I was fortunate enough to have this true African experience in my two weeks in Arusha<\/a>.<\/p>\n While driving with my friend Dave (well, the roads look like this, so he was driving),<\/p>\n <\/span>we made a right turn onto what was most certainly a two way street.\u00a0 Right after turning a man walked into the middle of the road in front of the car.\u00a0 We stopped to avoid hitting him and three other men surrounded the car and places spikes on either side of the front tires so we couldn’t drive away.\u00a0 The first man approached the car and told us we had made a wrong turn and owed a 50,000 shilling (around $32) “wrong turn fee”.\u00a0 While all this was happening several cars passed us and continued on their way, so it was for sure a road people were allowed to drive on.<\/p>\n <\/span>Mind you these men were not in uniform, just regular clothes with lanyard with an id attaching them to a vague company that may or may not have been government run.\u00a0 It was more a matter of principle than money, that and a lack of cash.\u00a0 When we told the man we did not have the money and asked if we could go to an atm, he said “no, there are spikes on your tires.”<\/p>\n <\/span>We asked what would happen if we didn’t pay and we were told that they would have the car towed and call the police.\u00a0 Were I by myself, I probably would have opted for this, but Dave lives there and I trusted he knew more about these procedures than I.\u00a0 There was a long stand off as they asked for money and we repeatedly told them we didn’t have it.<\/p>\n <\/span>The stand off ended with the man asking to get in our car to take us to his office, where we could have an argument about not having cash in a different location.\u00a0 We told him he couldn’t get in the car, and that we would follow him to the office if he drove his car.\u00a0 Apparently, we didn’t seem trust worthy (fair) and the man once again insisted that he get in the car with us.\u00a0 Dave agreed that only the one man could get in,\u00a0 that would be something that made me super uncomfortable, but I was assured that this wasn’t America and no one had a gun.\u00a0 Not exactly comforting.\u00a0 This is where I was borderline kidnapped.<\/p>\n <\/span>Anyway, the man ended up in the car directing us to some weird office and calling us “my friends” about a hundred times.\u00a0 I was not his friend.\u00a0 Dave took the longest route possible, refused to drive on dirt roads, and purposefully missed turns on the way.\u00a0 He later told me that in instances like this (which apparently happen fairly often) that you can sometimes just drive the person around for a while and if they don’t have a phone eventually they will just ask to be let out.<\/p>\n <\/span>This guy however had a phone.\u00a0 We were stopped by the other 3 guys with him who had caught up with us in their own car.\u00a0 We asked again if we could stop by an atm, and were again refused until we went to this office.<\/p>\n <\/span>As we pulled into the “office”\u00a0 I couldn’t help but notice that it was not an office, but appeared to be a auto body shop.\u00a0 There was a large metal gate with a list of services they provide for cars.<\/p>\n <\/span>We drove through the gate and saw a few other cars in garage-esque structures.\u00a0 The “office” area was one partially walled “room” with two desks, one with a woman who seemed to be some sort of book keeper and a man that explained that we owed 60,000 shillings for a wrong turn fee.<\/p>\n <\/span>When asked about the sudden 10,000 shilling increase, the man gestured to a sign on the wall and explained the 10,000 shilling “gate fee” for having driven to their office.\u00a0 We explained to this man that we were directed (forcibly) to the office after not having the cash to pay.\u00a0 The man in the office asked if we spoke Swahili (nope!) then explained that it was probably a misunderstanding, but not the kind of misunderstanding that got you off the hook for 60,000 shillings.<\/p>\n <\/span>At this point we were told that we would have to get cash at an atm.\u00a0 We expressed our obvious frustration with many implied expletives, I say implied expletives because swearing at someone is actually illegal there and can get you a real life ticket and fine from an actual police officer.\u00a0 It’s a really unfortunate law somewhere where everything is frustrating and inconvenient.<\/p>\n <\/span>I offered the man 40 usd if we could leave, which would have given him an extra 4,000 shillings.\u00a0 He refused and told us that someone had to go out on the terrifying dirt road and find a place to trade in foreign currency while one of us stayed there.\u00a0 Guess who drew the short straw?<\/p>\n Well, actually both tasks seemed pretty horrible and there was no way I would ever be able to find anything on that road, so I was collateral.<\/p>\n <\/span>I don’t know the rules in this country, and I don’t know that the people I was dealing with had any real authority, but I know at home I can usually talk my way out of a ticket.\u00a0 The second Dave left and I was stuck sitting in that office, my captor got super chatty.\u00a0 He asked when I was from, I told him America.\u00a0 He asked where in America and I told him Florida.\u00a0 Then he asked if I spoke French or Spanish, not in an, “Do you speak French or Spanish?” way, but in more of a “Which do you speak, French or Spanish?” way.\u00a0 He of course asked me this in English.\u00a0 He didn’t know a lot about America.\u00a0 He also still made us pay once Dave got back.<\/p>\n The money we gave him went straight into his pocket until we asked for a written receipt.\u00a0 He then took the money out of his pocket and filled out a form in a large book.\u00a0 I hope we ruined his day, but I’m sure we didn’t.\u00a0 That had to happen several times that day.<\/p>\n <\/span>This is, from what I understand, one of the problems with being white in Arusha.\u00a0 Constant targeting and fining by officials (or perhaps not so officials).\u00a0 There are enough white people in town, however (and each with their own absurd fining story), that the fact that the roads are still dirt and they haven’t quite gotten the hang of electricity is really a testament to the level of corruption.\u00a0 How many of us must they have stopped on the road that day?\u00a0 Most of them probably gave the men the 50,000 shillings to avoid a hassle (as I wish we had been able to) and none of that seems to go back into the community.<\/p>\n![\"Arusha\"](\"https:\/\/magsonthemove.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/IMG_0601-510x680.jpg\")
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