Yesterday turned out to be good. My morning started out really slow. I woke up at 6, had breakfast, and then puttered around. I went out a couple times—to the bank and to get some fruit—but I found it much more enjoyable in my air conditioned room. The brutal heat makes it almost unbearable to be out for too long a period without finding some shade.
In my boredom, I did some budgeting and I think my 85ish day stay in Shinyanga should cost me no more than $2000. My rent is $16 and I don’t think food will cost me more than $4, so every day I should be spending under $20. But I do want to make a few trips to Arusha and see the zoo here in Shinyanga, so my activities and excursions will probably inflate that overall number a bit. Either way, I’m surprised by how inexpensive it is.
One of my friends from work took it upon herself to take me to the tailor yesterday. Unfortunately I had forgotten about the special type of schedule people run on here—Tanzanian time—so when I was told that we would leave at 11am and it was actually 1pm, I was left waiting for a little bit. We have an event for WFG here in Shinyanga next month and there is a type of suit I need to wear (called a Kaunda), so we went to get me measured for that. The outfit is going to cost me only $20 in total, so if it’s comfortable, nice, and durable, I might be stocking up on some clothing while I can get it for such an agreeable price.
After the tailor we went for some lunch and had kitimoto (pork). It’s been nice having some variety in meat because in Ethiopia it was only cow or goat.
I was passed off to another coworker friend after lunch who took me to the local market. I don’t have the ability to cook at the hotel, so if I’m hungry I don’t have many options. Luckily fruit is very cheap and abundant, so I stocked up on some for when I get the urge to snack.
We then went to a nearby bar to watch some football. I’m not much of a sport watcher, much less soccer, but it was nice to slow down for a little bit and enjoy it. Apparently it was some important game, but I’m not hip to all that so I was indifferent while the other spectators (my coworker included) were pretty animated.
I got home pretty late for my standards—near 7:30pm. One thing that’s I haven’t really considered about here is the lack of street lights. It was the same in Arusha, but I tend to only be outside during light hours anyways, so I never noticed it much. In Hawassa it was different, the main street had those big, tall lamp posts, but not here. It makes walking around at night a bit spooky, especially when a car or motorcycle comes speeding around a corner and I’m left feeling like a deer in headlights.