End of Tanzania

The rest of our time in Arusha, when we were not at the ICTR, was really fun as well. There were these two really cool restaurants, one called Via Via and one called Jambo (which is “hello” in Swahili), where everyone from our group hung out and got to know each other. It was really fun!
We also went to visit an outdoor food market, which was so cool because obviously not a lot of tourists had visited the area before. We just walked around and smiled at everyone. It was so crowded and confusing, yet it was also so orderly. That's kind of how Rwanda is too. There is a sense of orderly chaos in both places, where everyone is frantically driving or walking around everywhere, but no one runs into each other. I asked one Tanzanian friend I made if people get hit by cars often, because people drive fast and it doesn't seem like there are many traffic rules (I think I have seen two stoplights over the past week and a half). He just laughed at my question. I guess people don't get hit because they have kind of formed their own rules of the road in Africa.
The only thing I didn't like about Tanzania were the vendors. They were nice at first, and they just were trying to sell us stuff, but they weren't too persistent. But then after about a day, they decided to pretty much camp out in front of our hotel and hound us every time we went by. They would literally spend a half an hour following you to wherever you were going, desperately trying to sell you paintings and figures that they insisted were hand-made and one of a kind (we kind of believed them until we kept seeing the same paintings over and over again). They seemed like pretty nice people; but there was one time when I felt a bit uneasy and unsafe (but don't worry mom and dad, I am still alive!!). Four other girls and I were standing at the corner near our hotel trying to cross the street when a few vendors came up to us. Then all of the sudden, there were at least twenty guys standing around us, which was a little scary. We just started to walk back to our hotel, but some of them followed us and were still trying to sell us stuff. When we refused to buy anything, they got a little aggressive. One of them told me that I was racist and wouldn't buy anything from him people I didn't like people from Africa (that's not exactly what he said, but I don't want to repeat his exact words). He told my friend Jenny that he could go get his gun and shoot her. That's when we bolted inside the hotel, and refused to leave again until we had at least three guys with us. It was a scary experience, but at least we made it out alive, and I learned my lesson! Now I kind of understand why the vendors are known as "ticks," even though I don't really like that term because it kind of dehumanizes them. If I were hungry and trying to feed my family, I would probably harass tourists too.
I also thought it was really interesting to see the reactions of Tanzanians when we told them we were going to Rwanda. They were all kind of in awe and looked a little concerned. I expected a kind of surprised/worried response from my family and people in the United States when I would talk about going to Rwanda, but I didn't think that would happen once I got to Africa!
Anyway, that's about all we did in Tanzania. I think it was an amazing first four days in Africa, and I really did love it.