Ultrasound scan!

Today Andrew and I went to a local medical clinic (Coptic, for those who know it) to have an ultrasound done.  Good news - we're only having one baby. :-)  Part of me thinks having twins would be kind of fun, but the realistic part of me is relieved that there is just one little Sandeen inside.

More good news is that the placenta is in the right place, the heartbeat is strong (it was SO COOL to get to listen to it!), and everything looks excellent.  Our baby was sucking his/her thumb and looked quite happy resting securely inside, oblivious that we were spying on him/her.  The one disappointing thing was that we couldn't find out the gender, which we were both really hoping to be able to know.  But all in all, it was pretty fun and really wonderful to find out that all is well with Wee Sandeen, our thumb-sucking, happy baby!

And if you're curious, getting an ultrasound at the Coptic clinic in Musoma costs about $4.00.  I don't think we'll bother sending that one to the insurance company to put towards our deductible for the year.

The other real shock of the whole experience was that it was kind of spontaneous.  We had talked about going in for a scan sometime in the next week or two and had even looked at our schedules and picked two possible times when we thought we'd both be free, but then this afternoon we suddenly decided that we could slip out of the office a bit early and go get an ultrasound right then.  For two extreme planners, this was ultimate spontaneity!  It works in a place where you don't make doctor's appointments ahead of time, and we enjoyed living on the wild side for one afternoon.

Books set in Africa

Sometimes people ask me if I have read any good books that are set somewhere in Africa.  It's a bit trickier to find a book that takes place around here than it is to find one about (for example) Western Europe or the Old American West!  But I have read a few that I enjoyed and thought I should list them here, just in case any of you, faithful blog readers, are looking for recommendations.

Baking Cakes in Kigali - by Gaile Parkin, a fun fiction book about a Tanzanian woman baker who lives and works in Rwanda.  It has some good cultural insights about people from all different cultures and walks of life (the character lives in an international community) and is lighthearted and well-written.  You can't help but love this baker and wish you could order one of her cakes and have a conversation with her!

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight - by Alexandra Fuller, a memoir about a white Zimbabwean/British girl growing up in Zimbabwe and Malawi.  Her family was "a bit mad", to use a nice British expression, and the stories about the things they do are entertaining, sad, funny, and a bit appalling.  She's an excellent writer and if you like memoirs, you will probably enjoy this one.

Twenty Chickens for a Saddle - by Robyn Scott, another memoir, this time about a New Zealand girl growing up in Botswana and Zambia.  Her family was quite alternative and so like the previously mentioned memoir, this one also has a few wild stories.  If you are trying to choose between the two, I preferred "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight," but you might like this one better if you're looking for something slightly more tame (this family was kind of nuts, the other family was truly a bit on the edge).

The Poisonwood Bible - by Barbara Kingsolver, this is one of my favorite books of all time.  It has excellent characters, plot, and writing, and you can tell that it has been written based on good research and with a lot of humor.  Beware that the missionary family in it has some dysfunctional issues, so if you're looking for a happy Christian novel, this book set in the Congo isn't for you.  But if you want some great writing and a story that will stick with you long after you finish the last chapter, I highly recommend it.

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - by Alexander McCall Smith, this series about a woman detective in Botswana is light and funny, something you don't always find in books set in Southern Africa.  They are pleasant, quick, and happy reading.

A Passage to Africa - by George Aligiah, this book is basically a modern history of about ten countries around the continent.  The author has lived in all the places about which he writes, so along with the history you also learn a bit about him and his life.  He is a journalist and knows how to write history in a very easy-to-read way that feels like a story.  If you're looking for some interesting reading on some of the more major African countries, I think you'll like this one.

Lake flies

We really love living close to Lake Victoria.  It's a HUGE lake, so you can't see the other side and sometimes we've gone on a little day trip out to an island about an hour away by boat, which makes us feel like we're just miles away from our ordinary lives in Musoma.  Before we moved to our current house, we lived so close to the lake that we could hear the waves on the beach, which I really enjoyed.

However, there is a downside of the lake - lake flies!  There is some cool scientific process by which they hatch under the surface and then get to the surface and create the crazy swarms of flies, but I don't really remember it.  What I do know is that sometimes we can look out over the lake and see clouds of miniscule (they really are very tiny) flies that make it look like smoke is coming out of the lake.  Most stay out there, but if there is a little puff of wind to blow them into shore, then the parts of town near the lake are flooded with swarms of flies.  It's like a biblical plague, except they don't bite or anything.  They travel in swarms and hover around houses and over roads for a day or two, then they all fall to the ground dead in stinky piles.  If you're walking or riding a bike, they get in your eyes, nose, and mouth if you have to cross through a swarm of them on your way somewhere.  And it seems like they are everywhere, so avoiding swarms entirely is tricky business!  When they die, they smell like dead fish, and if you sweep them up right away, they smear dead fish smell around.  I have learned from locals to wait a day to let them dry out and crisp up, then they sweep up nicely with no lingering effects.

On the bright side, some of the local people groups think lake flies are a nice delicacy and enjoy frying them up or making them into soup.  The non-lake fly eating groups think this is revolting.  For those who like them, I think that they've figured out a great way to be happy instead of annoyed when a swarm comes into town!

It's not Christmas, but we've got a poinsettia

You know those little potted poinsettias that are all wrapped up in red cellophane with bows around them at Christmas?  Well, here in Musoma we don't grow our poinsettia in a pot - we have one that is a wild and crazy bush in our garden!  As you can see from looking at me next to it, it's at least 10 feet tall, despite being severely pruned back not too long ago.  We get some much sunshine and so much rain around here (well, lots of rain during some months of the year) that things just go flying up like our backyard is a rain forest.

Our poinsettia doesn't bloom year-round, but seems to go in phases every few months.  It's blooming now and we expect it to stay red for another month or so, then it'll go green again.  It's not the most healthy plant - as you can see, other than the red parts, it's very short on leaves.  But somehow it seems to be growing well, despite its mostly-bare branches.

So the next time you buy a wimpy little poinsettia that is struggling to survive in the cold Northern Hemisphere, remember our somewhat out-of-control one over here and imagine what your plant is dreaming of becoming someday if it were only planted in the tropics!

Market produce

I love the Musoma market!  I've made friends with some of the sellers there and tend to frequent my favorite folks.  Sometimes they give me good deals for being a repeat customer - although here that doesn't work in the form of lowering the price for an item, but tossing a bonus item in my basket for free.  I actually only purchased eight of the ten carrots in this picture; after paying for my eight carrots, the lady selling them gave me two free carrots as a gift.

I usually have a nice little load of basic fruits and veggies after shopping at the market, but on this particular day I got a few extra special items, so I deemed them worthy of a picture.  I very, very rarely buy apples here because they cost so much and often aren't even very good.  But they were nearly half price on this day AND they looked good, so I splurged on two of them, one for each of us.  I also got two pears and three big Kenyan mangoes, more treats.  I like Tanzanian mangoes, but I loooove Kenyan Mangoes.  They rarely have them at the little market here and when they do, they cost extra.  But on this day, they were just too beautiful to pass up.

Avocados here are giant, cheap, and usually perfectly ripe.  Okra is always a winner, limes are beautiful and juicy, oranges are actually green in color outside but lovely inside (provided you like tart oranges), and what would a trip to Musoma market be without buying some passion fruit, cucumber, papaya, green peppers, and tomatoes?  I almost always get those every week.

If you're ever in the area, I'd love to take you shopping with me at our wonderful little market in town!