This is what I would have posted on Saturday if I had had internet access. (excuse the formatting, will deal with it later.)
In the morning I went to a stationary store and bought some oil pastels, since they didn't have paint. The shopkeeper was super friendly and was trying to sell me the only paint he did have, a bottle of poster paint, but he had no brushes. He promised me that he would order some and to come back in 2 weeks. Let's see if it happens. After the stationary store I headed over to what was supposed to be a 'Stand Up' and take action demonstration by NGOs to hold the government, bilateral and multilateral institutions accountable to their committments to the Millenium Development Goals and to the MKUKUTA, The Tanzanian National Action Plan to Eradicate Poverty. The UN and development partners were invited, but when I went nobody other than local students were present. I was also expecting it to be full of people and bursting with energy, similar to events I went to in India. Instead I walked into a half empty grounds, with someone speaking, which I couldn't understand because it was in Swahili, and a crowd of students that seemed to be drained of energy. Maybe I missed the energetic portion of the program. It is an important issue. Its the NGOs who are doing the work, but yet they're often not given a seat at the table with the big dogs making the decision. Well, I hope that the event was a success for them. Here are a few photos.
Focus on the writing on the visor.
Listening, zoning out, checking the cell for messages
A school group in the shade
I then went to my favorite Indian restaurant at the Badminton Institute and had lunch and walked around the city taking photos with my SLR. Other than one questionable man who kept hovering around me while I took a photo, it went well. Now that I feel comfortable with that, the next step is the market place, where the real interesting captures are. Saturday was Diwali and I was expecting all the shops to be closed, but they were all bustling with last minute shoppers preparing for the evenings festivites. Diwali photos will come in a seperate post. Here are some shots of the city centre.
Want your shoes shined, only to immediately get dusty again?
The Dar skyline.
City centre flats
Tried to capture this from the window of a taxi on my way home. I like the slogan "Bring out the gorgeous woman in you"
One of the many mandirs in the city
Oh yeah, almost forgot. Friday night when I got back to my place there was a huge tent set up outside of our entrance. I asked roomie what was going on and she told me that 40 days before the old man leaving below us passed away and this was his sort of wake where family and friends gather to celebrate his life. She said it would go on for a few hours. Ha! It went on all night and continued till 4pm Saturday afternoon. It was a night of singing and talking. Saturday morning, I took this picture of their backyard from the kitchen window. Big pots of meat and rice. Reminded me of festivals I attended in India. That was the first time I had seen such huge pots and stirring spoons, more like rods. It was nice to see things aren't so different here.
The same neighbors washing clothes. I wonder if they've seen me snapping photos of them. It's probably rude to do it...oops
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