Tanzania Life, Part 2

The road to and from our house

This set of shops is a 5 minute walk from home. Here I can buy flour, sugar, beans, eggs…the basics.

Anna’s shop where I buy veggies. Today Grace kept pointing at everything and saying “Apples?” No apples at this shop! Those are imported.

Americans grow oranges and plums in their backyards….we grow bananas! The problem with these is that when a whole stalk gets ripe, there’s way too many bananas to eat before they spoil. I mash and freeze lots of them for banana bread.

Utilities are interesting here, because everything is pre-paid. There’s no such thing as getting bills in the mail. Electricity is sold at “Luku shops.” I buy a certain number of units of electricity, which is put on a card. The card is then put into this box in my pantry, which recharges the house with electricity. Got to keep a close eye on it, or we end up going down to the Luku shop late at night when the power runs out!

This is how I buy gas for my stove. Every couple months I go down to the gas shop and purchase a new gas bomb for about $20.