Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone: A Day in Dar es Salaam
Our first day in Tanzania is always spent “doing business”. After waking up to and dozing through this morning’s worship from the Lutheran Church next door we had a pleasant breakfast at the hotel and had them help us out with getting airtel cell chips for the two phones and cellular modem. Of course there were issues with two of chips: the cellular modem would not register and one of the phones would not let us dial out. A trip to the airtel store revealed that Bill had put the chip in the modem backwards. So THAT was a quick fix.
We then went to our new vendor (we don’t know what happened to Al Noir, our previous vendor and friend; Bill hasn’t been able to reach him all spring) and verified that the five flat screens and printer that we are bringing to Kasulu were ready for pick up. We went to a book store where I picked up a the Swahili Anglican prayer book and hymnal. I wanted a set of my own; and then I found out Bill had forgotten his set. So I’m guessing that he will probably get as much use out of them as I will.
We went to Air Emerates next. We wondered if we might have enough airline points to upgrade to business class for the Dubai to New York leg of our journey home. Of course we are way short on points to do that and as we only fly on Emerites once a year it is looking unlikely that we will ever have enough points. But we can dream….
We’ve moved from our original hotel to the Tanzanite Suites, which at $70.00 per night is much more affordable and also within easy walking distance of our new vendor. Our previous hotel had been selected in part because it was close to our previous vendor.
Lunch was easy. The Tanzanite now has a restaurant, so we ate here as soon as we checked in.
We returned to our new vendor to pay for and pick up our equipment. With the help of one of the store’s employees, we were able to carry everything back to hotel and not have to hire a cab. It was time for a nap…except that other phone that wasn’t working? Bill ended up buying a vodocam chip for it. They are much more available in this section of Dar than Airtel chips are. The phone isn’t working yet, but they tell us it takes an hour for it to register.
So now Bill is napping and then we will go out for an early dinner at a Lebanese restaurant that Dad and Shaw scouted out last year. It will be an early night as we are planning to leave the hotel at 3:30 am for a 6:00 am flight to Kigoma.
