Before leaving for Arusha at 2:00 this afternoon (Friday), we both went to our work assignments. Jean says that hers was normal. Something magical happened at mine.
Jean brought two bags of balloons to Tanzania, so since the children were so unruly yesterday I decided that today was the day for balloons. They were a tremendous hit. Each of the 25 children had their own colorful balloon which they danced, bounced, ran, laughed, and cuddled with. There was incredible happiness, singing, children’s laughter, and true magic in the air. I wonder how often, if ever, these deprived children have experienced the exhilaration of having a balloon of their very own, and being in a room with 25 others who were experiencing the same sense of joyful celebration. I took pictures which in time will be posted. It was a very special and memorable morning… and totally redeemed yesterday’s frustrations.
At 2:00 we hired a taxi to take us to the Moshi Bus Station. The Arusha bus that I had spotted yesterday was preparing to leave. There were several seats still available, so we grabbed two and paid our $1.50 fares (for a two hour trip). The bus was not a non-stop express, but it was comfortable. When you are the biggest vehicle on the road, you can drive like a bat out of hell… and that’s what our driver did. Weaving in and out of traffic, driving with his horn, and bullying traffic that threatened to get in our way, we rammed our way to Arusha. The road is hard surfaced, and well maintained. Still, there are lots of speed bumps on roads in Tanzania, and there were many on this highway. No matter… our driver chose to ignore them, vaulting us out of our seats and launching our kidneys out the window.
By the way, our bus belongs to the Promises Bus Line, and written on the back and sides of our bus were the words “Prayer is our Hope.” You can say that again! I forgot to say that every time the bus stopped to pick up and drop off passengers (7 or 8 times in all), we were swarmed by vendors selling everything from perfume to peanuts to soap to Viagra to orange juice. Some of them stayed on the bus between stops and continued to proclaim the marvelous virtues of whatever it was they were selling. All in all, what an experience!
I’m glad to report that we made it to Arusha, safe and sound. But we were extremely happy to get off the bus. The bus station was a mad house. Actually, before we even de-bussed, guys were into the bus trying to persuade passengers to use their taxi to get to wherever in Arusha they were going. We needed a taxi, so I bargained (got the price down to Tsh 5000 from Tsh 10,000… this is not high finance, Tsh 5000 is $3.50) and we were taken to the Arusha Hotel in a relatively new cab with a pleasant driver.
The Arusha Hotel is very nice. We are going to enjoy the weekend. There’s a huge bathtub with a shower that has lots and lots of very hot water. The toilet works, and so does the air conditioner! While Jean stayed in the room to catch up with email, I roamed the area near the hotel. The streets and shops and sidewalks are much nicer than Moshi’s. I bought a Herald Tribune, found an ice cream shop, and purchased a liter of totally cold water.
Oh yes, and bought Jean a dozen roses for Valentine’s Day. They are quite pretty, and she was very pleased. Don’t tell her that the roses only cost $1.50.
As you can imagine, it took a very long time to bathe. There is dirt and dust in every nook and cranny of our bodies. Anyway, feeling clean and frisky, we took a taxi to a restaurant that had been recommended by a family friend (George Norris, son of Sue and Scott) who lived in Arusha while he interned with the United Nations at the Rwanda War Crimes Tribunal. George encouraged us to eat a meal at Khan’s Bar-Be-Que.
By day, Khan’s is an auto repair and spare parts shop. At 6:30 it turns into a bar-be-que joint. We had a wonderful time. The vegetable dishes, nan, and beef, lamb and chicken bar-be-que were fabulous and spicy. We’re so glad that George told us about the place. While eating at tables on the sidewalk, we invited a group of five to join us. They turned out to be from a church in Germany and in Tanzania (one for the 6th time) to discuss church related and community development projects with their Lutheran church partners in the Arusha and Moshi areas. For example, they donate cows to Tanzanian farmers who promise to give the first female offspring to a neighbor, etc. Anyway, we enjoyed visiting with this very congenial and talkative German group and learned a lot about foreign aid, church relations, and life in Tanzania. Jean and I ate far too much, but the food was great and the ambience was memorable. Around 9:00 we returned to the hotel, and are looking forward to a wonderful night of sleeping TOGETHER IN THE SAME BED! That makes up for my forgetting to bring the M&M’s bag along.
Now it’s Saturday, February 12, and our Valentine’s Weekend Getaway continues! We slept in, and by 9:30 were enjoying the hotel’s breakfast buffet. The first order of business for the day was to visit the gem dealer whose shop is in our hotel’s lobby to see about buying a Tanzanite stone.
Nina, who helped plan and book our safari, recommended him. His name is Eric Saul of Swala Gems and what a delightful young man he is. Eric lives in Paris, but operates this shop in Arusha, another in Dar es Salaam, and another in a western Tanzanian city. He was an excellent salesman, seemed to be honest, and gave us a very good price on our choice. We will take the Tanzanite back to Louisville and have a setting made for it there.
Our next task was to go to an optometrist downtown to have both of our eye glasses repaired. It was a Muslim operated business. They were very kind to us. Everything went well. Our glasses are once again in tip-top condition. If we don’t see straight this week, it can’t be blamed on the glasses we’re wearing.
Jean then devoted the next several hours to bringing the blog up to date. We are grateful for your patience and hope that you are enjoying the descriptions of our various adventures. While Jean was working at the laptop, I went to the lobby and read English newspapers. I was eager to catch up with developments in Egypt. Then it was time to roam the neighborhood. Remember the ice cream shop that was mentioned earlier? That was one of my stops. One scoop of mint and chocolate. Then it was off to various shops, including a grocery store, with lots of picture taking. My reason for entering shops was to look for a large piece puzzle for my orphans back in Moshi and a traditional Tanzanian musical instrument called a marimba. I enjoyed interesting chats with shopkeepers, but didn’t ever find what I was looking for. Along the way I saw a parade of decorated cars honking horns and carrying a newly married bride and groom, and also a band practicing on a church’s grounds (I assume for tomorrow’s worship service).
There are no stop lights in Moshi. Arusha is a vastly larger city. It has two stop lights (in a city of one million people). Traffic at busy and important intersections is effectively controlled by huge round-abouts. They work extremely well. Drivers cooperate and understand whose turn it is. Traffic moves very well. Be that as it may, the round-about outside our hotel contains a tall pillar with a large clock on top. This clock tower marks the geographical center of Africa, and is also the half-way point between Cairo and Cape Town.
While out and about earlier in the day, I learned that there was a large Mt. Meru Craft Market very close to our hotel. So when Jean was finished with her computer work, we walked to the market and encountered scores of vendors eager to sell their goods. It was a very colorful sight. They were eager to sell to Babu and his mama! We bought the marimba we were looking for, and Jean purchased a couple pieces of cheap jewelry that she didn’t really want (but bought in order to get away without causing disappointment at week’s end).
We finally left the market, returned to the hotel where we enjoyed a pick-us-up afternoon snack of a local brew and tasty potato chips. There we met two women from Florida who had just arrived in Arusha in advance of a safari which they will begin tomorrow morning. We enjoyed the visit, and they seemed to be interested in what we are doing. We strongly encouraged them to go to Khan’s Bar-be-Que for dinner tonight, but don’t know if they will be brave enough to venture away from the hotel and give it a try.
Our New Arusha Hotel’s grounds and gardens are extensive and attractive. While walking through the gardens as we returned to our room, we came upon a huge tent with beautifully decorated tables and a disc jockey setting ups his sound equipment. We learned that the Arusha Rotary Club will use the setup this evening to hold its annual Valentine Dance and Dinner. If Jean and I had dressier clothes along, I would have been tempted to see if we could attend.
As we have planned for this evening to be our Valentine’s Dinner night-out together, we decided to go to a highly regarded Chinese Restaurant nearby. The restaurant was very nice and clean, the service was attentive, and the food was outstanding. We enjoyed a meal of hot and sour soup. Korean kimchi, sweet and sour prawns with a fabulous sauce, a very tasty white rice, and Chinese tea. While we were eating, the skies began to thunder and lighten, and very soon it was raining. How refreshing. The air cooled down and smelled clean. People in the restaurant were very happy. Apparently they are as tired of hot and dusty conditions as we. We wonder if the rainy season, not expected until mid-March, will arrive early this year. Time will tell.
We returned to the hotel in a slight drizzle, and then began to bring the day and our very special weekend get-away to an end. Tomorrow morning at 7:00 we return to Moshi for a day of climbing part-way up Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain on the continent of Africa. This is something that we’ve wanted to do ever since we knew we were coming to Tanzania, so we hope that tomorrow will be a good day. In tomorrow’s posting, we’ll describe the climb.
We love you all very much, and wish you Lala Salama from Arusha.
Babu and Mama Jean
SPECIAL NOTE written on Sunday evening, Feb 13:
Well, the climb on Mt. Kilimanjaro didn’t happen. The tour company was two hours late to pick us up this morning, and then other difficulties took place along the way. By the time we were ready to begin the climb it was 12 noon. And it was raining very hard, and the mountain was engulfed in clouds. Since much of today’s trek would have been through a dense rain forest with constant rain, we decided to return to Moshi and try again on Tuesday which is a national holiday in honor of Mohammed’s birth. After two very active weeks, Jean and I were ready for a restful afternoon. We read, napped, ate popcorn, and looked at pictures of Ethiopia taken by another volunteer who recently visited Addis Ababa and Lalibela (the places we will visit in early March). Tomorrow is Monday, and it’s back to work!
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