Tz 2018: Karibu tena Dar Es Salaam

I’ve always wondered why only women in Tanzania carry things on their heads. I found out this trip that it’s because they have smaller shoulders, so men will carry things on their broad shoulders and backs, and women use their heads. Makes total sense!

Arriving in Dar by ferry is always a big wake up call. The ferry terminal is a complete zoo and there are people all over you asking you if you need a taxi. I was waiting for my luggage and this man (I thought he worked for the ferry) asked me if I had my bags. Well I don’t know what he exactly asked me but that was what I thought. Once my bag came out he grabbed it and my other bags and proceeded to zip right towards the exit. So I guess he was hired! I was running to keep up with him and we finally got to the outside where there were even more crowds and thank god rafiki Violet was there and she found me. I told Violet I was going to have to tip him, and he walked with us to the car. She offered him tsh 3000 but that wasn’t enough for the white girls luggage so she gave him 2000 more (that’s about $2).  

Violet, the hostess with the mostess 

Our first stop was Violets cute guest house, where we showered and got ready to go out. We were going to meet with the students but they retired early after a long day of snorkeling. So we went to Ardhi University, where Besha teaches, to meet him for drinks and some dinner. One Budweiser turned into many Budweiser’s and we ended up there until the wee hours of the morning catching up, talking about Tanzania, the US, travels, work, life, and love. Besha is heading to Belgium next week to start his doctorate, so it was really nice for him to come out to see me. I came bearing gifts for Violet and Besha, from Lady Speed Stick to legos for Besha’s kids to trucker hats to self-help books.  

So after a little bit of a late start on Sunday we headed to meet up with the students to help them bargain. Violet shared her rules of bargaining (mostly just don’t do what Tarrah does):

1. Make sure you don’t act like you really like it
2. Don’t think about the labor that went into the item you want to buy. It doesn’t matter.
3. Whatever the price they tell you, assume that you will pay half
4. Be willing to leave and they will always follow you

Violet and Besha both agreed that women are better bargainers than men. He said it’s because women are more stingy. But they agreed that women expect to pay half or less of the price they first give, and men expect only a 20% discount. 

We had a couple pretty exceptional bargains among the students, male and female, and I was proud. Shopping is exhausting and time consuming though. Sometimes you just want to say, “can you just tell me how much it costs and I’ll decide in 2 seconds”. But it is a dance, a very long dance.

My big purchase was an ebony sculpture of a Maasai man. There was an old man in the back of the shop cutting the same piece of ebony for about 3 hours while I was there. But violet reminded me I can’t think about labor cost. He started at Tsh 700,000 ($310) which was significantly less than all the other guys who were selling similar sculptures. There was one guy who wanted Tsh 4,000,000 ($1800) for a pair! The big wild card was shopping so of course the shop owner got his friend who brought in a scale. 42kg. They wanted Tsh 700,000 just to ship it (which pretty much made sense to me. It was HEAVY). But Violet talked to them and smelled something fishy and said that she would compare prices and ship it to me. So I talked him down to $200 and it was a deal! I told them I wanted it polished and I wanted the bottom to be flattened so it didn’t wobble and we left for lunch. When we came back it was there all ready to be wrapped up for shipping. So now it sits in the back of Violets car waiting for its long overseas journey!

So after shopping at Mwenge and the painting market where all the tourists go (and the deals aren’t as good), we went to the students’ hotel, the Life Lights hotel. We took the long way (no hurry in Africa) and Besha drove us by his project that he just finished, which was beautiful and I am very proud of him. We also drove through Oyster Bay, the wealthy part of Dar. We were only 30 minutes late for our meeting... hakuna matata!

This is a super popular bar in Oyster Bay on fri and sat nights

The Life Lights Hotel was quite nice, a little village on a hillside above Ardhi University. There’s a great outdoor terrace with lounge seating where we sat and discussed the Same project with Daniel, Violet, and Besha, three architects in Dar, along with Professor Tom, David, and myself. 

There Is some difficulty right now with the District Commissioner who is telling us we need to have a few meetings with the community in order to finalize the Title deed. They said the meetings were $2000 each, and Violet and Besha called BS on that. While it isn’t that much money, we do not want to set a precedent that we will just give them money even if it isn’t justified. So we are trying to get a liaison or expediter to coordinate with the District Commissioner. Besha referred us to a surveyor so it looks like we are going to try that route. We are also trying to find bricks somewhere to use. They seem to be a higher quality than the compressed blocks we were using, more regular sizes, and easier to maneuver because they are smaller. So sourcing those will be our next challenge. 

So after saying goodbye to the Cal Poly crew, Violet and I headed back and got ready for an early wake up call. Kazoka agreed to take me back to Same with him in the morning and he wanted to beat Monday morning rush hour, which on a 2 lane road is quite a show stopper.