Daladala, Danlee na mwalimu wangu

The daladala is the equivalent of the Kenyan matatu or dolmuṣ in Turkey. The sidekick does not tab your shoulder, but shakes the coins he is holding in his hand when he stands in front of you. Opposed to some matatu’s that act like a Saturday night club, most daladala do not have radios. Hurray! Also, the price is fixed accordingly to the distance you are traveling to. In Kenya you end up paying more when held up in a jam or in the rain. The Ms Debate in me tends to surface. Yet, I do understand their point of view. One journey less to and from town reduces their income for the day. Another difference is the amount of customers you are allowed to take. In Kenya it is according to the available seats or let’s put it a bit more accurate: in Nairobi they stick to this rule. The further away from town the more people get squeezed into this tiny bus. Hehe. In Tanzania you are squeezed anyway. No limits. This results in a game of Twister. Red for grabbing the bar above you, blue for putting your feet in between the legs of your neighbor, green for having your purse preventing the view of a sitting neighbor and yellow as a Joker. The latter is of great importance. You can be lucky and have a free hand to take the seat and balance yourself. Or your European but can be pushed by an African but onto the lab of somebody else. No disrespect. But one needs to acknowledge that their anatomy is slightly different. Hehe. In Tanzania they seem to care a bit more about you not missing your stop. They shout the name of the bus stop and you respond with ‘shuha’ if that is the place to be for you.

On some hours of the day these buses are not so crowded and then the folklore is so lovely. Muslims and Christians, men and women, young and old, police men in white which makes you wonder how they can sustain it that white, youngsters with a bucket filled with ice and fish taking a fish out and presenting it to you as a proposal to buy it and so on and on.

Danlee, my fellow colleague student, is not too fond of this means of transport. She rathers travels with the bajaj, also known as tuk tuk in many parts of the world (Thailand, India, Peru, Mombasa-Kenya). Or for those who are not familiar with it: kinda of a motorized (Indian) riksja. Anyway, Danlee is more comfortable in a small bike taxi opposed to being squeezed in a bus. She is tiny and cannot reach the bar easily, so you can’t blame her. She is a very sweet lady. Originally from the state of New Mexico where she rents a room for tourists/ guests, two dogs and finds peace after stressful months on a movie set as a make-up artist. How cool, right? She is in Tanzania to volunteer with the Jane Goodall Foundation - if I say Tarzan, Jane's name should ring a bell - for six months after which she wants to continue to India. I can’t get rid of the feeling she is on a Eat Pray Love – tour. Hehe.

Our teacher(mwalimu) is called Benjamin. He likes pizza and warm beer (gosh!). He has two children. For now. He has been quarreling with his wife. She wants a third, he does not consider it as a bright idea. Currently it is cold war at that house. He just opened up about this. Quite surprising, because it is my impression Tanzanians are far more humble and introvert than Kenyans. This is portrayed in their speech. Tanzanians say ‘Ninaomba…’ or ‘I would like…’ whereas Kenyans can’t see a reason to be that polite if you are a paying customer. So they use ‘nipe…’ or ‘give me…’

Another reason for their silence might be the fact their English is not that fluent and my Swahili not yet good enough for a sweet conversation. Once they do speak English better a lot of jokes still go down the drain and my kind of humor is not understood. Maybe I am not funny or maybe they have a different kind of humor or maybe there is a language barrier. Too soon to judge on that.

One thing is certain: the impressions are piling up, so hapa hapa! (stay tuned)

From savannah over fruit plantations and mountains to the ocean

Take a bus from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam and that is what you are about to see. The spectacular views are amongst what you will experience. Other include: cheeky young boys asking to see your passport while walking the 3 meter no man’s land at the border , a 15 hour road trip with sudden road bumps, security checks and a mix of Gospel TV, Asian B-movies and Tanzanian soap series on the tiny screen in the bus. Some of you might think ‘Why did she not just take the plane?’. Well, that would definitely have shortened my day intensively, but com’on guys, this is me you are listening to! Actually, there is really no big theory behind it. I just rather submerge in an adventure, grow into the country’s customs and observe local interpersonal relationships.

Observe is what I have been doing in the past week. So rewind (like the reggae artists when they perform live). What has changed in Nairobi since 2010? Firstly, the security measures certainly have gone up. Not that surprising after multiple bomb explosions of late. Soldiers are in the street view. Everywhere you enter a male or female guard is checking you and your purse. And not just at Junction or Jaya center, meeting spots for wazungu, but about everywhere. Secondly, the traffic police are fining citizens on regularly basis and after paying on the spot they even give a receipt. So, three cheers for this corrupt free attitude. Corrupt free-ish, because you can still bribe them not to be taken to court. But it is doing the trick because even the Matatu drivers won’t stop anywhere you want in town anymore out of fear of getting fined. Thirdly, the road works are just about everywhere. Truth to be told, the ring and bridge around University Way is super cool. A bit disorienting at first though, but every road still leads to town. They are trying to create bypasses though, which might cause a decentralizing movement. Or that would be my hope. Unfortunately the road works come with little organization and signalization. But let’s turn a blind eye to this, because if the city would not have taken up any will to change infrastructure, regardless the Kenyan organization style, that would now really have worried me. Apart from these modifications, it is still Nairobi a.k.a. the town as I know and grew to love it. And that is just fine with me.

Rrrrrewind to the first paragraph again. Saturday late at night I arrived in Dar es Salaam, the (economical) capital of Tanzania. I am staying with Peta, an exchange student I have met at UGent. Together with her husband Alex and his brother they live in Mwenge, one of the many neighborhoods. Opposite their compound there is a Lutheran church community, sided by a Hotel, called BnB Hotel. Their hospitality is heartwarming. And they insist on talking as many Swahili to me as possible (the main reason I am in Tanzania). I feel like being in Turkey all over again. My Turkish host mother used to talk to me for hours while she was cooking. At some point I even think I became her personal voice diary. But it allowed me to quickly understand the context of a conversation and rather learn to talk this language fast. So, Peta and her family can bring it on. I just realize it is so much less threatening because I have already experienced the not being able to understand anything, or the thinking they are gossiping about you. Anyway, on Monday I have entered my first Swahili lesson at KIU Ltd. It is soooo exciting.