Leaving Africa

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  Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Sunday, March 8, 2009

I'm just about to leave Tanzania and have a little under 2 days of traveling to look forward to as I make my way to India, stopping first in Johannasburg and then in Hong Kong and finally in Delhi. I had two days in Dar Es Salaam after my time in Zanzibar. I took an overnight ferry back to the mainland of Tanzania and had a surprisingly fine ride. I then spent the day Friday getting my India visa, which I got!! Finally! I was a bit concerned seeing as I was leaving on Sunday for India. Won't go into the whoel story because I have it and that is the most important part.

Friday evening I spent with Esther, the friend that Elias put me in touch with. We went out for delicious BBQ dinner, nyamachame (meat) and ndizi (bananas) and watched some group perform some traditional dances as a fundraiser for a youth organization.

Saturday I took a walk to Kikoni fish market. It was a pretty crazy (and smelly) place! Didn't spend too long because then I went and met Esther and she took me around for the rest of the day. We went to a big shopping district with a huge indoor market that had just about everything you could imagine-clothes, home goods, food, tailors. The food section was pretty scary because you had to walk underground to get there and it was a pretty scary pathway, with lots of people sitting/sleeping along it and reaching out and begging. But, Esther didn't seem to mind at all. Not the most pleasant smelling, either! We then took a dala dala a little ways out of the city center and visited a museum that had models of all the different tribal houses. It was pretty interesting. I got to see the traditional Chagga house, which is the tribe near Kilimanjaro, where I had stayed. We ran into a guy that Esther had gone to school with who is now and artist and he showed us his paintings, which were really beautiful.

We then went to a traiditional crafts market and saw all the local handicrafts. Esther tried to buy a belt but they charged her too much, just because she was with a mzungu!! So, it's not just me they try to rip off, anyone with me gets ripped off as well.

We went to Esther's apartment after that, first stopping in a market near to where she lives. It's a nice little community and we ran into many friends of hers. I saw her church, where she performs in a choir, and met many of the other choir members. Where she lives there was a courtyard and many of her neighbors were sitting outside. They looked pretty surprised to see me and were all very friendly. She sent one of the little kids to buy us sodas and he seemed very excited to be doing something for us!

We met a friend of Esther's for dinner, Nkuka. He took us out for nyamachama again. It was especially delicious this time. It was a pretty nice restaurant, where everyone was dressed up and very crowded. We stayed pretty late and then they rode in a taxi with me back to my hotel because they didn't want to send me on my own back to town. It was very nice of them. I got to bed pretty late and am a bit tired now, seeing as I had to get up at 4 am to get to the airport. Of course South African Airways had told me to get to the airport by 5 am but when I arrived, noone from SAA was there. ALl the other airlines were there, checking in passengers but at SAA there was just a line of passengers. They finally arrived at 5:30. So, now I"m all checked in and waiting for another long travel day (or two!)

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