Monday, December 20, 2004
Saturday, Dec 18
Yesterday I went to the dock to get berths on the overnight ferry to Bukoba, where those of us who haven’t gone to the states will meet for Christmas. Charlie and Rich are also coming from other parts of Tanzania, so I needed tickets for three. But we are out of luck. All the berths are booked until after Christmas, so our only option now is the unreserved third class seating. Man, that is STEERAGE! People are crowded together, it is smelly, people crawl into the coatracks to sleep...
There are two alternatives. The better alternative is to find a crew member ASAP and pay him to sleep in his quarters. This works, but you have to be fast – that option disappears like a shot. The other is to go to the top deck where they keep the lifeboats. You really aren’t supposed to be up there, but there are benches that you can stretch out on and it isn’t too bad if you bring a blanket, and especially if you have a Thermorest so you aren’t just on the hard bench, which I do.
While I was downtown, I made a last try to buy Christmas cards. I am late again this year, but I just hadn’t found any cards that were African, and why send Hallmark Cards from Tanzania? My luck today was no better. So I decided that I would have to do my own sketches.
I rode my bike to the Mkuyuni market and paid for a cup of tea and a biscuit to get a spot on a bench, and took out my paper and pen. Of course I instantly had a whole crowd of silent critics behind me, watching. I still find it hard to capture the posture and attitudes of the people here, but did manage to get some halfway credible sketches. They will have to do, at any rate. I also did a couple of portraits of some of the watchers – I like those best, and I think I am getting a little better at getting portraits that capture something of the model. The problem with portraits is that my models then want to have the sketches, and I end up giving most of them away.
News travels fast. Later I went to another market about a mile away to replenish my supply of bananas, tomatoes and onions. The Mama at the kiosk must have been at the first market, or at least heard about this weird Muzungu with the pen, because she insisted that I sketch her portrait too. It didn’t get me any extra tomatoes, but did win big smiles.
On the way home, I again shot a bunch of the kids shouting Muzungu/Mafrica with my finger as I rode by. POW! POW! POWPOW! They aren’t shooting back yet.
Yesterday I went to the dock to get berths on the overnight ferry to Bukoba, where those of us who haven’t gone to the states will meet for Christmas. Charlie and Rich are also coming from other parts of Tanzania, so I needed tickets for three. But we are out of luck. All the berths are booked until after Christmas, so our only option now is the unreserved third class seating. Man, that is STEERAGE! People are crowded together, it is smelly, people crawl into the coatracks to sleep...
There are two alternatives. The better alternative is to find a crew member ASAP and pay him to sleep in his quarters. This works, but you have to be fast – that option disappears like a shot. The other is to go to the top deck where they keep the lifeboats. You really aren’t supposed to be up there, but there are benches that you can stretch out on and it isn’t too bad if you bring a blanket, and especially if you have a Thermorest so you aren’t just on the hard bench, which I do.
While I was downtown, I made a last try to buy Christmas cards. I am late again this year, but I just hadn’t found any cards that were African, and why send Hallmark Cards from Tanzania? My luck today was no better. So I decided that I would have to do my own sketches.
I rode my bike to the Mkuyuni market and paid for a cup of tea and a biscuit to get a spot on a bench, and took out my paper and pen. Of course I instantly had a whole crowd of silent critics behind me, watching. I still find it hard to capture the posture and attitudes of the people here, but did manage to get some halfway credible sketches. They will have to do, at any rate. I also did a couple of portraits of some of the watchers – I like those best, and I think I am getting a little better at getting portraits that capture something of the model. The problem with portraits is that my models then want to have the sketches, and I end up giving most of them away.
News travels fast. Later I went to another market about a mile away to replenish my supply of bananas, tomatoes and onions. The Mama at the kiosk must have been at the first market, or at least heard about this weird Muzungu with the pen, because she insisted that I sketch her portrait too. It didn’t get me any extra tomatoes, but did win big smiles.
On the way home, I again shot a bunch of the kids shouting Muzungu/Mafrica with my finger as I rode by. POW! POW! POWPOW! They aren’t shooting back yet.
