My Google search has been inconclusive about the correct way to pluralize the words giraffe and zebra. Your thoughts? You can see what I’ve chosen below. But yeah, my trouble with these words means I’ve recently seen some cool animals!
Let’s see, it’s just after 6am as I write this and my shirt is already damp with sweat, which means I am in Dar es Salaam. I’ve been here for about five days now. Weather wise, it’s pretty miserable and I want to cry every time someone tells me that things have only just started heating up. By February I may have melted into a puddle; the humidity will have done me in. Aside from the nonstop sweating, Dar seems like a nice place to spend the next nine months. My baba wa Tanzania (Tanzanian host father) is an auditor for the University of Dar es Salaam, so we live in a house owned by the university about ten minutes walking distance from the main campus. The university area is really pretty and there are lots of large trees providing necessary shade. And around here, with trees come monkeys!
The semester technically started on Monday, but most lectures don’t actually get going for at least another week. However, it’s difficult to know which lectures those might be as my soil mechanics professor not only showed up to give out the syllabus on Monday but then he actually started teaching on Tuesday. That is really the only class I’ve had thus far, and it has given me an interesting taste of what is to come. Of the approximately 100 students in the class, I am one of just two girls. And as if I wasn’t already glaringly obvious, in class the professor singled me out as someone who had seen natural ice. While I was embarrassed about being called out (not that my face could get any redder than it already constantly is) it did make me realize that the majority of these students probably have never seen any ice or even frost on the ground. I was momentarily floored. A bit further into the lecture the professor also said, “Only the almighty god knows exactly how old the earth is, but scientists estimate about five thousand million years.” Yep, new perspectives. Even coming from a Jesuit university back in Seattle a comment like that wouldn’t fly in an engineering class. While most of the foreign students are taking specifically Africa centric sociology and political science classes, I think my general science courses will be just as much of a cultural experience.
My host family situation seems pretty good. My host mom and dad are big tennis fans, so over the weekend we enjoyed watching a French tournament in the evenings. Aside from the fact that I am more or less stuck to their leather couch (yes, quality furniture), it feels a lot like watching the grand slams with my family back in MT. My host family is actually very culturally westernized. They have each studied or lived abroad and their three children are all living and working in the US or Europe. This is a bit disappointing in some ways as my host family will not contribute so much to my Tanzanian cultural immersion, though I will be honest and say that am grateful I won’t be witnessing a typical Tanzanian husband-wife relationship on a daily basis. From what I have seen so far my host parents seem to have a lot of mutual respect and a true appreciation for each other, rather than the master-slave dynamic that, from my experience, seems more prominent in this part of the world. There are, of course, some notable differences between my Montana home and my family here. For example, here our water has been out for the majority of each day, there are two women (one who lives with us) who do all of the cooking and cleaning, if we turn on too many lights or appliances the electricity starts to cut in and out, and there are a bunch of feral cats hanging around the side of the house that live on garbage and lizards. Thanks for the warning host father, but don’t worry, I had no intention of attempting to cuddle with our feline neighbors.
I think the real reason the heat and humidity here in Dar are so uncomfortable is that Iringa, where I spent the last month, is located 1600m above sea level and had a blissful climate. Sure, it was hot out in the sun during the middle of the day, but I was spending my nights in light sweatpants comfortably curled up under a thick blanket. This also allowed for refreshing morning jogs through the bush and fields in the hills surrounding the campsite where I was staying and studying (we were actually 12km outside of Iringa town). Really, I immensely enjoyed my time at Riverside Campsite. The language school was really well run and I feel like I learned a lot of Kiswahili. We even had a Tanzanian cooking class that included slaughtering a few chickens. Now my challenge is to continue to use the Kiswahili I acquired and therefore not lose it. My host parents are so comfortable with English that I only rarely overhear them using Kiswahili for their own personal conversations so it’s not surprising they automatically choose English to speak with me. The women who work in the house don’t speak any English, but the woman who I interact with most often barely speaks above a whisper so I rarely feel like I understand her (even when it’s something simple like “Do you want some chai?”). She also seems to want to make any conversation as brief as possible (understandable I suppose since my lack of comprehension makes our exchanges painfully awkward) but it leaves me without much Kiswahili in my day. I realize I just need to be patient. Hopefully we’ll develop a more comfortable relationship over the next couple weeks.
Anyway, not only did I really enjoy the language instruction at Riverside, but the food was great (fresh salad at lunch and occasionally we even had something resembling pesto!), the campsite staff was friendly and willing to listen to us struggle through our terrible Kiswahili, and there was the most wonderful (though generally also quite dirty) dog named Polly that liked to accompany/lead other students and me on afternoon walks and hikes. There were usually six or seven students in addition to myself, of varying levels and from several countries. Most were Christian missionaries but within that general category there was a lot of diversity, so I generally didn’t feel too out of place and we all seemed to get along quite well. In addition to socializing at mealtimes and during study breaks, it was great to have people to go on mini adventures with on the weekends. The Saturday after my first week of study five others and I did a day safari in Ruaha National park. Not only was the trip affordable only because we organized such a large group, but the Swiss German guys in particular had wonderful senses of humor so seeing elephants, lions, giraffes, and zebra was only the tip of the entertainment iceberg. Then the next Saturday my friend Toni and I took a morning trip to an archaeological site and Tanzania’s version of the Grand Canyon. For being what my guidebook called “one of Africa’s richest Stone Age sites” I found the stone tools only reasonably interesting, but the huge sandstone pillars, rock formations, awesome bugs and lizards, and always entertaining minibus rides certainly made the trip worth it.
Another noteworthy event during my time at the campsite was Tanzania’s general election on October 31st (I know, exciting Halloween right?). After witnessing three weeks of vigorous campaigning (mostly by CCM, the main and previously only party) that included women clad in special green and florescent yellow kitenges showcasing the current president’s face and trucks with huge speakers driving through towns and villages spewing political slogans, the political fervor reached it’s climax on the day before election day. All rallies and campaigning were forbidden on election day itself, so that Saturday was everyone’s last chance. I was in town checking email and exploring Iringa a bit so I got to experience many of the day’s events. While I was eating lunch someone even asked me if I was one of the election observers from the European union. No… I actually sat down in this out-of-the-way restaurant before the CCM rally formed outside thinking I could escape the craziness for a bit… I think the highlight of the day was watching the political parades go by from my seat in an internet cafe on Iringa’s main street. Vehicle after vehicle (cars, minibuses, lorries, motorcycles, anything with wheels and an engine) went by stuffed with people who were dancing, singing, yelling and of course trying to make sure they didn’t fall off their ride. Again, it was mostly CCM, but the main opposition party, Chadema, put together a pretty raucous 15-vehicle parade of their own. And apparently it paid off as they won in Iringa. CCM still took the vast majority of the country’s parliamentary seats and Kikwete is still president, but the opposition gained enough seats in a variety of regions to start getting experience in the government and develop into a more legitimate opposition party. As Tanzania has essentially had a one party system since independence, everyone I talked to (both Tanzanian and wazungu) seemed to think pretty positively of this election.
I had about four free days between the end of my fourth week of language study in Iringa and my arrival in Dar, so I decided to visit my friend Toni from the language school in Mbeya where he is now living and working. I had a hard time deciding what to do with these free days, but going to Mbeya ended up being a wonderful choice. Not only were there things I wanted to see in the region, but I had a phenomenal time staying with Toni (who is Swiss) and a German couple who he was sharing the house with. Mbeya seemed like my last chance to enjoy a bit of nature before coming to Dar, and so with the help of my hosts I made the most of it. Mbeya itself is really dry and dusty, but the day after I arrived we hiked to a crater lake in a lush jungle environment about half an hour out of the city. On the recommendation of some locals (though advised against by my guidebook) we decided to make the journey from the rim of the crater down to the lakeshore, which made for a great but mildly terrifying adventure. It was certainly the steepest “trail” I’ve ever been on. The most entertaining and also the most humiliating parts of the experience were the Tanzanian guys who recommended we go in the first place. As we inched ourselves along in our hiking boots, they were basically running up and down the mountain in flip-flops or barefoot. At what was probably the most difficult point in the descent we had to lower (and then of course climb back up half an hour later) ourselves down and across a wall/cliff by holding onto roots and hoping our feet would first find and then not slip out of a few sandy footholds cut into the side of the mountain. And in my state of trying to conceal my fear I forgot that most Tanzanians don’t have any concept of sarcasm. One of the guys asked us how we were doing and I said, “Hamna shida. Ni rahisi sana.” (No problem, it’s very easy.) First he gave me this puzzled and incredulous look, and then replied, “If it’s easy, then let’s go!” and continued running down the path. Ha. I think another ten minutes then passed before we successfully descended the next 20 feet of “trail.”
Despite the thrilling nature of our adventures in the jungle, the most enjoyable part of my time in Mbeya was hanging out with my wonderful hosts during the evenings. After enjoying some German food for dinner, we played cards for a couple hours and drank South African wine. Under the Germans’ careful tutelage we played rummy the first evening and then a couple rousing rounds of canasta over the next two nights. Canasta is definitely my new favorite card game, though it will be a challenge to play in such good company again.
One of the main reasons I chose to spend my few free days in Mbeya was so that I could then take the train into Dar. The Tazara line runs all the way across Tanzania and then into central Zambia. For months I had been hearing what a fantastic trip it is; a great way to see the countryside and it even goes through a game reserve just outside of Dar. That, and the train’s schedule matched my necessary arrival window in Dar. Well, that was all in theory. It certainly wasn’t a bad trip as I met some other friendly travelers and saw a few giraffe, warthogs, and buffalo out the window, but I can’t say I’m too eager to get on the Tazara again any time soon. First the train arrived 17 hours late in Mbeya meaning I spent a sleepless night at the train station and then the Tanzanian women with whom I was sharing a compartment when the train eventually arrived were, from my cultural standpoint, less than wonderful traveling companions. For example, at this point I know enough Kiswahili to know that they were talking about what they had seen me doing at the train station (are reading and chatting with a couple people really gossip-worthy activities?) and one of them thought I was like a sick person because I went to sleep as soon as we finally got on the train (apparently their night at the train station included an ample amount of sleep). At one point they were discussing whether they thought I could speak Kiswahili or not, but they never actually said anything directly to me except a few simple greetings which most foreigners have down. Of course, I should have just pushed through my shyness and insecurity with my language skills to start chatting, but the desire to have a good view out the window and to get out of the stuffy compartment meant I spent nearly all of the journey’s waking hours at a table in the dining car or next to a window in the area between train cars. By the time the 27-hour trip ended and we got to Dar the train had somehow lost another five or six hours and thus arrived about 24 hours late. This meant I went straight from the train station to the orientation day I had missed the first half of. In addition to not having showered for over two days, I fell down a couple stairs while dragging my huge bag around campus. I sure know how to make a first impression! But I shouldn’t complain as I really did receive a nice welcome to Dar from the international student office and many other students. All things considered, I’m expecting an interesting but positive experience here this year. Plenty to look forward to. And the moral of the story with the train: if you have a set arrival time when traveling in Tanzania, just give yourself a day or two extra for the journey.
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