Ok, well, it doesn't strictly say on my moskito net for them to not sit there. But all I read beforehand was wear white as mosquitoes don't tend to go there and use a net that is treated with a repellent. So for two days in a row I saw mosquitoes sitting on my white net with the recommended repellent. Huh? Don't those damn insects read up on that stuff? Which part of "White is not good for me?" did they not get?
My hopes for looking at a bike were dashed today as the head of the UNEP from Dar es Salaam (the capital) was here. Things kept getting postponed and it wasn't until 5pm when they were looking at the showroom that my colleagues and I had prepared by 9:30am... Just before the one bike store closed I managed to stop by and of course the bike wasn't ready yet. So now I doubt the guy wants to actually do the changes. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get it cheaper w/o the changes, as long as it rides well.
Not that I would have had the money anyway. Cashing the traveler' check has been interesting. On Saturday they told me they couldn't do it because it's Saturday (somehow it needed the main office and they were not working on Saturdays). On Monday I came back and not only did they need a passport, but also the receipt from when I bought them. Great - couldn't they have told me on Saturday??? Tu and We I just didn't get their early enough (they close at 3).
Ok, now this part of the blog comes live from the bank. I am now sitting here and I was told that it can take up to an hour to get confirmation from the main office. I guess they don't really like cashing Traveler's checks (saturday they tried sending me to the Bureau de Change, but their fees are much higher). Anyway, before she could even process my TC she said she had to finish her current task, which seemed to be crossing out dates on application forms. I said "No problem" and waited a couple of minutes. After that I was wondering if there is any way I could speed up the process and thought if I start reading something it would make her move. But of course I didn't have a book with me. The next best thing was the laptop. Hey, as soon as I had it booting she got up and took the traveler's checks and passport and proceeded....
So now I am sitting in an A/C-d bank, waiting for the things to come. I guess I don't want to have to go through this process very often, though. Maybe next time I'll try a different bank. This one is the closest to home and was mentioned in my travel guide as having a low fee. They didn't mention customer service....
This morning I went running and there were a few people stretching. Later most of them had left, but two guys continued and I later talked to them. They turned out to be police officers and stay in shape by exercising every morning.
--ok, wait, my "line" is moving. I am now asked to fill out a form. Seems like the laptop trick worked and seeing that she couldn't annoy me did the transaction fairly quickly... So will continue the blog entry later.--
We chatted a little bit and I asked them where I can find out about traffic laws. So they directed me to the main police office and its traffic officer. I did however ask them how the right-of-way works on non-signalised intersections. They said the main road has the right of way. This is similar what I believed is the case in California until I started reading up on the actual law... But it seems like nobody cares in the Golden State about not following the law properly, including the police that is supposed to be looking out for you. Of course pretty soon there won't be any problems anymore as the goal seems to be to
-- Darn, now she makes me stand in line. So I guess I will really have to call it quits for now...--
Ok, the total time spent was still about an hour in the bank. I can't complain about having to wait in line to get the cash as everyone else had to wait, too. But if the approval had taken an hour instead of two minutes it could have been potentially annoying...
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