Sunday, June 30, 2013

Stone Town…where everybody knows your business


I’m starting to think I should walk around with a sign: “You look, you pay…” Even if we just charged one hundred Tanzanian shillings (~0.06 cents, USD) for every stare, I’m pretty sure all three of us could pay off our student loans with the money we’d make while here; okay…maybe just one of us, but still…. It’s very unnerving. We’ve tried staring back just as intently, but trust me…these people are experts! Also, we can’t ever walk around alone or in a pair without someone – usually many someone(s) – asking about our friend(s)…or where we’re going…or anything else they might want to know about you at that particular moment on that particular day. It’s really fun on the days we go back and forth – running errands, or if we happen to finish work early and go back to the apartment before leaving again. I’m perfecting the art of the “appropriately-island slow albeit with a purpose while constantly responding to people’s [multiple] greetings but avoiding making eye contact with anyone and never stopping” walk.

I forgot to mention something about Stone Town. While it’s largely residential, it is also filled with touristy curio-type stores, strategically located along every street/alley/path. So pretty much every person you walk past welcomes you into their shop, “just to see…” I quickly learned not to respond with, Kesho (tomorrow) or Baadaye (later), ‘coz guess what? They ALL reminded me when it was tomorrow…or later! Lately, instead of every single person we pass saying hi and trying to get us to come into their store, it’s more like every second person says hi and every third also welcomes us in. Ahhh…progress! But now that we’re “locals,” the greetings are no longer the tourist staples of Jambo or Mambo; now, it’s more like a conversation…composed entirely of [repeated] greetings, many directed at our backs…’coz remember, we do not stop!! (Only tourists do that, haha!)

To further complicate matters, Stone Town’s very narrow streets (if you can call them that) are not only used by pedestrians, but also cyclists – on bicycles, Vespas, motorbikes, and many other two-wheeled vehicles that constantly fly by and around sharp corners at breakneck speeds. Thankfully, the riders usually warn us they are coming up behind us, towards us, or are around a corner. The motorbikes and Vespa drivers honk, while the bicyclists ring their bells; for those without bells, a squeeze of very squeaky breaks suffices to alert folks to hop to; and, my favorite…a kissing sound made by the rider also means, “beware, bicycle about to run you over if you don’t get out the way!” Let’s not go into my reaction the first time I heard that! Occasionally, we also have to make way for hand carts, known as Mikokoteni…but at least those move slowly enough that we have plenty of time to make room…usually. Unless they’re going downhill. Then good luck. We’re in the habit of walking single file, especially when all three of us are together. At least that way if one of us got run over, we’re all going out together!

Vespas/motorbikes zooming & honking, bicycles trilling, kissing sounds, and endless greetings are not the only sounds we hear in Stone Town. There are also the cats that fight every night, usually around 3 or 4 a.m., so I guess technically morning. The first time I heard it, I thought our next door neighbor was shooting a bad slasher flick to screen at the upcoming Zanzibar International Film Festival! Nope, just a couple of cats going at it like there’s no tomorrow. Honestly, from the sounds they’re making, it’s no wonder the streets are dead silent. I certainly wouldn’t want to get caught in the middle of any of those cat fights, let alone try to break them up! Yep, Stone Town in the wee hours belongs to yowling cats. Many of them…or it could be just two. I’m too scared to even peek out a window to get a look. The locals are obviously smart enough to steer clear, and I plan to do the same.

I have no idea how I’ll ever again be able to fall asleep without the sounds of Stone Town once I leave this place.

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