Mzungu!

We decided to head into more central Dar today, so caught the daladala to Mwenge, changed onto another one, and from there to Kariakoo where they have a huge market. K/koo market was insane. At least as big as the Queen Vic market, but the stalls were much less defined and much more crowded. And we really stood out. Everywhere you walked people were yelling out "Mzungu! Mzungu!" (basically, white person) both as an exclamation and as a greeting to us. Technically not the most respectful way to say hello, but it doesn't have negative connotations. Still, it got quite draining after a while, you get absolutely no rest from the attention. People would even run ahead yelling out that mzungu were coming. My standard response to hearing someone shout "Mzungu!" soon became "wapi!" (ie. where?) just to keep us all laughing.

Yeah. We didn't last all that long in K/koo. Zoe and April and I caught the daladala back to Mwenge, where we walked along to the woodcarver's market. Now there's a place I could have stayed all day. They have a long row of basic shops crammed full with carvings and beaded jewellery, and the craftsmen/women sit behind them in a big open area making the pieces. It was fascinating, I could have sat and watched them for hours, but as soon as you look interested someone attatches themselves to you to convince you how cheap their stuff is. My Swahili does not yet encompass explaining that I just wanted to be left alone to watch. Plus, Zo and April might have got a little bored sitting there...