Moshi Town

I can't emphasize enough how much I am loving the culture, the people, and even the food that we've gotten to eat (that will get a separate post a little later).  However, I figured that some day I would have to write a post that shows some of the less glamorous aspects of living in Moshi.  So far, we have traveled to the rural areas and villages, much of which are inhabited by beautiful landscapes and amazing scenery. The exact opposite is true of Moshi town itself. The town is actual quite small, but there are over 200,000 people that crowd the streets everyday. There aren't many road signs or even signs for small shops, so if you don't know exactly where you are going you might have to search for a while. Many people from the villages travel to the Moshi town to sell products right on the street. There are people with all types of foods, clothing, shoes, cheap jewelry, etc. They lay everything out on a sheet right on the sidewalk.

You will see that most women are wearing khanga or kitenge as skirts. Also, women are able to carry a LOT by placing it on their heads.

There are three main roundabouts in the city. This is the clock tower, which designates the center of town.

A lot of people walk places if they are not using the dala dala. Crossing the street here has developed into an art form! Pedestrians surely do NOT have the right of way around here. It becomes like a life size game of frogger!

Traffic is always busy and there are no traffic lights or stop signs. So if you want to cross the street you find an opening, and don't hesitate!

A woman walking down the street carrying her baby with a Kitenge.  Many women use these pieces of fabric to hold their babies. Much cheaper than a Baby Bjorn, and it's even more interesting to watch how they strap them in place.

There are many areas of Moshi. To get to CCBRT, we travel through an industrial part of town called Pasua. The roads are very bumpy, and extremely dusty.

 

Welcome to Bodeni Street in Pasua. There is a market here every morning that is crowded with many people trying to buy food and other goods for very cheap. We were informed that the activity in this area is illegal, and there is a high density of thieves..

We have made a lot of "friends" in our house as well! When we first got to Motivation House we realized that there were a few little creatures inhabiting our home. There aren't any screens on the windows, which always need to be open because it's so hot. We eventually got used to these little things running around.

These little chameleons aren't too bad. But they do make a really strange noise and they startle me quite often as I'm not used to things running all over the walls.

That is all for now. Other than the constant dirty feet and dust in the face I am enjoying living here. I am slowly becoming familiar with the culture and getting used to all aspects of living in Moshi.


- K