Pole sana- this is a long one!

Well, finally I have the time to share more of my experiences and thoughts so far. This journey to Tanzania has been so amazing so far and I am sure it is has been nothing compared to what is to come. Even though I’ve given kind of a brief recap of my time in Toronto and Dar, and my arrival in Morogoro I think I’ll describe it a little better for the sake of detail and memory!

Our arrival in Dar was a long time coming and I think we were all finding it a little hard to believe that we were finally here! I know I personally was speechless as we rode in the bus from the airport to our house in the Kijitonyama neighbourhood. Immigration had been a little bit stressful as the official asked me (in heavily accented English) questions about why I came to Tanzania, what I would be doing, and why I needed a business visa. Luckily we had a script given to us by YCI so we had rehearsed our answers. We ended up getting stamped with CTA visas for 3 months which we later learned means “cleared for temporary assignment” and it should serve our purposes. Phew! Nothing like stepping of a plane after 18 hours of flying time into a hot, humid, and new environment to face a sketchy foreign official!

Our accommodations in Dar were decent, we stayed in the annex of Deanna’s YCI house/office. The rooms were small and simple but I was lucky enough to have a fan! We shared a squat toilet/shower, which I am finally used to (although we have the luxury of a flush toilet now). My first few days I was pretty tired because of clogged sinuses (didn’t think I’d get a cold in Africa!), jetlag and general lethargy from the heat and humidy that characterizes Dar es Salaam! We had Swahili lessons everyday, which was super useful, although I am super glad I was pretty anal about learning before I arrived. Those post-its around the house and reading my phrasebook on the bus has really paid off but I have a lot to learn still! My Swahili teacher’s name was Nasi and she was pretty awesome. Sometimes it was difficult to pay attention because of the heat, the length of the lessons (4 hours a day!), and my ailing sinuses but very worth it- and luckily we have money in our budget to continue lessons while we’re in Morogoro.

We were also introduced to Tanzanian cuisine right off the bat with a snack of chapati upon our arrival in Kijitonyama. Chapati is like naan bread only thicker and oilier- the first time I had it I knew it would be my Tanzanian guilty pleasure! Soooo good! In our first few days we also tried ugali, a staple starch made of maize or cassava flour and water to form a kind of paste like mashed potatoes that you dip in meat or vegetables and sauce. Oliva, who is the super sweet house assistant who lives with us and prepares most of our meals, also made us chipsi mayai- the meal of champions (and by champions I mean future candidates for bypass surgery!). It’s potato fries fried into a fried omelet! Tasty but very heavy, and it’s served with tomato sauce that is like ketchup but runnier. Hmmm, what else? Ndizi, which is fried bananas mushed up in a sauce with spices and veggies, another Tanzanian classic. And we’ve eaten a whole lotta rice with a variety of maharage (beans), kande (a mixture of beans in coconut milk) and cabbage. It’s terrific food but it gets a little repetitive! We’ve also had our share of chipsi (French fries), kuku (chicken), and mishkaki (meat on a stick!). But we're on a bit of a meat hiatus right now as there is something called Rift Valley Virus going around and it's carried in meat! Plus, you lose your appetite for chicken when you see them pecking at garbage in the streets everyday! We’ve sampled a lot of food at “Uncle’s” too, a roadside grill close to our house where a super friendly man makes chips on the side of the road and sells it in his outdoor restaurant where there is always bongo flava music blaring. Another thing that is typical here is to go to the duka (store) for a soda. All the soda is in those old-school tall skinny glass bottles and they sell it everywhere. My favourite is Tangawizi- it’s like ginger beer but made with real ginger- soooo tasty! Anyways…

So back to actual events and sights! On one of our first nights we attended a special performance by the Simba Theatre group. We were all given kangas, the colourful wraps traditionally worn by women here, and Oliva helped us to cut them in half (they are used in 2 pieces) and to get dressed. One piece is usually worn as a skirt and the other as a shoulder cover or headwrap. The neat thing about kangas is that they each have a Swahili message or proverb written across the bottom and they are used to communicate issues or messages in the community that aren’t necessarily talked about. Anyway, we took a daladala to the performance and they served us all soda of course. Hmmm, wearing a kanga and drinking Tangawizi- I’m trying but clearly we’re still mzungus (Swahili for foreigners/White people)! The dancers were awesome, they showcased dances from different regions of Tanzania and the leader James (whose favourite line is “My name is James”) explained them all. They even did dances with torches, very cool. And eventually they dragged us all up on stage to join them and we made fools of ourselves but had fun. And then it was decided that since James was really short (we’re talking under 5 feet) and I am the shortest of our group, and he was looking for a second wife, that I should be his new Canadian wife! Here less than a week and I’m engaged! Anyway, that was a cool intro to some more Tanzanian culture.

Then, after our run of Swahili lessons, we had the opportunity to go out and see more of Dar, and attempt to use some Swahili. Nasi took us out on a day excursion on the Saturday. We started off at the fish market. It was so lively and busy, and of course had that familiar seafood department smell of fish, only magnified by the heat and humidy! There were separate areas for cleaning the fish, cutting them, and cooking them and all areas were packed with people working- men and women, young and old. There were mounds and mounds of tiny little fish as well as tables full of some massive ones, and people carrying nets full around or pulling carts with fish parts in them. I can’t imagine working there! Our next stop was Kariakoo market in the central part of Dar. There were some stands outside with people selling foodstuffs and then a huge indoor market that was refreshingly cool. In this dark warehouse there were people selling a myriad of things from baskets, utensils, and fans to canes, statues, and jewelry. It was crazy busy and there was an upstairs part that we didn’t even venture into. Back outside we walked through a produce section where the ground was covered in soggy scraps and people pushed beans, tomatoes and other veggies our way. Next Nasi led us into a sketchy underground tunnel. No one really knew where we were going and it seemed like we were about the get put on some kind of scary underground train or get sold to the sex trade! To our relief it was just another section of the market where hundreds of men were selling bananas and tomatoes. It was super dark so it made it all the more obvious when our big group of mzungu girls whipped out cameras and flashes started going off! So much for blending in with the locals! This is one of the dilemmas I am facing while I’m here. I am seeing so many amazing and beautiful things that I want to remember and to show people at home but at the same time I don’t want to be seen as a tourist (since my skin gives me away as a foreigner enough!) or exploit the people and culture here! Oh, moral dilemmas…

Anyway, then we headed back to the daladala and stopped in a store on the way and bought some kitangas- big pieces of colourful fabric that can be tailored. They're similar to kangas but larger and without the writing. Walking the streets of Dar is like a feast for the senses. There are people everywhere, most of them selling something and there is constantly music playing- bongo flava a lot of the time but sometimes more Western music too- a lot of Bob Marley, Shaggy, and R. Kelly. People are yelling, cars are honking, laundry is flapping- there is so much energy and vibrancy! We also stopped at a tingatinga painting co-op. The paintings are made with brightly coloured bicycle paints and are mostly of animals and people- definitely want to get my hands on one before I go home. Our last stop was Coco Beach, my first close up encounter with the Indian Ocean. It was so picturesque, complete with kids riding bikes on the sand, mangy dogs running around, and Masai standing up on the rocks. We didn’t stay long but it was enough to make me wanna come back that’s for sure! We then headed home and went to Break Pointe for lunch, an outdoor restaurant that we frequented near our house. That day there were some awesome acrobat/dancers performing and, mzungus that we are, we were staring and oohing and aahing (and some were shamelessly taking pictures). We also took our kitangas to the tailor and had skirts, purses, and headwraps made for pretty cheap. That is definitely another thing that continues to blow me away- the low cost of everything here! It’s ironic that I am paying so much of my (and my friends’ and families’) hard earned money to come to one of the poorest nations in the world. And while my living conditions here may be far from luxurious by Western standards, we are living like upperclass folk by Tanzanian standards!

On that Saturday night we also got a taste of Dar’s night life when we went out to the bar. It was an outdoor bar where a live band was playing. We were accompanied by some (large, male) Tanzanian friends who acted as our bodyguards when the harassment got bad. It was a lot of fun though and Tanzanians definitely know how to party seeing as we got to the bar at midnight and left at 3am, which is when everyone heads downtown! The band was awesome, they even had some amazing male dancers who did choreographed dances on stage. That night we also had the opportunity to try Konyagi, a local gin-like brew, before our liquor restriction kicked in (no drinking on project!).

The next day Deanna and Pam took us to the beach! We took a daladala to the fish market where we caught a rundown ferry, slightly reminiscent of a crappy Gulf Islands boat, across the bay and caught another daladala to Kipepeo Beach. Kipepeo is like a little Westerners paradise tucked away from the real Tanzania. There were flushing toilets, Western style food served, and (most surprisingly!) other White people! And the beach was gorgeous! We lay under our umbrellas reading, writing in our journals, napping, and generally soaking up the beauty of it all. I even went down onto the beach with Krista and Jane and played soccer with a couple of kids- it was our first real interaction with local kids and it was pretty awesome. After lunch and a siesta we went swimming- first time in the Indian Ocean! The water is so warm and salty and there were some nice waves to bodysurf on. It was a pretty awesome feeling to realize where I was at that moment- standing in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania, where I have always wanted to go, about the start some amazing projects with a great group of people! Awesome. Poa sana as they say in Swahili.

However, our day took a turn for the worse on the way home when our group was struck with our first real bout of sickness. Poor Jenn was dehydrated and not feeling so hot and ended up getting sick in the packed-like-sardines ferry waiting area, and Shawna nearly passed out. After a beautiful day on the beach it was a bit of a slap-in-the-face reality check that reminded us of the conditions we’re living in and how conscious we need to be about our health etc. Since then almost everyone has been sick with some degree of bacterial infection but right now everyone is in relative health. I myself have made one stop in at the clinic and arrived on project a day late because I wasn’t feeling 100%.

The next day, while a couple people rested at the clinic, Marko and Gidibo took the rest of us out to the Cultural Museum and Mwenge Market. The museum was cool, especially for me as an anthropology nerd. It displayed a bunch of different types of traditional housing used by a variety of Tanzanian tribes and included information on the groups’ subsistence patterns, history, and ways of life. It was pretty cool and educational if not mildly exploitative. Then Marko went to get us a daladala and we loitered around in the parking lot where we witnessed our first encounter with Tanzanian justice where a guy who was accused of selling fraudulent phone cards basically got yelled at by an engry mob, held down, and beaten with a stick before being taken away in a taxi. It was, but frightening for some people. Our next stop was Mwenge market where a lot of carvings are sold. I attempted to use my Swahili skills to barter but figure I will be much better at it in another 2 months when I return to Dar so I think I’ll do my purchasing then (I think I’ll find something good for your collection, Heather!).

That was pretty much it for cultural tourism while in Dar, but most of our time was spent in our compound sitting on a mattress in the courtyard listening to sessions and speakers on HIV/AIDS, gender, Tanzanian culture, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, and other not always interesting but still important topics. We had some really good presentations from people living with HIV/AIDS and from an alumni of YCI who is now doing a CIDA internship in Dar. One night we also had a performance from a youth dance group and a guy named Simba who is a rapper singing about HIV/AIDS. He was amazing and is eager to participate in any of our projects- great resource! We also had a performance from a guy named MC Power who sang a really touching Swahili song about HIV/AIDS and stigma. I am really looking forward to learning more about these issues and honestly hope that I can contribute something useful to the people here. The amount of time I am here is so short though, I think it will be the personal connections that will have the most lasting impression.

So that (in a rather large nutshell) was my time in Dar and on Tuesday I headed to Morogoro, a day after the rest of my group. My group consists of Kathleen, an immunology student fromUVic (yay, fellow BC-er!); Krista, an international development student from Chelsea; Jessie, a philosophy grad from Ottawa; and Jenn, a law grad from Ontario. Our program coordinator (and often translator) is Marko and our house assistant is Oliva. So I took the bus to Morogoro with our friend Obote, who is a huge Tanzanian guy who speaks a bit of English. It was awesome to travel with him because no one bothered me! The ride to Morogoro was beautiful. We passed through so many small communities and as always there were people everywhere and the scenery was amazing especially once we neared Morogoro which is a large village nestled in the hills of the Uluguru Mountains. Morogoro is a nice change from Dar and our house is pretty decent although we share it with a lot of ants and a friendly mouse. We do have the luxury of 2 showers, a flush toilet, a TV with one fuzzy Swahili channel, and a DVD player though. And it’s nice to finally have my own room so I have some personal space where I have put up pictures and made it my own. Sleeping is difficult though since there is music blaring in the neighbourhood til around 3am, roosters start around 4:30am, Muslim prayers at 5am, and the hustle and bustle of people by 6am! Also, we haven’t accomplished too much here yet since a couple of us were sick and Tanzanian time is generally very slow moving and relaxed so our meetings have been constantly pushed back, cancelled, or rescheduled for later. We have however met some of our partners at Faraja and some of the people we will be working with.

We visited the head office of Faraja, the NGO YCI works with here, and met Victor who will be a valuable resource. We visited the shule (school), the traditional medicine department, and the youth center as well as the legal aid department and the Home-Based Care department. My projects will be: organizing play day for children living with HIV/AIDS and their caregivers, working with income-generation groups for PLWHA and community-based care givers (who sell batiks and second hand clothing, respectively), organizing a reading/library program at the shule, and helping out with the basketball and soccer teams. I’m also hoping to get involved at the youth center and we all want to organize something great for International Women’s Day on March 8^th. So we’ll see how it goes but it’s nice to finally have the ball rolling. First activity report was already due on Monday so better get to work!

In general, life is good and this has been an amazing experience so far. It has had its emotional and physical ups and downs but I have already learned and experienced so much. It is refreshing to live a completely different life and not worry about little things like at home. As is usually the case with traveling I have learned a bit about myself already, and have made some really good friends. Tanzania is a beautiful country and the people are so friendly- especially the children, who are ALL beautiful and so cute and love to run after the funny mzungus shouting “nipetano!” (give me five). I am looking forward to meeting more people, improving my Swahili, and getting some work done. And then I am most definitely looking forward to my travels post-project when I will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and going on a 4 day safari, and then maybe heading to the beaches of Zanzibar before heading home to Canada at the end of April! I feel so lucky to be here now and am so glad to have so many people’s support back home. Congratulations if you made it through reading all of that, I hope there were bits and pieces that were entertaining or interesting! And don’t worry there will be lots more where that came from! And hopefully pictures! Take care!