Day 9 – Saturday – No Power. Again.

                As a result of falling asleep so early last night I ended up waking up around 3:30 again. I’m getting further in my book though so it’s not a complete loss. Right now I’m learning about the noun classes in the Swahili language. There are several noun classes but right now I am just trying to gain comfort with three of them. I’m also learning how to demonstrate possession, plurality, and negating words and phrases. It’s a bit of a challenge and I’m getting a little frustrated so my plan is to just do the best I can on the first time through the book and then to go back through with more precision again in a week or two.

                The morning started with a quick breakfast and then I went straight to the clinic to catch Miriam as early as possible. Of course the clinic doesn’t have power again and all of the records are on her computer. TIT. Oh well. She still had some records that were printed so I went over those. These documents are concerning the entities that Nyakato provides services to on account. They can pay anytime within three months after services are rendered to the employees or members of the respective organizations. This will help me pinpoint exactly what to expect in terms of total revenue since right now revenue is recorded when the bills are paid instead of when the services are performed. We want to make sure to record the revenue when they come into the clinic so we can get an accurate representation of the earnings for each month. Miriam did tell me that she had all of the information I need though so at least I know where to go on Monday. All in all it was a pretty efficient morning and it’s only 10:30.

                Not knowing what to do for the rest of the morning I went back to the house to see If Paula needed any help. Since there was nothing to do for her I was glad that one of the volunteers came and asked if I wanted to go with them to a local girl’s house we had met in the clinic a few days before. This really nice girl named Frita had taken a taxi to the clinic to pick us up and bring us to her house. I was little concerned but there were three of us going and Paula said we would be fine in this part of town during the daytime.

The house where the girl lived was gorgeous. Actually it was her sister’s house and there was a substantial gated wall, a nice courtyard, and the inside had a polished white marble tile floor. The house was all wired for electricity and even had lights in the sockets although the family is currently saving up money to pay the power company to run a line to their house. We sat and talked about life as a Tanzanian and American for a couple hours with Frita’s sisters and their two little girls, Noura and Glory.

We got back to the health clinic just in time for my meeting with Dr. Bon to start teaching him how to learn QuickBooks but again, no power. When the power is out and there are no patients there is really only one thing to do… Get a cab, load up as many people as you can, and head to town.

Meaghan, Anar, Siri, Katie, and I all went to town to eat at that same Chinese restaurant I went to my first night in town. We had long meal by the water with a few people ran an orphanage and then went to some roadside shops to hunt for souvenirs.  There wasn’t a whole lot of good stuff but I did find a painting and purchased several greeting cards that were particularly “Mwanzaesk.” I thought that when I’m interviewing for jobs I’m probably going to be talking about my experience here so my hope is that sending thank you cards like these will do quite a bit in making myself memorable.

 We took a wrong turn to get to Hotel Tilapia where we were meeting more of the med students but got to go by Bismark Rock, Mwanza’s trademark landmark so we didn’t mind. At Hotel Tilapia we again sat by the lake and enjoyed our afternoon of relaxation. With the lack of power over the last three days I was in desperate need of a shower and I was determined to take one when I got back home evem if there was no hot water!

Fortunately there was power and I had a nice, long shower and got cleaned up to go out to a popular bar and “Discotheque” with Selle and a couple others. We went to a place called Villa Park Resort where a live band entertained a basketball court sized area of open air seating. The atmosphere was uniquely African and a lot of fun. After sitting outside for a bit we paid a $50,000 TSH cover to go into the Discotheque. This was one of the stranger things I’ve seen since being in Tanzania. There was a big dance floor with a lot of men dancing, by themselves, and very slowly. We weren’t sure what to think about it and the place seemed pretty empty. I went up to the bar after a while where I met a man and his wife who served in the Tanzanian Army. People here are very nice. The guy first asked me how I was doing in Swahili. I responded with a little hesitation to which he came back in perfect English saying, “I am very happy to have you in my country. Karibu sana!” We talked for a bit and he got the bartender’s attention for me. As I left I said, “Nemefurahi kukuona” meaning “it’s nice to meet you.” We stayed at the disco until around 1:30 and went home.

On the way home we came across a pikipiki accident. A pikipiki is a motorcycle taxi that people typically take to and from work. They are everywhere in Mwanza. There didn’t appear to be anyone hurt although the pikpiki was most likely totaled.

All in all this was a pretty fun and full day. I just wish I had power and internet at the same time so I could share my pictures and blog posts with you all. I hope everything is nice at home!

Oh and mom, I’m all kinds of safe and have made good friends with the guards. People are nice and I’m a lot more comfortable getting around. Love ya!