Pam in the lion's mouth in front of the Kiliminjaro Kempinksi Hotel.
A view of the pool on the roof deck of the Kempinski.
Michelle in the pool.
A glimpse of out hotel suite in the Kempinski.Jambo!
We arrived in Tanzania this morning (took the red eye from Uganda). We haven't done/seen much but freshen up for an afternoon of introductory meetings. I got a chance to peek at Mt Kilamanjaro on the way to Tanzania. It was an amazing snow-capped thrusting of earth. Tanzania is arid and much hotter than Uganda (102 degrees today in Tanzania vs. 80 degrees yesterday in Uganda). These east African countries are so different.
The earth in Uganda is rust colored clay and densely overgrown with intensely green tropical trees (acacia trees, banana trees, coffee trees, palm trees, etc.). Tanzania, in contrast, has lots of low scrabble trees and bushes in muted greens and is sandy and beige.
We arrived in Tanzania this morning (took the red eye from Uganda). We haven't done/seen much but freshen up for an afternoon of introductory meetings. I got a chance to peek at Mt Kilamanjaro on the way to Tanzania. It was an amazing snow-capped thrusting of earth. Tanzania is arid and much hotter than Uganda (102 degrees today in Tanzania vs. 80 degrees yesterday in Uganda). These east African countries are so different.
The earth in Uganda is rust colored clay and densely overgrown with intensely green tropical trees (acacia trees, banana trees, coffee trees, palm trees, etc.). Tanzania, in contrast, has lots of low scrabble trees and bushes in muted greens and is sandy and beige.
We're in Dar es Salaam -- the capital. I'm ashamed to say we're in five star hotel in a suite with two flat screens and over-the-top amenities.
P.S. 1/29/08 Am realizing after 24 hours of being back in the States how liberating it was to be where everyone is black and brown in spite of the intense poverty. All the advertisements, all the authority figures, all the service people -- all the faces: black and brown. For two glorious weeks I had a reprieve from the hard, hostile, fearful, face shrugs that some white folks try to pass off as smiles. I was openly gawked at throughout Uganda and Tanzani but the looks were curious, affirming and friendly. Everywhere I was greeted with: Karibou (Welcome!) and Jambo (Hello!). Am saddened by the condescending looks I get here in my library, in Trader Joe's, at check-out counters and on the walk to work. Racism is so tiring.
P.S. 1/29/08 Am realizing after 24 hours of being back in the States how liberating it was to be where everyone is black and brown in spite of the intense poverty. All the advertisements, all the authority figures, all the service people -- all the faces: black and brown. For two glorious weeks I had a reprieve from the hard, hostile, fearful, face shrugs that some white folks try to pass off as smiles. I was openly gawked at throughout Uganda and Tanzani but the looks were curious, affirming and friendly. Everywhere I was greeted with: Karibou (Welcome!) and Jambo (Hello!). Am saddened by the condescending looks I get here in my library, in Trader Joe's, at check-out counters and on the walk to work. Racism is so tiring.
1 comment:
Amen. I can attest to the sense of ease you feel in a country of color. You definitely feel a part of the landscape and there is something to be said for that even tho folks know that you are a visitor. I think too that part of it is that in this country, color matters. It's not necessarily true of some other western countries, parts of Europe, Canada. There is such an embedding in the DNA of black/white issues that many people can't separate their prejudices because they are ingrained. Their are deep preconceived feelings in this country that you won't find other places. You find in both black people and white people here. i will stand by my theory that the white woman will do more for relations in the next few generations because of the increasing numbers of brown babies that are being born. I believe racism eventually will die by attrition because upcoming generations will be so mixed that the stark distinctions eventually will dissipate. Also as the diehard generatoins die out, the energy will go out of the entrenched, notwithstanding the fringe elements of white supremicists and black radicals.
The other leveler in this society will be money, green will always be green, and tho more widely it's dispersed and/or encapsulated by one percent of the population, the more the masses will come together on common ground.
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