Preparing for break

In a few days our fall break starts; this is our last week of classes, which feels really odd. My plans for break are still pretty hazy, so I went downtown yesterday to try to find out some more information. It’s funny how it can take 4 hours (four very tiring hours) to find out the kind of stuff it would take me ten minutes to find online if I were traveling in Europe or the US. Up-to-date websites with timetables have always seemed an obvious feature of travel, not a luxury. I can’t believe that I’m feeling nostalgic for Greyhound now – that says something about how frustrating today has been!

I started from campus, took a daladala to Mwenge and a bus to Posta, which took more than an hour. From the bus stop I walked to the tourist information office and asked for the train schedule. They didn’t have it so tried to call the ticket office, but there was no answer. So instead they gave me a map and directions to the station. It’s closed between 1and 2pm though, so I spent some time at a café eating a piece of chocolate cake with ice cream and reading in a guide book. Got to the train station at a bit past two pm, and asked someone in what appeared to be the ticket office if I could get a ticket to the city Mwanza. His reply was simply “no.” That somewhat surprised me, as the (2010 edition!) guide book clearly says this train goes there three times a week, and moreover, I’m not used to someone answering a reasonable question with one word, spoken with great finality. I tried to prod a bit more, and he eventually pointed me to an office, where a somewhat more helpful woman told me to go to some other office. So I followed her directions and went through a dubious-looking gate, asked some people sitting around, and found it. The man I asked there was nice and seemed happy enough to try to answer my questions, although I’m not entirely sure he understood what I was asking, or that what he answered is entirely correct. It seems that the Central Line no longer goes to Mwanza, and only goes to Tabora (from where I thought I might be able to catch a bus) once a week. Tickets can only be bought on Mondays?! And they only have 3rd class tickets. The details are irrelevant--- point is, my plan to take the train is not about to happen.

Feeling rather disappointed, I went back to the tourist information and asked for bus timetables. The guy there, Joel, was extremely helpful and although it took forever, I left with a sheet of hand-written notes with information on various bus lines, where their offices are, the departure times, prices, etc. as well as a friendly note cautioning me to go straight to the ticket counters and to not “negotiate with anybody outside the office.” By that time it was past 3pm and I was exhausted as I’ve been sick and get tired really fast, so I decided to wait until after class today to go to Ubungo Bus Station, which luckily is very close to campus. The trip to town was somewhat exasperating, but at least it ended well – to get on the bus to Mwenge, I had to jog along beside it for a few meters and then jump into the open doorway. That kind of chaos just doesn’t exist back home. Busses usually wait to leave the stop (and they only stop at designated, well-marked spots) until everyone is seated – you’d never be able to launch yourself into a moving bus.

This week we’re living with host families instead of in the dorms. It’s nice to get a chance to meet our families now before the field, so we’ll know what to expect when we come back. So far, I love my host family. They are incredibly nice and I feel very comfortable living here. The daughter (my host-sister, I guess?) is awesome, and the three of us ACM students living here spent yesterday evening playing games and watching a movie with her. It was such a fun evening! It is so nice to be living in a family, and to wake up to the sounds of a home instead of a dorm. I enjoyed living in the dorms and will miss that time a lot, but there is something very comforting about being in a family, especially one as warm and welcoming as this one.