Things that are different in our new location

There are so many things that are the same in our new location.  Most of my daily life is very much the same as it was in Arusha- homeschooling three kids, shopping and cooking supper, spending time with family and having “me-time”.  But, some things are different.  Here are a few…

      The HEAT.   It can be oppressive.  There are days that I am sweating before breakfast. Thankfully, it’s not always horribly hot.  There are cool breezes, and iced tea/coffee is a MUST here.  Staying indoors during daylight hours is a pretty good idea.  The kids play outside once the sun starts to go down.  We are very thankful to have an AC in our bedroom.

       Store Hours.  Closely related to this topic—most stores in town close from 12pm-3pm.  This is due to prayer times, as well as it being the hottest time of the day, and NOONE wants to be out!  The posted hours for stores are usually around 9-6pm…. But they aren’t there until around 11am. Then, they are off for lunch for three hours.  Then, they come back in for an hour or two before closing for the day!  It’s been a bit of a challenge to get to the stores when they are actually open!

      The sand.  In Arusha, it was always a bit dusty when it was dry. Here, there isn't that much dust, because it's all sand.  Our whole yard is pretty much sand.  I've always wanted to get a sandbox for the kids... now we don't need one!

      The monkeys.  There are two troops of monkeys that frequent our yard- the Blue monkeys which are bigger and a blackish color, and although are more skittish around humans can be more threatening; and the Vervet monkeys which are smaller and white with a black face, and more comfortable around humans.  We hear them running around on our roof, and jumping from our roof to land in a tree branch.  They taunt the dogs, and have broken the water pipe going to the water tank on our roof twice- water started pouring off the roof like a flood!  It’s been quiet interesting being in this close of contact with monkeys here.

       The Ants.   There are about 6 different species of ants here.  There are weaver ants in the trees that sew leaves together to form a nest.  There are some huge looking ants, and then in varying sizes, down to the tiny, tiny ants that you can barely see.  It’s these miniscule ants that I am referring to the most.  Because, they climb on everything (like computers, water jugs, dishes, etc.  And, innumerable times a day, we find these tiny ants crawling on our bodies.

Weaver ants in our lemon tree.

       Pets.  It’s small, but we’ve picked up 2 puppies and a kitten since coming which is different for us.  We are enjoying the pets.

      Swimming.  I have to admit that I don’t like to swim unless it’s in the 90’s.  Which it is here!  Which means we are swimming a lot more here than in Arusha.  In Arusha, even when it’s hot, the pool always felt ice cold to me.

     The Beach.  You gotta love living so close to a beach, even if it’s not a very big or very “nice” one.  We even get to go to a private beach house that is owned by our land lady.

We spent Thanksgiving at the beach.

       No Glass Windows.  Our house has no glass in the windows, except for our bedroom.  At first I thought this was strange and worried about rain coming in through the open windows. (They have screens and bars, but no glass.)  We have had many rain storms, and only once has rain come in, and it was easily mopped up the next morning.  There are windows lining most of the walls, to let the most amount of breeze through.

    These are a few of the things that are different.  We are enjoying are new house, which is larger than our old house, and the nice spacious yard. We are starting to meet people here as well which is nice. 

Blessings!