Morogoro

Another interesting travel tip... when you're traveling with a smart phone, remember that the date and time only update when you get an internet connection. Since I had no internet connection on my phone since Amsterdam I forgot that I was an hour off. So when I thought I was going to bed at 10 last night it was really 11. Once I realized that I also realized that -- then I needed to set the alarm for 4:30 AM so that I could actually wake up at 5:30 AM. Even though it was really 5:30 it felt so much earlier, I forgot to take melatonin so I woke up about 400 times during the night. At one point I thought I was hearing a helicopter but as I became more conscious I realized it was my own ceiling fan and an army of frogs humming a merry tune outside my window.

Joel and I had coffee and headed out to the office. He was frustrated because he wanted to show me how bad the traffic was but his efforts were foiled by clear sailing every route we took. (I really have to figure out how to stop trying to get into the drivers seat every time I get into the car.)

The office is very nice and tidy. Joel's nickname is masharubu which means mustache. When I get a picture of him, you'll see why. His office door says Karibu (welcome) with a
under it.

Magic Obama Strawberry Flavoured Bubblegum

At the office, I finally got internet connection on my computer and phone and started working. I met several of the office staff and gave out the gifts that I had brought from Amsterdam. Fortunately I didn't make the same mistake that I made when I went to Ghana when I got gifts for all of the techie guys but nothing for the admin who had made all of the flight and hotel arrangements for so many hours and had made the trip possible! Anar really enjoyed the chocolates that I had gotten her. I feel badly when I hear of all of the things they need here and can't get such as Scotch tape and genuine Post-it notes (that actually stick.)

Joel brought us some maandazi -- the Tanzanian equivalent of donuts. They were great because they weren't very sweet.

Why can't our bananas have a bigger taste?

Before I knew it, it was time to leave the office and head to Morogoro. Before leaving Dar Es Salaam, Joel's housekeeper, Maggie, had prepared a big feast for us! She served Bagia which were made from cow pea flour and tasted a bit like tater-tots. She also served green beans, salad, chicken pilau and the cutest and sweetest bananas I've ever had. I was told that in Arusha I should look for Banana Stew and that it will be superb.

All five of us (me, Joel, Paul, Dennis and our driver whose name sounds like Harari) huddled into one 4x4 for the trip to Morogoro. It was a tight squeeze and my luggage was obviously overkill compared to the others.  The trip took only 3.5 hours which I'm told a excellent time. I was surprised that the roads were paved the whole way until we got into

Uluguru Mountains outside of our office in Morogoro

the town itself and and turned off of the main road.

The sites of the trip were amazing, of course. We drove through the edge of town with the now-familiar small shacks/shops with people on the sidewalks, moving to more and more rural views. It rained briefly causing the conversation to shift to global climate change (when was the last time it rained this late in June?) Next we moved through a forest where I was told to keep my eyes out for baboons (I didn't spot any) and finally the mountain loomed large.

Joel and I checked into our rooms at the Arc hotel. It's a nice building. They have one tiny wireless modem in the lobby so we fought for rooms as close to the lobby as we could get. I only have one tick on my wireless signal symbol from my room, but hey, that's all it takes! My room is nicely sized and comes with a mosquito net above the

What's missing from this shower?

queen-sized bed. The shower is funny with a curtain rod, curtain rings but one minor thing missing.

We stopped by Paul's house to let him put away luggage and then we went to the office. We had a 5:30 PM Skype call scheduled with the rest of the team in Cambridge but it was a disaster. We could hear our friends in Cambridge, but instead of hearing us they could only hear roaring noises and there weren't even any lions around!

We went to plan B to use land lines but we couldn't get that to work either.

By the time I realized that Skype phone was working great on my iPhone, it was too late. Half of the folks in the US had to leave for appointments.

We were spent by this time anyway so after a few quick chats with my colleagues about geeky things we dropped off Dennis at his hotel, Paul at his house and Joel and I and our hotel.

We had a lovely dinner out on the patio where we spoke of music and projects that make no sense and learning computers. I had Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and Joel has fish and chips.

Mom and Eric had skyped me earlier that I should be sure to look at the moon as it is a Gypsy moon and supposed to be very large and bright, but I think we have a different moon here -- it hid behind clouds and I eventually gave up.

So best laid plans to be asleep by 9PM -- it's now almost 11:30 even though the time on my phone is correct!