Swahili and politics

Hey everyone. So Dar is great! My only complaints are that it's a little pricey (for Africa obviously, still cheap) and today when the power downtown failed, all of the shops plugged into generators and air quality dropped like a stone. But i love the heat - he writes at 11pm when he finally stops sweating. And the people are great.

It's funny sortof: most places the taxis meander around and you flag them down. Here they are all parked (and unmarked - just regular vehicles) and they offer their services. Constantly. I can't take 50 paces without someone offering me a taxi ride. Either no one walks or maybe no foreigners walk or this is just hopeful marketing. But a quick 'no' wave or "walking today" is enough to get some peace. Really it likely saves on gas and pollution to keep the cars parked. And then the drivers can relax and chat.

And everyone around wants to teach me swahili. I've learned some of the varying greetings and responses. Unfortunately their appear to be 20 or so common ones. "Hijambo/Sijambo" is the most useful greeting so far. Something like 'how are you/i'm fine'. Or 'poa' which means 'good'.

And the people here are beautiful. Men, women, children there are a ton of very attractive people walking around.

Had a delicious fish in coconut sauce for lunch today. Happily for me the restaurant was all communal seating. The first guys to sit with me either only really spoke swahili or just weren't interested in chatting with me but i savored my fish for a long time and some other guys sat at my table. We had a good long talk. Much of it about president Bush.

He was just here a few days ago.

Tangent: in a moment of life imitating The Simpsons the security in Arusha was extreme during Mr. Bush's visit to a textile plant there. And within a few hours of his departure all of the us security was gone and most of the security forces were off duty and there was a sudden rash of burglaries. Something like 10 houses were stripped clean.

So back to Mr. Bush's visit. It is weird to walk around and see signs and posters thanking the president (the US just pledged a huge [$698Million] grant to combat both AIDS and malaria). One of them said "your excellency Mr. Bush". And they all have a picture of him from 8 years ago. Remember how young he looked in 1999? Among people here he certainly has a higher approval rating than at home or even in texas.

Which is a stark change from Egypt. Now most of you know that i do not think highly of the current administration for a number of reasons. But i am somewhat impressed on the African policy. The US is spearheading a number of good programs. They are really working against malaria and in a seemingly mostly intelligent and even sometimes environmentally responsible way. The US contribution to antiretrovirals against AIDS makes the clinton contribution pale in comparrison. And though likely there are some (proven ineffective) abstinence-only clauses attached, Al Gore personnally worked against the availability of generic AIDS medication. Something I will likely never forgive.

So after the foreign policy attrocity that is the mideast i have to give some credit on the sub-saharan africa policies.

Grabbed a copy of 'The Citizen' (www.thecitizen.co.tz) today; an english language paper published in Dar. So take these headlines with some skepticism as i don't know much about media independence here. Apparently there were nine arrests for an alledged terrorist plot to coincide with the president's visit. The opposition party in kenya is threatening to resume the street protests - the ones that led to hundreds of deathds and displaced tens of thousands There was some pre-election violence in a province in Tanzania which has led the opposition party to call out their (seriously they are called this) red brigade youth wing to protect their interests. Great. And the president of Malawi suspended the parlimentary session. Don't worry, i'll be hyper-aware of the situation before i enter the country. And finally a pretty big show of support for Barrack Obama who's father is Kenyan.

So Kenya was a showcased model of african democracy until two months ago when the election debacle started.. Now as they try to rise from that with new hope, there are a lot of comparisons made to Mr. Obama's rise to frontrunner. Though I will say that everyone in Egypt was following the race closely and here there is only a vague knowledge that it is Mr. Bush's last term.

I'm still working out a safari plan. You'd think i'd be done since literally everyone in town (seriously including the hotel policeman) runs a safari company. Most are not to be trusted.

Other common scams i've heard about: street vendors that want to give you a better exchange rate than the banks. These guys will ALWAYS rob you. Worse in my mind are the fake taxi drivers who hand you something seconds before a fake policeman arrives to 'see' you in posession of something banned.

Aaaah, keeps me on my toes.

Tonight i'm off to see some traditional drumming at a nearby artist collective. I hope its great.