The River Ground Nuts runs through it

The morning commute. Heavier than a cup of Timmy's coffee.

Today’s photo was taken from the back seat of a car on the way to our bus stop. I never fail to be amazed at the loads the women carry on their heads here. How much must that weigh?!? I’d like to see a strong man do that in Canada, let alone a woman. And yet here, it is only the women that carry loads on their heads. Deo told me today that it wouldn’t be acceptable for a man to do so, but it kind of nullifies the insult “Don’t be such a girl!” Any woman carrying 20kg on her head without even breaking a sweat is probably more of a man than I am!

Deo and I got really lucky today with rides. This morning, walking down his street, a taxi driver friend of his was heading our way and gave us a ride to KCMC. KCMC is the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, a major hospital that is jointly owned and operated by the local government and a German organization. It’s always a hub of activity as many people work there and others come to visit patients, especially during the 4:30pm-6:30pm visiting hours. Usually we walk through the bean field to get there, but the free taxi ride saved us about 10 or 15 minutes. We weren’t standing at the KCMC bus stop for long when Deo noticed another friend who had stopped his truck. It turned out to be the principal of another secondary school, and he was going our way, so he gave us a ride a good portion of our way to school. From there, it was just a walk through the coffee plantations to school.

I was treated to a great view of Kilimanjaro today as the skies around it were cloud-free for a good hour or so. There’s a lot of snow and I’m wondering now if the hikers I brought will be sufficient. I’ll have to check with the tour company. Today was a beautiful day with sun from morning to evening, the temperature just comfortable and the humidity low. If everyday could be like this, I’d be a happy camper.

Just before sunset, I went for a walk with Deo’s little brother Julius. He’s 19 and just awaiting the results of his Form VI exams. We walked town the main road for a bit and then cut off into a quiet residential neighbourhood where a lot of Europeans live behind gated walls. We then continued to a point where we looked over a valley with a fairly quick moving river. “That’s the River Kawanga,” he said.

I asked, “Does Kawanga mean anything in Swahili, or is it just a name?”

“It means ‘ground nuts’,” came the reply.

“I see,” I said, “The Ground Nuts River. Alrighty then.”

I’m sure you can probably find a river in Canada with an equally strange name, but some things must be unique to Tanzania, like the practice sentence below from my Swahili lesson book. We just don’t have the chance to say these things in Toronto.