Mashed Potatoes Included!

Before sunrise on Thanksgiving morning, Marisa and I headed out to the bus stand in Ngara to catch our bus to Mwanza for a long weekend getaway. Mwanza is one of the largest cities in Tanzania, located on the southeastern side of Lake Victoria, and is definitely a nice change of pace from Muyenzi. The bus ride was manageable, although a little drafty from a broken window, but overall I can’t complain. It was a nice surprise too, when we all got off the bus to take a huge ferry across Lake Victoria! I’m not sure what I expected the lake to look like, maybe giant scary fish jumping out of the water or crocodiles and hippos running rampant, but there certainly wasn’t any of that. It was simply a beautiful, scenic lake, and I could have been anywhere really. Once we finally reached the city center in Mwanza, after about an 8 ½ hour trip, Marisa and I were able to explore the city. We found the bank, the post office, and finally some food…a nice heaping pile of boiled bananas. Definitely not a typical American Thanksgiving dinner, but I was so hungry by 4pm that I didn’t complain. After we finished eating, we had a heck of a time trying to find the hotel, mostly because there are two Kitwima hotels and there were definitely things lost in translation. As we wandered the city, we asked locals for directions, heading in what felt like the right direction. We stopped at the Masai market where we both bought new beaded flip flops, and finally made it to what we thought was the hotel. Turns out, they didn’t have a reservation for us, and suggested we try the old Kitwima hotel. They said we must take a taxi, so we agree, hop in, and head off. Upon arriving at the other Kitwima, the very kind lady at the reception desk also tells me she does not have our reservation. She asked me which number I called to make the reservation, and gave it to her. She was able to call them, and told me that we are at the wrong place, but was vague about which place we need to go. Luckily, we were meeting up with another volunteer, Lindsay from Australia, who just arrived at the real hotel, who said they had our reservations, and told us to take a taxi to the dala dala stand to meet him and from there we would walk. So we did…and where did we end up? Oh, at the first hotel that we went to. Imagine that. Even though they initially said they didn’t have our reservation! What in the world happened, I have no idea.  But we have a room for the night, so it’s all good.

Anywho, seeing as it’s Thanksgiving and all, we decided we wanted to splurge on a nice dinner. Although Lindsay isn’t from the US and doesn’t celebrate said holiday, he’s always in the mood for good food, so it worked out well. We walked to Hotel Tilapia, which sits right on the lake, and has a beautiful view of the city and really excellent food! I ordered beef stroganoff, which was really as close to turkey as I could come and still be happy, and of course I had a side of mashed potatoes! Ahh it was heavenly! The side of mashed potatoes was actually its own plate, and the stroganoff was an excellent compliment. Overall, not a bad Tanzanian style Thanksgiving dinner! Although, I will admit that I really miss the pumpkin pie...next year I’m eating 6 pieces to make up for missing out this year :) lol.

I hope all of you had a very happy Thanksgiving, with lots of delicious food, great moments with family and friends, and many things to be thankful for!