TAN: Happy Home Renter

The main focus this day was to secure the house we have been working to get near Hanif’s in Micocheni. Headed over to the office at 9 :30 a.m. to meet with Yusuf and get all documentation in order. At this juncture, DTP will be on the lease, eliminating the need for Maina to have his work permit in hand before renting. The Internet connection was a bit better but still not up completely. We all checked in with our various information services.
Two hours went by with no sighting of Yusuf. Maina eventually got hold of him and arranged to pick him up from a nearby bus depot. The two of them worked on all of the paperwork required. Official documents related to DTP were Xeroxed; a three page lease was generated, along with receipt forms. We were finally on our way around 2 p.m.
Back in Micocheni we had the unexpected honor of being invited into the home of the neighbor, Mr. Mtana, to join in the tail end of his youngest sons baptismal feast. We were brought in among friends and family and offered the finest in hospitality. The meal consisted of chicken, vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce, a tomato and cucumber salad, white rice, brown rice, and ugali. We joined the men on one side of the room with the women being on the other side. The seemingly big excitement was the bottles of Pepsi that were gingerly brought out and lovingly toweled off before being served at the end of the meal. The TV was blaring the entire time we were seated.

The baptismal feast at Mr. Mtana’s. Chantal doesn’t seem quite sure of what we have gotten ourselves into.

Enjoying the scene in the Mtana living room.

After the meal it was down to business. Maina produced his paperwork and a long discussion in Swahili ensued. It seemed to go well and we were soon overrin the house making notes about the clean up required before we moved in. Although it needs a great deal of attention at the moment, the house should be very good once it is spiffed up.

Pumping two fences will bring you to Hanif’s place.

Back over at Mr. Mtana’s we were invited to climb up onto his unfinished second and third story to look out over the Dar es Salaam skyline. There is also an excellent view of the new house as well as the side of Hanif’s. We get the $3600 in rent organized before coming back down. Another long conversation culminated in Maina handing over the two envelopes with the rent money. Mr. Mtana dutifully counted through 2,600,000 in 5,000 and 10,000 Tanzanian shilling notes as well as writing down the serial numbers for the $1000 in 100 dollar bills. The lease documents were signed with a witness from each side as well. a receipt for payment was signed and we were on our way.

$3600 for a year’s rent in the form of $1000 and 2,600,000 shillings. Transcribing the serial numbers from US dollars seems to be a national pastime.

The Golden Tulip Hotel was our destination for a celebratory Tusker beer and a swim. Chantal, Sandrine and I swam while Maina nursed his beer and SMSed. We contemplated how we would get Maina to put down his phone and join us for a swim. The sun was pretty much gone after we got into the pool and it started to cool off a bit too much. Maina eventually finished his beer and we tossed him in. After about an hour we were done in the water and had moved over to a dining area on a bluff overlooking the Indian Ocean. The next two hours were spent conversing and imbibing various alcoholic substances. Anne Marie joined us in spite of being on duty as an employee of the hotel.

Had a quick dip in the pool before enjoying the cool evening air.

Finally got underway toward dinner around 9:00 p.m. Ended up at the Indian place we had gotten take away from when we came back from our safari. It was all quite delicious but the others all complained about having ordered too much food.