Through the Seasons

The second most frequent question we get is, “What will you eat?”  Honestly we don’t know.  I’m such a picky eater that this is one of my most challenging areas. 

We’ve heard that grasshoppers are a delicacy although I won’t be voluntarily partaking of them.  Apparently, you are to eat everything set in front of you so, by the grace of God, I’ll manage.  (Although if you clean your plate they give you more so the key is to eat some but not all.)  They drink a lot of hot tea with milk as well which I’ve never had and doesn’t sound particulary tasty to me but I’m willing to try it out.  I read that they like meat a lot and the main kind they eat is beef.  I’ve heard conflicting things concerning chicken.  Some say they have chicken to eat there (although don’t prefer it so the tourists are the main consumers) and others say they don’t have chicken to eat at all for fear of the bird flu.  We’ll see what we find when we actually arrive.

I found an article online that seems to agree with much of what we’ve learned already.  Here are some exerpts:

“Whenever a dish has a Swahili name, it invariably contains coconut and/or bananas. There is coconut milk and curry (made with home-grown curry, differing from the Madras types of curry in its flavor and bright orange color), coconut milk in soups, vegetables, egg dishes, fish, meat and poultry, as well as in dessert dishes. The bananas are used in meat stews as well as with fish and poultry. Ugali, the perennial cornmeal porridge, is the major staple. Rice is also frequently eaten.”

Have I mentioned that I despise coconut?  I guess I’ll have to acquire a taste for it.  Here’s more:

“To partake of the Tanzanian repast properly you need to be comfortably dressed, perhaps in slacks and a loose shirt, as you will sit on a mat on the floor in the home of your host.

Your host will dip into the Ugali or cassava or rice or other dish with the three fingers of the right hand, and once you have mastered this you will find the taste of the food quite different. You discover how to “work” the stew and vegetables into a loose ball of the right texture so that you can bring it to your mouth without dripping.

The first taste burns your throat slightly, the next taste less so, and you are soon adjusted to the hotness, trying the many dishes spread before you and eating far more than you normally do.

If you are an “honored” guest, as they say in Africa, your hostess has personally selected the duckling which she has cooked with coconut milk. There will also be a banana and meat stew, Ugali or rice or potato or perhaps all of these served in huge bowls, and also a vegetable dish like our braised cabbage. Some of these dishes will be cooked with coconut milk and some with groundnuts (peanuts).

Dessert is always fresh fruit of the region. Tanzanian honey is featured at the Kilimanjaro Hotel of Dar Es Salaam, one of the loveliest hotels in Africa. Honey and coconut are fitting accompaniments to Tanzanian fruits and are especially good with pineapple slices. Any fruit drink is called Squash throughout Africa. The concentrate may be purchased at the market and is always served at dinner.

Hands are washed before and after the meal and wiped on a towel which is passed around.”

I’m delighted to see that everyone washes their hands since those same hands all dip into the same pot of food.  Gulp.

I can’t wait to see it all for myself and give you the real story…

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Question:  Where exactly is Tanzania?

Answer:

Tanzania is in East Africa, located on the Indian Ocean.

It borders Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Malawi.

Mbeya is in the Southwest region of Tanzania.

It’s located in the highlands at 5,500 feet.

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 By far, our most frequently asked question is about the weather.  Here are the average highs/lows (in Fahrenheit) for Mbeya over the last 12 months:

January – 75/60

February – 76/60

March – 76/56

April – 75/55

May – 72/54

June – 70/48

July – 70/45

August – 75/48

September – 76/54

October – 81/58

November - 78/59

December – 74/59

During the past year, the max high temperature was 91 and the min low temperature was 17.  Those are rarities though as you can see by the averages.  Mbeya is very close to the equator but also 5,500 feet high so the weather is moderate.

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Now that we’ve had multiple Q&A sessions I have a base of FAQ’s that we hear often.  I thought I’d start a new series answering those questions.  Most are about Tanzania of which we don’t know much about yet but I can tell you what we’ve heard.  Then after we get there I’ll tell you how it really is. 

I’ll cover subjects such as:

Weather/Climate

Geography

Timeline

The Dogs

Food

Clothing

Housing

Infrastructure

The People

Language

Creature Comforts

Miscellaneous

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