Weekend on a farm

We spent last weekend on a beautiful farm about an hour south of us. It was a perfect relaxing getaway after a busy week of work and school.

safari

Here is a little taste of the safari we went on last weekend to Ruaha National Park. If you want to see more, I put 87 of the 400 pictures on facebook.



This elephant really was that close. This is not using the zoom.



This lion wasn't really that close. I was using the zoom.

it's official: we're moving to Tanzania!

Justin and I will both be working on a HIV prevention project through the university. He'll be full-time, I'll be part-time while I finish my PhD. The project is slated to last 4 years, though it will likely go longer.

It's very exciting for both of us, though not so much for Juma. He's very sad to leave his great friends and wonderful school, naturally. But we have found a great English-speaking international school for him, which I am sure is filled with wonderful friends for him.

We will be in Iringa, which is the same city we lived in last summer. We'll be in the very same house, in fact, and have the same address:

PO Box 1441
Iringa, Tanzania

So we are packing up the house, and will spend about 10 days in Utah for the holidays before we go. 2012 in Tanzania!

how did my life get like this?!?!

love

Juma: Mom, I love you. So much. I don't know why, I just do.
Sarah: Well, it is hard-wired in your DNA to love your mother. You have to.
Juma: I know, but that's not it. I really just love you.

whoa, it's been a busy month

The blog doesn't say so, but it was a busy August. We still haven't gotten permission from the government and university to do the research that we were supposed to do this summer, but we had lots of other tasks, like visiting organizations and government officials, and furnishing the project house. Here are some events and pictures from August:

Three times we drove (Justin drove, we were passengers) south to visit other towns in the region for work. Njombe is a large town, far enough away that we had to stay overnight. Once, we broke up the trip and stayed on a farm in between Iringa and Njombe.

Lucky us, the staff made a mistake and upgraded us to a luxury cabin.



We took the day off and hiked around the farm, stopping to see their crops, cattle, and lakes.




On one of the trips to Njombe, we stayed with some new-found Danish friends, on their farm. They had tons of fowl, goats, sheep, and cows




as well as a bunch of pigs. These little piglets were just 4 days old.




Njombe has a club that was once the British colonial club, complete with a library of old books and a snooker table. It's a bit like pool, but the table is huge.



Part of our work-related travels were documented in a Tanzanian newspaper!






Back at home, we put our fireplace to use. Yes, it is cold enough in Iringa to have fires!




Juma roasted hot dogs over the fire, and invented a new dish: chocolate hot dogs. He claims it was good. Later, Justin has a metal worker make a grill for the fire, so we can cook lots of yummy stuff.




Since we moved into an unfurnished house, Justin has been having a carpenter build us furniture (Iringa region produces timber). Here's a view of the empty dining room



and now with our 8-chair table.



We also bought some tables that are serving as work desks for now in our once-empty living room. (We still don't have couches or anything.)






We also had beds made, then fancy mosquito nets.




Right now, we are in Zanzibar for the end of our trip. We got to see the new baby boy of our friends we met last year. Meet Nuh (Arabic version of Noah).

address

We have a PO Box in Iringa now!

Beckham
PO Box 1441
Iringa, Tanzania

We also have a six-bedroom house (hint, hint...come visit).





and a temporary car until we can get something with a little less...character.

9 years old!

Happy Birthday, Juma! You have brought so much fun into our lives, and you are such a great kid to hang out with. You love to do so many things:

You are a board game champion,




you have a great imagination and love pretending to be different characters (here, a 19th century Hehe chief),




you are the best at being a silly head,




a great rock hunter,




a cave explorer,



iPad gamer,




an excellent rock climber,




and a budding biologist.



Happy Birthday, buddy!

another cutie picture of little Sarah

She is now in Pemba with her mom, meeting her grandparents for the first time. They are, of course, thrilled.

adventures in Iringa

Ok, not really adventures. More like life.


We found nice craft shop/cafe in Iringa where all the artisans and cafe employees are either deaf or disabled. A lot people like them don't get a chance to prove their abilities in Tanzania, so this place is really great and reducing the stigma. They make really great stuff, too. Here, Justin and Juma play chess while we wait for our food. Juma won!




Juma got a toy bow and arrow and Justin fashioned a quiver for him. After a couple days of practice, Juma is a great shot.






Just 20 kilometers south of Iringa, there is a Stone Age (lower paleolithic) site full of stone tools 100,000 years old. We got to actually pick up and handle the roughly-made spearheads, knives, and wedges. Amazing.



The site is also full of beautiful sandstone pillars.