November 15

I think I’ve already described the swimming pool near Ndanda Abbey as a sort of mzungu trap; when foreigners want to see animals they wait by the watering holes, and it’s the same when the locals want to see foreigners. I spend a lot of time there – I used to be a swimmer – and so I meet a lot of other assorted expats. Last Tuesday there were two American free-lance journalists, along with a Swiss electrician and a Tanzanian driver. The two Americans didn’t have assignments or even goals, and were just wandering around Tanzania looking for stories; one of them had just published an article in an obscure Californian newspaper. They told me they had come to stay in the Salvadorian Mission in Masasi, that they thought they would help set up a radio tower in exchange for their food and board. When they arrived they found the work would not begin for another six months, and I’m not exactly sure what they’re doing now. I couldn’t think of any stories to give them. Day-to-day life is interesting in Ndanda, but nothing really happens down here; no ethnic violence, no civil wars, and nothing else that might have some impact on the rest of the world. I think they’re leaving Tanzania in December sometime.