Moshi

So I’ve decided to compile a list of strange things that I've seen here in Moshi...I'm not even surprised when I see things like this anymore.

• The usual daladala, which is a public bus about the size of a VW microbus, but crammed with at least 40 people. A friend of mine was on one once with a random little boy on her lap, and the boy had a bag in his lap. Then she noticed the bag was moving. It was a live chicken.

• A pikipiki (motorcycle) with at least 20 of those big 5 gallon buckets strapped to the back, like a bunch of balloons. 

• Pick-up trucks full of men with guns.

• Big cargo trucks packed with 100 people standing in the back.

• Two pikipikis, each with a wooden crate strapped to the back, with live pigs in them.

• Cows standing up in the bed of an old pick-up.

• A goat skull on the ground on the way to work.

• A cargo truck full of home goods, with a man strapped to the back. Just hanging there off the back, tied on with a rope, completely at ease.

• Walking down the street and having some guy ask me if I wanted the live bird he was holding in his hand, “just as a gift” (pronounced jift).

• A friend of mine saw a wheel barrow full of half-alive chickens.

• Women walking around with one shoe balanced on their head.

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And here's some more Swahili for your thoughts...

Kesho kutwa   -   Day after tomorrow.

bafu   -   bathroom

tabasamu   -   smile

maharage   -   beans

wali   -   rice

Hii ni nini?   -   What is this? (literally speaking "here is what?")

dakika   -   minute

ahidi   -   to promise

kwapua   -   to steal

tayari?   -   ready?