Question of the week:  Is it manly to ask for directions......  when you ask them from a Masai Warrior?  I was meeting friends at an Indian restaurant.  I didn't know where the restaurant was, so I asked the Masai Warriors for directions.  Only in retrospect did that seem odd. 

Arusha is known as the Geneva of East Africa.  The name isn't for Mt.  Meru which sits beside Arusha, but instead for the Rwanda Genocide Tribunal and other regional governmental organizations based here.  Arusha is surrounded by National Parks, so it is a major tourist stop in East Africa, but it's a miserable place.  There is nothing to see or do in town.  No one stays here for more than a couple of days.  Well, no one except me.  There is fast internet.  I stayed in Arusha for 10 days, downloading information from the internet, learning about the business of travel-writing, and researching writing markets.  I'm getting ready to start selling articles.

I spent every day hanging out in coffee shops.  There are two very different breeds of coffee shop in Arusha.  There is the the tourist coffee shop and bakery by the name of "Mac's Patisserie".  It's nice, expensive, extremely yuppie and recommended by Lonely Planet.  Shockingly, it even has wireless internet.  The chocolate cake is excellent (at least by 3rd world standards), but there is nothing unique or interesting about the Patisserie.  Like Starbucks, it could be a coffee shop anywhere in the world. 

The local coffee shops are much more interesting.  Though, calling them "shops" is an exaggeration.  A collection of a rickety, wooden benches surround a guy boiling a pot of coffee over a miniature coal stove.  These coffee shops are always full and they are the best place in town to meet locals.  The coffee is strong, good and ridiculously cheap.  Arusha is famous for touts trying to sell you safaris and vendors trying to sell you souvenirs.  But once you sit down for coffee, no one tries to sell you anything.  The other customers are just happy to talk to you:  to practice their English and teach you Swahili.  Everyone is very social and friendly. 

On morning, I decided to take a political survey.  I assumed that everyone in the 3rd world hated Bush.  Actually, I assumed that everyone outside of the South and Midwest hated Bush.  My liberal preconceptions have been shattered.  The results of my survey shocked me.  I asked 4 people, and 3 out of 4 of them approved of George Bush.

They like Bush because he is strong leader and good fighter.  One of them was very firm in his beliefs.  He told about how bad the Muslim people were, how dangerous terrorists were to the world, and how great it was that Bush was fighting them.  Another of the guys wasn't so solid in his beliefs.  "Do you live in the same village as George Bush?", he asked

The final guy, and only non-Bush fan, was the most interesting.  I told him that I was from California and he gave me a lesson in Californian history.  I knew that California was taken from Mexico.  But then he asked if I knew who was President during that period.  I had no idea.  "James Polk", he informed me.  I had to assume that he was right.

He seemed like a smart guy.  His knowledge of US history was better than mine, so I thought that his knowledge of American politics might be better than mine also.  I asked him who he thought would win the election.  He wasn't sure, but gave me his opinions on both candidates.  "Bush is bad.  He weakens America.  War is like a disease.  But, Kerry was in Vietnam.  And Vietnam was worse than Iraq.  So, maybe Kerry is worse than Bush."  Well, that logic made my brain hurt.  I decided to put aside the survey for a while. 

The results of the survey were interesting, though the logic was difficult at times.  They key for doing surveys, instead of getting in annoying, or potentially dangerous political debates, is non-committal answers on my part.  When I disagree with a point, I prod the discussion along with "interesting" or "hmmmm...".  Direct questions, I try to answer with "I don't know".  I think I'll start doing surveys in every country that I pass through. 

Other than the obvious two questions (What do you think of George Bush?  What do you think of the war in Iraq?), is there anything you'd like an East African or Middle Eastern opinion on?

Price check: 
Instant coffee at tourist restaurants (medium sized):  600 shillings ($.60)
Freshly brewed coffee in espresso sized cups from the street vendors:  20 shillings ($.02)

Health news:  I don't know if I'm healthy yet or not.  The stomach problems are gone, but am still taking antibiotics.