Day 4: Arusha Town

          That morning I got to go to the town of Arusha.  I had heard about it quite often from my baba when he would tell me stories.  It was nothing like the stories, and not just because the stories were all over twenty years old.  There seems to be one rule in Tanzania: if there is a paved road, there must be shops.  And no where were there more shops than in Arusha.  Even the underside of the bleachers of the ballparks were converted into shops.
          After driving around for a while, we went to a restaurant to eat lunch.  There I had Ugali for the first time in quite some time.  Ugali is corn meal mix with water.  It forms a kind of  dough that is rolled into little balls by hand and mixed with meat and vegetables.  It was pretty good.
          After that we went to the car wash.  Car washes in Tanzania are very different from those in the States.  And not just because there's no large automatic machine.  Here they wash the whole car, inside and out.  We went to a conveniently located bar and grill next door to shoot some pool and play cards while we waited.
          Then it was back to Uncle Mike's house.  This was actually his country house that the family didn't actually ever stay in.  Uncle Mike's family actually lives in the capital city, Dar es Salaam, but wouldn't be going back until the next day.  So I got to hang out with Isaac before he went back, and Paul as well.  I taught both of them how to play Mau, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time for Nau.  I would post the directions for how to play these games here, but unfortunately the first rule of each is that you have to win before you can be told the rules.  Maybe I can play you sometime though and teach you then? }:)
          That afternoon I took a break from cards and went with my baba to Grandma's house to give her her necklace.  My sister Anande had had the awesome idea of buying Grandma a necklace, since none of us had ever been to see her.  This turned out to be an even better idea than we thought.  You see, according to Meru custom, since I am named after my grandfather, I sort of represent him.  Actually, it's more like I am him.  Furthermore, instead of giving a ring when proposing marriage, the man gives a necklace.
          Thus, me giving Grandma a necklace was comparable to her husband renewing their marriage vows.  Needless to say, she was very, very, happy.  She started singing old traditional songs and dancing.  Everyone said that I had made her into a young girl again.  My only regret is that I did not think to get the whole thing on video!  Ah well, I can always buy her another necklace! :P
          Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you the most exciting part of the whole day.  After giving Grandma her necklace, I went back to Uncle Mike's place to hang out with Isaac one last time before he left for Dar.  I stayed really late, so that the front and back doors had already been locked up for the night.  Now in Tanzania, like in many other countries, they haven't caught on to dead bolt locks that have knobs on one side and key locks on the other.  Instead, both sides have key locks, which means you have to use a key to lock the door, even if you are inside the house.
          It also means that if you loose said key after locking all the doors, you can get locked it.  Nor is it a simple matter of "Here we go thought the window again".  All the windows on Uncle Mike's place, like every other building in Tanzania, had immovable iron bars across them.  So, we were locked in.  I can appreciate having tight security to protect the place, but this was a bit much.  We might as well have been locked in jail.  Just as I was giving into the inevitable and looking for a place to sleep (we had enough food and water for the moment), one of the guards from the gate came up and helped us get the back door open.
          Freedom really is a sweet thing.


E’ya! - Tate


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