Goodbye Arusha

Four AM wakeup call for a five AM taxi pickup to get to a 5:30AM bus departure?  Nah.  Instead, my mind woke me up at three!  So what do morning birds do when they wake up early?  Get stuff done.  Just so everyone knows, Andrew is NOT, I repeat IS NOT a morning person.  The night before I wasn’t able to reset my iPod in hopes of using it in the coming days full of bus rides, so I hijacked some internet.  Seriously, I was like Double-O Connection! 

In Tanzania, you have to pay for internet.  Most places have a USB type device called an “Airwall” or “Airtel” or something, and you hook it into your computer.  You then can buy minutes at Airtel dukas.  I took the USB device from the hostel computer, hooked it in my Mac and loaded the necessary Mac software then did what needed to be done using internet and returned the router to its original place all without David, our askari, noticing from his post.  Then I left Tsh500 on the desk because I did use up minutes.  It’s always smart to be on the good side of Karma, but you can still be on the good side while having some early morning fun.  I then shocked David when he came into the kitchen to find me using the manual stove to make fried eggs and toast Tanzania style.  I think he’s starting to like me, or think I’m strange.   Either way, I got breakfast made and went to wake up Andrew who, might I remind you, Is NOT a morning person.  He’s literally like the walking dead in the mornings.  We got our stuff together then were on our way.

THE BUS RIDE FROM SIX FLAGS…

The taxi took us exactly where we needed to go.  People were shocked to see mzungus at the station and even more shocked when they saw us on the bus.  People were constantly startled throughout the day as old ones got off and new ones got on throughout the route.  Apparently riding the roller-coaster like, shake, rattle, and roll, throw you in the air, make you think the bus might flip over, but overall leave you with no reason not to laugh out loud on the dirt roads bus ride is not a normal mzungu activity.  I’ve read horror stories, and they were accurate, but it’s all in the way you look at things.  I had a blast!  I also got used to the bumps and was able to sleep quite a bit.  The men that make and maintain those buses should get a Nobel Prize though.  They must be geniuses.  No car in the US, let alone a huge bus, would be able to withstand that kind of regular battering.  I didn’t talk in any Swahili (which is a secret power to have) while we were aboard and found that I understood quite a bit of what everyone near me were saying about us.  We were a common topic for conversation.

That didn’t change once we got to our final destination for the day:  Kahama.  I think maybe the town has seen one or two other mzungus ever.  Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but they haven’t seen many frequently.  The minute we pulled up and got off the bus we were bombarded.  But a few people actually spoke English well enough, so between their broken English and my broken Swahili we got our ticket for the next leg of our trip, got a cheap taxi and a cheap chumba (room) in a place called The Island.  Our welcoming committee and very nice taxi driver all giggled when we said we just needed one room, but it’s a queen bed.  Why pay for two rooms?  They’ve got interesting customs here that are followed sometimes and aren’t other times and I’m not sure what kind of line we were toeing but it doesn’t matter.  I’m a woman wearing men’s shorts.  How much weirder can I get? 

After settling in Andrew and I went for a stroll, found a bar and ordered a water and a Coke in Swahili.  Our waitress brought us a water and a Coke but also a full bottle of Whiskey that we didn’t ask for.  When I told her ‘hapanasante’ (no thank you), she looked at us very confused and wandered away with the whiskey.  Apparently mzungus are always associated with liquor.  Oh well.  Afterwards we purchased the sweetest mango I’ve ever had and some bananas from a little stand.  When I asked him how much the man told me the mango was Tsh5,000.  All his friends started to laugh and so did I.  The going rate is around Tsh500.  We got it for Tsh400 and two bananas for another Tsh200.  Not bad.  For those of you who are worrying about me, I can assure you I won’t starve.  I will, however, forever be stared at, hollered at, and called to.  There’s no escaping it.  We are always a spectacle, always a show, always entertainment.  At least those who get our business are very kind and helpful and I was finally openly joked WITH rather than AT by a stranger!  I really do love it here. 

And now I’m sitting in our fuchsia-colored bed draped in a double mosquito net.  So ramantic and so classy!  Andrew just got out of the shower explaining to me how the nobs literally shock you with electricity so it’d be wise for me not to hop in.  Good, another reason to stay greasy.  Two women who work here are in the yard out of our window and they’re talking about us.  We’re the talk of the town.  Tomorrow is another early departure but this time we have to make it across a country border.  Wish us luck!