Highlights3

Posted by Ali

Highlights of my third last week in Tanzania:

• Maasai Market ~ Less than an hour after arriving back on the ADRA campus after the bus trip back from Tanga, Jordan called me to say that she and Ruth were heading into Arusha to shop at the Maasai Market and asked if I wanted to come along. Since I wasn't planning to work that afternoon, I decided to join them. I'm so glad I did because it gave me the opportunity to begin the rather large task of buying souvenirs (for myself and for others) before I head home, which, of course, I have been putting off. I had a great time hanging out with Ruth and Jordan and doing some bargaining for the items I really wanted. (One of the shop owners told me I was like a Chaga, one of the tribes in the Kilimanjaro Region. They are known for their good business sense and hard bargaining. Me? Good business sense? I took it as a complement, especially since our taxi driver, Almas, has told me that before, too.) My favourite item I bought: a Maasai shuka (blanket) for 7,000 Tshs (Almas recently bought one for 8,000 :)

• Comforting sick babies ~ Almost all of the kids were sick this week. That meant more vomit, poop, snot and tears than normal. But it also meant docile, non-energetic kids to cuddle :)

Hope snuggles with Bekki

• Cute pictures ~ On Sunday, while I was in Tanga, Davona and some of the volunteers took several of the older Cradle toddlers to the Mama Africa circus. Although the kids were sick, Kezia was able to capture some adorable pictures. Then on Monday a volunteer clown visited the kids and nannies at Cradle and Kezia took even more cute pictures. Yay for circuses and clowns that make kids smile!

Clown Hopu
Photo credit: Kezia T.K.

• Girl talks ~ The other volunteers in the Cradle apartment and I have had some really good girl talks lately. It's been lots of fun. I love having other girls on campus!
• Holiday ~ When I got to work on Tuesday the campus seemed really deserted so I checked the calendar. That day wasn't a holiday but I noticed that Thursday was. So instead of having a four-day week, we had a three-day one! And instead of sitting at a desk for eight hours Kezia and I took the daladala into Arusha, visited a bookstore (where I caved and spent money on adorable kids books), walked a lot, bargained for DVDs and sandals at stands along the side of the road, and eventually made it to the Maasai Market. I got a lot more things to bring home. We had a blast! I love going there with friends and making more friends at the different stalls.

• Sign washing ~ On our walk down the main road in Arusha to the Maasai Market we saw sign washers on the roof of a building. It made me happy so I snapped a picture, trying to be discrete, of course.

• Old money ~ While at the Maasai Market with Kezia I spotted a stall with a money display. The man who owned the stall encouraged me to come in and when he saw I was interested in the display, told me it was old money for sale. I browsed a small photo album filled with bills and realized they weren't old bills at all, just ones from other countries: Mozambique, Kenya, South Africa, even a very dirty and worn U.S. dollar bill. Then I sifted through the basket of coins. Many of them were so "old" (read, used) that their pictures were mostly worn off. Suddenly I spotted one very familiar coin, an American penny. "Look, Kezia," I said, holding up the coin, "this is for sale. That's hilarious!" "That is funny. I wonder how much he's selling it for," she remarked. I turned back to the owner. "Shingape?" (how many shillings?) I asked, pointing to the penny. "Elfu tano," he replied with confidence. "ELFU TANO! Kezia, they want 5,000 shillings for a penny!!" I laughed as I tossed the coin back into the basket. "Ghali sana! (too expensive)" I said to the owner. "In America that coin is worth less than 50 shillings." He shrugged and just laughed along with me. I took a picture to remember the incident. He wanted me to pay 1,000 shillings for the picture. I sneaked off to the next stall.

• Mama Mollel & a Canadian flag ~ We left the Maasai Market the same way we had come in. I tried again to bargain down the price for a cute orange-hearted kanga with some ladies. They wouldn't budge from their price and I knew it was too much so we continued on. At the end of the aisle a lady asked us into her shop, the last one before we left the Market. I spotted a very familiar design. "You have a Canadian flag! Where did you get it?" I asked, excitedly pointing at the shop window. She plucked it from its spot. "Some Canadian tourists gave it to me once. They were very nice." We talked back and forth and when I told her I was Canadian she assured me she very much liked the people from my country. She also informed Kezia that she approved of Danish people. When I asked if I could get a picture of her and me with the Canadian flag she happily agreed but wanted to find her Tanzanian flag for me to hold. She rummaged around without any luck so finally picked up a Tanzanian-coloured bracelet from her table of trinkets for me to hold. Once Kezia had snapped the picture, the lady told us we were so nice that she would give us gifts, one of the bracelets each. Her ploy worked...we both bought something else from her shop. Just before we left we asked her name. Now I will always remember Mama Mollel, the Maasai women who proudly displayed her Canadian flag in the window of her shop.

Tanzania and Canada unite

• Lazaro's love life ~ Lazaro is a little skunk. One evening last week Danielle and Kezia told me that during preschool that day he announced that Tessa was his girlfriend and they would get married. He has been "dating" her for a while, always calling her to come sit beside him, putting his arm around her and giving her special attention in general. On Friday evening he decided it was about time to break her heart. "No, Tessa move! Not you Tessa, Nina," he insisted at one point early on in the evening. "Nina, come here. Sit down." He pushed Tessa away, making room for a different triplet. Anya, apparently unconcerned that Lazaro couldn't tell her and her identical sister Nina apart, glided into her appointed place, effectively earning Lazaro's favour while sealing Tessa's misery. Tessa wailed. Although she's Kezia's girl, at the moment Nina and James were taking all Kezia's attention so I held out my arms. Tessa ran to them, curled into my lap and sobbed her grief at being so swiftly and totally replaced. I whispered words of consolation. A few minutes later Anya had bored of Lazaro's game and stood up to walk around the room in my flip-flops. Lazaro, with no one to left to boss around, called sweetly over to Tessa. "Tessa, look. There's room. Come sit by me." She sat up, stared at him to make sure it was true, then leapt from my lap and dashed to Lazaro's side. She was overjoyed at again being number one in his life. The happiness didn't last long as the same scenario happened several more times that night, once or twice again with Anya and another time with Mariam who had settled herself nearby and became Lazaro's new "girlfriend" without her knowledge when he slid over to her side after again banishing Tessa. Apparently Tessa is a very forgiving soul because the next night she was again at Lazaro's side, heeding his every beck and call.

Lazaro & Tessa - young love

• More chance to travel ~ We're going to do the next albino registration day this Sunday in Moshi. Should be a bit different from Tanga. We'll see how it goes.