along the walls of the house,

Market where we bought our furit while at language school

going to several dukas (shops) to get your groceries,

women carrying things on their head,

people selling stuff at intersections

and the interesting things people carry on their bikes.

Ooh and I almost forgot, driving on the left side of the road.

'truck stop'
It was amazing to see how many trucks were parked here getting repaired or new tires

We love the fresh fruit available. Right now pineapple is in season so there are pineapples everywhere. They are so good. Buying organic is cheaper than processed. Raw sugar at the grocery store is cheaper than white sugar.

It was comforting to know that life in TZ is starting to feel normal. We have now been here almost 4 months. We are now figuring out what we need to set up house and using these few weeks before our next training to purchase those items. We need to get beds, small kitchen appliances, large appliances and many other things it takes to set up house. Everything takes longer in Africa so I’m sure it will take longer than what we think to find a purchase these items. We have decided to buy many of these items in Dar where there is more of a selection and they are actually available to purchase. Musoma is much smaller so the availability and selection is much less.