An Arusha Day (and night)

Mike using chopsticks

no idea what's going on here

crazy tree

Tunasoma Kiswahili!

Almost  five weeks in Arusha! Saturday was a day full of local activities. Danielle and I started the day by getting into a taxi to go to the Arusha Community Church, our Saturday teaching location, only to find out that the taxi driver didn’t know where it was and we didn’t know how to find it from where we were either! A phone call to Mike, our Swahili teacher, saved the day. In general I am gradually getting oriented to where things are in Arusha in relation to each other. Arusha is not a very big city, but many of the streets do not have names, or people don’t use the names, and recognizing landmarks is essential. There are only two traffic lights in the whole city. They make great landmarks.

After the morning of teaching violin (me) and voice (Danielle), Mike arrived for our fourth Swahili lesson. It was fast-paced and challenging.  I think both Danielle and I are starting to catch on. Mnafanya nini? Tunasoma Kiswahili. Unafanya kazi gani? Ninafundisha violin. Leo utakwenda lini? Nitakwenda shuleni.

Next we had our first experience riding in a dalla dalla, the local mini bus. Dalla dallas run along all the major routes and are very inexpensive, but also crowded. Every available space is filled and then some. I had my violin and backpack yesterday and had to take extra care not to poke someone in the head with my music stand. Generally it is best not to carry too much stuff when taking a dalla dalla.  It is a good thing Mike was with us, because we would not have known where our stop was. (I still wonder how to tell where you are when it’s too crowded to see out the window…) I am looking forward to taking more dalla dallas in the future; it is definitely a slice of life.

Danielle, Mike and I went for Chinese food, and in a reversal of roles I taught Mike how to use chopsticks. He was a very quick student. Afterwards we went for a walk around a neighbourhood with restaurants, tree-lined streets and a park. [pictures] Then Mike took us on another Dalla dalla to meet some friends for a drink at a Tanzanian bar before we headed home.

In the evening we went to Empire to hear a live reggae band. Lots of Bob Marley covers, but also reggae versions of Tracy Chapman and Lionel Richie. (Interesting!) The band also played some Soukous and other African styles. The night ended with dancing at Maasai Camp, a happening nightclub at a backpackers hostel. (Line dancing in Tanzania…. whaat?? I thought line dancing went out with the 80’s…) Some of the music was in Swahili, but some was the same as would be heard in a club in North America. A very diverse mix of people of all ages and from all over the world, and a delicious plate of chips (fries) at 3 in the morning… I can think of a lot worse ways to spend a night! All in all it was a good day and one that went a long way toward my feeling that Arusha is home.