Coffee shops and Ice Cream
Trip Start
May 25, 2005
1
254
284
Trip End
Ongoing
Moshi,
Tanzania
Sunday, December 9, 2007
It was 5am and after a night with no electricity, I was up and determined to be at the Precision Air office by 6am. I needed to be sure that if everything else failed, I would still have time to get to the airport. My time in Tanzania was done.
Checking out I woke up the Kindoroko attendant. No receipt was offered today as I struggled in to the taxi. 5:50am.
'Do you know if the shuttle runs today?' I asked the taxi driver
"Probably. It should. But you never know."
We arrived at the office, which was the other side of the roundabout completely, (infact the right, not left side) than described by the travel desk attendant. The taxi driver, keen for a fare later in the day, went to find out the times. The shuttle was at 5:45am or 9am.
"Do you want to go back to the hostel?" he asked me
'No thanks. I think I will wait here.' Considering it was already light and I couldn't afford to miss any emerging shuttle, I thought it was best to wait.
'Ok, I'll come back and see if you are Ok later.' and I knew he meant it. If nothing else, Tanzanians are kind, and thoughtful and caring. I knew I would be fine. Either way I would get to the airport today.
I unloaded my baggage and stumbled in to the 'Ice Cream' parlor next door to the office. They had no ice cream, but inside a lady was frying batter and a big urn was steaming with hot water. The stairs along the back wall went to her bedroom, where her husband made more food, boiled eggs and produced muffins. There was no one around, and I sat down on one of her benches, wishing I could order something without having to make a jog to a secret alley latrine as it was certain that no bathroom would exist. Another lady came in with bags and sat down. She was also waiting for the shuttle for an earlier flight and was very late. But it provided me with a comrade in arms, and seemed to help explain why I was sitting there in the cafe.
Moshi slowly awoke. It was a Sunday morning and the odd person began to wander. Men, police officers and the occasional lady came in and washed their hands in the tub before ordering tea and eggs. It was quite. No chat or radio. It was a simple thing; eat and be gone.
Three hours to go. I pulled out my cell phone - the one with no vital signs apart from battery. It hadn't told me anything useful apart from the time in weeks. I scrolled through the menus, idling my mind away, thinking of the day ahead.
Ahhh. Backgammon. I game I have never known how to play. The instructions seemed quite blank, but slowly, as the minutes moved away, I began to understand the logic of failure and upped the levels to the end. The computer gave up. I suppose I taught myself to play, and thanked my luck for having something to focus on. My tummy continued to rumble.
