Still Kicken er
Trip Start
Nov 09, 2006
1
6
9
Trip End
Nov 29, 2006
Jambiani, Tanzania
Monday, November 20, 2006
Anyway Stone Town went without a hitch...well almost. We had a bit of a run in with a local leech. I forget the term depicting these kind of guys, but they remind me of a leech because of the way they latch on to you and try to suck you dry. Except all they want is your money..of course. Everywhere has them, though these guys are good, they seriously won't leave you alone. This guy followed us all over town for most of the day after i put on the last entry. It was Dave, Megan(a fellow volunteer, Shaff(one of our doctors) and me and the leech to start. He ended up selling Megan these cheep batteries for her camera that didn't last two pictures before they died. Then later when we checked into our room Shaff and I decided to tip him and this other guy to get them to leave. They demanded more. We told them to forget it and leave us alone. they did eventually. Later Shaff was out by himself and the guy found him and started following him around. They got into a yelling match and Shaff almost fought the guy. Not a good idea around here.
The day we left, yesterday, Megan, Vesna and me were out shopping in Stone Town and this leech found us again and proceeded to follow us again. Megan told him to stop following us and leave us alone. He got defensive and backed off...so we thought. We went into a store and he waited outside for us. He had friends this time. They stared at us the whole time...getting sketchy. I noticed the store workers were starting to get nervous and pointing to the guys outside. Now i'm getting a bit nervous, though i didn't alarm the girls. The store owner asked us if we knew the guys outside, we said no and then the guy came in. He got angry and started getting worked up. Megan actually diffused the situation and appologized for getting mad at him the day before and tried to shake hands. He went off, he started yelling about we come from rich country blah blah blah! I stepped in and told him to act civil and relax, it worked. They shook hands and we left. They didnt follow. Good thing.
You know you learn alot from those situations, things can be going fine and then one minute you say something a certain way and you piss off the wrong people. I don't know what would have happened, but i know i wasn't going to find out. Those situations have to be diffused otherwise the unknown could be very bad indeed. In third world countries you don't want to be the aggressor, they are desperate people and we are in their territory. Its like being in the forest with a bear, respect them and stay out of their way and play by their rules. Unless you have a gun...hahahaha!!
Anyway great day at the clinic, we put through about 380 people or so, it was busy enough. Well i'm off for a great dinner...by the way the food here is great, some places aren't so great, but fortunately our hotel has the best food. I love tropical fruits...passion fruit, pineapple, papaya, oranges....it is so $%&*in good!! Zanzibar has amazing fruit. It will be a sad day when we leave for sure.
Gotta run, Cheers!
C
Comments
Calm Down!
Nice to hear your temper didn't get you into trouble for once!!haha Just kidding. Sounds like you guys/girls are doing us proud over there! Keep up the good work, and come home safe.
Graham
Sounds like you're having no fun at all!
Good thing the girls had your back Cor. ha ha.
Pics are fab, sounds like an incredible time. Can't wait to hear all the stories!
Big hugs, Ry
travel safe
Sound a bit scary with these locals stalking you guys, If you get into trouble I,m sure your 'A' Company brothers will come over and save the day just like Halloween night.