I feel like a traitor to the cause, yesterday there I was in complete admiration of Mr Allen's commitments, despite life's adversities, now today I find myself complaining about and looking to abandon my far superior, but far from luxurious flat for a couple of days... This attitude is bought on by lack of water, and the desire for another hot shower, lack of good sleep, prevalence of itchy bites and the cramped comforts of my mosquito net, in other words i need time to recuperate. A few days ago I was given an offer by the co-owner of my school, ex-teacher and British citizen, Mrs Jennifer to stay at her house for as long as I liked, as she had a spare bed, lived alone and would welcome the company. once this idea was planted in my mind it grew, I could not resist the temptation of a more comfortable place to stay for a while, so i packed thoroughly, prepared for school and organised to arrive after the day was complete...
Mrs Jennifer only lived 4km away from the school so this was a handy transition for me and boy did I get the treatment, honestly it felt like I had traveled back in time to the colonial era. Mrs Jennifer has a driver, gardener, nightwatchman and house woman who all go out of there way to ensure that you are comfortable and well looked after. during the lunch break to update and help me with navigation, David the driver was sent to and fro to show me how to get to the house and local shops, back to school and from Mrs Jennifer's to the flat, this seemed a bit all to much for me, I don't like people running round after me, and like I said it was all too familiar to the history of race relations in this country, a white man being waited on hand and foot by the locals. David spoke basic English and was a very nice obliging man, but after he had sufficiently directed me around I decided my mode of transport from then on would be by foot.
The house itself was also in the colonial fashion, open planned and flowing, ornate and old with a very particular and lovely, neat garden, it was a large house with all the necessaries one could desire. As I explored the rooms a bit more many things surprised and pleased me, one was the size of my soon to be bed and its accompanying mosquito net, another was the resources Mrs Jennifer had available on Africa, she had many specifically African focused magazines and papers, a life times supply of the economist, novels by African authors and economic, political and legal texts also centre on Africa, anyone doing a degree in African studies would not have needed to leave the house to graduate, another great resource was Mrs Jennifer's supply of African Music, she had more African music than I have C.D's and that's saying something! I couldn't wait to browse both music and literature to find gold for the future...
Another thing that struck me about the house and this applies to alot of the more wealthier houses in general in Tanzania was the extent taken to ensure that the level of security was high. The fence surrounding the grounds was a thick, high, sturdy brick one that looked as if it was made to defend a small fort, the gate was wrought iron and any place large enough for a man or child to fit through was cover with barbed wire. On top of the large fence and all the way around was fixed an abundance of broken bits of glass to prevent unwanted visitors. The night watchman was always present at night sitting on his seat just inside the gate waiting to be of any use, I'm told he is a simple fellow, but he looks well suited to be of service in the security department.. As if all these precautions weren't enough, every window was heavily barred and each door way was solid with two separate doors for each entrance, the locks were hard enough to open with a key, having to turn a different key in each key hole round four or five times to unlatch the whole dead lock!! Extreme precautions, i found myself thinking about the complete difference between the living standards of Mr Allen and Mrs Jennifer... you can't compare.
I spent the evening listening to all sorts of fitting harmonious music, reading about the history and present struggles of various places in Africa and conversing at length with Mrs Jennifer on a range of things. The shower was good, the bed comfortable and I was begging to feel at home, yet I could not help but feel a little bit guilty... I feel asleep to the soothing sounds of a mating chorus of frogs and crickets...
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