congo line in Tanzania

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Yesterday was another long day of work. Jacob (who has been helping me with all of the details of this study) arranged for us to have a meeting at RTI since they are partners on the project. One of the JHU drivers (there are 7 of them!) took us downtown to a high rise where the RTI office is located. It was a bit weird going in there after working for them for 2 years, but I was never in the international development program (although I helped them to write a couple of USAID proposals). The meeting was uneventful, except for when the electricity went out while I was in the bathroom. Luckily it came back on within 20 seconds, but it was pitch black until then.

Last night I went to a wrap party at a place called the Village Museum. The party was to celebrate the end of the Wahapahapa serial radio drama put on as part of the same 5-year grant as the Fataki campaign. Wahapahapa is a series about people living with HIV, or who are at risk of getting it (www.wahapahapa.com). The party was outside, where there was a stage with several drummers seated in a row. A group of dancers came out and performed for a while. So impressive! The men were so energetic it made me feel exhausted just watching them shake their entire bodies to the beat of the drumming, and the women shook their asses like you would not believe! A contortionist performed afterwards, many of his positions making me cringe (like when he used his arms as a jump rope).

After all of the dancing, the band that played the songs for the Wahapahapa series performed, and several people were motivated to get up and dance. Eventually a congo line formed, as I was dragged up by my colleagues. We formed a circle, and some of the dancers that performed earlier broke it down again in the middle. I’ve never seen behinds shake so fast!

The food was a buffet of local cuisine. Most of it was unidentifiable in the dim outdoor light, but I ate some fried chicken, rice, and chapatti. I also had a Savannah Dry Cider, which was delicious on such a hot, humid night! I have only ever seen Savannah in South Africa, so it was quite a treat.

I somehow slept a full 12 hours last night, sleeping straight through breakfast. I woke up around 11am, took my bath, and had lunch at the hotel. I then walked along the dirt roads out to the main road to a spa called The Spot. I had a lovely facial, which was very relaxing, except for the 5 minutes or so that the woman left me in the room with hot steam blowing in my face. The other weird thing was when she used a little tool to scrape my pores clean while peering at them through a magnifying glass. Otherwise it was nice. The place is owned by a Greek woman, who chatted me up before I left. She told me how she is always happy when American women come in because they are friendly and smiley. Good! I said, thankful that Americans left a good impression somewhere in the world!

On the walk back I was taking photos of the road and a sign that said, “Parking at own risky.” Two men were walking on the other side of the road, and one of them yelled, “Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!” When I finally looked over he made two circles with his fingers and put them in front of his eyes, which looked like a sign for glasses or binoculars. Perhaps he wanted me to take their picture? Anyway, I ignored them and kept walking.

Tonight I had dinner at the hotel again—some delicious prawn curry and more of the vanilla and coconut ice cream I had the other night. My colleagues, Ben and Elizabeth, came over from their hotel to join me. The server who works both breakfast and dinner, a small, thin man I found out is named Jeff (which seems like a funny name for a Tanzanian), talked to me as I waited for my dinner. He seems very interested to know where I am from, what I am doing in Tanzania, and what I do everyday. His English is cute: “Your day is good? You’re welcome!” The latter is an expression a lot of people here use, meaning you are welcome to be here, or you are welcome to make yourself comfortable.

Tomorrow morning the plan is to go scuba diving with my colleague’s wife. I am a bit nervous to be diving without my usual buddy (Ken), but I am excited, too. I hope I can sleep tonight after sleeping so much last night!

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