A couple of weeks ago, my relative told us a story about how he sings a song whenever the power goes out in Tanzania. The first words are: “Tanzania Tanzania Nakupenda Kwa Moyo Wote.” This means “Tanzania Tanzania I love you with all my heart.” The power goes out every day, so instead of getting angry and complaining, he chooses to think of the good things about Tanzania.

Our flight from Zanzibar was delayed, so we missed our connection in Dar es Salaam. Apparently this happens all the time. We managed to get seats on the late flight back to Kilimanjaro.

We met a guy who lives in San Francisco along the way, and also made random contact with someone who may be able to help KCJF receive some funding. I decided to approach him because he was wearing a shirt of an organization I’m familiar with. He was the proud designer of the shirt “I designed these shirts myself!”

My relative and family friend met us at the Kilimanjaro airport and took us to a festival in Arusha. They brought a musician and performer with them to meet us. He is an artist, composer and directs performance theater. He takes kids off the street and teaches them traditional Tanzanian music. He also holds the distinction of being the first Tanzanian to release a CD. They were all dressed in Masai wear.

They were late to the airport because the car had some problems with the exhaust system on the way to meet us.

We left Arusha late (1 am), and the roads were empty. Amanda fell asleep in the car to our new friend singing Tanzanian lullabies to her while hand drumming on her back. It was perfect.

Then we stopped refuel the car, but the fuel attendant used gasoline instead of diesel! Lots of black smoke, fumes and lurching ensued. Dogs barked as we sputtered by. We stuck our heads out the window to breathe. We tried to find another gas station but stations were closed at the late hour, so we lurched forward, agonizing kilometer by kilometer. The engine felt like it was going to die every few seconds.

We covered our faces, said “I will never forget this experience” a few times. Our companions tried humming to drown out the horrific noises the car was making, but the car got progressively worse. It was impossible to have a conversation with the loud popping, thrumming and lurching the car was doing, plus no one really wanted to breathe anyway.

Then in the darkness we heard it: “Tanzania, Tanzania, Nakupenda, Kwa Moyo Wote.” My relative belted out the song that he used as a substitute for despair. Despite our unwillingness to breathe, we started laughing hysterically and joined in when we composed ourselves.

Amazingly enough, we found a gas station that was open, and more amazingly (I kid you not) the engine finally died just as we pulled in. We didn’t make it to the pump, so we had to get out and push it about 15 feet. We chanted “nyuki nyuki” as we pushed the car, which means “bees bees,” something Mama Lucy tells the children when they have to carry something heavy.

The next several minutes entailed our driver tasting fuel, wringing fluid out of the filter, and sucking fuel out of various places by mouth. He is our hero.

We were underway and returned to Moshi after 2 am. Amanda looked at me.

Amanda: This is the longest day of travel I have ever had!

Me: [Long pause while trying to figure out what was different about Amanda’s appearance] You look a little grey. Hmmmm… Hold on.

I took the inside of my shirt and wiped a small part of her cheek. The spot on my shirt was black and the spot on her face was less gray.

After she washed her face twice, the towel turned black as she dried it.

That’s a lot of smoke.

Amanda and I marvelled at my relative’s and family friend’s ability to remain calm throughout the ordeal. They didn’t get angry at all, instead made jokes like “have you seen the movie the Gods Must be Crazy Part Two?”

manka This entry was posted on Saturday, December 9th, 2006 at 7:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.