Friday, May 28, 2010

Bwaga moyo

a small coastal port town where many have poured their hearts for years harbours thousands of happy /sad feelings. Apart from the serene waters and the mystic ambiance, it is the architecture in Bagamoyo that stands tall screaming about the history of this wonder town, one such story was being told at the old post office on Indian street....untill someone decided to sell the building to Millenium beach resort...wahusika,soko huria ndio kuuza mpaka majengo yanayosimulia historia yetu...Badilika

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Green Yellow Red GO

God bless my grandpa who taught me how traffic lights work, you stop at red, start your car at yellow and at green you GO. if you are crossing on foot you wait at green and cross at Red, how simple....not always though!! not when our most esteemed traffic police is in charge of the junctions, the colors dont matter at all. now when the signals are working well, why do we need extra bodies?? Badilika!!!

Monday, May 24, 2010

MPESA

it wasn't long ago when people stored money in home made piggy banks, little milo tins, cute made pursed and pouched and how innovative some of would be to hide our purses from each other. behind the bookshelf, under the mattress, underneath the big mango pickle jar in the kitchen, where no one would in his/her wildest imagination bother looking for money. our little savings were safe, just few mangoes away!..and now our cash is just a click away from us, thanks to MPESA. all i need to do is remember my password, and ofcourse the challenge with this is to keep the password a secret...but, if you go to the vodashop (container)along the clock tower on Nkurumah street,the lady attendant will ask you "unapokea au unatuma" and before you finish answering she has already taken your phone from you,to "assist" you. and next thing you know, she is asking for your password!. this happened to a friend who was told "kama hutaki toka". akina dada mlioko kwenye huduma kama hizi msitake kufanya upole wa mtu kuwa dili...BADILIKA

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Paan&Pariki

sundays in dar are such a blessing, no noisy hootings, no unwanted gas fumes, no crazy traffic jams, you have the quiet streets of "Uhindini", to explore with minimum disturbance. its a perfect day to go shopping for fruits and veggies on kisutu street. but one thing we all need to be aware of is the spit of paan and pariki (beetle leaves and chewing tobbacco). thumbs up to the govt for banning some chewing tobbaccos like manikchand and kuber, but what about the other brands sold in most paan shops in dar. now who am i to interfere with people's choice of pleasure, but Ankaal.....dont spit on the pavement ne! saru nathi! pls badilika ne!

hasta re jo!!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Security Guards

dear friends this is for all the security guards, who make a mistake of thinking that they are bigger bossses compared to the bosses who hired them and put them at the gate. i am sure for some of you this will be a familiar experience, when you go to an office, right on time for your appointment with the bosi inside, but the fellow at the gate, whose job is to make you sign the registry delays you for longer than 5 min. with divine questions like, Unaenda kwa nani? una shida gani (as if yeye ndio amekuita hapo), Unajua ofisi iliko? (like hell, thats your job to tell me...!!).
but then you are still lucky if you finally get to meet the person you went there for. i had to re shedule my appointment at TACAIDS twice, because everytime i went there, the security guards told me "....yuko kwenye kikao, huwezi kumwona leo", while my host was inside waiting for me.
next time you meet such security guards, pass my word to them pls, just tell then BADILIKA



ciao
fatima