International Women's Day Parade- or so We Thought

The last morning I was in Moshi, there was a town "festival" going on - International Women's Day. I heard about it from a flyer at the internet cafe. There was going to be a parade & festivities after. As luck would have it, the 2 mzungu volunteers who organized the event walked in to the cafe! I thought it was an awesome idea & said I'd post the flyer at our home base (they were from a different group). They said everyone would meet behind the police station by the YMCA & the festivities would be at Moshi Books. They said anyone could walk in the parade-cool! Plus afterwards, there was going to be kangas (sarongs) & tshirts sold, some food & other things going on. It was at 8:30am & my flight wasn't until 4:45pm, so I had plenty of time to go check it out. How cool to experience International Women's Day in Tanzania before I went home!!

So about 6 of us headed out Saturday morning to the YMCA. We figured we'd see a crowd & just follow it. Well, we couldn't find anyone anywhere. We asked a guy working at the Y where the police station was. He directed us clear across town. It didn't make any sense! I apologized to the girls & said that's what I thought those 2 volunteer gals said to me. So something got screwed up in the conversation. So we headed towards Moshi Books instead to ask them & along the way, guess what we see & hear? A PARADE! Yay! They were headed right towards us along the main road. So we stopped to watch, take some pictures & join in the fun.

There were tons of women all wearing green, yellow & white clothes & kangas, some carrying signs. They were so excited to see us & waved us in to walk. Cool! We were smiling, they were smiling, they were led by a little band- guys playing a trumpet, trombone, snare drum & bass drum. It was very festive & a lot of fun! These women were so happy we were walking w/ them. The music was fun & jazzy so we were all dancing. The local women got a HUGE kick out of me dancing. Being a bellydancer, I know how to shake my thang. I guess they don't figure "white" girls can move like they can-haha. They kept pointing to me & cheering. It was cute.

In the meantime, we were all wondering why we were the only mzungus walking w/ them. Where were the others? Hmmm...weird.

So we walked all over & ended up behind a building where there was a stage area set up & a big tent w/ tons of folding chairs. Women were wrapping scarves & kangas on us-they were so happy! A group of about 12 women dressed alike, were in a semi-circle singing & playing clackers that were actually cow horns. One rather large woman was sitting in the middle playing a big drum. They sounded awesome! We were all dancing w/ them & they still kept pointing at my booty & cheering at what a good job I was doing, haha!

So we're getting all hot & sweaty & still wondering where all the others were. I was more confused cuz I thought we were supposed to end up at the bookstore, which we weren't. Still we were having fun. We got up to dance several times. Also wondering who the people were sitting up on the stage & still wondering where all the others were. I thought, "Could there possibly have been *2* parades going on at the same time? Were we at the WRONG parade???"

Well, I'll be damned- YES WE WERE! This was some kind of POLITICAL celebration!!!!!! It was hysterical!!! Everyone kept shouting something like, "CCM- OH YEA!" We were so confused! I don't know how in the world there could have been 2 parades in the same town at the same time. These folks were so happy we were there though! Camera guys were taking all kinds of pictures & then they wanted us to write our names down & get up & address the crowd! It was SO funny. We all thought we were going to be in the next day's newspaper!!! So we bagged out as innocently as we could & headed to Moshi Books to find out where the REAL Women's Day thing was!!!

There was nothing at the bookstore, but they directed us just up the street to a Community Center where the real deal was being held. UNbelievable!!!! I still can't believe there were 2 parades!!! SO funny.

So even though we missed their parade, the whole center was filled w/ people & vendors selling handmade stuff to benefit local women's groups. We were glad to make some purchases & show our support.

What a WACKY day!!!! So, so far I haven't been called by the Tanzanian government....