So, to continue on with the hotel room story. Nicole phoned down once again to ask about their non-smoking policy, emphasizing that it was because of her allergies that she was concerned, not just because we "don't like the smell" of smoke. The girls at the desk insisted it was a non-smoking room, but when Nicole asked why there were ashtrays in the rooms, she was told: "Well, you can smoke in your ROOM if you want." Of course then the reply is: "But then it isn't really a non-smoking hotel is it?" And they answered: "Yes, it is non-smoking, it is your choice, you don't have to smoke if you don't want to." Nicole then asked if there was perhaps a floor that really was designated as a non-smoking floor where you actually were not allowed to smoke, and the girls finally said that they would move us to the 8th floor, to a suite and that if we would pack up, a bellman would be right up in five minutes to help us move our luggage. Well, we re-packed in a hurry, luckily we hadn't really unpacked yet, and as we were waiting Nicole decided that maybe she should go downstairs and get the key to the new room and check it out before we moved...just in case, as this does seem to be a hotel full of surprises. So imagine my astonishment when she came back and told me that we would remain in this room as when she got downstairs the hotel was magically full, there was no room anywhere and no bellman was coming to help us move anything, and the girl who had told us we would would move had dashed into an office, and wasn't coming out. We could only laugh, and be a little astounded, but this is Africa.

We did get this massive portable air conditioner though, which cleared out the smoke smell and if we leave the bathroom fan on it sucks in the cool air from the hallway (remember those odd hallway vents? They serve a good purpose after all) And the air conditioner has a hose out the back, large like a dryer hose, and it spewed hot air out, so we washed our clothes, hung then on a bar that was in front of the window, aimed the hose at them, and it was like a drier and an airconditioner all in one! We are becoming quite "McGyver-ish" and very innovative.

We decided that the room was quite acceptable and we started to get ready for bed and Nicole unfurled her mosquito net only to find that it was like a mini-net and came no where NEAR to being able to fit over her bed. It looked like it was maybe meant for a crib, so we had to phone down yet again, and we apologized yet again for being so incredibly annoying, but the staff all seems fine with it, and they rushed up a new net within minutes.

I do know that "a foreign country is designed to make its own people comfortable, it is not designed to make us comfortable" but our issues were health concerns and we felt they needed to be addressed. I will add that we tip very generously as well.

We decided to go back to the Indian restaurant for dinner, I can't remember if I mentioned earlier that while it might seem that we don't seem to be eating very much local food, it's because there isn't really a local food, per se. The tribespeople subsist on meat that they hunt, and a dish called "ugaali" which is sort of like a porridge/cornmeal dish, I haven't seen it anywhere yet, although I would like to try it. Closer to the coast they eat a lot of seafood and fish, so there isn't really a specific type of food. Lots of rice and curry.

Back to the Indian restaurant. We had our same waiter from the other day and we knew this time not to order the spicy bread and dipping sauces, and that yes, we should order rice. His feelings were a little hurt that we didn't want the spicy flat bread and he kept asking: "Papadom? Salad?"......
Us: "No, no papadom, no salad."
Him: "Salad?"
Us: "No, hapana asante (No, no thank you)
Him..appearing with 2 dishes of salad and asking in a hopeful voice: "Salad?"
Us:"No salad."
Him:"Papadom?"
Us: "No, the papadom is too hot, we burned our mouths. Spicey!"
Him:"Ok, papadom then."
He returned with papadom and only 2 sauces, both actually quite mild, one was yogurt which Nicole wanted to rub on her sunburned arms as we hear the culture is like a soothing aloe, I had to forcibly stop her by rapidly double dipping my papadom in it.
The we asked for a cup of coffee and a cup of tea when he asked us what we would like to drink.

Him, in an incredulous voice: "Coffee?"
Me: "Please."
Him: "Coffee and tea?"
Us: "yes, please."
Him, sadly: "Coffee."
He gazed off into the distance for quite some time, hoping perhaps that we would have vanished when he looked down again.
"And tea?" he added morosely as he strained his eyes towards the depths of the restaurant.

He heaved a huge sigh and was gone for so long that we had to place our order with someone else.

As we waited for our meal we were reviewing our pictures on our little cameras and when our waiter suddenly reappeared with our drinks he asked us where we had been as he couldn't help but see the pictures of all the children.

My question is--where had HE been?? Is there a hidey-hole in the tree in the middle of the yard? How could he have seen the pictures? But he was generally interested in seeing the photos and hearing about our trip to Haydom, so we shared them with him as we enjoyed our tea and coffee. I just love this place!

TIDBITS

The small shops like supermarkets and the gift shops in the hotels all have quite modern looking computers and keyboards for their till systems, but none of them have a cash drawer and all the money is mixed up together in a bucket or a paper bag that just sits under the counter..

Another thing I learned in haydom is that pain management for patients is quite a problem as the Tanzanian government does not allow opiates to be used by the hospital. No morphine. It's considered too addictive and the gov't thinks it will cause more problems than it will solve..

Today there were power outages every few minutes all morning. This is a direct result of the water shortage and the gov't has not yet restricted electricity use, nor have they implemented a water ration, however they "are thinking about it."