Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Things we never expected to see in Tanzania

As a companion to my previous post--here I have a sampling of things that surprised us about life in Dar es Salaam:

1. Miniature golf


I knew Dar had a reputation as being a "family friendly" city but I definately never expected to be taking the kids to play putt-putt. This place is called "Funky Orbits" and it opened in March. They have 9 holes of minature golf, a climbing wall, and a gigantic playground. The food is mediocre but they have a kids menu with macaroni and cheese.




2. Pirates of the Caribbean


There are two theaters in town. One mainly shows Bollywood films and the other shows American films. Still we never figured that we'd be seeing Pirates of the Caribbean on opening weekend, in full stereo sound. It was awesome and the kids (yes we took all three) were thrilled.




3. Strawberries and rhubarb


We knew we'd have more than our share of pineapple, mango, and coconuts. Imagine my surprise when I went to the market and found strawberries and rhubarb! Yes, we made a pie. Yes, it was very good.


4. The Pink Tower
Those who know us personally know that we are big believers in the Montessori system of education. We were really dismayed when we moved here and realized there were no Montessori schools nearby for Josie. However I recently learned of and visited a Montessori Training Center. It's not close enough to send Josie but they do have a workshop where you can purchase materials. (Emily and Johnnie, if you're reading this I hope you don't think Maria Montessori is rolling over in her grave because we are introducing some of these materials at home...)



5. Blue cheese and fresh pasta

There is an Italian deli in town. It's different from most American delis as there's no freshly sliced meats and cheeses...and it's about 10 times more expensive than a deli in the states. But they have imported cheese and incredibly yummy fresh taglitelle and ravioli. Sorry, no picture of the pasta. I ate it all.


6. Great pizza...delivered!


This is a recent discovery. There are plenty of pizza places in town but this one is particularly good--and--they deliver. We even got a Mediterranean pizza with red peppers, black olives and feta! How awesome is that???


Why is it that practically this whole post is about food??

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because we are foodies.

L,
Marci

Anonymous said...

Greets from India (don't know what brought you to Tanzania, but the U.S. FS brought us to India). I've heard great things about Dar, it's nice to see some are really true :)

-Michele

Anonymous said...

Hi, Margaret!

As usual I'm loving your comments and interesting perspectives. Isn't it funny how realities can be so similiar and so different at the same time that the stories become surreal when you try to convey them? That's how I feel when talking to people who have only lived the American reality even overseas. Keep the great blog!
Yajaira