Wow! I just realized we leave Tanzania three months from today on January 9.. Don has got our trip home all booked. This time we will travel EAST and it will take six weeks before we are back in Walla Walla! We used a travel agent to help with flights because it is a rather complicated trip. We will stay approximately a week in Phuket, Bangkok, two places in the Fiji Islands and Cabo San Lucas where we will be joined by all three sons.
We wanted to be in Tanzania through the holidays at least once and we picked a doozy of year because Seth (Erik's son) and family will be here for Christmas. More on those plans another time.
Attached are some pictures of typical places to buy produce. Even nice stores sell the produce outside in little shacks. The last picture is outside a particularly upscale store. I only took pictures without people in them because it is considered rude to take pictures without people's consent.
I try to walk every day. I have chosen a route that winds up the mountain and has a soccer field on top. This route is not heavily traveled by vehicles so there is less dust. On clear days there is the most glorious view of Mt Meru. I encounter people along the road and I will share some of these interactions and observations.
Tanzanians tend to be very soft spoken and rather shy. When meeting someone going the opposite way, they don't look at you (well I stare at the ground too because the path is so rough) and they tend to wait until they are next to you or even past before uttering a greeting. Invariably, if you pause to visit a minute, they will ask, "Where are you going?" Don says this happens when he is bike riding too. It must seem strange to them that we have no destination in mind.
I asked a man with a stop watch, who was timing what looked like world class runners going FAST around the soccer field, if he knew the distance of one lap. He said 550 meters. So three laps is one mile. Orjantan heard Don telling me how far he rides his bike to work and I told him about the length of my walks. Orjantan said he found this discussion hilarious. He said no Tanzania wonders about such things. You just walk where you need to go and never think about how far it is. In fact, if you ask a Tanzania how far some place is, the pat answer is, "Not far."
I pass several school yards on my way. Little girls, especially, seem to find me fascinating. They drop what they are doing and run full speed to greet me. It is hard to tell how old they are because they are so small. So many are "stunted" from malnutrition. They love to touch me and grab my hand. Sometimes I have three girls holding each hand. That tends to slow me up! One little girl looked at me so adoringly and said, "You are so beautiful (I am in my oversized t-shirt and stretchy pants wearing a sweat band). I especially love your hat!" I definitely feel like a novelty. The boys play a different game. They take turns as if on a relay running up and touching me and then running away. Or they hold out their hand and say, "Money?" I have started answering by saying, "Money? You want to give me money?" They laugh and run away.
One day I passed a school and there was a group of men talking. One looked like a professor wearing a suit coat, trousers and dress shoes. Another had on a jean jacket and a jaunty sporty hat. Next was a traditionally dressed Maasai with red robes, tire sandals and a long walking stick. The last two were wearing PINK puffy ski jackets. You see everything!
I must mention the smell. In addition to dust, there is the stench of burning garbage. If too many households burn at the same time, it makes my eyes water. Unfortunately they burn plastic along with leaves and other garbage.
One day I could hear chopping which is not unusual because people are always gathering and chopping wood for cooking over outdoor fires. Suddenly, I heard a cracking sound which I recognized from my wood gathering days with my father. It sounded like a tree coming DOWN! I looked up in time to see a huge branch coming down on top of me! I RAN to the other side of the road. Thankfully, a motorcycle did not collide with me while I was in flight mode! I only had a few small branches fall on my head and shoulders. The bulk of the branch was caught by a hedge which was leveled. There was a man way up in the tree holding a machete. I hollered , "WHAT?! WATCH OUT!!!" He answered back meekly, "Sorry." I see that leveled hedge everyday along with the broken off branch and I am thankful to be alive and writing about it. I have never had that happen at home!
Wema's family feels pretty at home at our house. One thing they love are my ice cubes. One day Orjantan said, "Debi, there is something I do not understand. How do you get your ice in such perfect little squares?"
It took me a second to wrap my head around the question. Can you imagine not knowing about ice cube trays? I think it illustrates well the gulf between industrialized nations and the developing world. I can't help wonder what the world would be like if more people could experience what life is like for 80% of the world's population. I know it has opened my eyes....and my heart..
❤️Debi
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