Years of bad karma from April Fools past finally caught up to me in a rude way last Thursday afternoon and when I frame it this way, it seems kind of like I deserved it. So, I would like to begin by apologizing to Katie Liebenstein for convincing her a few years back that I got in a car accident and also to anyone else who I enjoyed a cheap and instantly regrettable April Fools joke at their expense in the past. You win this time though I don’t recall anyone laughing. It wasn’t the first thought that crossed my mind but it wasn’t long before I realized it was in fact April Fools Day and no one would probably believe me. Still, it really happened though now I’ve had to tell the story so many times that it doesn’t even seem like something that really happened to me. Here’s how it went down:
It was last Thursday, the first, and I left work a little early because I wanted to mail some postcards and then meet up with some other people for a milkshake. I know that the part of town where I work is pretty poor and dangerous but I’d walked through it by myself several times before and that day didn’t feel any different. Really it wasn’t any different than any other day and I was walking through minding my own business and just doing my thing as usual. I walked through all of the sketchy parts with no problem whatsoever and was a distance of about three blocks away from the main road of town which I needed to go left down towards the post office so I walked across the street because there was a break in the cars passing. Wrong move.
I have to give props to these guys because I walked right into them which is like putting your foot in a waiting crocodile’s mouth. They weren’t targeting me or following me or anything and they really had no more than three seconds to decide they were going to mug me so it was just good luck on their part kind of. The short one kind of says a greeting to me which I get often so I just kind of ignore it and keep walking but then he puts his hand to arm to slow me and make sure I at least stop for a second to talk to him.
“Nipe elfu…” he starts to say, the Swahili way to start saying “give me some money” but before he even finishes saying that, there’s a tug on my bag, a rip, and then release. I lunge for it but my mind kind of freezes up when I see the size of the knife they’re wielding. It was no Croc Dundee mini-machete or anything but definitely bigger than a switch blade. I turn back to the short one and he’s already jogging back across the street with the other two.
“MWIZI!” I shout after a little hesitation (“THIEF!” which you sometimes should be careful about because thieves will get murdered and whatever was in your pockets usually isn’t worth getting some people killed. I’ve since learned that Arusha isn’t really that kind of town though and crime like this is frequent enough where people don’t take it as seriously as they do in some other towns.) They break into a sprint after I yell though and cut through the field just down the hill. I think this one guy is running after them but by the time they’ve crossed the creek and their figures reemerge, he’s just running with them (sunuvabitch!). By this point, I’ve slowly crossed back across the street to just stand on the sidewalk to watch them run off with my stuff. A crowd of other people who were walking along just joined me in standing there and watching them go off.
I get a simple “pole” (“sorry”) from some primary school students and from a few other people but most people just kind of watch me to see what I’m going to do as I just stand there bummed out and staring at the last place I saw them. I was just sort of doing an inventory of what they got and still a little bit in disbelief because it was 1:30 on a sunny afternoon on a busy road, not even 200 yards from the main road of town, with more than 50 other people around. I thought I had no reason to expect it and therefore I just thought he was another guy who wanted to ask me for money because I’m white. There are thousands of dirty young dudes just like them that are everywhere in this town which is what bothers me most because now everyone’s a suspect.
Nobody really won in this situation. All that was in my bag was my notebook that I’ve just been taking notes in for work (valueless to them) two Swahili-English dictionaries which they probably won’t even get five dollars for (though I paid about $16 for the two of them) and my rain jacket which I just happened to describe a couple posts ago. I don’t remember how much that costs but they probably won’t even get like five bucks for that either but this is just the wrong season for me to lose that. There were also the five postcards that I was on my way to mail (a month late, I know) which are also valueless to them. Gotta say sorry again to Karly Harding, Ali Caufin, Brittany Morris, Michael Lansing and Paul Corey because those aren’t going to make it anymore. Lastly, they took the bag which was that cool single-strap backpack thing I’ve had for almost four years that I got back in San Antonio
I still went in to work the next day even though everyone else had the day off and I really didn’t feel like coming in, but I said I would. I told Juhudi (my boss) what happened and it really bothered him. He told me that they were probably expecting a digital camera or a laptop or a passport or something better because I’m a whitey. Also, because Easter was coming up they were probably just hoping to make an extra buck for the holiday. We walked around the neighborhood that Friday which was good because I was having a hard time paying attention and was also good because I got to see just how poor and rundown the place is that I’m working. I was definitely seeing things through fresh eyes and I’ve been numbed to the extreme poverty that I’ve seen just since day one in Tanzania
The part of town where I’m working is probably one of the poorest wards in the whole Arusha municipality. It does have a bad reputation for crime and such which I’ve heard about from day one. I’ve seen the guys before who don’t have jobs and just spend their days doing exercise and practicing boxing/karate in the open fields around town. I’m not going to win a fight with them and I’m happy that it didn’t come to that (I do wish I at least socked that short guy in the face once even though he still would have gotten away… just for my sake.) I have to admit I definitely don’t feel as comfortable walking those streets as I did before and I’m feeling more paranoid seeing all the different looks and pairs of eyes shooting my way all the time. I stick out a lot and that gets me a lot of unwanted attention. Sometimes it gets me privileges too but based off of the stories I’ve heard, it doesn’t mean you’re less likely to get shanked.
That’s why I’ve gotta be a little serious here and tell the truth in that I have been hearing bad stories since day one about the area where I work but I won’t give you the details and more reason to worry than I have to because it’s already discomforting enough for me. More and more people are making it sound like this town is kind of going to the dogs right now and getting more dangerous/violent than even a few months ago. This is the slow season for tourists too which means there’s not as much cash coming in so people are bound to get a little edgier. I’m trying to be safe and smart and I can guarantee you that I don’t want to die here so don’t worry about that. I’m just a little concerned because it was just any other Thursday afternoon in broad daylight in front of a lot of people. If you can’t even feel comfortable then, when can you?
The important thing is that I’m still okay and no damage was done. I miss my things and wish those postcards would make it (they were pretty cool) but I know they’re just things after all and it could have been a lot worse. It definitely pissed me off and I’m disappointed that I can’t say “I’ve never been robbed” anymore but I’ve gained a new perspective so I’ll count that as something beneficial. I don’t want this to ruin my experience or make me paranoid or anything. I think the work I’m doing is really positive and valuable so I’ve got to keep doing it, see this through, and do the best job I can despite whatever enemies try to slow me down or intimidate me.
Still sucks though, don’t it?
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