Vyura vidogo

We've noticed that we're much closer to nature here in Tanzania than we were back home–there are animals everywhere. When we leave Dar es Salaam, we sometimes find the road blocked by goats, which come in all different colors and sizes here. The smallest ones, which must be babies, are two feet tall or shorter. Eleuthera and I are very fond of them. (I particularly like the way their ears flop when they move.) There's actually a goat living in Inno's yard as well, which we think belongs to the landlady. Sometimes we see it running around.

We also find tiny lizards living along the walls and Inno's balcony. I saw a relatively huge one the other day in the bathroom–it was about six inches long. It was a pleasant change from the roaches that I've already complained about (which are either all dead or scared to come out). Closest to home for me, though, are the two tiny frogs that took up residence in my room the other day. Neither was bigger than a cubic inch, and I only noticed them because when I got too close, they jumped about a foot off the ground and landed with a soft plop. At first, I tried to get them to leave, since I was worried that they wouldn't be able to get out and might get stepped on. Eventually I realized they weren't going to leave and they didn't seem to be in any danger of being squashed–they'd just jump out of the way. So I went to bed and listened to them jump around. I haven't seen them since then. It's possible that they're gone, but they also blend in, so it's hard to tell. I think one was under my bed for a while.

And to add to our adventures in malapropism: I wasn't feeling well the other day, and normally I would have just mimed having a sore throat, but my phrasebook specified how to say "I have a sore throat": "Ninauma roho." As a lifelong Monty Python fan, I should have known better than to trust a phrasebook, but I memorized the phrase and said it to a few people throughout the day. They looked confused, and one woman put her hand over my heart and said something serious-sounding (I told her I didn't understand), but I figured my pronunciation was just a little off. When I went to school yesterday morning, I said the same thing to Richard, our teacher, who laughed at me. He told me I should be saying, "Ninaumwa koo."

Okay, I said. "So what does 'roho' mean?"

He hesitated. "It means 'spirit.'"

I had been telling everyone that I had a pain in my soul.

~Caitlin