Princess Salima and Her Mandazis

May 3, 2013 - 10am

I wake up in the mornings feeling like a princess. The mosquito net really does remind me of the canopy beds that my favourite Disney princesses slept under, growing up! A really great perk to the precautions we're taking against malaria.

Thursday was another productive day… We were able to register our computers for the Staff Wi-Fi on campus which was exciting, but we also learned that we will unfortunately not have access to the internet at our home. I suppose that means a lot more time for us to enjoy the stunning scenery that surrounds our humble abode.

We also had a chance to meet with our liaison Professor, Dr. Murty. He shared with us the tremendous interest on the students' part, and explained that we have 88 students registered for our course! We were only expecting 30-50 people in our class, so this will certainly be an exciting experience for us, managing such a large class! We were then taken to see the classroom which we will be teaching in, and although there is great natural light in the room, there were only 21 desks and 42 chairs. We all realized the problem this posed, and will be working out the logistics before class starts on Monday.

In the evening, the three of us decided to splurge on a meal after a full days' work, so we went into town to one of the Lonely Planet-recommended high-end restaurants. The atmosphere was quaint, and the food was alright, but the highlight of my meal was trying the mini lemon mandazis from the Desert Menu! I absolutely LOVE mandazi - my grandmas used to make them when I was younger, and my mom and dad have recently started making the delicious treats for us as well. They're a family favourite, and take much time, energy, and TLC to perfect, so I was ecstatic to try them! They reminded me of home, and gave me a glimpse of how my family's cuisine is a cool mix between Indian and East African foods.

I ended up ordering a giant to-go box of the mini mandazis, and have been snacking on them since. Can't wait to try all sorts of other new and oddly familiar foods! :)