Two years ago on a roadtrip through the Western USA, I stopped for a few days in Los Angeles. I’d been told that the city wasn’t very interesting for tourists, but I didn’t want to miss the chance to see some of the famous sights (again – this time as an adult).
Flashforward two years.
I moved to Tanzania in October to avoid working from my bedroom in New York during the next COVID wave. New York, I decided, was too expensive, flats too small and winters too cold to work from there from home. Tanzania promised a chance to learn more about the work of country offices and explore a new part of the world without worrying too much about COVID.
A friend said I could stay with him, and I gladly accepted the offer. Arriving at the house and looking at the 2.5m tall solid wooden front door, I was in awe before I’d even set foot into the house. Inside, everything was modern and spacious, light and airy – it felt very surreal. I chose one of the four en-suite upstairs bedrooms with a veranda and view over the pool and garden and set up an office downstairs with view over banana and papaya trees. A very surreal change of scenery after my view over the East River and a power station in New York (which I admittedly really loved).
Even stranger than the huge house and masses of space was the number of staff around. My friend, who lived alone before I moved in, had a housekeeper who came three days a week. Later, when I stayed with another friend across the road, we had two housekeepers coming every day. There was always a gardener around (often trimming the lawn with some kind of medieval bush knife), a pool boy or other member of “staff”. It was crazy. I grew up in a household where I was given the choice between washing up or drying the dishes after dinner and learnt quickly that one can use a cup more than once. In South Africa, having a helper once a week felt like an amazing luxury. Here in Tanzania, whenever you put a used dish down, it disappears and just re-appears clean in the cupboard.
Both my homes in Tanzania had two kitchens – one to enjoy and cook in and a staff kitchen for cleaning and storage. My favourite part of living here was cooking and then just putting all the dirty dishes in the second kitchen and not having to worry about them anymore - they’d be clean before I had breakfast the next day.
Beds were made in the morning and yesterday’s dirty clothes magically appeared back in your cupboard a few hours later. One of the helpers made fresh fruit juice every morning as well as a fruit and green salad, she did all the shopping and managed whatever maintenance needs to be done. Another one once cleaned my rather filthy hiking shoes (without me asking) so beautifully that they almost looked new.
During COVID, I got into the habit of not getting dressed immediately but sipping a cup of tea in my dressing gown. Here in Tanzania, I’d walk down the massive open staircase to a light-flooded space, grab a fresh juice and sit with my feet in the pool while enjoying the view of the palm trees - feeling like I lived in Hollywood.
I moved to Tanzania in October to avoid working from my bedroom in New York during the next COVID wave. New York, I decided, was too expensive, flats too small and winters too cold to work from there from home. Tanzania promised a chance to learn more about the work of country offices and explore a new part of the world without worrying too much about COVID.
A friend said I could stay with him, and I gladly accepted the offer. Arriving at the house and looking at the 2.5m tall solid wooden front door, I was in awe before I’d even set foot into the house. Inside, everything was modern and spacious, light and airy – it felt very surreal. I chose one of the four en-suite upstairs bedrooms with a veranda and view over the pool and garden and set up an office downstairs with view over banana and papaya trees. A very surreal change of scenery after my view over the East River and a power station in New York (which I admittedly really loved).
Even stranger than the huge house and masses of space was the number of staff around. My friend, who lived alone before I moved in, had a housekeeper who came three days a week. Later, when I stayed with another friend across the road, we had two housekeepers coming every day. There was always a gardener around (often trimming the lawn with some kind of medieval bush knife), a pool boy or other member of “staff”. It was crazy. I grew up in a household where I was given the choice between washing up or drying the dishes after dinner and learnt quickly that one can use a cup more than once. In South Africa, having a helper once a week felt like an amazing luxury. Here in Tanzania, whenever you put a used dish down, it disappears and just re-appears clean in the cupboard.
Both my homes in Tanzania had two kitchens – one to enjoy and cook in and a staff kitchen for cleaning and storage. My favourite part of living here was cooking and then just putting all the dirty dishes in the second kitchen and not having to worry about them anymore - they’d be clean before I had breakfast the next day.
Beds were made in the morning and yesterday’s dirty clothes magically appeared back in your cupboard a few hours later. One of the helpers made fresh fruit juice every morning as well as a fruit and green salad, she did all the shopping and managed whatever maintenance needs to be done. Another one once cleaned my rather filthy hiking shoes (without me asking) so beautifully that they almost looked new.
During COVID, I got into the habit of not getting dressed immediately but sipping a cup of tea in my dressing gown. Here in Tanzania, I’d walk down the massive open staircase to a light-flooded space, grab a fresh juice and sit with my feet in the pool while enjoying the view of the palm trees - feeling like I lived in Hollywood.
PS: Of course, this luxury is only affordable because Tanzania is a
developing country with a huge wage-differential between locals and
well-earning expats. The daily wage for an unskilled worker in Dar is
about TZS5,000 (EUR2) and full-time domestic workers get the very
desirable wage of around EUR100 per month. Its easy to feel bad for
workers, who often have to commute 1 – 2 hours one way to their place of
work – but it’s important to keep in mind that domestic work for expats
is one of the most comfortable and desirable jobs around for unskilled
women with lots of “perks” that most Tanzanians don’t enjoy (paid
vacation, maternity leave, sick leave and often significant amounts of
hand-me-downs and access to washing machines, reliable power and
internet). As an expat, not having at least one full-time member of
staff is almost
frowned upon and many expats have a small army of staff, including
cooks and nannies, providing good, reliable incomes and opportunities for many local families.
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