I didn’t manage to write last weekend nor throughout the
week. It was a busy week because I
taught four or five hours every day besides having the little ones (20 strong,
on our porch, in the heat) in the afternoon.
Sometimes I think I’m getting too old for this!!
But I went “downtown” a couple times and thought readers of
these ramblings might be interested in those experiences. First of all, the distance from our house to get
downtown is about six kilometers, not far and on a good road. BUT the traffic has increased dramatically since
our coming to Dodoma four years ago. Although there are
plans for a road that bypasses the main part of the city, that isn’t the case
right now and all the truck traffic which comes and goes from the port in Dar
es Salaam upcountry to here, Singida, Tabora, Shinyanga, Mwanza,
Bukoba, Musoma, etc. goes right through the town of Dodoma. Besides the trucks on the road there are hundreds of “daladalas”,
small mini-buses that carry folks from one part of the city to another. And they’re always looking for passengers
(aka money) so they zip around trying to get ahead of one another. And then there are the motorcycles – hundreds
of motorcycles. A lot of transport is
carried out by young men on motorcycles these days since they will take
passengers anywhere around the town for a much cheaper price than a taxi. And we can’t forget the bicycles, many
carrying loads on the back, nor can we forget the people on foot. Dodoma is a town which has almost no
sidewalks, so people walk on the road along with all the other things
mentioned, and now and again there are cows as well. So observant and defensive driving is the name of the game.
To get a perspective on the size of Dodoma, the 2012 census
report says the population of the municipality of Dodoma is 411,000. That population swells considerably at times
like now, when Parliament is in session.
Not only do we have the influx of all those elected representatives of
government but also all the other folks who are support staff and other people
who travel here in order to meet with parliamentarians. Plenty of people around.
Since it is my week to cook, I went to the market on Monday
after classes. I always go with a big
basket and before I get very far in the market, some young boy, probably about
13 – 15 years old, usually comes along and asks if he can carry my basket. I always say “yes” since it gets heavy before
I’m finished. So around the market we
go, and before long my basket is filled with carrots, green beans, peas, a big
cabbage, cucumbers, green peppers, potatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, avocados,
oranges, mangoes, lemons – anything and everything that is in season. The market also has dried grains and cereals
(rice, lentils, beans, etc.) but I didn’t need any of that this week but we
stopped to pick up a half dozen of eggs on the way out. My “helper” insisted that the seller put some
rice hulls in the bag before putting the eggs so that they wouldn’t break, and
then he also insisted on carrying them instead of letting me carry them. And then we left the market for where the car
was parked, about a half block away, and for all this service I paid him the
equivalent of 25 cents. He was very
grateful, and off he went looking for another old lady for whom he could carry
her basket!
Another service that I had done for me last week was a car
wash. Two young men spent about 45
minutes cleaning a very dirty car. The
place where they work has a power wash and a vacuum so they did a fantastic job
and the car shines. They also informed
me that a tire needed air so made sure I got it put in before I left. And that service cost the equivalent of $2.50
and then I added a tip of 50 cents.
Again these kids were happy that they’re working AND got a tip
besides! There is so much youth
unemployment in Tanzania.
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