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What is it with me and Canada Day?
Last year, I was on the road to a place I had never been to before. This year, I find myself in the same situation.
I was picked up at 7AM and the team of four headed to the Arusha Region. All was going well for the first 4 hours until we came to an accident on the two lane road heading north to Arusha. We are all fine, but there was an accident up ahead and the truck was blocking both lanes of the two lane road. It meant we had to get out of the car and stare at eachother (and the Tanzanians are good at staring!) until we could move. We stared for one hour.... Okay, they stared, I thought to myself, "this is stupid" and decided to take pictures.
Accidents and the line-ups they cause appear to be a social event. People get out of their vehicles... cars, trucks, buses, whatever and stand on the side of the road and chat with one another (when they aren't staring at the 6 foot white guy with white hair).
The kids who live in the area of
where the accident takes place become very enterprising... Out of nowhere, motorcycles pull up and kids jump off them carrying trays of oranges, bags of oranges, boxes of cold drinks... whatever they can sell to the people who are standing around and staring.
We waited for an hour before the traffic moved. At home, you would get frustrated. Here, you just accept it and wait it out.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived in Arusha Town at approximately 5:30PM. We started looking at hotels... and get this... they have two prices... one for Tanzanians and ones for Muzungus... For the Tanzanians, it would cost them 30,000 Tsh (approximately $20 CAD). For me? $40 USD... They thought they were smart until I whipped out my passport that says I had residency status, so they had to give it to me at the local rate.
Can't blame them, they are trying to make a buck, BUT I now know what it feels like to be treated differently because of skin colour. This is the first time in a year that it has been so blatant. I am sure it is also because this is such
a tourist area and they know how to get every last cent out of us. I am not complaining, just stating the facts.
I am not in my hotel room and ready for bed. Tomorrow, we head to the district of Karatu to meet the potential candidates and get to work.
Okay, this is a good question to ask on Canada Day... Who do you prefer, Celine Dion or Shania Twain?
By the way, I heard Celine Dion singing twice today... I could have lived without that.
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Jeff
non-member comment
Happy Canada Day Bob
We miss you. The country just isn't the same without you!