Cloth of Colour

The clothing here in Mwanza varies from traditional kitenge to modern t-shirts, however regardless of the dress code it tends to be bright and colourful. Clothing combinations which might seem bizarre in the UK, somehow work here, Here are a selection of some of the clothing we have seen here in Tanzania.

This week we held the annual school Fashion Show on the theme Africa of the Future. Students designed and modelled outfits made from Masai Cloth or Kitenge Cloth. For obvious reasons photos here obscure the identity of the students, but nonetheless show off some of the colourful designs.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Since we have been here we have opted for some of the Tanzanian designs ourselves. Kitenge cloth is relatively cheap as it the labour of a fundi (tailor) to make clothing for us. Some examples below.

Chai and Chapatti

Trousers that Eunisi has made

Popcorn

Bra Alley and Beyond!

Bra Alley is the colloquial name used by expats to describe the alleyway leading to and from the market. On Sunday’s this whole area becomes the fruit and veg market but on Saturdays the area is transformed into the clothes market and the alleyway festooned with bras for sale – hence the name.

Shopping for Tanzania

T Minus 9

Today has been a shopping day in preparation for Tanzania. Traffic in Lincoln was as bad as ever so it took much longer than expected.
Even so our spree resulted in shoes for all (2 pairs each) ;school uniform for our kids; a work suit for me (linen – for the hotter climes – not sure if I’ll need a jacket but useful even so); a mini camera and an iPad Air (our iPad 1 being on it’s last legs) to add to our collection of electronics – we feel this important and necessary in our transition and will provide some semblance of normality along with the laptops for work etc.
We have also plumped for trekking towels – I found that these worked excellently in Vietnam /Cambodia last summer and are do much less bulky than the traditional material. It’s a bit like drying with a chamois leather but very effective and they dry so quickly.
I really don’t know how all this is squeezing into the luggage, but needs must.

No Ties

T Minus 64

When I leave the UK there will be no more ties

Too Many Shirts!

T Minus 97

I have an admission. I haven’t ironed a work shirt since the start of term!