It’s fun to stay at the...

yes, YMCA in Dar es Salaam! I really do enjoy staying here, I already stayed three nights during my first week in Tanzania, and now I am back again since last Wednesday. I personally think that YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Mission) is a lot better than YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Mission) in Dar es Salaam, although all the guidebooks tell me the opposite. It is cheaper, there is more light and air going through the building, rooms are bigger and nicer, the staff is friendlier and the café/shop better equipped. The two hostels are situated almost opposite each other, near the main post office in the centre of Dar es Salaam. ‘Posta’ is also one of the main daladala (the public transport minibuses) stands, so I don’t have to walk too much if I want to get out of the centre – in the very city centre I can just walk.

Most of the oh-so-grumpy staff in the beginning have started smiling, greeting me cheerfully (“Rafiki! Mambo vipi?”) and even trying to pronounce my name (I think I heard something like Regina yesterday, it’s close enough). The service is extraordinarily slow both in the reception and the bar/restaurant, but with these prices I really can’t complain. The Tanzanian resident (I am one now, official permit is until April…) rate is half of the normal price, so a double room costs for me 8600 TSH (around 5 euros). Very cheap, especially when I shared the room with Anna-Riitta until today! Food is also very affordable compared to other restaurants’ prices in Dar, a bit more than 2000 TSH (1,5 euros) for a plate of fish or chicken with some staple (maize porridge ugali/rice/chips) and other stuff.

And it really is fun to stay here. Last night we got some free entertainment, when the courtyard of YMCA was reserved for a “kitchen party”, for loads of women giving gifts and instruction to a bride-to-be. Mostly the party seemed to consist of loud music (they even had a DJ and a hostess/singer) and people dancing in a circle – but I enjoyed watching it, while sipping my Stoney Tangawizi (Tanzanian ginger ale soda, very tasty!). All the YMCA employees seemed to take advantage of the party as well, skilfully ignoring all the clients and joining the party instead. Oh well…but I still rather prefer to support the YMCA café instead of, say Mövenpick Royal Palm hotel’s bar where we went yesterday with Anna-Riitta, just to experience something completely different. The bartenders there were about as many as the clients on the counter, but still they managed to ignore us very efficiently, being busy polishing plates or chatting with each other instead. Come on, it is a five-star hotel, where I am expecting to get service, not having to beg for it with those prices! We also tasted the worst falafels ever as part of a Lebanese snack plate. They were just plain, cold, hard and dry, probably straight out of a package. At least my juice drink had a slice of pineapple and the tiny umbrella on top of it - although the name, ‘Boo Boo Special’, sounded better than the drink itself was.

Even at the YMCA there are some inconveniences, mostly very practical things. Such as non-functioning light bulbs in the showers/toilets of our floor, meaning that you either have to go there in the dark, take a flashlight with you or run to the lower floor if you prefer to have better lighting. Or night guards who are very reluctant to let you in after 11pm, when the gates close. Or the noise from nearby building sites (probably more skyscraper banks and hotels coming up), starting at 7.30 am the latest, every morning. Or waiting for your breakfast 30 minutes (how long does it take to make one omelette?). Or trying to hunt for your room key around noon, when the cleaning ladies are moving between the floors and your key might be anywhere in the building…it is very irritating if you’re just feeling hot and tired (and that is often the case in Dar). The only solution is basically to sigh, swear and say to yourself ‘this is Africa’. And hell, there are just five more days left: I’m leaving the hot and humid Eastern African coast and heading back to the cold and wet Northern Europe on Saturday. Did someone say that three and half months is a long time?!?