Fun with Obama

We have been spotting Obama in many places, besides the bubble gum. We thought we’d show a few.

Early in the month, we spotted Obama boxer shorts for sale by the underwear vendors on the street near the taxi stand.



I’ve also seen ladies in kangas (wrap skirts) with his picture and name on them. Thompson saw a teenager in the clinic in olive-fatigue pants with “Obama” printed across the back pockets.

On the dalla-dalla ride from Moshi to KCMC, there is an Obama Hair Salon with his portrait painted as a mural on the wall. We go by it too fast to take a picture, alas. But we did manage to catch this huge bus on the way to Serengeti, with a whole pile of Masai water gourds tied onto the top.



We needed a warm knit cap for one of us for the Mt. Meru climb, and so we went trolling among the street vendors today, and got one with Obama’s name embroidered across the forehead. And in the preschool, we needed some new pencils so we bought a package at the KCMC shop that happened to be patterned with an American flag and, curiously, the words “Proud to be an American.” (Which, when you sharpen them, lose the words “Proud To”). The kids in the school clamored for them asking for “Obama! Obama!”

Last night we were taken out to dinner by one of the residents and we talked for a long time about the recent American presidents. People here have quite a good opinion of George W. Bush, because they associate him with a huge funding package that provides very low-cost mosquito nets as part of a massive anti-malarial campaign. They also were happy with Bill Clinton, because he visited several times. The resident who took us to dinner was in fact less happy with Obama than with Bush, because Obama has not come to visit Tanzania or, for that matter, anywhere in East Africa (since becoming president). However he remained hopeful for the future, and he said that many people in Tanzania feel kinship with Obama because of his Swahili name – and in fact, that it is rumored in Tanzania that his Kenyan father is actually of Tanzanian descent.