Having exhausted most of the sightseeing in this not-so-tourist-oriented town, I’m in the midst of a movie-watching marathon at the hotel while Nathaniel attends the conference and an after hours meeting with his colleague. A man hops into a motorcycle and takes off down the road – the wrong (right) side of the road! [Like how word-play-tacular this can get?] No, wait. It’s an American movie. Readjust paradigms.
I’ve been pleased, in general, by how much living and traveling abroad this past year has contributed to my ability to navigate around Dar the last few days. The private mini-bus system is just like the ones in Lilongwe and the Caribbean. No need to take a taxi when the bus costs TSH 300 (20 cents). I don’t get smushed in the hectic traffic because I’ve finally internalized which way to look first before crossing the street. Bargaining with taxi drivers and curio salesmen, brushing off curious passers-by in a friendly but firm way and estimating distances in kilometers are all a bit more second-nature than they were when we set out for our honeymoon a year ago.
Of course that doesn’t prevent me from getting on the wrong bus Thursday morning. I’m trying to get to the “big shopping mall” to see what there is to see in terms of commercial shopping and I know the neighborhood where it’s located. I think I’ve asked the conductor if this bus goes to the mall, but it becomes clear, as we reach the end of the line without passing anything remotely resembling a big, new strip mall, that our communication may have been a bit less complete than I hoped. No problem – another 300 shillings and a lasso motion with my hand and the driver and conductor laugh good-naturedly at the crazy mzungu and let me ride all the way back to city center.
It’s not a wasted trip, by any means, if I were getting oriented to the city to settle in. Along the way we pass the textiles street (which I was surprised not to see near the main market) and the area (like Lilongwe’s coffin road) where furniture is built and sold from sheds. I also note a few local colleges, a big park, and the location of the big Shoprite grocery store. I've already visited the spice / dry goods / vegetable market and we've been loving the greater variety and higher quality of restaurant food and other services available. Final verdict on Dar? Maybe not an amazing place to visit, but it could be a really nice place to live.
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