November 5

Tear. Last day in Tanzania. I cannot believe it has come already. This morning I woke up, realizing I still had some things to rearrange in order to fully declare myself packed and ready to start my second half of the semester in Phnom Penh. It was also unusual for me to say goodbye to this host family, whom I've befriended over these two weeks. I don't have any idea how I should have prepared for Cambodia, except maybe I should have learned some Khmer in my free time. My excuse is that it's a tonal language so I can't really learn from a book. I'm comfortable being lost--its Asia and I have no idea what to expect.

This morning I woke and got ready to meet everyone at the office. We were supposed to be working on digging a hafir in the GSC demo plot. Again, after breaking a forkhoe and a machete, we took a break and went off to lunch. We were supposed to go to Tengeru to the larger demo plot to assist in one training at 3 but I wanted to play hooky and see if I could do some last minute souvenir shopping. It was a pretty light day, and some faces were missing from the office, so I was pretty disappointed I couldn't say a proper goodbye after being there so long.

After giving my evaluation, I left the office to have one more walk through town. I've really come to be a master of navigating through Arusha. Granted it such a small city, and the downtown area can be thoroughly visited in one day, but Arusha has it's charms and many things I'm going to miss. My first day walking to the GSC office, I was surprised at how persistent the artwork dealers are, the men who tell you they have a craft and souvenir shop they want you to go to and the men who sell you Swahili dictionaries on the street. I never knew how to avoid them, yet here I was telling them I wasn't interested, in Swahili.

I know I'd come back to Tanzania, but not as a tourist. This is my first time away traveling alone, and I've learned to really appreciate a place and live like the locals do. If I come back, I'd like to be able to afford a trip to Zanzibar, and spend a little more time in Moshi. It would be great to come back in 10 years to a slightly more developed Arusha. The roads are single lane and poorly constructed, there isn't any public space for people to come together and sit, and all of the good places to go in town; nice restaurants, mini golf, gyms,  cinemas are all tourist dominated. Places change over time, and hopefully with this past election, Arusha can be a place which locals and foreigners equally enjoy.

Tomorrow is my flight to Cambodia, and while sad to leave Tanzania there are some things I definitely won't miss! I've made a neat little list to give me closure:

• Squatter toilets -- The ubiquitous response when asked the worst part of your experience among long term volunteers. Sometimes you get the nice porcelain ones that flush and never smell bad. Sometimes you get the one in between and seldom ever flushes--but sometimes in the villages you get the one thats made of concrete, with cement steps for standing and is just a whole in the ground. Bonus rule for tourists, BYOTP!! Toilet paper is relatively expensive and in some Tanzanian households there never is any. Theres always a bucket of water that should do the job. Sometimes you hold it, but when the urge is unbearable you must remember the old addage: ''When in Rome.......'' 
•  Wazungu price -- as a not white person, in America, anyway I found it extremely difficult to bite my tongue when people assumed I was white and wealthy. As I've mentioned before in my disdain for many western (sorry, but especially American) tourists, I don't blame Tanzanians for making this assumption. However, its discouraging to those who simply want to bring a souvenir for their loved ones and are expected to pay triple the mbongo (slang for Tanzanian) price. Thus, it was essential to learn 'Market Swahili'. Even cookies in the duka, which I know cost 500 shillings would be totaled  1500 shillings. If you don't have a sharp tongue, you don't get a good price.
• The no camera rule -- I've mentally captured amazing memories.....in my head. Its an engrained rule in Arusha that you must not take photographs in town as there are so many pickpockets and snatchers around. I've seen some fools doing it, but everyone stares and its usually not a good situation. However, Mount Meru in Arusha at dusk is an amazing sight that I wish I could keep on my wall forever. 
• Constant marriage proposals -- 'Mzungu I love you', 'Do you have husband, my son is 25 and needs a wife', 'Mzungu, I am looking for wife and I always wanted to go to America', etc. Although incredibly entertaining for everyone in the beginning, in town its a bit much. On the bus to Moshi a man joking with our male volunteer pointed to me and shouted 'I'm going to marry her!' It became such a joke that at times we'd have to pretend we were married to spare me the embarrassment. If they'd printed t-shirts that said 'I've been offered a cow and sheep by a Maasai boy in exchange for a hand in marriage' I'd surely qualify to have bought one. 

There really are small things I'm anxious to see again--skyscrapers, a city lit at night, something priced with a dollar sign, hell....even a McDonalds would be cause to stop and stare for a few minutes. I've been hungry for that moment when I get off the plane and see Phnom Penh for the first time, and even thinking about what will surprise me when I get home to New York! I'm glad I'll be able to have seen both landscapes one after the other, and will be able to have seen life in both places right before I go home to the biggest consumer holiday in the country--Christmas! 

Asante mungu kwa safari! (Thank God for this trip) I will miss Tanzania and its great people!