Bullshit

No, I'm doing fine...that's just what we played for hours last night. Who would have know such a boring game could be so fun. But yeah, yesterday after a great, international ultimate frisbee game, Anna, Pete and I found Ayoubu (our friend we met last year) and a few of his friends and went to Hill Park, a restaurant/bar on campus. There we started with multiple games of pool. Now, mind you this is no regular pool, this is African pool. The balls, pockets, and table are smaller and the pockets are not rounded so any miscalulated shot bounces across the small table. On top of that, they have the "two shot rule." Whenever a shot either misses all of your teams ball or hits the other teams first or is a scratch, the other team gets two shots in a row. Well, Pete and I thought we'd play Wazungu (whities) against the Watanzania (tanzanians). We were reminded why we don't play African pool. we lost bad. After a couple rematches we called it quits on pool and moved to cards. We tried to teach them hearts, but it was a little tedious. We then played bullshit which was hilarious! They loved it. It was fun for them because lying seems against their nature so they were constantly cracking up and putting on horrible poker faces. We played well into the night enjoying a rare Tanzanian rain that cooled everything down.

Today has been an eventful day as well. We went to town (an hour long process in cramped, warm, dalas full of the smell of humanity) and tried to buy airline tickets to Zanzibar for our New Year trip. We got there and saw a "deal" for an all inclusive package deal. We decided to do it and went to the ATM's (notice plural) to get money, but of course withdrawl limits prevented us from getting enough cash. We went back to the agent to try to put down a downpayment and she informed us that all the hotels were booked anyway so we couldn't get the package...so, we booked the tickets and are going on the fly for hotel rooms. Should be fine, we're e-mailing some places now. I figure we can't go wrong when we'll have two days of sun, sand, and snorkeling. After our excursion to the agent we got ready to get back on the dala and Peter discovered why they call Dar-es-Salaam "Bongoland" (land where you need to use your head to survive). Some one in line was kicking his foot and he was a little confused. He looked at the guy kicking him and then looked back and realized he had been pickpocketed! Fortunately it was only 500 Schillings which is the equivalent of 50 cents, but it the principle of it was frustrating. A good lesson though I guess.

So yes, it's been exciting here. Now we're off to our favorite indian restaruant, Anghiti's for some quality food. Baadye.