By LYLAC WARINDA
DAR ES SALAAM CITY
Dar es salaam
I once was irked by everything about this city that i have grown to love. The heat, the slow pace of life, the jolly people, the over eager hopeful suitors,the feigned elongated pleasantries in greetings, greasy food just to mention but a few. The first months here were intolerable. My life was back in Nairobi, family, friends, coolest joints,pubs, discos, strip clubs. I was homesick. What, with the cool and calm weather, fast paced city life i was accustomed to back home.
But the city has been good to me, it really has. I just needed time to grow and adapt and i have. Albeit east west home is best. I have learnt to call this place home. There is much to be thankful for here.
The hot and humid weather is a natural sauna that rejuvenates my skin giving it a certain glow.The ease with which money can be made and lost. The beautiful clean sandy beaches i can relax in after a hard day at work, drinking a glass or two of wine that isn’t overpriced and heavily taxed as in the case back home. The sense of security. It is often joked that a robber in Tanzania can be recognized by a Kenyan from a mile off. That they may even approach you saying naomba nikuibie. May i please rob you? Exaggerated but somewhat true.
NAIROBI CITY
Nairobi
Every visit to Nairobi now feels weird, like am a stranger in my own land. Changes here and there that seem to deepen that sense of unfamiliarity, more of that hood slang i cant comprehend. Clutching tightly at my purse and looking over my shoulders while in the city center in case some idiot down the street is planning to grab it and gallop away with the hope of draining away the few coins i have worked so hard for in a land far away.
If i had to choose which is easiest to live in now. I would give that trophy to Dar es salaam. The Residence of peace.
