A few more thoughts about the idea of home.

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Jessie

I wrote a little bit about what home means to me in my post yesterday. Home is a word, a topic, that comes up a lot in my life, given that I live so far far away from a place that I might typically call home.

As you know we were in Pretoria recently, first for a week which was extended to two weeks. Two weeks in one place, which is enough time to start thinking of a place as home – temporarily, but no matter. After 4 days of dining out, I was itching to make use of our little home/hotel kitchenette, in an effort to truly feel more at home. At the store, we piled into our carts all the things that we haven’t seen in the past few months in Dar es Salaam: precious salmon steaks, flat skirt steaks, small packages of snap peas, whole raw almonds, seedless grapes, juicy limes, baby carrots, sweet cherry tomatoes. Once at “home” (hotel room, womp womp) we dressed our pre-washed lettuce salads with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette, and pan fried the salmon on the stove. Dinner wasn’t fancy, certainly not as fancy or as unique as of our other nights dining out, but it was a taste of home- America home actually, a long-ago home, much different than Dar-home.

The kitchen is home, yes, but what I learned from my most recent trip away— and I do learn something on every trip, which is a huge reason I love to travel— is that home isn’t always something tangible. It might not be a physical house, or a computer, or a kitchen, but instead could be more closely associated with memory, with experience, with loved ones. A combination of all this, likely. Having that salmon, that baby lettuce salad lightly dressed with fancy olive oil and basalmic vinegar- that reminded me of home, even though they’re things that I never have in my Dar kitchen. Which meant that no matter where I go in this world, no matter how far I travel, I actually have the power to create my own sense of home.

Settling In, Getting Out

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Jessie

We hired a housekeeper this week. She’s coming three times a week – and before you scoff at the manner in which I’m so easily taking up colonial ways, just know that I live in a house with a LOT of tile floors here, people. Those floors are definitely not cleaning themselves. Plus, she’s a nice lady who will teach me how to make a local coconut-meat stew, it’s been promised!! This was mentioned during our initial meeting and my heart straight up skipped a beat.

This recent acquiescence of colonialism, in conjunction with the fact that we’ve set up our Ikea closet system, means that it’s official. We’re settled! And that’s all it takes in this household, really – a semi-permanent closet setup and a housekeeper. Says a lot about our priorities, shoot.

So naturally, now that we’ve settled in so nicely, the DiploMan says to me, let’s get out. Of course.

It’s been two months, and he’s looking for these outs. For example, there’s a minor medical procedure I might have to get done in Pretoria, and we’ve talked about how it’s a great excuse to explore a new place. We’re twisted. Hence a mad hunt for cheap flights today, for no other reason but because it’s been awhile since we’ve hopped on a plane ($500 to Johannesburg and back, btw. Not bad, internet, not bad).

For now, we’ll stick to wheels. This weekend, we’ve planned a short trip up the coast to Bagamoyo. It’s our first trip out of Dar, and I’m stoked. Of course in planning this one-hour drive, two-day excursion, I can’t help but think of the possibilities. You better believe that $500 flight was just the start to a long string of internet queries.

Let’s not forget Cape Town and Johannesburg. Or Namibia, and Zambia. There’s the entire Serengeti to explore. We have to climb Kilimanjaro (or as it’s known locally, just Kili). We must go to Ngorongoro and trek around the crater. We should probably see the majesty that is Lake Victoria. I want to count how many wildebeest I see during the migration. Drive through deserts in a Land Rover and trek through jungles holding a machete. That’s only sub-Sahara, too. I can’t forget Egypt, Morocco, Algeria. We’ll skip Somalia for now…and during these two years we’ll have friends in Ghana, friends in Rwanda, friends in Kenya, friends in South Africa. Friends in the U.A.E.. Friends all over.

This profession that the DiploMan has taken up, it’s not for everyone. It takes a certain type of person – A person for whom traveling is not an escape, but a way of life. It’s a bit of a freakish thing, I think, this lifestyle, but I must admit I’m getting the hang of it. I like spicy food and I’m totally down with The Wire. I studied abroad for one summer, and I speak about 2.75 languages (these are all common threads I’ve found with Foreign Service folk). Am I fooling anyone?

But you know the real reason I know I’m getting the hang of this crazy lifestyle? How I know I’m fitting in with the band of traveling circus monkeys that we call our friends? Because I, too, am straight up itching to get out.

I know, I know, we’ve just settled in…

All photos from this post were taken in Point Reyes National Park during our trip home to California this May. Bay Area, we love you!

Bongoyo Island Eats // my kind of place

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Jessie

Of course I didn’t forget to mention the food at Bongoyo Island; of course I was saving it for its own special post.

When our party pulled up onto the white sand beach of Bongoyo, we were greeted with two issues. One, we needed to pay for the spot we claimed under the umbrella. Two, what would we like for lunch?

Rough livin’, huh?

I had a feeling this was just my kind of place.

After we set up shop, took a dip in the ocean, and okay, we sort of had a headstand contest too, I strolled up the beach to check out the kitchen. Behind an erected wall that served as the backdrop to a bar/cafe/information center were dirt paths that led into an open kitchen, built in quite the same manner as the clearly-handmade wall that separated it from view. It was great. It was just my kind of place, the place I had been looking for since I arrived in Dar.

I noticed something right off the bat – all dudes. Here on Bongoyo Island, it was a gang of Tanzanian guys working to serve us lunch, ranging in age and stature. Young guys, old guys, barefoot guys, shirtless guys, sinewy leathery guys, plump jolly guys. Each guy had his station and his task: manning the grill, cooking seafood, peeling vegetables, frying potatoes, wrangling calamari, and grilling crabs. I asked if I could snap a few photos, and the guys obliged – a question that doesn’t always warrant a friendly yes around other parts of town.

Who brings their expensive DSLR with them on a beach day? This girl.

The seafood was sourced locally. And I say that without the least bit of bragging, or advertisement. As in, it’s the only and most obvious, most reasonable source of food for the island. It’s the way it would have been done a century ago, three centuries ago, who knows how-many-ages ago. Fishermen in small rickety dhow boats, equipped with sails so ridden with holes I’m skeptical as to their eponymous function, dock upon the beach with a daily offering. They know it’s money in their pockets to service the tourists that visit this small strip of beach.

These fish are, mind you, nothing akin to the tuna at the Tsujiki fish market. These are little humble island fish, thin natural beings, bony and white. Caught for our consumption only. Just my kind of place.

Lunch was served around 1pm- in Tanzanian fashion, we had ordered lunch for noon. But also in true Tanzanian fashion, it was “hamna shida, hakuna matata”, or “no problem, no worry”. We decided to feast right on our rattan mat, rather than sitting down at the long wooden benches over by the bar. Forks and knives and napkins were provided, but as with most beach dining, eating with your hands was the preferred method.

I’m telling you, Bongoyo island was just my kind of place.

Bongoyo Island // INFORMATION

Boats leave from Slipway Shopping Center on Msasani Peninsula at 9:30, 11:30, 13:30, and 15:30. Approximate ride time is 30-40 minutes.

Fares are 30,000 TSH round trip, per person (or approx $18 USD)

Pack a cooler if you want, but you don’t need much else other than sunscreen and a towel!

1st trip in Dar >> Bongoyo Island

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Jessie

Hit the ground running.

That was the plan for Dar es Salaam. After a short two years in China and an even shorter nine months in the States, I’m becoming very well aware that our time at any post is forever fleeting. Dilly-dally on settling in, and before you know it half your time is up.

“So, let’s hit the ground running,” we said, with no plans other than to arrive. And as we soon discovered, there’s only so much proverbial running one can do in a city where things progress at a proverbial saunter.

So when running only goes so far, the DiploMan and I do one thing: we take a trip to the beach.

Shockingly, Africa has beaches! It is not Sahara from one tip of the continent to the other, which is what the infographic map of the world in that is my head leads me to believe. And luckily for me, the beaches off the coast of Tanzania and it’s little sister Zanzibar are some of the best on the continent.

The area where we live, “on the Peninsula” (never just peninsula, always preceded with “on the”/ I live “on the Peninsula”/ The shops “on the peninsula”/ I am trapped “on the peninsula”), is aptly moniker’d. On the peninsula, where the land juts out to abruptly meet the water, there are sweeping views of the Indian Ocean, and of many tiny islands that are scattered just across the way.

[on the peninsula] Three major islands dot our view: Snake Island, Bongoyo Island, and Mbudya Island. The first is uninhabited and unvisited – it’s supposedly named after a nasty infestatiion of slithering snakes, and I don’t need to see for myself. The last island is supposedly the nicest, but requires more foreward planning than a last minute weekends’ trip. Namely, a car, and more time, and stuff. So when we noticed that a ferry departed from a nearby shopping center made daily trips to/from Bongoyo Island, it was settled – a daytrip to the beach would be made, to celebrate the end of our first week in Dar.

Bongoyo Island is a long, branch-shaped island, dotted with gnarly trees and fisherman who ride in rickety canoes just off its shores. The main attraction, undoubtedly, is a little nipple of a beach that juts out of the island’s otherwise forested land.

Though the very small size of the beach might be unimpressive to those accustomed to seeing miles and miles of sweeping shoreline (ahem, Pacific Coast!), the beach on Bongoyo Island makes up for its small stature with stunning views from the sand. Standing at the tip of the island, on the beach, one can view a 300 degree vista of ocean and waves. A pretty breathtaking sight.

Just up the sand 20 yards or so, sticking out from the white sand, are hand-made umbrellas, here called Bandas. Lounge chairs made from sticks and woven with natural ropes were rented for a few thousand Shillings, and some local beers and sodas were bought from the bar just a ways over, a few more dozen yards inland. We spent most of the day laying around, napping, sipping, splashing, talking, and attempting headstands in and out of the water.

Though certainly not an adventure-seekers’ beach, for those of us that were craving a little more activity than a dip in the ocean, we took a 40-or-so minute hike to the other side of the island. After what seemed like an endless trail of rock and brush, where the end of the trail seemed less plausible with each step, we were at last awarded with another beautiful, serene beachscape. How are the most remote, difficult-to-reach places always the most stunning?! For pictures of that view, you’ll have to come, visit, and see for yourself.

So yes, even though our beach day was a little thin on activity and adventure, it was not completely without. And what a fabulous way to hit the ground running in Dar es Salaam. If this is what the next two years are looking like, I’m going to come home a pretty happy and relaxed individual.

Layover >> my 24 Hours in Amsterdam

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Jessie

The other day, I ventured to give some advice on how to travel.

Maybe I should stick to giving advice about cheese…

Because with my endorsement to travel ‘with no expectations’, there are, of course, downfalls to what I’m calling the path of least expectations. In the instance of going to Amsterdam, the downfall manifested itself on our flight across the Atlantic, when somewhere over London, I realized I probably should have at least researched directions, maybe transportation options, to our hotel. The Type-A spreadsheet maker inside me was horrified. A case of the iPhone generation, truly. I’d like to think I kept my panic covered under some sort of Poker face, but I don’t think the DiploMan was convinced. Luckily on the walk to customs I discovered Schipol Airport welcomes weary travellers with free wifi, which was the first indication that yes, this Amsterdam trip was a good choice. Thus I was able to do a quick search of our hotel name (yes, I’m telling you I wasn’t very prepared this time) while waiting in the Customs line. Crisis averted.

So, there we were, with our 6 pieces of luggage in a Mercedes Benz taxi (reason #bajillion why Amsterdam was awesome), driving into Amsterdam in the early hours of the misty morning. Amsterdam, you are cold in June!!

Not much happens at 8am in Amsterdam. Lots of people riding bikes to work and to school, but otherwise it’s a sleepy little town. We grabbed breakfast at one of the only open joints in the middle of town, and after formulating a game plan, we headed back to our hotel to check in early and take a nap (totally part of the game plan).

Fast forward to 3pm. Yes, that’s right, that’s not a typo. We ended up sleeping until 3pm. We are bad tourists, you say? On the contrary, mon amie. Why would we struggle to keep our tired eyes and even more jet lagged bodies awake, hitting up the sights of Amsterdam like Zombies. I know myself, I doubt I would remember what I saw. And whereas our jet lag was not COMPLETELY worn off when we awoke (admittedly, to an alarm I had set), it had served to adjust us off the Pacific Standard Time we had originally arrived on.

Oh Amsterdam, Why do you do it ALL so good?!

With maps in tow – paper for me and digital for the Diploman (our personal preferences) – we hit the city. We decided to explore en fooot rather than on wheels. One, because that would allow us to poke our heads into the dozens of shops that lined the street as we fancied. Two, because frankly the bike traffic in Amsterdam is a bit intimidating to one who just wants to wander. I imagined a collision or two or a couple of flying Dutchmen (huh?) in my future, had we opted for bikes.

We walked around the spiral streets of the city, curling and weaving through neighborhoods.

During our almost exactly 24 hours in Amsterdam, we indeed experienced flowers, art, architecture, design, food, smoke shops, coffee shops, and “coffee shops”. While we may not have immersed ourselves in any one or another (except for food, but you know us), I’m glad we were able to get an overview of beautiful Amsterdam.

I’m already looking forward to our next layover in town.

**So, The other day, I shared some photos from my camera. These here little diddies are from my iPhone.The flower market was a dud – skip it if you’re visiting in town – but the shops and bars that littered the city were all great to pop in and out of. The red light district was COMPLETELY fascinating, and the houses, architecture, and layout of the city was just so cool.

Where we ate, that you should go too!:

L’invite Le Restaurant

Bloemgracht 47

1016 KD Amsterdam

+31 20 570 20 10

Open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday from 18:00, Lunch Tuesday to Sunday from 12:00.

We arrived on foot, which aside from bicycles, seems to be a fine way to get there.

Freshi!!

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Jessie

Hi folks, I PROMISE I will provide some good updates about life in Dar, but instead of writing I’ve been staring at my computer laboriously tinkering with a lot of web design mumbo jumbo. Or as they say here, mambo! jambo! Here are some pics I’ve snapped on Instagram over the last few weeks

So, if you’re receiving these posts in an RSS feed, click on over to the blog to check out the freshi design! (That’s fresh, in Swahili!). Be back soon with more updates!

Peeps From Abroad

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