Friday, January 20, 2017

John needed to do some errands, so he took a dolla-dolla (taxi van) downtown and i agreed to meet him at Africafe at 1:00 for lunch. Usually, I eschew frequenting Africafe since it is an over-priced, Americanized coffee shops always crammed with wazungu. However, I wanted a decent loaf of bread and felt the need to spoil myself on this dreaded inauguration day. So, I called Ray to pick me up just before 1:00, and we headed downtown.

Unfortunately, on the street Ray chose, there was a posse of five or six policemen, one of whom was the same man who had treated Ray so rudely a short time before,  He stepped out into the road and began hassling Ray, who had a paper showing he had paid his fine and had 21 days to fix his tail-light. The policeman grabbed the paper out of Ray’s hand, wadded it up, and threw it into the bushes. Ray couldn’t stay where he was because of traffic, so he pulled through the intersection, parked, and told me to stay put. I was afraid what would happen as Ray walked back toward the group of police, so I got out of the car and made sure to stand very conspicuously beside the street.  There was some shouting and fist-waving between Ray and the policeman, but Ray was able to recover his paper, and we made it to Africafe only a little late. I was so totally steamed by what had happened that I jumped out of the car without paying Ray, but I knew I could make that up on the way back to Kundayo later.

John was waiting for me inside. Surprisingly, the place was fairly empty, and most of the patrons were African.  Perhaps this is another indication of how much Tanzania’s tourist industry has fallen recently.  The new government has foolishly sought to gain revenue from higher taxes on safari companies, increased fees to enter game parks, and taxes on all sort of commodities. When Tanzanian safari companies raised their prices to cover these new costs, cancellations poured in. And so while Tanzania suffers, Kenya profits from increased tourist business because of its lower fees and streamlined imports and services for safari companies. No wonder so many people here are upset with President Magafuli.

Once I had settled down, we ordered lunch: John got a chicken salad, and I ordered a cheese, ham, and mushroom omelet, plus a café au lait.  Africafe has free wifi, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get any connection. This happens more and more around town, so I wonder what is happening with the internet in this area. In addition, after over a week and a couple of visits to deal with the phone company (Tigo), my phone still was not functioning. I can do without most first world conveniences, but being without a phone in Arusha is not acceptable—or safe. So, in spite of being in a relatively posh, western style coffee shop, I was grumpy.

Eventually, John called Ray to come pick us up and went outside to stand on the sidewalk to wait for the car.  Almost immediately he was accosted by Gary, an old friend of one of the Whitworth students who came here with us in 2012 (You know who you are, Kate.) who always seeks to find out what we are doing and how he can help us do it. Ray took a long time coming, so John and Gary had a long conversation before we finally got away. i have little doubt that Gary is a good guy, but it’s difficult to know what to say to, and more important, what to do with all the young unemployed, or under employed, people in a place like Arusha.

The rest of the afternoon and evening were uneventful until about 8:00 p.m. when the ceremony for Trump’s inauguration began.  We can get MSNBC here at Kundayo, so we watched the pageantry, but for me the focus was on the Obamas and how incredibly stoic and controlled they were throughout the swearing in, Trump’s dismal speech, and their departure from the Capitol.  It still seems unreal to me that such capable, decent people are being replaced by a narcissistic, misogynistic, compulsive liar. As a Christian, I think of  scripture such as Galatians 5: 22 - 26 and think that no matter what one may claim as a reason for voting for Trump, they chose to do so in spite of the fact he has never demonstrated that he has any moral center. So I was disconcerted to watch a man who has demeaned women, mocked the disabled, and bragged that he could shoot someone and his supporters would not care take office as the American leader. People here in Tanzania cannot understand why this has happened and often extend their condolences to us. We ended the day on a very sober note.