Our little mosque

This is a photo taken from the third story of our house..out on the veranda. We live off of a little dirt road in the middle of a local neighborhood; we even have a cow in our back yard and I'm not quite sure which animal was making noises last night. The neighborhood kids gather each day outside of our house to play soccer and there is an elementary school on our block so there is always a lot of movement and laughing. We have three men, who have worked for Dr. Amadi for 15 years, who rotate to continuously watch our house gate and open it with our beep of arrival. Juma, Saidi and Daudi have become our welcome party and our daily treats are received with huge smiles and many 'asante sanas'.
 
Our kitchen is not attached to the main house, and Helema is out there each morning cutting up fresh mangoes and preparing the food for the day. Mainly, she cooks rice, beans and veggies in a red sauce and I have been tasked to determine if there may be other options. I've been using the Swahili phrase book I have and she seems rather amused with my attempts. Her daily meals are fresh, delicious and predictable…so we are all extremely happy to have her and she seems to like the company.
 
The main house looks like a huge mosque from the outside and is pretty spacious inside. Right as you walk in, you can't miss the big gold plaque in memory of their father who passed and to the left a room that is dedicated for prayer and memory of lost ones. This prayer room is locked. We have a guest bedroom on the main floor as well as a large living room where we have our office and a wall size framed photo of a large eagle. Two rooms on the second floor w/ AC and then a large guest bedroom on the 3rd floor. I have a bed net in my room, which adds to the steamy humidity in my room. No skin cream needed on Zanzibar!
 
It was so hot when we got home this afternoon that Nini and I went up to the veranda with our music and did our work out routine. The breeze and open air was fabulous. There may be some gossip on the block about the 'muzungus' that have moved into the neighborhood; we certainly have settled in and made this beautiful home our own.

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