Do you like Barack Obama?

I left Ghana this past Friday, and headed to Nairobi before heading to Dar es salaam, Tanzania. When you entered Nairobi, you have to pay $25 in US Currency or the British Pounds equivalent. Unfortunately for me, I only had two $20 and no one told me you needed exact change. As I was waiting for my visa to be processed, I noticed that the immigration officer did not offer me any change. So I asked him for my change, and he gave me back $10 and told me to give him $5. I wasn't sure if he was joking or serious, but I jokingly asked him if he liked Barack Obama. He said yes, and I told him that I was going to call Barack Obama and tell him that the immigration officer kept my $5. He then laughed, gave me back my $5 and said it would have cost me $10 to call Barack Obama. When I told my field support person the story, she was mortified because the immigration officer was serious about not giving me my change.

Anyways, Nairobi was good, but expensive. I packed in a lot in 2 days. I went to one of the largest slums to visit a school, saw some handmade bags made from recycled clothing, specifically, sweaters, and I even saw some baby elephants being fed. I also went to an event call Wine and Blankets where we saw live African jazzy type of music. I also attended a nice bbq where I finally got a decent hamburger and learned to play beer pong. It was nice, but I was eager to get to Tanzania and get settled. However, things did not go as planned, as this is the story of my life in Africa. At some point, bad things just sort of happen to everyone here, and so you just stopped caring so much.

Back to my story.... I woke up late and had to rush to catch my supposed 12 hour bus ride from Nairobi to Dar es salaam - in reality it is about 16 hours. I was given a laptop moments before I caught the bus and placed it under the seat in front of me. I got off the bus twice for about 5 minutes to use the restroom, and I only took my backpack with my money and passport. Unfortunately, someone on the bus nicked the computer and I felt sad because it wasn't even mine. I told the police conductor who than drove the bus to the police station, where the police conducted a search of everyone on the bus. People were getting on and off the bus during this 16 hour journey, so they were probably gone :( The police felt bad and all of the Tanzanian people felt bad, and I felt bad. Luckily a very nice German woman stayed with me and took me to the hotel where she was staying as it was about 10:40 p.m. She said that I was surprisingly calm about the whole experience. I told her that so many other things have happened to me since I have been in Africa that there is no point in getting upset anymore. I am safe and I still have money and my passport, so I am good.

I have to say that Africa has been the most difficult place (Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania) I have traveled, but really it is just weird circumstances. Many people here are poor and it is hard to blame them when you are not being careful and you are creating easy opportunities for them to steal from you. And most of the local people that I have come across have been very lovely and helpful, so I don't want to let a few unfortunate experiences taint my overall experience here. I keep hoping that it will get better, and in some ways it has because I am handling the difficulties much better than before.

Hope you are all well, and I look forward to exploring Tanzania and having a great time here, even if there are a few more bumps in the road!