Flip-Flops and Chapatis
Nancy and I are going into
town to buy a few necessities. We catch our usual daladala but
the main road into town is closed so our daladala takes a side
road. “Road” is a generous description for what more closely resembles a dirt
path pitted with large rocks, concrete blocks and potholes large enough to be
explored by spelunkers. Four-wheel drive all-terrain vehicles, hummers or
better yet army tanks should be the only vehicles allowed to navigate them, but daladalas are
tough. We zigzag directly into the path of oncoming traffic to avoid potholes,
but there is no danger of a head-on collision since the top speed is about five
miles per hour. But sometimes the van plunges into holes so deep that
many times I am sure we’ll tip over.
Even under the best of
circumstances there is no such thing as a “quick trip” into town. First, you
have to outfit yourself as if preparing for a long difficult journey, such as
crossing the Saharan desert on foot. You need to slather yourself with sun
protection. Next, you need to bring boiled tap water or be prepared to buy
water in town. At nearly a dollar a bottle, it gets expensive. Proper clothing
is essential; legs must be covered with pants or preferably long skirts so the
largely Muslim population is not offended. Then of course there’s money. If you
don’t bring enough you’re out of luck because you can’t just pop your ATM card
into the cash machine since they don’t exist here.
I bring a lot of cash with
me because you never know what you’re going to see that you need. “Big money”
here is 5,000 Tanzanian Shillings, about $7. Passing a 10,000 note, the largest
currency note, at places like the market or anywhere in our neighborhood is
impossible. It’d be like trying to buy a gumball with a $100 bill.
Like food and water flip-flops are essential. Everyone wears them
from little children to mzee's ambling gingerly with their
canes around the neighborhood. It's the only thing we wear at home and most of
the people in our neighborhood wear them all the time, even in the winter. I
wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the President of Tanzania wears them in the
privacy of the Presidential Palace.
When I first started wearing flip-flops I was indifferent to them.
I appreciated the simplicity of flipping them on and off and they kept my feet
clean but that was as far as it went. As time went on, their innate charms
called out to me. I found myself walking by carts bursting with different
styled pairs and longing for the ones I thought were "cute" like I
used to do with $300 designer Italian shoes on Michigan Avenue when I
lived in Chicago. I'm worried that I may become the Imelda Marcos of the
flip-flop world. But, at roughly $1 a pair, at least it won’t require an
enormous capital outlay.
I approach the flip-flop
salesman with his cart overflowing with flops of all sizes, colors and shapes.
After searching through the piles for a right and a left that match, I find a lovely
pair of pink and red, leopard print flops, and the bargaining begins.
“How much?”
I ask.
“2,000” says the flip-flop vendor.
“No, 700.”
Haggling over prices in the market is mandatory. As a foreigner, I’m
usually
treated to the very special welcome to
Tanzania price, which is two to five times
what an item “should” cost. I know that Nancy
paid 700 shillings for a pair of flip-flops last week.
“1,500.”
“No, 700” I reply in a firmer tone of voice.
“1,000.”
“No, 700.”
No response from the
salesman. My response is to walk away. This is a sure-fire method of getting a
favorable reply.
“Sister, what
you pay?” he says as I turn away. I’m not sure if all women are referred to as
“sister” or if just foreign women are called that. Or maybe it’s just me and I
suddenly have lots of brothers I didn’t know about living right here in Arusha.
We
finally settle on 800, but that isn’t the end. I hand him my 1,000-shilling
note and he hands me 100 shillings in change. I hold out my hand and give him a
look like “Nice try.” He grudgingly hands over another 100 shillings.
I end up spending 6,800 shillings and feel like Donald Trump: 2,500 for
a long-sleeved sweater ($3.25); 2,400 for 2 big Nestle Crunch bars (a 4-day
chocolate supply); 1,000 for lunch (a falafel sandwich and cappuccino) and 800
for flip-flops.
Nancy and I return home to a Chapti-making lesson given by Fatima in our
kitchen. If you need to gain weight quickly eat chaptis. Ingredients: a
bag of white flour, 3 1/2 cups of water and salt. Mix together and roll out
with flour. Add one teaspoon of oil to the top and spread it with a spoon. Roll
into a ball and then into a croissant shape and add more oil. Roll out again
until flat like a pancake and fry with lots of oil. Despite the fact that
Fatima uses something called “Chicken Fry” oil that congeals to the consistency
of dried Elmer’s glue, they’re sinfully delicious when eaten warm from the
frying pan and impossible to resist. If I continue to eat these I'll be rolling
home myself in a year, looking like a big doughy white chapati.
