Out for Chinese

On Saturday night we went out with some friends to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. It doesn't sound all that unusual does it? Or does it?

Living here in Dodoma, almost everything about life is different and often to the extreme. So, it was almost surreal to do something that in the 'real world' would have felt completely normal! I even wore trousers when out in a public place for the first time since we arrived, which felt a little strange too!

Last time I lived here, there was no Chinese restaurant and now there is one (pictured above, arty photo taken by Abigail!) that serves delicious food, so it is definitely one of the bonuses since we returned. I have to pinch myself that it's actually there as I still can't quite believe it exists ... but it does!

The prices are expensive by Dodoma standards but cheap by western ones. It's only the second time we've eaten there but I can see it being something that we treat ourselves to from time-to-time ... and both the munchkins are hooked on their noodles!

It was like stepping into another world for an hour or two. Don't get me wrong, all of the family love living here and don't need a means of escape. It was just ssssoooooo lovely to do something that was familiar to us but also 'out of the ordinary', for round here anyway!

We have always budgeted for a weekly meal out as a family, as a treat and a chance to hang out together somewhere different and try new things. It may not be something you would consider a priority but for us, it has been something fun that we look forward to and have often taken turns in choosing where we should go. Here in Dodoma, there are actually only a couple of options ... but I know what is currently top of the list!

No Longer the Newbies

The missionary community is one that is constantly changing. 

One of the great things about our lifestyle is the opportunity to meet so many people from different walks of life and learn from them. One of the sacrifices of our lifestyle is not the constant round of hello's ... but all the goodbye's that are inevitable too.

This week as a family, we lost our status as the 'newbies' in Dodoma after only two months, even though we're still in the transition and settling-in stage ourselves! We had the new family round to our house for dinner this evening ... our first official MAF hospitality duty. (Our home is roughly in the centre of this photo, four silver roofs, ours is second from the top)

Transition affects people in different ways. I've sat through many classes, learning about what to expect and how to cope with it. I know that taking in all the new stuff, culture, language, food, daily rhythm is a lot to get to grips with. I know that it can take months to fully adjust. I know that some people can be extra clumsy, some people over commit themselves and then crash ... and others like me and my hubby, and the family that arrived last week, just feel constantly tired as the brain tries to assimilate everything into the new normal!

Transition is not a bad thing, it's just a reality for us for the time being. No longer being the newbies is not a bad thing either. It means that as a family we're progressing and getting one step closer to the 'new normal'. It means that sometime in the next few months it'll all feel so much like home that everything that went before will be a distant but happy memory!

Bureaucracy

Today I became the proud owner of a third photo-card driving licence (although admittedly the Ohio one is out of date!). It surprises me that here in Tanzania things have moved on to something so modern ... last time I lived here it was a cardboard little booklet with a photo glued in.

The process to obtain one of these little beauties in Tanzania is quite the experience though!

In the States, all it takes is a reasonably straight forward visit to the local BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles) and you leave with a brand new licence. They take your details and your photo and make the card up for you there and then.

In the UK, you fill out the forms, send it all off and receive a shiny new licence in the post a little while afterwards!

Here in Tanzania, the process really is something else! 

Firstly, a trip to the TRA (Tanzania Revenue Authority) to fill out the forms and have your information put on the computer. Then a trip to the police station on the other side of the town to have the forms checked on their computer system, stamped and the classifications added. Then a drive back across town to the TRA again to have the licence processed and to get an invoice. After that you take the invoice to the bank to pay for the licence and then return several days later to the TRA to actually collect the licence, plus a final trip back to the police station to return the forms to them! Simple really!

We had a few extra steps in our process. The initial police man we saw stamped our forms but forgot to input the data on the computer, so when we returned to the TRA to get the licence processed and the invoice printed, they were unable to do so until the system had been updated. The trip back to the police station then found the officers having their chai break (tea break) requiring an extra wait before being able to get them to do what they should have done in the first place! 

We started the process a week ago and it required a lot of to-ing and fro-ing by us and two other members of MAF staff to actually get the licences (one for me and one for Mark) in our hands ... but it is one more thing on our 'To Do' list ticked off now! The experience itself was just part and parcel of getting into the swing of African life and culture really!

Just doing something that is supposed to be reasonably simple without Tanzanian assistance would have been a nightmare. We were glad to have the help of national MAF staff to walk us through each step of it.

It also helps us a little, in understanding why processing our visa is proving so difficult, as we can see how nothing is what it seems or particularly straight forward here. I am very grateful that the all the documentation and other bits and pieces in the processing of our container is being done by others on our behalf as I can imagine it will be a much more elaborate 'game' to play!!