Since my first day here, I have been keen on blending in and not looking obvious that I don't live here. No matter how hard I tried, I was always being caught by the taxi and bajaj drivers. The reason why I was so eager to blend in is because I'm not good at negotiating prices. I never want to negotiate a price so low that it undermines someone's hard work yet I don't want to pay more than an average person would. When you look foreign, as in non-Tanzanian period, some or should I say most jack up their prices from the assumption that foreigners have excess money because it's obvious they're here for touring purposes or on business. Why else, right?
2 Comments
I've taken a long break from my last post! I met a friend, Maggie, whom I'll introduce in a later post. She and I have been busy exploring Dar Es Salaam together and hanging out. Today I'm inspired to write about my newest/current focus. I have wanted to do a detox for a while now to clear out and rejuvenate my skin as well as clean out my system, but seems like I could never get around to it. I found myself easily distracted by an array of tasty dishes which made me put this off further more. Ramadhan starts tomorrow and although I am Christian, I thought about participating for my own personal spiritual cleanse. I went to the market today to buy some fruits and veggies for breakfast and to my surprise, the prices were much lower than they normally are. I didn't ask and just chose to enjoy the save. Later on, I finally asked a family member who escorted me, why the grocery was much cheaper today. Is it because it's Monday? I had no clue! He tells me it's because of Ramadhan. I gave him a puzzled look...before it registered what he meant. People will be fasting, hence, less food will be bought. Ah! I think I will MOST certainly participate in Ramadhan this year but instead of fasting, I will be feasting with an abundance of fruits and vegetables :) :) Now I get to detox, save money, and spiritually cleanse....feels like a win to me. Another thing I'd love to mention that makes me enjoy Tanzania and slightly not miss the U.S. is the organic vs. non-organic food/prices. I don't have to worry about that when it comes to buying fruits here, they're all fresh and organic without the ridiculous organic prices! If you have the means and are interested, I encourage you to join me. Not sure how long I will be going with this so I've decided to go on a weekly basis....let's just hope I survive week 1! Below are just some pics I have taken since being here of my favorite fruit combos/dishes. I don't experiment much and as stated before in my bio, I love mangos so they are included in almost every dish if not all. Happy feasting :) The workout routine I'll be doing! |