Well, I only have a little bit of battery left on my computer, so I will try to write this quickly.
I just wanted to blog once more before I disappear from the blog/internet world for six weeks.
Yesterday we arrived in Arusha, after a twelve-hour bus ride from Dar. The bus ride was...interesting. We arrived at the bus station at 7 in the morning, and were instantly yelled at by every single bus driver to board their bus. We had tickets for a certain bus company, so our taxi driver helped us locate the right bus. Maybe things were going over my head... but I don't understand the bus system one bit. People were boarding and leaving the bus at random places along the way that didn't seem to be real destinations, and sometimes they paid, and other times they didn't. We only made two stops, and it was very unclear how long the stops were going to be. I was afraid to drink any water because there were no bathrooms on the bus, and it didn't seem like they were going to stop because one person had to pee. They played Tanzanian movies along the way, and the star-actor, producer, and screen-play writer was the same guy for all of the movies. We watched "Uncle JJ" 1 and 2, and "Magic House" 1 and 2, and I slept through some of the others. Once we arrived we were assaulted by ten different guys telling us that they could drive us to our hotel. The taxi system is also something I don't think I will ever understand. There are so many different guys talking to you, but it turns out that they all work for the same driver. Most of the time they try to scam you into giving them extra money that doesn't go to the driver, so it's hard to know who to talk to. It is extremely confusing, and I think we ended up paying twice the amount that the driver originally charged us. We were so tired though we didn't really care.
The hotel we are staying in here is really nice. There was a bit of a room mix-up though, and today we had to move all six of us into one of the triples that we had booked. It was frustrating that they didn't write down our booking correctly, but "this is Africa".
On Monday we are going to the Serengeti to go on safari, and then we head to Tarangire to begin our research projects! I have no idea what to expect, but I am excited. Today we bought a bunch of beautiful kangas to wear when we interview the Maasai.
Until mid-November!
I just wanted to blog once more before I disappear from the blog/internet world for six weeks.
Yesterday we arrived in Arusha, after a twelve-hour bus ride from Dar. The bus ride was...interesting. We arrived at the bus station at 7 in the morning, and were instantly yelled at by every single bus driver to board their bus. We had tickets for a certain bus company, so our taxi driver helped us locate the right bus. Maybe things were going over my head... but I don't understand the bus system one bit. People were boarding and leaving the bus at random places along the way that didn't seem to be real destinations, and sometimes they paid, and other times they didn't. We only made two stops, and it was very unclear how long the stops were going to be. I was afraid to drink any water because there were no bathrooms on the bus, and it didn't seem like they were going to stop because one person had to pee. They played Tanzanian movies along the way, and the star-actor, producer, and screen-play writer was the same guy for all of the movies. We watched "Uncle JJ" 1 and 2, and "Magic House" 1 and 2, and I slept through some of the others. Once we arrived we were assaulted by ten different guys telling us that they could drive us to our hotel. The taxi system is also something I don't think I will ever understand. There are so many different guys talking to you, but it turns out that they all work for the same driver. Most of the time they try to scam you into giving them extra money that doesn't go to the driver, so it's hard to know who to talk to. It is extremely confusing, and I think we ended up paying twice the amount that the driver originally charged us. We were so tired though we didn't really care.
The hotel we are staying in here is really nice. There was a bit of a room mix-up though, and today we had to move all six of us into one of the triples that we had booked. It was frustrating that they didn't write down our booking correctly, but "this is Africa".
On Monday we are going to the Serengeti to go on safari, and then we head to Tarangire to begin our research projects! I have no idea what to expect, but I am excited. Today we bought a bunch of beautiful kangas to wear when we interview the Maasai.
Until mid-November!
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