Dr Kap's Tanzanian Summer: Bits and Pieces

Ok, gross, there was just a tv ad for snail "gel" to spread on your face and body-gets rid of wrinkles, brown spots, stretch marks, smooths the whole body. EWWWWW

Today, Saturday, I went with Anna and Rama (the contract driver) drove to check out a conference facility. It was a long drive, or maybe it was the traffic. This road is the busiest one in Dar-the main road to and from the rest of Tanzania so there are many many vehicles and humongous trucks, over-packed buses, tuk-tuks (sp?), pedestrians, on and on. Seemed about 2 hours but I'm still fascinated looking at the places people live and shop and the trees and mud and ditches. This road has some ditches that were concrete. some still being dug out and some dirt. I'm guessing they are for rain runoff since everything would drown in the rainy season, I'm not sure what else it's used for. Oh, then again, I did see a boy climb down into a ditch (like the other day, 5'? more? seem at least as deep as I am tall), he walks over to the drain pipe (dirt on top forms a bridge for pedestrians and vehicles between road and shops), and unzips his fly. Then I saw an adult man do the same. Once again the conveniences are for men!! And so this was a lesson about drainage, water and sewer supplies, cleanliness, etc.

We have to drive into this area of "shops"-shacks, beach umbrellas, stalls really where folks are selling food, clothes, material, buckets, brooms, bicycles and tires, cars and car parts. A very bumpy drive over rocks and big holes and trying to avoid people and vehicles. We carefully follow up a hill and here is this building, behind a guarded gate of course. It's plain, looks like common grey office buildings, with a tiny reception desk and a larger office where we are led to the person to negotiate with . She takes us on a tour, outside, down several short stone staircases into a little courtyard surrounded by doors to rooms. Really looked like a convent to me. ok, what I guess a convent looks like. She shows us 3 rooms. convent-like. One bed, concrete walls and floor, overhead fan, mosquito net, stall shower, the world's smallest sink, no towel. Oh, and no windows. Didn't feel clean and I was just thinking, yes I'm spoiled, I cannot see me staying here one night never mind possibly a week! Am I spoiled? The meeting rooms were small, each in a separate building, too small, then we stopped at the more public bathroom. Oh kayyy, hole in the floor. A little voice is going "please please Anna, no no no not here". We returned to the car, thankfully she shook her head, nope, not good enough for her either, she even mentioned the outside walls of stone had no upkeep. I was soo grateful! tomorrow morning (Sunday) we are going to try another place, leaving at 9am.

Roads are pretty scary, I've never seen trucks, cars, buses so over-loaded that they tilt. We were behind a truck that had lumber piled on the back, there were ropes tying the bundle but they bounced around, tilted towards the road, and no, no little red flag on the end. Then the bus in front of us, I thought maybe the road tilted but nope. It was the weight in the bus--people stuffed in hanging out doors and windows. Then it turned the corner and tipped. Quite a bit. But the driver caught it somehow and it just went on. Construction crews on very slanted roofs framing floors that are off kilter. Things I would really want photos of so they can show themselves. But, from a moving car with blacked out windows it's hard to take pictures.

It is these moments I think about those tea party & repugs clamoring about less government and here we are packed in traffic and police types or army? or troopers? are pulling cars and trucks over not for bad or unsafe driving but to see if they are insured, issuing tickets you can pay on the spot. The little corruptions. So here is the govt that has laws but people don't pay attention-stop lights & signs, would they really like to live with coal trucks, lumber trucks, buses, crashes --really, the newspaper prints the license plates of cars in accidents, including when someone is killed (common), No sewer systems, very few paved roads, lots of potholes (today the one we always drive around was filled with big rocks... thanks for helping there. No street lights, no control over public transit or how many people fit in a bus, ferry, cars with piles of mattresses tied to the roof or pouring out of the trunk, I saw a Masai man on the street with a very sturdy knife in a holster on his hip, blade was about 2 ft, really, they are tall very thin people, and nobody is disturbed, many hire them for guard work-they are warriors. The richest have kids in private schools and live behind walls and guards. The poor are outside cutting the grass with scythes. It suddenly occurred to me that I never hear lawnmowers, they cut by hand with blades. I see here how things we take for granted, even down to whether we are ok driving next to a truck towing 2 huge tanks of fuel, or the tallest truck I've ever seen. Those "little govt" people would wimp out even with private drivers, schools, homes, etc.