27.08.2012 - Monday

27.08.2012 - Kilimatinde
We are supposed to leave at 8 in the morning African Time. Therefore all germans are ready to go at 5 past eight. Unfortunately we still have not got properly used to the Tanzanian way of life, which means that we will be waiting yet another hour and a half for the bus to come. In the meantime we are having a closer look at the church grounds and make an inspection of a "broken" tractor - finding out that all there is wrong with it is the missing key!

After a bit more than one hour of  travelling African style (no tarred roads...potholes everywhere...being tossed about in the bus...) we arrive at the school in Kilimatinde at 20 to eleven...

...where we are welcomed with some absolutely lovely food.

After the meal we go for a walk to the nearby vantage point.

 

At the sight of the gigantic rocks the men's play instinct is immediately aroused starting off a downright conquest of the peak.

A little search game: how many men can you see on the rock?

Those of you who took a close look at the previous picture surely have discovered our Simon in the wheelchair among the "conquerors of the peak".

Meanwhile we have become such an established team that we can overcome every obstacle :-)

After that we can finally persuade the "girls" to pose for a group photograph as well. So here is the hole team including the school management team of Kilimatinde

André  takes the opportunity to do his daily morning exercises on the highest spot.

Finally con gusto seizes the opportunity for a photo shooting in this scenery.

 

Our privat professional photographer Daniel doing his job :-)

After this constitutional we go to have a look around the boarding school - looking among other things at the girls' rooms...

...and the boys'rooms.

As you can see the entrances to the rooms do in fact not have any doors and electricity is available for only 3 hours per day. With this luxury the (boarding) school is among the better schools in Tanzania. Another interesting fact is that the pupils actually do not have any personal possessions  in their rooms.


Here we are inside the well sorted school's library. Immediately upon first sight of the shelves we are wondering about the fact that gravitation and the weight of the books had obviously not been taken into consideration when the shelves were built...

But the physical laws also apply in Tanzania, as we realize when one of the shelves (left in the front of the previous picture) topples over. It has to be pointed out  that the shelve began to sway only because we were looking at it in astonishment.

After all this exitement we have our first performance in front of all the pupils which are lined up...

...doing parts from our concert programme which both  teachers and pupils like very much.

Our conductor conducting the choir from between the rows of pupils :-)

Afterwards the pupils sing for us the Tanzanian national anthem. Then keeping our promise we sing "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (the German national anthem).

After having left Kilimatinde we have to stop at Manyoni to pick up our priest  Philemon and to stow away our luggage once again (we have to change one of the cars). The stowing method is not only precarious as far as the passengers are concerned (there ara 5 of us sitting in a row which has actually 3 seats plus one emergency seat), but also as far as our luggage is concerned. Hence we prefer to assist in some cases helping to secure the luggage and increasing the stability by using gaffa tape ;-)

Finally, after a very bumpy ride (we remember: no tar, countless potholes, undulating ground, bumps, and so on.) and after numerous bets that our instruments are not going to survive this, we arrive at Itigi late in the afternoon. After a lovely lunch (the same again-.-) we do  a little concert in the full church to make tomorrow's concert palatable to the community.

At dinnertime we have to adapt ourselves once again to African time management by having to wait for the meal which is already prepared (!!!) for more than another half an hour. To our great delight we (at least those of our staying in the catholic hostel) are enyoing a really luxurious night. Going by Tanzanian standards we are staying in a 7-star super luxury hotel - we even have hot water and a mirror :-)

This day has been quite a tough one again. Getting up early all the time, the bus rides and the Tanzanian puncutality (just everything is dead late) are starting to wear us down. Luckily there is always enough drinking water and food, so at least in this respect (if it weren't for the never changing food) we are really well looked after  :-)