A very simple lesson

Shkamon mzee.
This is a greeting to an older person. It is respectful.
The reply is
Marhaba: the 'h' is pronounced in an Arabic way, at the back of the throat, a glottal 'h'.
You could also say 
hu jambo. More or less 'how's things?'

Habari - How are you. Also Yako. The reply might be Nzuri.

Salaam is another general greeting. It sounds Arabic because the Arabs traded the coastline of Africa for a long time.

Habari asubuhi - good morning. Pronounce the second word asuboy.
Habari za mchana - good afternoon.
Habari za jioni - good evening.

In the street a white person may be greeted:

Mzungu. Or if there are two or more of you, Wa Mzungu.

For the young ones, you could say
Mambo? Something like How's it going?
The reply may be Poa (pronounced almost like poor): it means something like I'm cool.

Karibuna is the plural of Karibu: they both mean welcom.

And if someone knocks at the door - you say Hodi?

Homesick?

I've not been homesick since the weary days of boarding school. It was a happy event this time: I love our new home in Tollesbury, but being in Tanzania is turning out very well after the trial by journey.
Today began with a staff meeting: the meeting about the big things for the whole year. Most of it was in Swahili: it was two hours long. Just like a staff meeting in a UK school.
The air is dry, but there are storms each day - a bit of rain, some humungous clouds, a bit of thunder and lightning. Most of the day there is a breeze.
This evening we may watch one of the DVD's left by Brian and Aleen who were the Bursar's Department before arrived. There is a complete set of Harry Potter, whole sets of Foyle's War and Lewis (Alison likes these)(yes, I do too), and lots of films.
The sitting room is very comfortable: the windows are always open, with mosquito screens and burglar bars. It doesn't stop them getting in, but the mosquito nets over the beds are the protection at night, along with whatever malaria drug you might be taking. The mosquitoes, I mean. Don't know about the burglars.
The ground outside is flat and sandy. There are lizards and space age wasps, sparrows and short sharp birds, ones that argue and ones that shout. There are bananas, pawpaws, capsicums, and even grapes in the garden, at the front a bougainvillea and cactus.
There is no hot water except from the kettle. Showers are cold, not icy. The loos need flushing with a good bucketful because the cisterns can't deliver. There isn't a water shortage, but the borehole pump stops working when there is a power outage.
The floor is smooth cement, and cool. The curtains dance up and down at night as the breeze comes and goes.
Sunset happens in about 25 minutes. The shadows begin to stretch out, and before you know it it is dark. The sky is black and stars are brilliant.
At night there is noise from the town square, people mixing, taken in by the music and the food, and later the Muezzin calling to prayer. And again at 5am.
At lunch today we had rice and beans with a topping of onion. Very tasty. We had tea with it.
I had a lesson in Kiswahili.

Getting there

On the 31st December 2015 I left my phone in the car. Left the car in the garage.

The garage is 4000 miles away, so text messages have been routed via Alison's phone.

England blew us across the North Sea in a gale, and we rose from Schiphol in a Dreamliner for a sleepless night to Nairobi.

When the sun rose, Kenya welcomed us. The connection for Dar Es Salaam was a rush past Kilimanjaro into the humid city. The plastic bottles and bags lined the streets, and the traffic danced around to a peculiar music of its own.

We took a taxi to the MIC Hotel near the bus station. Air conditioning dripped down the power conduit in the bathroom, down the back of the sink, on to the floor. I stood in it, barefoot, brave and exhausted.

In the morning the Shabiby coach took us the eight hour journey to Dodoma, way up in the middle of Tanzania. The driver talked on his phone, spoke with a voice so rapid he sounded like a machine, and steered the bus with his elbows when he needed to change gear and talk on the phone. Our progress was rapid.

Francis, the head of the school, met us at the bus station, and we had lunch at the Dodoma Hotel, opposite the station.

The earth is red and the trees and grass are green. The rainy season has begun.

The ride to Mvumi was on a winding dirt road, and the following two days were spent resting - and finding food.