Wow – what a night.
So you know how in every group there are always some personality
conflicts? Well our group was no
different except that EVERYONE got along great EXCEPT 2 people – a couple who
started off the trip on day 1 with the husband declaring “I don’t want to go
with the group”… not one time but 3 times.
We even went out of our way to go pick him up when he missed the ferry
to Zanzibar (due to a lack of personal responsibility in looking at the times
for his little adventure that was definitely NOT part of our travel
plans). Through the entire trip he was
abrasive, offensive, and rude to the local people telling them that their homemade
wares were “not worth” what they were charging.
And you know what – our purchases weren’t about buying something that
was “worth” the dollar amount. They were
about giving to a community who took the effort to make beautiful hand-made
unique wares. The $15 for a bracelet
that we could make with safety pins and beads was valuable because that $15
provided food for a family for a few days!
UGH! So we get back from an
amazing journey through Ngoro and he proceeds to exit the vehicle and verbally
bash all the work that was done on the trip because his add-on trip that begins
the next day didn’t suit his schedule.
He and his wife had us constantly rolling our eyes, walking away out of
embarrassment that someone might think WE were his wife, and the best part… his
profession is working with companies to help improve their customer service
experiences. Basically he was, is, and probably
always will be a self-absorbed a$$.
Because I’m a good person, I’m not about to say his name but no worries
– his business won’t be getting a single referral from my professional
network. Mean people should just go
away!
End rant.
So after getting back to the hotel we all took showers after
2 days of safari driving. It took me 3
body washes and 2 hair washes to get the water to run clear I was so filthy. Still 24 hours later I still think I feel
dust in my hair. The shower was great
and the wine among my new friends was wonderful. We dined, shared memories, exchanged email
addresses, and I know that most of us (except self-absorbed couple X) will stay
in touch.
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| Willie, me, and Joyce at the last stop where I got my ring. |
Today everyone left for his or her respective journeys by
8:30am and it was just I. Joyce, our
trusty guide, picked me up from the hotel and took me on a downtown Arusha
adventure complete with riding the dali dali (bus), walking all over downtown
bargaining for a futbol jersey for John, a Masai Shuka for me, and a Tanzanite
ring for my anniversary (Thanks Richard!!).
A guy followed us until I turned around and made eye contact letting him
know that I saw him and I wasn’t afraid.
He backed off but then the local guys noticed what we were shopping for
so they started harassing my guide Joyce.
She’s a tough cookie and I was so glad to have her. Arusha was fun but NOT somewhere I would have
walked without someone who knew the language and the town. I much prefer Moshi to Arusha.
 |
| Happy 15th anniversary to me! |
We made it to 5 jewelry stores and finally on the 5th one I found the ring I wanted. It is a beautiful Tanzanite band to go under my solitaire in memory of my trip and my 15th wedding anniversary. I love it and since I haven’t bought a fancy piece of jewelry in 15 years this should hold me over for a while.
Well – when I got to the airport in Dar Es Salaam the security
guys started giving me a very, very, very hard time about some rough tanzanite
I had in my souvenir bag. They said I
had to have papers from the Minister of Minerals or something that said it was
ok for me to take this out of the country.
Seriously? I bought it at a
tourist shop taken to by our guide and NO ONE told us we needed papers to ask
permissions to take the stones. I was
glad that I didn’t buckle – I did my best to convince the guy I was an honest
person and had no idea and eventually I asked to talk to someone higher. He came over and at this point I was shaking
I so didn’t want to leave my $80 of stones behind. They really weren’t going to let me take them
– thankfully I got the guy to agree that if I showed him my receipt for my new
ring (which I was NOT wearing) he would let me take the stones. I showed it to him and he started to
hesitate.
Then after asking why I was
here again I explained that we had gone to hospitals, what Smile Train does
they said, “you are good for us”. I was
in tears and shaking – partly out of anger, part out of frustration and a
little bit of thanks that I didn’t have to leave my stones. I really think these guys were trying to
hustle me and because I pushed and pushed and had a receipt for my ring they
realized it wasn’t going to work. The
funny thing was at the end of the episode one of them told me something along
the lines of ‘you can never be too safe.
Always ask for a manager because some of these guys are just trying to
get money out of you.
Plane ride to Zurich – excellent as was the last flight on
Swiss. They have amazing food, amazing
customer service, very calm and friendly.
Now I’m on a United flight from Zurich to New York and yep, the world is
right, the United flight service leaves much to be desired. Sorry.
The attendants were very abrupt with the international passengers, not
taking the time to make sure they understood the answers to their
questions. Just not as nice as they
could have been. Then I finally got to Newark airport, so happy to only have 1 flight left to get home. After traveling for 30'ish hours and being awake for the last 40'ish hours I was eager to be in Raleigh. Not so fast... apparently at 9am that morning United had cancelled my 4:15pm flight to Raleigh due to 'weather'. I call foul! They booked me on the next flight leaving at 8am the NEXT DAY! No voucher for a meal, no toothbrush, no t-shirt since all my clothes were filthy, no hotel. They actually told me that I had to spend the night at the airport, it wasn't their problem. NOT how I wanted to end my trip so after lots and lots and lots of tears, I got a hotel room and went to bed.
I made it home Sunday morning at 11am to my happy kids (Roy didn't recognize me for a few hours!) and a happy husband. No place like home!
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