Sunday is a day of rest. So rather than recap a lazy day, here’s a quick look at our accommodations.
We are being housed in the Doctor’s Compound. It is a fenced area of roughly 20-25 buildings – many single dwelling units with a couple small apartments. Our house is a 2 bedroom 1 bath unit. There is a kitchen/washing room and a living area. It is actually fairly spacious with a large yard, ornamental flowers (grow natively here), and dirt driveway.
The house has cement floors and drywall ceilings and walls. Everything is on a switch. To use the stove, you switch on the stove and then cook. The hot water heater is on a switch – we switch it on about 30 minutes before needing it. Each outlet has a switch beside it to turn it on. We are using adapters with USB ports. They are not compatible with 110 Volts, but work great for USB charging which is all we really need. Of note, phone chargers are generally compatible with 240 V, so we can plug those directly in via the adapters as well.
Some web sites state that Moshi water is safe to drink for travelers. However, to be on the safe side we are buying bottled water or boiling it ahead of time. That takes a little planning but is not too hard. Unless we hear something definitive from a previous volunteer I don’t think we’re ready to drink straight from the tap.
We have cooked pasta and red sauce, chicken and rice, and hot dogs. Bread, cereal, packaged juices are easily found. The supermarkets have very little fresh produce, but we can get that from the local stands along the road. We either cook the vegetables or eat items that are peeled first. So far, everyone is eating well and suffering no untoward effects!
Tomorrow starts the orthopedic adventure. I meet with the team at 0730 (we scouted the hospital this afternoon and found the surgical wards). The rest of the family is heading to town to find a SIM card, hardware store for some essentials (how did we get here with no duct tape????), and more groceries. Should lead to some tales…
