Karibu Bukoba

It has been a hectic last week and one without regular and reliable internet access at home, which has meant for less posting than I'd hoped. I started traveling yesterday, though, and just being out of Dar has given me a considerable amount of downtime. And a traveling companion who has super-fast wireless through her cell phone company.

And so I write to you from Bukoba, on the western shore of Lake Victoria, where I was supposed to be totally off the grid for a week. We took a relatively small plane across the very big lake from Mwanza, where I arrived yesterday and where Melanie, also a history grad student doing research, had been staying. I'm not so great with smaller planes, but this was a quick trip and easy - better than the options of a day bus or overnight ferry as well. And as we started coming in, this big flat-topped island popped up underneath us, and I could see the shore, and I got so excited suddenly. I've been reading about Bukoba for basically the last 10 months, albeit reading material from 100 years ago. We landed on a red dirt runway and the flat-topped island was just in front of us on the lake, birds flying around and little boats in the water. It is cool here, because it's winter, and green all around, the air is really clean compared to Dar.

After getting settled and checking our bednets for holes (me), inspecting the shower (Mel), unpacking, etc., we went out to the hotel's restaurant - on the beach, again. It was already just dark and there were families and other people hanging out, and we sat down facing, once again, the island, out to the lake. There was (and still is) a live band playing. After a few minutes, we both noticed this unearthly odd red-orange light on top of the island, along with one solitary little electric light down by the waterfront there. It looked like a weird beacon, or a lantern the size of a house. It turned out to be the full moon rising.

And I don't know, you get sort of used to the fact that you're living in Tanzania, because, hey, lots of other people live here, too. It's what I'm doing right now, and it's working. And there is an affection I have for Dar despite the pain it can be to be there, the absence of things familiar and the unreliability of life. I still have a good situation there - I get to eat coconut whenever I want, I can see the ocean from the terrace, I've made friends, am getting better at Swahili slowly.

But the feeling of relief in having gotten here to Bukoba after being so worried about how it was going to work, not knowing at all what to expect, and sitting safely with this new friend,my co-traveler, was pretty amazing. Sitting safely while watching the full moon rise over Lake Victoria was just...humbling.

I have a photo that I can't get to load, but the moonrise was just epic. The light the moon threw up into the sky and down onto the lake was amazing, and we sat there for a long time talking. Tomorrow we'll go out and see what sorts of connections we can make with the Catholic parishes here, through the Bukoba diocese, and plan the next few days.

+ 10 minutes: the band is still playing, despite the receptionist telling us they would finish a half-hour ago. There is a very loud movie in Hindi coming from next door which sounds like it's being playing in our shower. But we're mosquito free, have earplugs, and we'll see what happens....