Saturday, February 23rd
Returning from our four day safari, I had fully intended to book an early ticket for the Dar Express for Saturday morning, but instead decided to give Arusha one more day... maybe it was the warm Kilimanjaro beer, or possibly Olivier's promise that we would do something "really interesting" on Saturday... anyway, I stayed. Saturday morning, after a small breakfast and thick, dark Tanzanian coffee (I'm constantly amazed at the food here.... it's a far cry from my cheese toast days in Palghar!), we headed off. To say that we had a plan would be a gross overstatement... basically, after getting to the town square (indicated by an intricately carved clock tower and large elephant statue), we hopped on the first available dalla-dalla (overcrowded minivan) and vowed to take it to the last stop. After about 20 sweaty, occasionally hair-rasing minutes, we disembarked on what must have been the main street of a village just outside of Arusha. Dusting off, we unpacked our cameras and began walking... snapping photos alongside Olivier, I felt like a real photographer :). It was difficult at first... a lot of people didn't want their photograph taken or demanded money; several women followed us, yelling. But eventually we found some children who thought we were hysterical, and after half an hour with them, we settled down in a shady spot for a break. Sitting across from a fantastic background (a light brown, crumbling building with painted green windows), we waited for people to stop or walk by, being as inconspicuous as possible. A few minutes into this, an adorable little girl - she was about 10 - sat down next to me and very confidently asked my name. She turned out to speak fluent English (!!), and invited us to meet her father. Intrigued by this adorable girl with a faint British accent, we obliged...
Following her, we entered a tiny two-room apartment and were welcomed into the makeshift kitchen (several buckets and an electric stove top, partitioned from the living room by a plastic tarp). Her father, shirtless and Buddha-bellied, sat on a short stool straining colored water; He welcomed us warmly. Samuel is a schoolteacher; he's fluent in English and received a university degree in Dar Es Salaam. However, as a teacher, he makes less than $200 per month - not enough to take care of his family and send his two daughters to a decent school. So, on the side, he makes and sells ice cream (his wife has a small cart that she takes to schools and nearby markets). With this, they're able to make an additional $40-50 per month - more than a quarter of his regular income! This, sadly, reminded me of my own father... back in Ukraine, even though he was a university-trained engineer, working full time, he barely made enough to make ends meet. So, o the side, he would illegally import wallpaper from Poland and the Check Republic, and spent the weekends pasting it in apartments around Kiev. It's nothing short of a tragedy that these critical professionals - teachers, doctors, engineers - continue to get such horribly low wages, forcing them to take on side-jobs instead of focusing fully on their work. Tanzania may not be the former USSR, but watching Samuel straining water... well, corrupt government and ridiculous social policies have the same impact on any continent.
Samuel and his daughters walked us back to Masai camp, stopping along the way to let us (and often help us) take photographs... the older daughter, Maureen, was incredibly brave and asked me outright if I would teach her to use my camera! A few minutes later, this tiny little girl was clicking away - and doing a pretty good job! I guess anyone can be a photographer :). Olivier got some great shots of her taking photographs - I'll post those up as well (soon, I promise!). Samuel invited us to come to his school on Monday, and... well, how could I refuse? So that's how I ended up staying in Arusha for yet another two days... thank goodness for copious beer, thick pizzas, and loud rock music at Masai camp to keep me, um, occupied...
Monday, February 25th
Olivier and I were both feeling sick this morning... it was probably just the heat, but we agreed to take it easy. Somehow this translated into an hour walk in the scorching sun (!!) in search of a photo shop (we wanted to print out some of Maureen's photographs as a gift). Eventually we found it (but had basically walked a giant, unnecessary loop). We then caught a taxi to Samuel's school... and were shocked. This IS Africa, after all... we came expecting dilapidated buildings and dirty children... what we found instead were neat, freshly-painted classrooms, giant blackboards, and well-fed little kids running around in navy uniforms. Samuel explained that this was a fairly elite private school, primarily with Indian children (over the past 50 years, Indians have formed a small but prosperous community in Tanzania, running many of the shops and financial institutions). Samuel's daughters could go here for free, but would then be unlikely to get into secondary school (you can only go to certain secondary schools based on where you went to primary school, and this one only led to expensive options that would be unaffordable to him). So instead, he pays $90 per month for each daughter to attend an all-African school, where, unlike this one, they have to share desks, chairs, and even notebooks. We would have gone to visit them as well but I was really feeling hot and exhausted by this time, so we headed back to camp. Aside from a few photographs, I managed to take away yet another lesson from Africa - not everything is what you would expect, but then sometimes, it is. I hope, at the least, that Maureen likes the photographs... a part of me wanted to stay and help somehow, but then what can I do? I will leave, and Africa will continue on as it always has.
Tuesday, February 26th - Wednesday, February 27th
Finally, after an extra 3 days in Arusha, I caught the 6am bus (the right one this time!) for Dar es Salaam. The bus ride went smoothly (no chickens this time), and I arrived at the port with enough time to catch the 4:15 ferry for Zanzibar. Now, astute readers will note that this means I have about 36 hours in Zanzibar before I have to take the ferry back over to Dar and fly out to Johannesburg Thursday afternoon... so, in New York Times fashion, my next post will be infamously named: 36 Hours in Zanzibar. Until then, good night!
Samuel with his daughters, making ice cream; Arusha, Tanzania
1 comment:
I love reading about your adventures!!!
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