Kilimanjaro Marathon

The start of the marathon!

For the last 12 years Moshi has hosted the Kilimanjaro Marathon. According to the website:

The Kilimanjaro Marathon (42.2km), Half Marathon (21.1km) and Fun Run (5km) is going into its 12th year! As a fully registered IAAF race, the marathon has official marshalling, time-keeping and refreshment points at regular intervals. It may be used as a qualifier for Comrades. The race is run under the watchful eye of Mount Kilimanjaro, with the altitude gain being quite manageable and with the entire race being completed between 830–1150m asl, on good tarred roads.

The marathon is a big event in Moshi and my organization had a few runners for the 5km and half marathon. We were theoretically using it as a fundraising effort but I'm not sure things got off the ground as we would have liked. Either way, it was a good out-of-work activity for people to attend and the event provided a lot of excitement for Moshi town. I knew it was a big deal when I was in town on Wednesday and noticed the influx of touts asking me, "Hello friend, are you here to run?"

Runners making their way to the finish line. 

Runner's doing their thing: running. 

The runners were very lucky today as Mt. Kilimanjaro was clearly visible in the morning. I've written about it before but Mt. Kilimanjaro is frequently obscured by clouds and it's not unrealistic to think someone could come here to run the marathon and spend a week without even glimpsing the famed mountain. Since we are entering the rainy season the weather was very cool and without rain it was nearly optimal running conditions.

The marathon began early in the morning and the 5k (with the majority of the runners) finished around 8AM. The race ended in the athletics field of a local college which was set up with various tents from local businesses, food vendors, and a stage for music. It was pretty funny because around 8AM the local power shut off and not only did the music and hype announcements stop, but a gigantic inflatable sign dramatically deflated sending children scurrying to avoid being trapped underneath.

Inflatable sign deflated from the lack of power. 

Finish line!

The event was pretty well organized but there were still some questionable oversights. Several runners complained that the route was not well marked and they ended up in different parts of Moshi before someone either corralled them back to the route, or they gave up and took a taxi to the finish. At the end of the race participants could exchange their number plate for a goody-bag but this was not well organized. Initially there were a few lines but as the majority of 5k runners finished it got chaotic. Those who were distributing the bags were eventually forced up into the back of the trucks holding the goods and people swarmed them. The sight honestly reminded me of refugees receiving supplies from the UN or something like that with people frantically waving their numbers and pushing to the front of the line.

If you want your goody bag, you will have to fight. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see a variety of food vendors. Since it was still early, most of the vendors sold soup or other small bites. Still, it didn't stop many of them from firing up an all out barbecue. I sampled some meat kebabs and some sausage though I was disappointed because I had eaten breakfast and I hadn't yet worked up an appetite!

All in all the event was a lot of fun. I found it amusing because I saw nearly every single person I had met since coming to Moshi. I don't think there are a lot of big events so people made sure to come out and make the best of it. I also enjoyed the fact that the event took place in the early morning; it felt like a jam packed day and I was home by around noon to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. Who knows, maybe next year I'll try the full marathon?

After finishing a long run, who doesn't want a gigantic slab of beef? 

Delicious food at an affordable price. 

The cook using his "big knife" to cut through a piece of pork. 

Restaurant review: Uhuru Park

One of our favorite places to eat is a park in town called Uhuru (Swahili for freedom) Park. It's located just outside the center of town near the bus park and is tucked nicely into a park-like environment. There is a small park on one side of the property but you have to pay a fee to walk in it and there's no much to see. I think you can literally view the whole park from the edge of the eating area and there's not even any benches in the shade on the walking trail. Still, the environment makes you feel like you're not quite in a city and seating area is nicely shaded and breezy.

We love to go on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy fish, pilau, or any other local dish. There are mainly locals enjoying food or a beverage. Several small food vendors are situated so they make an "L" shape around the seating area and waiters take your order and fill them at whichever vendor has the food you request. Food is all local and although it's slightly more expensive than an extremely local side-of-the-road place, it's not exorbitantly priced like local food served at western restaurants. It's worth it for the nice environment and quality of the food.  It's the kind of place I would take a visitor that wants to try local food but doesn't want to eat in the most rundown questionably sanitary environment. If you're thinking about a visit, I will most certainly take you to Uhuru Park !

Ana enjoying a fresh mango/passion fruit juice. 

They have ample seating with shade. 

The food vendors form an L shape around half the seating area. 

Fish, chips, and greens!

Moving: New House I

UPDATE: I have moved in March 2015, see blog post here

We've moved to a new location! After four months we've been able to find an affordable and comfortable place to rent. It's a huge upgrade from our old place, mainly due to the fact that we are not living in such a shared space. It is also nice that all our rooms are adjoining, something that was absent in our old place. It's only after moving to a house with more space that I realize how cramped we were in our old location!

The house came fully furnished, which is a huge plus. We also negotiated with the landlord to install a water tank to address frequent water cuts. The place is spacious and I love having an area to eat outside and a large sitting room inside. You can actually see Mt. Kilimanjaro from our front yard! Well, you have to be standing to see over the wall surrounding our compound, but you can see it nonetheless. We also have a passion fruit vine in the front yard and small mango tree in the back.

The new house is actually too big for us; we have an extra bedroom and another small room that is unused. We've discussed renting out one of the rooms but as long as we can afford it we prefer to live without a roommate. Also, it will be nice if we have some visitors; they will have a very comfortable space to stay!

Front yard!

The major drawback for me is the increased distance from my workplace but this was addressed by the recent purchase of the motorcycle. It's closer to Ana's job (see my google map for more precision) which is in the same neighborhood called Soweto. We're very close to the main road but not so close that we have too much noise pollution from the traffic.

There are a few small things that make this place a great place to stay. First, the aforementioned water tank is huge; living without electricity is no problem but no water? No way. Second, the bed is very comfortable. It's common here for people to have relatively cheap foam mattresses and the one at our old place would create a mold wherever you lay and often you could feel the wooden beams below. The mattress here is excellent! Also, the house has screens in all the windows; this is very rare in developing countries. I can thank our landlord (who is German) for putting them up allowing us to enjoy the breeze without a torrent of mosquitoes.

Visitors are welcome!

Main sitting room. 

Dining area. 

Main bedroom with a comfortable mattress.

Best part about the bathroom is that when you shower, you basically clean the bathroom! 

Food: Mangoes

The best piece of advice I can give a traveler planning a trip to a tropical country is if at all possible, make sure your trip is during mango season. This typically falls just before the rainy season and mangoes are so abundant they are literally rotting on the ground. They come as small as the size of a small orange, and some are larger than a grapefruit. If you are unfamiliar with eating them they can be a bit messy at first, but well worth it.

Mango trees provide shade to villagers in Uganda. 

Mangoes are native to India and Southeast Asia. There are a myriad of varieties and trees can be 120+ ft tall, or short stout trees providing shade.  Cultivars have the colors of yellow, orange, red or green, and contain a single flat, oblong pit that is often fibrous on the surface. Don't be fooled by attempting to judge the ripeness of mango by the color as they can often be unrelated. The pulp can range from stringy to extremely tender. For stringy mangoes you can't always be carrying floss, so people often use a handkerchief to pull the pulp out from between teeth.

Nice mango cross-section. 

Where I'm from we only import mangoes, so I'd only seen maybe two or three varieties before moving to the tropics. In fact, the variety "Tommy Atkins" is the most imported variety not due to it's taste, rather it's long shelf life and resistance to picking up bruises during shipping. It's widely acknowledged to be an "average" variety when judged on the merits of its taste, but the other factors have a greater influence on which mangoes reach supermarkets in the US and UK (Tommy Atkins comprise 80% of mango imports in the US and UK). Needless to say, I was astounded when I first encountered mangoes in the tropics. There were varieties that were sweet, creamy, tart; some were even spicy. Mango trees are ubiquitous in most tropical countries and readily available during the few months when they are ripe. As mentioned earlier, they literally rot on the ground as not even the most ardent mango consumer can keep up with the biggest trees.

Bats, birds and other animals also share the taste for mangoes. Although they are best when ripened on the tree, they can be picked (usually by throwing stones or using a long stick with a v-shaped notch on the end) and ripened off the tree. There are also worms that love to eat mangoes and people will often complain when a tree is infested. In Jamaica they told me not to mind and that's why it's always best to "eat mangoes at night". However, not everyone likes to eat mangoes at night, which leads to a booming market for mangoes, especially the varieties that are sweet, tender, and worm-free.

Mangoes can be eaten with out a knife, something that can't be said for other delicious tropical fruits like the pineapple and jackfruit. If you're going to get down and dirty, you've still gotta be careful to avoid the sap from the tree; mangoes belong to the same family as poison ivy. Like poison ivy (and poison oak) mangoes contain urushiol, an oily allergen that causes the painful reaction that you've hopefully never experienced first hand. Some mangoes have an entirely different method for consumption; some are good to pound in your fist and soften, then open a small patch of skin to drink like a juice.

One of the most interesting things with mangoes it the way it sharply defines the lower-income class. I've observed that the lower-income class never purchases mangoes and find it extravagant to buy something that is available for free. I assume most of you would reach for your wallet if I asked you if you'd like a free stringy mango that doesn't have much taste, or pay 50 cents and have a sweet and tender mango. I am ashamed to say it, but I am a bit of a mango snob these days. I wouldn't consider myself a spendthrift but as a result of not having a mango tree in my yard and having some years of mango experience, I want to make sure I'm getting a delicious mango and find that most yard varieties are too stringy. Even still, a stringy mango can still make some delicious mango juice!

Laundry hazards

I used to despise doing my laundry by hand, but after some years I now find it to be part of my routine and if in the right mood, even relaxing. It's a routine for me to do my laundry every Saturday morning (Sunday if it rains) and I like it because I have the exact amount of underwear and work clothes to last me the week. If clothes aren't regularly worn in the tropics, they are at risk of growing mold. Plus, not having a heaping pile of laundry makes the task less daunting and time consuming. It usually only takes me about a 1/2 hour to hand wash my clothes in the morning.

Another thing I love is hang drying my clothes. For some reason it feels oddly rewarding when my clothes have dried to a crisp after a day in the sun. Ana is more at home with hang drying as it's widely practiced in Spain; she's never even SEEN a house with a dryer in Spain. I obviously like the fact that it is taking advantage of a renewable energy, especially in comparison to how much energy it takes to run a dryer.

However, there are hazards with hang drying. First, the threat of rain can be serious, especially since I have the exact amount of clothes I need. Clothes will eventually dry when hung inside and if there is a true need, you can always dry clothes out with an iron. A second hazard is that people love to have fires here, whether it's for burning brush from their small shamba (farm), or burning their trash as there isn't an adequate trash collection service. There is always the risk of your clothes smelling like a camp fire when you're done, which is a wonderful in comparison to when they get smoked out by a burning trash pile; the smell of burning plastic is difficult to get out.

I typically have good luck with my clothes but the other day our landlady had some people do work on the shrubs around the yard. As you can see, I was victim to getting my clothes smoked. Fortunately, the winds were kind and my clothes only smelled faintly of burning bush.

Transport: New Motorcycle!

This style of bike is ubiquitous in Tanzania. 

I recently purchased a 150cc motorcycle, greatly increasing my mobility and providing me some much needed freedom. This will especially help since I'll be moving this weekend and I'll be much further to my workplace than I am now. It will also allow for more day trips and travel around Kilimanjaro and Moshi region and hopefully the circumnavigation of Africa :-)

The roads here are not too congested and motorists tend to drive defensively, at least relative to developing countries. The only big drawback is the rainy season, but I learned in Nigeria that with a good poncho, you can brave nearly anything.

I'm also curious to see the level of bribery here with the traffic police. I often see the police out at their checkpoints with their signature all white uniform, but I've never been in a vehicle that has been stopped. I'm a bit nervous because my resident permit has not yet processed so although the bike is registered and insured, it's in someone else's name. My license is also an international drivers license since I need my permit to get a local one. None of these issues is technically a problem but traffic police only need the slightest irregularity to hassle you. I once rode in a taxi in Uganda with a Kenyan driver that moved goods from Kenya to Sudan. After wasting about 30 minutes successfully wrangling their way out of a bribe, I asked him which country had the worst traffic police. He laughed and simply said, "All traffic police come from the same mother". 

Swahili 101: Noun classes

It's been about three months and I've been working hard to learn Swahili. When I first arrived many foreigners claimed it was "an easy language", though at this point I'd politely disagree. I've written a brief overview on Swahili in a previous post, so I want to introduce some of the language in this post.

Map of where Swahili is spoke in East Africa. 

Swahili has a lot of loanwords due to the amount of Arabic influence on the language. It also has many loan words from Indian languages, Portuguese, Persian, and increasingly more in English. The number of loanwords is fairly comparable to English’s use of Latin and Greek.

The pronunciation is almost identical to Spanish, so that's a huge bonus for me as I've already studied Spanish. It's also similar to Spanish in that there are no "hidden" sounds, meaning that once you know how to pronounce the alphabet, you can theoretically read any Swahili words with accurate pronunciation.

There's a few basic things that make learning Swahili  difficult for native English speakers. It’s use of a wide group of classes for words, which are denoted by prefixes such as m- and n-, can be a difficult thing for some English speakers to get comfortable with. While essentially the same as the gender system used by some European languages, the Swahili class system is both larger than what most Romance speakers are used to and less arbitrary in its assignment.

For example, nouns belong to any number of nine noun classes. I'll give two examples.

The first noun class I'll explain is the M/WA noun class. This is typically comprised of "people" words, such as child, which is mtoto for singular, and watoto for plural. A second group is KI/VI, which doesn't really have a concrete pattern with words for languages, onions, a bed, and matches all grouped in. Bed is kitanda and beds is vitanda. Many of these noun classes have sub classes which further complicate things. For example, in the KI/VI class, words that begin with CH take a VY for their plural form. So the word for room "chumba" becomes "vyumba" for rooms. This system wouldn't be so bad if all the words began with the letters of the noun class, but they are often mixed, which means you simply have to memorize which class words belong to and adjust accordingly.

One of the most challenging things about Swahili and the noun classes is the overwhelming amount of other grammatical rules that apply to each noun class. For example, demonstratives such as "this, that, these, those" are different depending on what the noun class is. So if we use a M/WA class noun, "That child" is "yule mtoto" and "this child" is "huyu mtoto". But if we use a KI/VI class noun, "That bed" is "kile kitanda" and "this potato" is "hiki kitanda". Of course if you want to make either of these plural, you have to learn a new article AND change the prefix to the noun (ex. "these children" is hawa watoto).

As if this wasn't enough, you must modify certain parts of speech depending on the noun class. For example, adjectives and numbers take the prefix of the noun class. Thus, when you're looking in the dictionary for the word "big", you'll see "-kubwa", which denotes that you must include the prefix from the noun class. Same goes for the numeral "four" which is "-nne". Further complicating things, not every adjective or numeral needs to have a prefix change. For example, numerals one through nine are conjugated, with the exception of six, seven, and nine. Numerals higher than nine are not conjugated.

Four big children = Watoto wanne wakubwa.
A big child= Mtoto mkubwa.

Four big beds= Vitanda vinne vikubwa.
A big bed=Kitanda kikubwa.

Although there are some similarities in Swahili grammar and English grammar, the differences are very tough for a non-native English speaker to get over!