Words, words, words

I never thought I’d say this, but sometimes I hate words. Spending my days reading books, scribbling notes and writing ideas up on my computer can sometimes feel a little painful.

Although I have a good view from my outside office(ignoring the grey concrete)

and am spending my days listening to birds sing in the peacefulness of warm autumn sunshine, it still pains me sometimes to sit staring at a computer screen for so long (and doesn't help my technophobic tendencies!)

Still, that’s the nature of the beast when it comes to writing. It is also a reason why my blogs have been a little absent of late; often the last thing I feel like doing after a day’s endless writing is sitting down  to write even more words.  But, having given my aching fingers and brain a little rest over the weekend, I am ready to write once again.

For those of you wondering what it is that I’m actually doing out here, or what on earth it is I’m spending so many hours writing words about, here’s a little picture for you:

I spent yesterday afternoon attempting to “draw” the book I’ve just written. Hmm, a little bonkers as a concept perhaps, but I’m hoping to use my squiggly little info-graphic as part of the introduction to the manuscript (that’s the plan, anyway). It is supposed to tell the tale of some of the things I’m writing about and give a few clues as to the direction I’m going with my thoughts. And hey, if nothing else, it gave me an enjoyable afternoon off words yesterday whilst I was painting it!

The past month has been filled with the mental torment that is writing to publishers. Beyond the fact that this in itself is a practical impossibility (for the most part you simply can’t just write to a publisher or editor; you have to enrol the services of a middle man, known as The Literary Agent) the process is a minefield when it comes to getting it right. Not only are there a gaziilion literary agents out there (many waiting to take your money and sell your soul); each of them has their own unique style and application process that they wish for you to adhere to. Taking the advice of some friends in the business, who say to write to as many people as you can (as most wannabe writers get their first manuscript rejected over and over for the first few years), I have spent the past month preparing detailed applications for twenty or so different agents and publishers; hours of work to sell my book whilst conscious of the fact that I am unlikely to hear anything back from any the people I’m writing to. A little disheartening perhaps, but I’m coming to the end of the first stage now, so I’m over it. Or simply onto the next stage: the hopeful keeping fingers crossed in the vain hope that someone will reply (which is more likely to result in me punishing the fingers and the brain some more and writing applications to another twenty agents…)

Other than torturing my brain and my fingers (last week my hand momentarily morphed itself into some sort of crippled claw from excessive typing: a frightening few minutes) I’ve been busy enjoying the cultural pleasures of Arusha.

Here’s a little round-up of what I’ve been up to over the last month:

Thoughtcrime Thursdays

Started by myself and my American buddy a few months ago as a means of getting like-minded people together for interesting discussions, Thought-Crime Thursdays involves meeting up each week in a lovely local bar with some buddies to discuss and debate a range of interesting questions. Basically we pretend to put the world to rights over a few beers: brilliant! Discussions thus far have covered the following questions:

Gender: Can there ever be such a thing as Gender Equality? To what extent has the term feminism become synonymous with ideologies that are fundamentally contradictory to its core meaning?

Food: How do we relate to the things we put into our body, when we barely understand the consequences?  How can we determine if something is ok for us when conflicting science abounds?  How can we feed the world and can we (or better yet should we) patent life?

Culture and business:  How do they intersect and clash?  Is it good and bad that the world has seemed to fall in this order, especially since our culture is very tied to our appearance?

Music: How has technology shaped the creation of music? How does technology shape how we experience and relate to music? Is all music art? 

Climate: Should we go for a bottom-up approach to fighting global warming or rely upon politicians to find a top-down solution eventually?

Interesting chats and evenings spent with interesting people; one of my favourite things to do each week.

Twende Hikes

I’ve been out and about over the past few Sundays with a random collection of people, taking hikes in the surrounding countryside. The premise: turn up at a fixed point at 8.30am on a Sunday morning and walk for four hours with Kamaali and Leonard, two Tanzanaians who know every trail, track and pathway there is to know in the area.  

Our walk a few weeks ago took us perilously close to a nest of three snakes –two spitting cobras  (huge black snakes) and one poor snake that had met its match and was actually being eaten by the cobras. No photos, sorry; I was too busy getting ready to run! Instead here’s a picture of a prickly little caterpillar that was on my bathroom floor this morning:

Essay writing

Obviously not content enough with writing all day, I entered a competition a few weeks ago set by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. The brief was to write a 5000 word essay on the future of development aid. Being a topic on which I find I have a lot to say, and offering twenty top prizes of $20,000 each, I felt this was not something to be sniffed at and spent two weeks compiling my entry, entitled: Power to the People: Re-branding Development Assistance to Give Voice to the Silenced World.  

Call for essays

As I’m probably not saying something that they actually want to hear, I suspect my entry went straight into the bin, but should I miraculously find a large increase in my bank account come December, I’ll be sure to let you all know!

Festivals and Culture

Arusha has recently had a burst of cultural activity: a music and theatre weekend; with bands from all over East Africa and a great play from Kenya called Elements. 

This past week has been the Arusha film festival. 

It was a week showcasing directors, producers and films from all over the continent, with films played every afternoon and evening in three venues across town.  I went along to the opening evening and saw a few films during the week – a real range in quality and content, but some very beautiful documentaries and interesting pieces.

This weekend is the infamous Jambo Festival, a weekend promising street carnivals, live bands, dancing, food and festivities.  

It promises to be a good weekend: I’ll keep you posted!

Careers fair

A few weeks ago, I went to the St Jude’s career fair (the school I worked at last year) to see some of the kids promoting future vocations and aspirations. It was a fascinating morning wandering around the exhibits. Of particular note was the “Women’s Room” – a room full of girls advocating women’s rights and the power of the female, with posters and information about inspiring women from across the globe plastering the walls.

Another fascinating exhibition was from a young designer whose ambition is to become an architect. After drawing up his plans for a small-holding, he made a model version – out of cardboard – in 7 hours. Impressive stuff!

Swahili School

I’ve been continuing my language lessons with my brilliant teacher, Gamba:

six hours a week of lessons to try to get a little more competent in my spoken proficiency. I can now converse with people with confidence and am really enjoying being back in the classroom as a student (although my application of the subjunctive clause remains perilous….)

Marching

We organised the "Arusha March for Climate Change" last weekend, to coincide with marches taking place across the rest of the world. It didn't quite go to plan (I have posted a detailed write up on my other blog: Birds and Bees) but nevertheless it was an entertaining Sunday afternoon.

And that’s about it. I am walking a lot each morning (my favourite route is up Waterfall Road; a long and hilly climb, at the end of which is the promise of a waterfall…although I’ve yet to find it!) 

Otherwise, my days are simply filled with words – reading them, thinking them and writing them. Let’s just hope that someone out there actually wants to read them!