Random Arusha

Four weeks in, I fail to be surprised by randomness such as manequins with 1980s hairstyles wearing hot-pink, faux fur coats. What would be considered odd in Arkansas is down right common place here.

Dora, on the other hand, caught me a little off guard as she offered free samples of candy at the entrance of ShopRite. It wasn't until she greeted me with a very masculine, Tanzanian accent that I felt, again, at ease.

ShopRite is hard to explain, but I'll try. It caters to, almost exclusively, the roughly 40k expats that reside in Arusha (compared to about 200, maybe, in Moshi). Due to the location of the Rwandan tribunal in Arusha, there was a huge influx of expats to the city. They sell red grapes at 15000/kilo--even I couldn't justify that. They had cupcakes and one kind of coffee creamer. I was a very happy camper.