Around Moshi town

Ibrah drove us around in his van during the first few days to help us learn our way around and get acquainted with the area.  This is Moshi-Arusha road, the main road.

Our van full of ladies! Martina and Amanda in the back, Chrystal and Stephanie in the middle, and me in the front.

They drive on the left side of the road, so here you can see Ibrah on the right.  We were passed by a wedding party, which Ibrah said was not normal for a week day, and I just barely caught a picture of the band-in-a-truck driving by!  They were very loud, and followed by honking cars.

We went by the bank to get out some Tanzanian Shillings.  The exchange rate at the time was 10,000 shillings = $6.40.  Julia made little cards for us to keep in our wallet that had the exchange rate printed out for every 10,000 shillings, so we wouldn't have to do any calculations in our head.  There are armed guards at every bank, but it is still a little strange to have so many people just hanging out in front of the ATM.

We stopped at a cafe and little grocery store, and saw this rainbow!

This is on the outskirts of Moshi, headed into the area where our school was, called Kaloleni.  Behind the clouds in Mt. Kilimanjaro, which was frequently clouded over.  But 1 hour later it could be clear, you just never know.

Typical houses for the area.  Dirt floors, metal roofs, and (if a nicer house) outhouses for bathrooms.

You could always smell something burning.  It's very hard to get used to.  Many people here burn their trash, and the neighborhood might have a permanent burn pile that is always going.

The neighborhood where we lived is called Soweto, and had little shops along the main road with signs like these.   Soweto was a pretty nice and safe area, but even so Ibrah told us we should not walk around at night.  We used an internet cafe in the neighborhood a few times, and also found a great little fabric shop where I bought some African fabric!

We also saw this Brewery on the outskirts of town.

There was a place called Pamela Bar not too far from us, and we went down and enjoyed a Serengeti.  It was pretty good!