Day 49: October 23. The road to Moshi is long

This trip certainly keeps us on our toes. We woke up at 4am today to meet Hellen to drive to Moshi. We were supposed to take a taxi and meet her in neighboring Ubungo at 5am so that she could leave her house a little later, but seeing as she's wonder-woman and doesn't sleep, she picked us up at 4:30 directly from our hotel.

The car ride was long and especially stressful before dawn because there is only one road to Moshi, and it is only one narrow lane on either side, and the trucks often take the lion's share of road. But once the sun rose it was better and we made frequent stops, and we saw a lot of African scenery. For example, we saw a beautiful sunrise over some traditional houses made out of mudbrick and straw, much like the ones we saw yesterday at the Village Museum! Hellen said that despite the fact that these homes have to be rebuilt every three years, people still live here because they cannot afford homes made out of concrete or wood. We also saw the giant baobaob trees -which look like ghoulish haunted trees- coming out of the red earth, as well as Acacia trees (think Lion King and you'll be able to picture it), and those big termite hills that are the homes of colonies of termites.

We had breakfast at the priest's residence at a church in a small village, where Hellen knew the priest. It was a refreshing stop, and Hellen got to rest her eyes for a couple of minutes before we resumed our journey.

We did a surprising amount of 'shopping' en route. First, about 3 hours into the trip, our car was surrounded by orange vendors who sprinted alongside us until Hellen pulled over and bought 3 bags. Next, we saw a man standing again on the side of the road holding up bunches of catfish tied together at the mouth by a palm leaf. Again, we pulled over and bought some for dinner. These were tied to the front grill of the car, and Hellen and Eric (her brother who was accompanying us) assured us they'd be well cleaned. We also bought tomatos and onions at the side of the road, and as we were approaching Moshi, we bought several loaves of bread from a crowd of boys pushing it through the car windows. Karla and I thought this whole process was hilarious.

What wasn't so funny was the car trouble that followed. First, when we stopped in town for rice, we couldn't get the car to start. Hellen figured out that someone had stolen the starter plugs, so we had to find a mechanic and buy new ones. Next, when we were on the road again, the radiator started overheating, so we had to dump bottled water into the radiator every 20 minutes or so for the rest of the ride.

This last leg of the trip was very very bumpy, albeit scenic, but Alicia started to feel nauseous because of the bumps, as well as the smell of gas (which had spilled in the car) and fish (which we'd moved into the car when the radiator had started to go). But we finally arrived in the small village of Ubetu safe and sound.

As it was just about dusk when we arrived, we all scurried around trying to get dinner on the table. At this time, Karla and I realized that there was no electricity and no running water here!! So we lit kerosene lamps, and helped gut the fish with Eric by candlelight. Oh. And went to the 'bathroom' which makes an old-timey outhouse look like modern technology (think pit with walls around it). Before bed, we had to take showers to get all the dust of the day off...so Hellen boiled water and poured it into a plastic bucket, then we took turns going into the small room with a drain to splash all the dirt off our bodies. Hellen laughed when Alicia asked for confirmation that she was doing it right! Needless to say, we got to bed relatively early!
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Day 48: October 22

After a leisurely breakfasti, we hopped on a bus from Posta to Mwenge to go to the Village Museum. While trying to figure out the right changei (change) with the dalla-dalla attendant, we missed our stop. We ended up in Mwenge, and asked how to get to the museum at a copy shop. A very nice girl said she was headed that way anyway, and took us to the right bus, then pointed out our stop. We made it!

The Village Museum is comprised of reconstructions of traditional homes for all of the tribes native to Tanzania. It was very interesting - we saw homes made out of mudbrick, straw, wood...there were probably 25 types of homes in all, varying in size, shape, and. Even who lived there. For example, some tribes had built separate living quarters for the young boys, and some had livestock living in the same room as them! We did the museum pretty thoroughly.

Getting hungry, we ate our packed lunch on a bench next to where some women were practicing the drums, ostensibly for a performance later on. They were just as interested in us as we were in them.

Next, we called Hellen to see what the plan was, and upon receiving instruction to wait where we were, we wandered through the craft market before sitting down for a Stoney's at the museum cafe. (Stoney's is like gingerale, but has a much more ginger-y taste)

We weren't sure how much more time we had before Hellen came, so we decided to try to walk to a nearby craft market. We didn't quite make it, but we found a gas station where we bought some ice cream, then were picked up by Hellen.

We had only one quick errand to do, and that was to pick up the dresses and shorts that we had had made. They're very cute. I have a feeling they'll get a lot of use here!

Hellen still had a lot to do, so she dropped us at a dalla-dalla stop, and sent us back to Posta. From there, we walked to the grocery store, then had dinner at Chef's Pride, before grabbing a cab back to the YMCA. Alicia washed out her smelly smelly sandals with a toothbrush, then we
both packed up and got to bed early.
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Day 47: October 21. Real life in Dar

After breakfasti this morning (any guesses what 'breakfasti' is Swahili for?), we caught the dalla-dalla to Tabatta Segerea. We arrived at the school after our 20 minute walk, and found that it seemed eerily quiet. We walked into the head teacher's office and she looked surprised to see us! She apologized, explaining that she'd forgotten to tell us that there are 4th grade examinations today and tomorrow, so none of the other children have school. We were so surprised that no one mentioned this to us. The fifth grade teacher had even asked us to prepare a specific lesson for today! How could everyone neglect to tell us that there's no school today?

We were so disappointed, especially since this means that we're done teaching because we have to leave for Moshi early on Thursday morning with Hellen! There's a very small possibility that we could see the students again the morning before we fly out of Dar, but it doesn't seem likely.

We trudged back down to the dalla-dalla stop and waited for an hour for ours to come. Finally, we got on a bus, but ended up sitting in a ton of traffic. Hellen called and told us to just get off the bus where we were, but we had a miscommunication, and we weren't where she thought we were...at last, thanks to the help of a stranger that I put on the phone with her, she figured out where we were and came to get us.

Hellen took us with her to the Catholic Secretariat, where she had to file some paperwork to get tax exemption for a container of donations for the clinic. We were instructed to wait for an hour and a half for a letter to be typed and signed, so we decided to have lunch at the little cafeteria. We came back at the appointed time, and were informed that in fact, we'd have to wait until tomorrow for the letter to be completed. Hellen told us in the car that this was not at all uncommon in Tanzania; often you're told to wait for something, then are told that it's not possible in the way that you'd agreed upon. Lesson #2 of the day.

Our next errand took us to the Ministry of Health, where we went through a similar song and dance. Hellen is trying to get the government to approve the clinic so that it can receive financial support and serve people that cannot otherwise afford health care. She was told to come back tomorrow.

Next we went to a craft market to pick up little carvings of animals that Hellen ordered last week to sell at the next Life Project fundraiser. Of course, they weren't quite ready. So Karla and I wandered around while we waited, and then decided to help find some statues that we thought would be marketable in the US. We found some rhinos and giraffes that were beautifully made, and made the vendor's day when we told him we wanted 20 of each. We negotiated a price, then he told us to wait while he gathered them...people scurried around trying to collect these animals and sell us more, but I noticed that they were taking carvings of a lesser quality and varnishing them to look like the original that I had picked out. I explained that I wanted good quality wood and it took a while to get them to admit that the ones that they had been varnishing were different. Finally, the vendor told me that he'd have to make more statues, and that we could pick them up tomorrow. As for the giraffes, he complained that it cost 1000 TSH (around $1) more to make them than we had agreed upon, so he wanted to bargain upwards. Now why hadn't he thought of this when we first bargained? After all that effort, we didn't end up buying anything from him! As Hellen was not in the least surprised when I reported this transaction (or lack thereof) to her, we took this as a lesson in business.

We ended up buying everything we needed from one vendor, then made our way to dinner. En route we tried to find an ATM, but we couldn't find a single one that accepted our cards! What are the odds?

We worked up quite an appetite looking for money, so we really enjoyed dinner. Hellen took us to this nice place right on the water! We had a great time chatting with her and getting to know her better. And despite all the frustrations that today held, it was definitely gave us some insight into some of the frustrations and difficulties that arise for people living here, which may just be more valuable than a day in which everything runs smoothly!
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