Tanzania (part 9)

The next morning I was sunburned, only on my right side, from the trip to Sefu's village. Sefu came and returned my bike, good as new, and we exchanged contact information. There was a new manager on duty and I had breakfast, no eggs this time. This new manager puzzled me a little. He spoke almost no English at all, he was not from the area and could tell me nothing at all about where anything was, and he seemed to be a couple cards shy of a full deck. His name was Hamza and he was visibly concerned when I did not remember it from the night before when I was having beers with Sam and Richard. He spelled it out for me and told me of its significance in Arabic. I told him I was a Muslim too but he did not believe me. He would always be trying to get my attention in at the bar so as to say things like "I do not see you today". He gloated with unveiled pleasure as he told me, without any provocation on my part, the meanings of 'Serengeti' and 'Kilimanjaro' in the Masai language ('wide place' and 'high mountain' respectively) like a school child reciting the days Latin lessons for his mother. I figured the guy must be working here as part of some family favor or something. I asked the new concierge for a menu so that I could see how much I had been spending and quickly realized that I could not afford to eat another meal here.

For lunch I wandered over to the village next door in hopes of finding another restaurant of some kind, instead I found a girl selling various pastries and deep-fried goods in a glass display case. A boy nearby came over and offered to help me with his little bit of English purchase the treats. His name was Baker. I tried to make a joke about his name being Baker and helping me buy pastries. In retrospect its probably best he couldn't understand me. I ordered 3 pieces of andazi (a kind of fried bread), 3 fried potatoes, and 3 Sumosas (A triangle fried crust with something stuffed inside) stuffed with potatoes; all for less than fifty cents. Baker asked me if I wanted anything for dinner. I asked him if he knew where I could find an octopus. He gestured in the affirmative and asked what time I would like to eat. I told him 6 would be about right. He said he would come and get me. I showed him where I lived. I was a bit uncomfortable with how quickly he attached himself to me. I told him I was going to go meet some people and went to find Sam and Richard at the bar next door where Wanawandoku worked.