Actually, I think Obama took Tanzania. The polls have closed in Tanzania. (They really never opened, Sharon and I never got our ballots and Dale and Carrie voted before they left the U.S.) An informal poll says that Obama took Iringa by a land slide (my guess 2 to 0). Dale and I asked our classes yesterday and there were students on both sides of the election. Even though Obama had Ugali (the traditional food of eastern Africa) on his trip, some of the students said he did that for a publicity stunt. I didn't ask them to raise their hands and count the votes but the class seemed split down the middle.
Monday was a typical day: look for diesel fuel (coming tomorrow), have class, look for diesel, go to market, look for diesel and come home to an apartment without electricity for the past 6 hours or so. It was challenging to cook bread without power so Grace made donuts in the outdoor kerosene burner. They are little fried buns that are very good and may be our new favorite. The power returned as Dale and I pulled into the driveway. (Must be our electric personalities!). We had our fried rice dinner (Carrie's way of disguising rice, what a tricky girl!) and headed off to bed. We tried for diesel again this morning but there are lines at the gas pump with no gas!
I thought it might be a good time to talk about highway driving in Tanzania. The main road had improved since our last visit so speeds of 65 thru town and 80 in the country are not unusual. When I say thru town, I mean thru town with vendors and shops 5' from the driving lane. The idea is to go as fast as you can until you see the cops. Because of this, they have speed bumps in every town. The speed bumps are marked with little concrete posts on either side of the road. Usually there is a bump with 4 little bumps and then a big one 3' wide and 1' tall as you come into town. Going over the bump in any lane (irregardless of oncoming traffic) is encouraged. Once past the speed bumps one accelerates to 70 long before the sign tells you it is the end of the 35 mph speed zone. On our trip to Lake Nyasa last week we were clocked at 71 kilometers/hour in a 30 kilometer/hour zone. The police stopped us, showed us the radar gun reading and said come there on your way back to pay the fine. Anyway speed limits are normally 30 kph (20 mph) in town but clearly ignored and the speed limit is as fast as you can go and still have a reasonable grip on the steering wheel. In Iringa, the speeds are very moderate as traffic and pedestrians keep the congestion in control.
Another strange driving experience is the police checkpoint. Some are clearly marked some ad hoc. The police are standing there in their yellow rain slickers (regardless of the fact is hasn't rained in 3 months). They pull over random vehicles for inspection ("do you have your hazard reflector and your fire extinguisher?"). Once they see a car full of foreigners they ask "how do you find Africa?". We all say "very nice", though I am tempted to answer "take a right at Gibraltar". They smile and send us on. Truck inspections are more detailed and there are truck weighbridges (weigh stations) along the main road too. The one we passed on Sunday had a line of trucks 50 long. These police checkpoints are on the main road and on side roads as well. Additionally, there are barrier gates as one passes out of various agricultural areas. The gates are up for us but trucks carrying produce are stopped and a local tax is assessed for the crop. Sort of a Value Added Tax for that region. The bottom line is you are stopped by either police or speed bumps every 15 minutes on any trip.
It is Tuesday and since your polls won't close until 5 AM our time we won't know how the election is going until Wednesday morning. I don't know if Tanzania is any sort of indicator, but I think that Mitt should just throw in the mitt and say thanks for the memories. As we say in Minnesota "vote early, vote often".
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