I am in Moshi today and thought I would write the next installment to my book Life in Tanzania. Being in the midst of the rainy season has given me lots of reasons to think about transportation. In America, we really take the availability of transportation for granted. Suppose you did not have a car? How would you get where you wanted to go? How would you go shopping and carry your groceries home, especially if you had to buy enough to feed a large family?
I have noticed that some people have bicycles, and they are able to ride them with all kinds of loads: sacks of charcoal or flour, piles of straw, huge branches full of bananas, long poles of sugarcane, and maybe even another passenger. If the load is too big, the bike is pushed. Wheeling a load on a bike is probably easier than carrying it on your head. Pikipiki (motorcycles) are another common method of transportation here in Tanzania, especially when the roads are impassable. However, the Peace Corps forbids volunteers to ride them. It is one of the offenses that will send you home.
A few people here have cars, nice ones too: Toyotas, Land Cruisers, SUVs and pickups. Unfortunately I do not know any one who has one. My school does have a vehicle, a Land Rover, but I think it is the first model ever made. It is parked outside the staffroom and has not moved from its spot in a really long time. When I see it, I think of my dad. He likes to check my tires for baldness whenever I come to visit. If he ever saw these tires, he probably would not even allow me to sit in it, despite the fact that it does not run. If transport in the school vehicle is out, what is left?Why bus of course! Public transportation. If you are thinking Greyhound or Trailways, with each passenger having their own seat and the luggage neatly stowed, put that thought right out of your mind. That would surpass even our "luxury" buses. Those of you who have visited or lived in a developing country will know what I mean. Buses range in size from small dala dalas (narrow Toyota passenger vans) or the bit larger Coaster. In Tanzania these vans, built for 15 or 20, can easily fit 30 or more passengers. Larger buses travel between the big cities, but if you stand by the side of the road and flap your hand up and down like a whale's tail, they will usually stop and take you into town. But don't count on it. One day, standing in the rain, I flapped my hand vigorously at an oncoming bus and it did not stop. I was a bit offended. There is always more space between two people. But I will warn you, if you really value your personal space, these buses are not for you.
There are two phrases in my Swahili phrasebook that gave me a good chuckle when I first arrived in Tanzania: "How many people can ride on this bus?" and "I don't want to ride on top." Recent experiences have brought these phrases to mind. During Christmas week I was traveling home to Mkuu from Moshi. The bus was very crowded and Cheryl and I were both standing. Cheryl really hates riding on crowded buses and she especially hates standing, so when I saw a lady get ready to "shusha" (exit), I quickly slipped my little self into her seat (yes, I am shrinking). I was so quick about it that another lady actually sat on my lap. However, she just laughed because she knew that I had claimed it fair and square. As soon as it was convenient, I traded places with Cheryl. (the trip to Moshi can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours, today was a longer trip). I had already given my bag to someone else to hold when I boarded the bus and standing does not bother me so much. I had a pole to hang onto, the chicken with its head sticking out of the bag on the lady's lap near me was very quiet (I am sure it will make a nice pet) and the bus was full of nuns (maybe there was a convention or something). I took this opportunity to tell them in my broken Kiswahili that I was attending the Catholic church and would really like to be able to participate during mass. I wanted to know where I could get a book with the Kiswahili words (a student has recently given me a small prayer book that also contains the order of mass). Well, I must have a way with words because the nuns were very amused. One of them told me to look in the bookstore in Moshi.It was really a pleasant trip. I enjoyed chatting with the nuns, and once again, being the source of entertainment. We went over some big bumps in the road, and since my arms were raised hanging onto the pole and overhead bin, I was bounced, not once, but two or three times straight up in the air. That put my Tanzanian friends in stitches. After awhile, people began to get off, and I finally got my own seat. I even was considerate enough to take my own bag back from the kid who had been holding it all this time. Now I had the opportunity to just sit and enjoy the countryside and the late afternoon sun. Suddenly I saw the shadow of the bus in the dirt piles along the side of the road, and there was someone riding on top! I don't know why he was riding on top, maybe to hold down the mattresses and other luggage, maybe because there had been no room on the bus, but right then I vowed to learn the phrase "I don't want to ride on top."
My next memorable experience with buses was a bit more harrowing. I walked to town to go to the internet one afternoon after school. When I finished, it was raining, so I decided to take the bus home. I waited at the bus stand and soon a bus came. It was very crowded so I decided to wait for the next one. So I sat with the bibis selling their wares and the boys hawking snacks. It was close to 5:30 pm and raining hard now. I knew I could not walk home in the dark. I had to take the next bus, so when it came (remember I am now Tanzanian) I ran and pushed my way to the front and onto the bus. As I went up the steps, there was nothing to hold onto and with the crowd behind me, I felt like I would fall and be trampled. However an arm reached out and grabbed me and pulled me into a small protected spot near the front. This man blocked the way so the rest of the people had to go towards the back. I was thinking that the bus was already full and that no one else would be able to board, but no, they kept coming. We were packed tighter than sardines in a can. A couple of people were even hanging onto the outside of the bus. I was bent over some lady's seat and my young protector had his arm around me, not because he was being fresh, but because we both were hanging on tightly to the seat in front of us. From where I was standing I had a clear view of the road ahead, that is, after one of the 5 or 6 front seat passengers used his coat to wipe the steam from the windows so the driver could see. The roads looked like rivers and lakes. The depth of the mud could be measured in feet. The bus was so overloaded that I thought we would tip over going around every corner. I did a lot of praying and the driver just revved the engine each time we got bogged down in the mud, and miraculously, we made it up each hill. The driver could not stop at my usual stop because it was on a hill, so he let me off further down the road where it was flat. As I got off, I thanked my new friend and said "God be with you." What more can you say in Tanzania? (A student asked me the other day, after I told her that some people in America do not believe in a God, "But how can they live?")
How do you get from place to place in a country that has limited options. Do you not go to the market during the rainy season because you are afraid to ride the bus? Do you not risk riding in the back of a crowded pickup truck or on the top of a bus when you are taking a loved one to the hospital? No, if you lived in Tanzania, you would take the bus, and like me and many of my fellow passengers, you would be putting all of your trust in God. I made it home that day, soaked to the skin, despite having an umbrella, and soon I heard a "hodi" at my door. My neighbor's son was there with a water bottle full of homemade juice. She knows I don't drink "pombe" so juice was the next best thing. That night I thought of those Kiswahili phrases "I don't want to ride on top" and "how many people does that bus hold?" and I just said, "thanks be to God!"
Karibu Tanzania! Maisha ni magumu hapa, lakini watu ni wazuri sana. (Welcome to Tanzania! Life is hard here, but the people are very nice)
Until next time
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