Karibu!

Well I’m finally here after 3 days of planes and airports. On the way over, Sarah and I had a long layover in London where we met up with one of the other guys on the program. We did some express sightseeing and then sat down for a beer/ ale in a quaint little pub. Very British. Also very different from Dar es Salaam.

I’ve settled into my dorm room which is on the 6^th floor of a highrise (HJ style). Being up so high, we get a nice breeze, which is crucial. On the ground, it’s like being on the surface of the sun, but up here it’s probably 10 degrees cooler. I have a little balcony with a view of the treetops, and I can see all the way down to the Indian Ocean! Apparently our dorm is much nicer than the guys’. They have no breeze, no view, and no internet. Suckers.

I met my roommate this morning. She walked in while I was sleeping in my underwear under my ghetto-fabulous mosquito net. Needless to say, I think I made a good impression. We also started intensive Swahili lessons today, which is good. Most of the students speak English, but we’ve already run into lots of communication mishaps. There is this convenient little shop right near my dorm where they sell fruit, water, toilet paper, etc. It’s really cheap (breakfast there cost me like 10 cents!), but none of the guys running it speak any English. So far hand gestures and my minimal Swahili vocab have worked well, and a few of the students have taught us some of the oh-so-hip lingo.

Campus is much nicer than I expected. Some of the buildings are a little dilapidated, some have holes for toilets, but there are lots of trees and green spaces and they even have a swimming pool! Also, instead of squirrels, we have MONKEYS! There are definitely some things that will take getting used to, like…

• The unbelievable humidity
• hand washing laundry in a bucket
• cold showers (no water heaters...)
• carrying around my own toilet paper
• temperamental plumbing (for example, we haven't had water for 2 days now)
• Brushing my teeth with bottled water
• avoiding baboons around campus
  

My biggest cultural experience so far was going to the local supermarket. To get there, you take a daladala (public transportation). Named because the conductor (different from the driver) used to hang out the side yelling “dollar, dollar!” they actually only cost about a quarter no matter where you go. They are these color coded minibuses that run all over the city and the conductor will cram as many people in as physically possible—I counted 24 in what should have seated about 10. It was, well, interesting.

I can’t wait till it starts feeling like home, and I really can’t wait till the water comes back on. Hope everyone is doing well back home!

Tutaonana baadaye,

Parker