trips.schrull.us

A relaxing day here in Kasulu, and as Bill says, just another beautiful day in Paradise with sunshine and ideal temperatures.  Of course the constant sunshine DOES mean that there is a lot of dust….

Spent the morning in the DWT compound and hitched a ride down to the Bible College after lunch with Andrea, the German missionary.  She has the newest and most beautifully maintained car Land Crusier in all of Kadulu, I think.  Leonard, who also meticulously maintains the gardens around German house, does not just wash, but details the car almost everyday.  We think that he considers the car to be his; he just allows Andrea to drive it.  (I doubt, btw, the Leonard is able to drive at all, but does he ever love maintaining that car!).

Bill spent some time starting to train a Bible College teacher and student who Daudi hopes will be responsible for the Internet room once Elisha returns to Burundi, while I took a walk into town to visit Olivia’s cloth shop.  

I knew that Olivia’s shop is on the other side of the main route from KBC, and where it is within a block or two, so my walk took me west on the road that the Bible College is on, left on the road where car repairs are done for half a block then right up the road where kitchen utensils are made and sold.  Cross the main route and then I continued west up a block of bicycle shops.  Right onto a block of hardware shops until I reached the square where all the taxis park.  Here I turned back east to cross the square where there are many cloth sellers, one of which is Olivia’s shop.  I acutally had to walk there twice (a more direct route the second time) as after I had made my selections I discovered that I didn’t have quite enough money in my wallet and I had to return to KBC and raid Bill’s wallet.

Towels, sheets, LED flashlights, bug spray and sun screen…some of the things we bring.

 So just what DO we bring with us to Kasulu?  Well, Bill is always expected to bring his guitar and we also bring various items of technology that are hard to find in Tanzania and fit easily into our luggage.  Laptops, iPads, kindles and older cell phones for which we purchase sim chips when we arrive are all part of Schrull standard equipment.  In addition to clothes, travel drugs and the usual travel drugs, we find that a few other amenities make our stay more comfortable.  It might be interesting to note that most of these are also items that we bring with us when we go camping:

• Beach Towels – Douglas Adams was correct in “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” to always bring your towel.  While there is no need here to use them to hide from strange alien beasts, I have used them as extra blankets as well as the normal intended use of drying off.  Sometimes towels are provided….sometimes they get forgotten.
• Wash Cloths and Net Bath Sponges – Neither of these are ever provided.  This is the first year I brought a net bath sponge and I found it particularly useful as the orange Kasulu dirt rinses out of it much more easily than it from a wash cloth.
   
• LED FLASHLIGHTS!!! Yes there is now electric power in Kasulu, and it’s pretty reliable.  Note the “pretty” in that last sentence.  But unless you have eyes like a cat, flashlights are needed for getting into bed.  There are no such things as bedside lamps, not that they would be easy to reach through the mosquito netting, and the overhead light switches are on the wall in places unreachable from the bed.
  
  

  Lighted Vanity Mirror – Kasulu style, for doing makeup on those early dark mornings.

• Pillow cases and single flat bed sheets – it’s always nice to know exactly what you are putting your head on.  I find that the bed sheets, folded in half, work well as an “extra blanket”.  The bedding that is provided can be either too light or to heavy.  No artificial climate control in these rooms, so you want the correct weight of covers.  I also bring a small compressible pillow as I find that the pillows that are provided are usually pretty darn hard.
• Small Mirror –  There are minimal, if any, mirrors in the bathrooms in the guest houses at DWT.  I’m not vain, but I do like to check my hair after is is combed and put on a little makeup for Sunday services.
• My crocheting – which translates into string and a pair of scissors.  This has been surprisingly useful.  I actually brought it so that I would have something to keep my hands occupied with.  In addition to that, I have used crochet string to hang a small LED lantern from the top of our mosquito net to provide light for getting into bed, to hang the mirror I brought from a nail over the bathroom sink, and to crochet lanyards for our room keys so that I don’t have to carry my purse all over the compound just to keep track of the key (my skirts don’t have any pockets.)
• The normal sun screen and bug repellent, although I find that we seldom use either, as well as a small first aid kit and some camping t.p. just in case.

Throw in a few pairs of sandals and a warmer sweater for the cool nights, and you are good to go!