I woke up in the night several times (which is not uncommon for me, even at home), but was quite awake at midnight. I managed to go back to sleep until around five AM and was wide awake at 5:40. Pretty good for my first morning in the 11-hour time difference! I got up, took a cold shower and we all headed over to the main building at Center House to eat the price-included breakfast. We entered the eating room with places set, sat down, and a very sweet woman brought out a plate of bread for each of us, followed later by a plate of eggs and a basket of bananas.
We later met the coordinators (Dana and Romy) and Sarah (a volunteer) who took us to the market (I don't remember the name of it, but I'll be returning to it often) where we split up in buddies to peruse and to pick fabrics (the girls) for the skirts we would be having made for our volunteering and living in the more-traditional-than-Arusha villages. Stefanie (a UCLA volunteer) was my buddy, and we looked at about 70 different fabrics at different shops for our skirts. You'll see photos of them later. The highlight of the market trip was when we played with some kids. At first, they're paralized by their curiosity and shyness, even if we say "Jambo" or "Mambo" (the more casual version, to which you respond, "Poa", or cool.) With an young man's help, we got the kid to open up a little, while a group of about six little kids around the age of 5 came up around us and grabbed our hands. They started pulling us in all directions, jumping up and down, shouting, "Mzungu, mzungu, mzungu!" (Swahili for 'white person'). One was curous about the sunglasses on my head, so I let him take them and put them on (Aviators, no other) before the other kids grabbed them and each put them on and pozed while Stefanie and I complimented, "Poa!" [One of the kids looked like he had an eye infection, though, and I'm being conscious of taking good care of my body and healthy while here, so I've since disinfected them but still not worn them. I have other sunglasses for the meantime.]
All the volunteers met up again at a store called Shop Rite (like a Wal-Mart) to eat lunch at a restaurant called Milk and Honey, a place with pretty good prices (you can eat for under 4,000/=, or less than four dollars) and more authentic food. I had a chicken curry dish, as well as my first opportunity to use a ground-level choo (toilet)!
After lunch, we went to Naaz, the tailor's to get measured for skirts, handing over our fabrics and describing what we wanted and proceeded to go our separate ways. When I stopped with some other volunteers in McMoody's we met more summer program volunteers, a few of which are undertaking a HUGE sideproject of establishing an orphanage!
While at McMoody's, we heard a brass band playing in the street, coming our way. The coordinators who were there said it was a wedding (which happen on the weekends). But when I stood out on the stoop of the store and watched it all go by, I discovered that it was not a wedding at all: it was, sure, and band marching, students of many ages marching in their uniforms, and a procession of cars (about 20-30) that bore signs saying, "Modern Driving School". Only in Tanzania would the driving school take over the entire road, parading to promote safety on the roads.....!
After hitting up the ATM again and taking a cab back to the hostel (a good idea instead of walking), we all got ready for the cab that was supposed to pick us up at 6PM to take us to Meru House, where we would be eating dinner. [Meru is the name of the Mountain next to Arusha.] The cab didn't come for a loong time, so we walked in a group out to the corner to catch our own. Turns out, the cab that Dana called to have pick us up showed up an hour late, by which time we had already arrived at the restaurant by other cabs. This was our first experience of Tanzanian time. I am still building at apetite for the food (which isn't bad), so I only had some garlic Naan and some of other people's dishes.
That night, we were planning on going to the fourth annual "Earth Dance" to Give Peace a Dance, but I didn't because at that point my body shut down. It was definitely time to sleep.
