and off we go

1/9/14

After oversleeping and hurriedly getting all of my bags to the taxi, steven had us on our way to the bus terminal at 4:30am. Apparently, Kim got us a great bus because it was second in line and we even had benches to sit and wait. Luckily, we did not get to experience the vastness of the bus terminal. Kim said that it is just a huge open area, bigger than a football field, of busses and people and luggage, all fighting their way out of the gate. We were fifth out of the gate and on our way at 6am! The bus was, well, cozy. It was very, very tight quarters. These legs of mine literally could not fit if i was sitting with them straight in front of me. That just meant I either had my knees spread out on the edges of the seat or turned my whole body so my legs were in the aisle. Thank goodness for an aisle seat!!! 20 minutes in we were sidelined and just sat on the side of the road for about 25 minutes with tons of busses passing us, waving, honking, laughing. Not good. But we got back on the road and kept plugging. It was so cool to see so much of the Tanzanian countryside. It was pretty novel for about 10 hours... not quite 18 though. Yep, 18! I had prepared myself mentally for 16... but those last 2 hours were quite miserable. It was pitch black, I had no clue where we were or how much longer we had, Mr. Sana (the district official who was picking us up) was waiting for us, and I was exhausted. We finally made it to Mwanza at midnight - the last bus to arrive - but I could not be more relieved to get off the bus. They took us to a hostel that the volunteers really like in Mwanza and it was paradise. 

Now for some lovely observations/ interesting things that happened on the bus... 

• animals we saw: lots of goats and cows, chickens, a few donkeys, cats and dogs
• buildings were usually either cement or mud packed bricks 
• roofs were usually either tin or thatched. rocks were frequently used to hold on (nail down) the tin
• im in love with the mountains here. they are littered with boulders. they were basically rock sculptures with a little green brush and a few trees scattered around
• There were three babies right by us. They were so cute and well behaved. they were also just as fascinated with us mzungus as everyone else.
• it was also so neat to see breastfeeding so culturally welcome. it was so sweet and natural 
• the bus would make frequent stops at ‘shopping malls’. this basically consists of pulling on the side of the road and having people running at the bus with drinks, food (fruits, nuts, fried dough, roasted corn,....), sunflower oil, and anything else on their head. You would open your window and get whatever you wanted. Occasionally, someone would get on the bus and ride with us for a little bit, trying to sell whatever he had. I have a feeling that us mzungus made many peoples day. we were often the target of many salesmen.
• we had to go through many weigh stations... always cutting in line (wait, there is no line in tz) in front of the larger transport trucks 
• tvs- so there were two tvs on the busses and loud stereo systems that ensured everyone on the bus and everyone that we passed could hear what we were watching. the tv was hilarious. there were hysterical music videos, a jackie chan movie, a comedy show (everyone on the bus thought it was funny so i just laughed when they did) and our personal favorite ... a leann rimes music video for ‘How do I live?’. I have never appreciated that song so much. I was sorta in and out, dozing off when i heard that song and I immediately perked up and started rocking out. Amber was listening to her ipod at the time and paused it for this. We were just a singing away and also thoroughly entertaining my two best friends beside me. They were looking and laughing at us so i totally played it up and held up my make-believe microphone.  Amazing. listen to it in honor of me. just do it. 
• speaking of my two best friends. its official. smiling and laughing is the universal language. bc thats the only way we ‘talked’ for 18 hours. their (mother and grandmother) baby was so cute and loved staring, smiling, and laughing at me so i felt like we had a continuous conversation. 
• also, the first instance of someone wanting to touch my hair. it was pretty much hysterical. amber and i were talking and see saw the lady behind me trying to sneak a touch at my hair. amber gave her full permission and we just smiled and laughed about it. Im pretty sure that happened for 17.5 of the 18 hours. 
• All day, i ate two granola bars, 3 crackers, and some peanut butter.
• i also only drank 2 nalgenes.... thats what happens when you are terrified that they wont stop for anyone or anything. 
• speaking of restroom stops. we stopped once to fill up on gas, which coincided with a lunch break and toilet stop. a journalist from dar attached himself to me as soon as we got off the bus but his english was quite good so it was much appreciated. that was around 12. the second ‘stop’ was on the side of the road to let our engine cool down and the bathroom was squatting right by the bus. luckily it was dusk then and everyone just went right to their business and so did i! granted i stood out a lot more than everyone else but who cares?! homeboy journalist and his homemade (well actually busmade) business card came visited again after he thought i was done stretching. and you better believe i was stretching after being cooped up so long. 
• overall, the country was quite lush and green and the scenery varied greatly 
• happy to report it was much cooler in mwanza