reverse culture shock

the other girls and i often go to lunch at these few cafes in arusha that most other mzungus also go visit. we frequent a handful of them and have started to go quite often now that placement is over. we saw a few days ago that there was a poster for a christmas market just outside of town. we, having absolutely nothing to do, decide to make our way there. with the help of a very friendly local woman we finally found the right daladala to get on and took it about 20 minutes outside of town just past the airport. this landed us right in the middle of nowhere east africa, but we saw a sign that signaled us down a random dirt road and we took that path. we figured it couldnt be too far and just started walking. we do lots of walking so the thought wasn't daunting or strange. we walked for a good 20 minutes and noticed a bunch of other mzungus going that way in nice big land cruisers and then one stopped and a handsome guy with an australian accent asked us if we could use a lift. we aren't the type to typically get into cars with anyone, you just can't do that here, but it seemed nice enough, however we declined and said we were enjoying the walk. 5 minutes later we were still walking and regret began to sink in. but no worries, another car pulled up just after we began to lament our decision and offered to give us a ride. thank god. it was still about another 10 minutes driving like a bat out of hell. the guy was a big time hotel developer from cape town and owns a swanky hotel here in town. he was nice enough to buy our way into the market and proceeded to spend the rest of the time at the wine and cheese bar. but i skip ahead. we pull up to gates with southern accented people taking tickets and wishing us welcome... what the fuck. well dressed white people had taken over the rugby field and suddenly we blended in. i looked around. it was so clean. everything. the grass was cut. there was grass. babies were in strollers. people wore boots and openly talked on their phones and took pictures. we were all stunned. we thought of the christmas market like the maasai market we go to where you literally are pulled into shops, constantly yelled at and promised to only receive "non-mzungu price. rafiki price" while you stare at the same beaded necklace over and over again. it was incredible. we didn't know what to do with ourselves. we were giddy. it was so strange. we spent the day walking thru small shops of boutique safari clothing, beautiful iron and wood working, face painting stations and food booths. we ate wraps with lettuce in them (!!!), drank cold white wine under umbrellas and were graced with a breath taking view of the ever shy mount meru all afternoon. we were able to again hitch a ride not back to town but back to our house! it is crazy. the people were all so nice. just so so nice. we went back today and did exactly the same thing. it was such a good weekend. it was just so strange, i feel weird that i enjoyed it so much. but arusha is a hard city to live in and this strange break from being harassed every moment and disapproving stares and constantly watching my bag and body was very much appreciated. i still cant believe we found that place... i wonder where all the people are on the day to day because because in our house, at 3 restaurants and in the mirror are basically the only places i see white people.