As an Afterthought...

I don't want to go overboard with the blogging in one day, but I figured as long as I'm using the internet, I'd give a little update on the protests. Turns out, we did end up going on strike. Last week the students boycotted classes Monday through Wednesday. The chancellor is supposed to shut down the university if the strike goes on for three days, but since he did that last year, he will lose his job if he does it again. Instead, he expelled 300 students who weren’t in class on Wednesday (rather than bring back the 25 students who were suspended in the first place)…

Now we are having a re-election for DARUSO president, but Odong’ isn’t on the ballot. I don’t think they even tried to justify it this time. Things definitely operate a little differently here…

Mountains! Finally!

Last weekend, I went with five other girls up to Lushoto, a small town in the beautiful Usambara mountains. We went hiking through the rainforest, picnicked by a waterfall, and learned all about the cool plants there (well, I did because I am a nerd). Here are some highlights.

Chillin' on the side of the road after we blew a tire on the way there.

Around Lushoto.

A lovely lunch by a waterfall.

We hiked up to a nice viewpoint (twice). Although it was too foggy to see anything either time, we did get to watch the mist rolling in below this mountain.

The hiking was unique. Basically we would walk from village to village along paths in the forest. Every now and then you would turn a corner and see a picturesque little community nestled in the mountains.

Chameleons! We saw quite a few of this guys.

More Protests

Well, there was a brief time when the political activism here on campus almost got the school shut down for the rest of the semester (reminiscent of this time last year when all the students got sent home). Although it would have been interesting to see, it seems that things have quieted down some.

The main student organization on campus is called DARUSO (Dar es Salaam University Students Organization, or something along those lines). The president of DARUSO is the equivalent to the student body president at home, only here, it’s quite a big deal. The president has always had ties with the CCM, the ruling political party in Tanzania. Apparently in the 90s, one president was actually kidnapped by the CCM for opposing their policies.

Well, we just had the DARUSO elections last week, and it was pretty crazy. The guy that won (his name is Odong’) is from Uganda, so he has no ties with any political party in Tanzania. Odong’ had openly stated that he was not affiliated with any party and that he would make decisions for the good of the students rather that the good of the administration. Well, the administration was not pleased with that, so they made him jump through some hoops. They said they did not actually have a copy of his secondary school transcript and gave him the weekend to get it from Uganda. Knowing how things work here, I’d say that’s next to impossible. For days, people would randomly start shouting his name from the dorms, and there would be a roaring chorus of “Odong’! Odong’!” from all the residence halls, day and night.

When Monday rolled around, 25 students that had campaigned for Odong’ got suspended, and there were rumors of a strike. Last year, the students went on strike regarding school fees. If a strike goes on for 3 days, the university closes and all the students get sent home, which is what happened in that case. On Tuesday, word got around that Odong’ himself was going to be suspended, and people were sure there would be a strike. I’m not sure what happened, but we’ve had class all week. I heard that the protesters could not get the support of the current DARUSO administration, so they were afraid they would not have enough students to pull it off (especially since the university has not qualms about suspending 50 to 100 students). I’ve also heard that the school isn’t going to suspend Odong’, and that there will be a re-election. Who knows.

Speaking of protests, that water riot back in February finally paid off. The university said they would work on the water situation, but we were all a little skeptical. It seems that they were serious because for the first time all semester, we’ve had running water every day for a week! It’s glorious!

And my first African illness is...

…Malaria! Yup, blood parasites have taken over my body. Note to all: malaria prophylaxes are a waste of money. Last semester, 3 or 4 foreign students got malaria, on all the different anti-malarial medications you can get to come to Tanzania. This semester, 3 of us have gotten it while taking anti-malarials. Most of my friends haven’t taken theirs for months, and most of those jerks are malaria free. One friend who stopped taking his medicine did get it, but his case wasn’t even as bad as mine, and mine is fairly mild. Luckily, I caught it early. One of the girls who had it a few weeks ago got to the point where she was delirious and couldn’t see straight. For me, as long as I stay in my room, take my medicine, and sleep a lot, I feel alright. When I make the journey to class, the cafeteria, or even the fruit stand 100 yards away, it wears me out. The worst part is coming back up the six flights of stairs to my room. My fever spikes, I get light-headed, and I have to take a nap afterwards. I’m lucky I haven’t gotten too nauseas to eat, though. It could be a lot worse.

The thing about being sick in a third world country is that you are in a third world country. When your body feels like it’s on fire, there is no air conditioned area you can run to (not that you would run there anyway…), and of course the one time you’d welcome the chilly shower temperature, there’s no running water. And since there is no running water, you can’t flush the toilet on your frequent trips to the bathroom. Although, Friday was a glorious day because the water did come on; I was able to wash my pillow case and the kanga/ sarong I’d been wearing for days, both of which were pretty sweaty and smelly.

Also, I just found out that my roommate has typhoid fever. What a pair of wagongwa (sick people) we are. I saw some medicine lying on her desk and asked if she was sick.
“Yes, a little. But not as sick as you.”
“Aw, what’s wrong?”
“My tonsils are infected.”
“Pole.” Pole (pronounced pole-ay) is used all the time. It means ‘sorry,’ or ‘condolences.’ People say it if you are sick, if you trip, if you spill your drink, etc.
“Yeah, I have typhoid, too.”
“WHAT?!?!” That one took me a little off guard. She was pretty non-chalant about it. She seems to be doing pretty well, though. We both sleep a lot. I think I’d rather have malaria.

Anyway, I’m lucky to have Sarah around to take such good care of me. I’ve finished my medicine and I definitely feel better than I did a few days ago, but I’m still waiting to be able to go to the cafeteria without feeling like my body is going to give out. Hopefully soon. In the meantime, I’m sure I’ll be doing a lot of reading, watching a lot of movies, and feeding my new intense hatred of mosquitoes.

Bagamoyo and Relentless Rains

This weekend, our UF group went to Bagamoyo, a small town north of Dar es Salaam. It’s a pretty cool little town that was once the capital of German East Africa. It reminded me a little of Stone Town in Zanzibar, and apparently it is in the running to be a World Heritage Site. Bagamoyo was a big trading hub during colonial days and before, and there are ruins of an old mosque and tombs from Arab traders in the 13^th century. Now the town is known for its art and is home to a famous arts college.

Alas, that’s about all I caught of the history of the place. We were with a group of about 50 or so Tanzanian students of Swahili literature, and all of our tours were in Swahili. It’s hard enough for me to have a face-to-face conversation with someone about the weather in Swahili, much less listen to a lecture. Oh well, I did get to look at pretty things like the biggest baobab tree I’ve ever seen in my life.

Well, the rainy season has started. It started over Easter. Literally, one day it started raining, and it has rained every day since then. Sometimes it rains part of the day and is sunny for the rest. I like those days because when the rain stops, the air is nice and cool. Other days it rains nonstop, and those days make me realize why everyone in Tanzania hates the rain. Most of the walkways by the dorms are dirt, and the stairs around campus are surrounded by dusty hills. There’s not much grass on those hills, so all the dirt and silt floods the walking paths. Most buildings and houses have little moats around the outside to collect the rain and mud before it flows into their living room. If it weren’t for the wonderful maintenance staff constantly shoveling the mud, I’m convinced this place would be underground within a year.

Mwenge is especially bad. One day last week was one of those rain-all-day days, and the whole place was flooded. The area behind the shops where all the woodcarvers do their work was one giant muddy lake. To get to our class, you have to walk through an alley, and we were wading through ankle deep water to get there. I don’t know how those guys handle that kind of wetness.

Here are some pics from the weekend trip:

Kaole Ruins. The buildings are from around the 13th century,
and the stones are made from coral.


Biggest baobab tree ever! This thing had branches that were 3-4 feet thick. Definitely one of the top three coolest trees I've ever seen.




This church in Bagamoyo is where Dr. Livingstone's body was laid out before being sent to Zanzibar. When we were here, there was a wedding going on inside, and they were singing some of the most beautiful church music I've ever heard.