Today is a national holiday here: Worker's Day. There are national celebrations taking place in Musoma and everyone has a day off. Usually the national celebrations consist of a parade of workers, speeches by politicians, etc., so the president is there in Musoma doing what needs to be done for the occasion. As I remember there is usually some promise of wage increases on this day, so we'll see if that happens this year. I'm sure all the workers are anxiously awaiting and hoping for an increase because I hear so often complaints about the increase in cost of living.
Yesterday I had an enjoyable morning visiting a lot of shops in downtown Arusha. I was looking for ballpark figure prices for things we'll need as we set up a new house and so decided to walk the main street to see what is available. And there I found some shops the same as years before and some very different. I have had in the past quite a lot of experience with shopping in Arusha, but a lot of that shopping was for books and school supplies or tractor spare parts. And I never needed gas or electric stoves nor refrigerators so looking at those things was a new experience for me. I remember some shops that sold household things, and they were really very ordinary and had not a lot of variety to choose from. Those same shops now are quite different -- spruced up, lots more things to choose from, nicely displayed and nice things to buy. Many of the goods are from UAE, Dubai, that area, but there are also things from Europe and East Asia. And the prices vary a great deal. At one shop I was looking at bed sheets and towels and noticed some blankets on the shelf. I asked where they were made (Korea) and the price and was told that they sold for the equivalent of almost $90.00! When I asked the price of the locally made blankets, the shop attendant told me that they didn't carry them. "But," I said, "you probably know the price, don't you?" And she told me that they are sold for less than $10.00! You can guess which blankets we'll buy.
There are stoves, mostly gas but some electric, simple ones without a lot of bells and whistles, ranging from about $300.00 to nearly $1000.00. The same is true for the prices of refrigerators. Some of the price variables come from size, some comes from where it's made. Anyway, it was interesting to see the variety of things available. Even before I left in 2004 there had been quite a lot of trade liberalization taking place, but now obviously there is a lot more.
I didn't bother looking at furniture because I know that we will have it made locally. There are local carpenters in every town who make furniture as you want it made. I'm sure we'll go with a simple frame with sponge cushions for couch and easy chairs, and that that will be relatively inexpensive. Beds will be the same: frame with wooden slats and a sponge mattress. I think I know the kind of mattress that lasts (the same kind we had at the school) so that will be fine. I notice that the manufacturer is still in business here in Arusha.
As I went around I remembered how much I enjoyed this kind of interaction with people, in shops or wherever. At one shop I went in to ask for directions and got into a long conversation with the shop attendant. One of the reasons that happens is that folks are surprised at my command of Swahili, and so they're interested to know all about me. When I was ready to go home, I engaged a taxi to bring me back here. The taxi driver and I also had a good conversation, and one thing I was interested to hear is how he, as a very young man, attributes the stability of the country to Nyerere. I thought that maybe after quite a long time since Nyerere was in power and ten years since his death, the young people may have moved on and forgotten his contributions to the country. Not so, and I was glad to hear that sense of history and gratitude from him.
Have a great month of May.
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