So, the other night, we thought we just encountered our female turtle (Sally) using the bathroom, but she stayed in the same place for hours and hours. We're pretty sure she was laying eggs. We never actually saw eggs, but we saw her digging a hole with her back feet and then whenever I went out to take pictures and see what was going on, she became very protective of the hole and sat back on it, so that I couldn't see what was going on. Unfortunately, we don't think we will still be here if/when the eggs hatch, but here are a few pictures anyway.
Shanga House - Saturday, April 9
Last Saturday, after the Snake Park, we went to the Shanga House. This is a non-profit business that some woman started. She employs and trains adults with various disabilities on how to make jewelry and other items out of old wine and beer bottles. They also have a river house and restaurant. All the money they make from jewelry and other sales goes towards paying the salary of the adults that work there. In the pics below, you'll see one of their employees, a deaf man, making a dolphin out of a glass bead. Here's the website if you want more info: http://www.shanga.org/Shanga.html
Coffee Beans at the Shanga House
Monkeys at the Shanga House
Cultural Heritage Center - Saturday, April 9
We also visited the Cultural Heritage Center just outside of Arusha. They had an amazing art gallery that featured Masai scultures, paintings of the wildlife, etc. It was quite impressive. The building (below) is pretty new.
Yes, these are various animals sitting around a table enjoying food and drink!
Just outside of the museum was this portrayal of the slave trade.
Let me assure you that Nate and I are nowhere near starving. Arusha is very touristy because it is a launching point for a ton of safari companies. As a result, there are many touristy restaurants that do not feature Tanzanian food. For the first few days of our time here, we were eating at many of those restaurants because they were some of the favorite restaurants of the other people that were getting ready to return to the States. So, last Sunday after church, we ate at this restaurant, and I had my very first experience of ugali. Ugali looks like a big pile of mashed potatoes, but it is in fact made out of corn and much thicker. It has no flavor and is used as a filler (similar to rice and pasta). I ordered mine with chicken and greens. The chicken was ok, but the greens were really good (reminded me just a tad of collard greens). At this restaurant, if you order ugali, you do not get eating utensils, so I ate with my hands which was very fun. You just break of pieces of the ugali and with it scoop up some of the sauce/greens/chicken/whatever else you have with the ugali. Surprisingly, I got through the entire meal with out spilling any on myself! Also, fun note - no menus at this restaurant...they just have a few standard Tanzanian dishes, so that's what you order. This restaurant, like many other's we've eaten at are outside under a canopy of some sort.
I meant to take a picture of my food once it got to the table, but mine was the last to come out (and it took a really long time). By the time it finally came out, I forgot to take a picture of it.
Watching "Football" at Mt. Meru Hotel
As many of you know, Nate is a huge Manchester United fan. This past week, we went to Mt. Meru Hotel (pretty "swanky" to use Nate's word which he's never used before but used at least twice that night) to watch two of the games. They won the first game and lost the second. This hotel is one of the nicest hotels I've ever been to. The pictures don't reflect that well. It was kind of a nice break from the rest of our experiences here which are far from "swanky".
This picture didn't turn out well, but it's the only one I have of the five of us housemates. (From the left: Alesha, Karina, Ben, me, and Nate)
Relaxing in comfort for an evening
We had so much fun the first time, that we decided to go back to the hotel to watch another playoff "football" game. This time, it was Patei (a surgery resident from Minnesota), Karina, and Nate (and me, of course, but I was taking the picture).
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