A Great Weekend

“Wikendi Nzuri Sana”

25 October 2009 6:24 PM

Unfortunately for those reading this blog, the internet is not supposed to back up and running again until tomorrow sometime and I haven’t been online since a week before that so there should be a giant heap of posts suddenly on here from previous times. I think I typed something up about all of the shortages and things we have here often and even since then we had 10 hours without power on Friday which I think was government planned and over 24 hours without running water which I don’t think was planned. I’m not going to go back and edit those old posts now though because the point of this is to share whatever mindset or state I was in while writing using the knowledge I had at the time. Therefore, I apologize for inconsistencies and the anachronistic nature of these posts, but if you stop reading this paragraph now, you ought to be able to scroll down and see the older posts. Otherwise, it would be like when we used to put a VHS tape in the tape player only to have it automatically start right during the climax because someone didn’t rewind it. So now that there’s been warning and chance to go back, I can move on and share the latest news.

I just got back less than an hour ago from my trip to Morogoro, a city that is a few hours west of Dar es Salaam via bus. Our journey began just yesterday morning though it feels like that was ages ago, just like any good trip or experience should when it’s over. The story really begins Friday night with a good evening spent meeting new people from a program called SIT (worth looking up). They are a group of about our size doing exchange mostly on Zanzibar but visiting and staying at UDSM for about 10 days and the people in the program remind so much of people back in Eugene. I hung out with them for a few hours on Friday night and it felt like I was just meeting new people at a laid back little hangout in Eugene. This has made me realize that a lot of the people who have chosen to study abroad here are just normal people like me and my friends and this was different than what I expected. The people I usually meet who are well traveled to exotic and obscure places like Dar es Salaam, Tanzania generally have an air to them like their experiences make them unique. I’ve met too many people who seem a little full of themselves just because they’ve seen places that I will never see and I’m sure that anyone reading this has met people like this too because they are everywhere. If I ever come across like this or anything, please let me know immediately. The point I’m trying to make though before I continue my story is that I have been expecting to have some greatly significant and life altering experience here already because I’ve talked to people that make it sound like everywhere they traveled has made them so “fascinating”. My experiences thus far have been contrary to this expectation, but I’ll be here for a while and this blog ought to let everyone track that progression to smarmy-dom.

(Edit: One thing I did just remember though that probably comes across like what I was talking about is that after being here even for a day I have come to view a lot of my education differently. As an International Studies major, we talk a lot about problems and issues in different regions of the world as well as just about what life is like there. Actually being here is significantly different than reading about it though and hearing about it. It is difficult for me to see the subtle effects of the major structural issues we talk about in class when I am just walking down the street. Maybe this is all just because I am focusing on trying not to get mugged, but what I really mean is that it’s hard to accept one person’s voice and opinion as the absolute truth on just what the people of a country are facing or what their experiences are like.)

On with the story. I stayed up later than I intended with these cool strangers and I finally had to leave them because I was falling asleep when I still had to pack, shower, and so many other things before our 6:30 AM departure time in the morning. I ended up just opting to wake up early and do all of these things though because I was so tired which meant a 5:30 AM alarm. After being awoken several times after 3:30 by our exceptionally rambunctious/exceptionally intoxicated American floormate, I was surprised to be capable of rising from my bed before the sun even rose. All things were taken care of on time for me though and the six of us were off in a daladala on our way to Ubungo, probably Dar es Salaam’s main bus port. I apologize for failing to mention until now that this was a trip taken independently of CIEE and only about half of our total group went. The divisions in the group are becoming clearer now as expected, so I’m not sure what everyone else did this weekend, but Dylan and I have become pretty good friends so far with four of the girls who live on the same floor in the other dorm so we planned it out together. When we told Ken, our program director, that we were planning this trip (I think we have to do so by policy,) he told us we had to have someone from the links office or his assistant, Cecelia, come with us. We didn’t find this out until Thursday, but we were lucky to find that Batista, a recent Economics and Geography graduate from UDSM and employee at the links office, was willing to accompany us on this voyage. We were to cover all of his expenses which maybe cost eight USD or so per person, but having him there was invaluable from the second we arrived at Ubungo. Our daladala was so full that we couldn’t even see out the windows, so we didn’t know which direction the bus depot was. Batista was able to track us down after a few phone calls and led us to the bus station where we got our tickets squared away and were on the road soon after.

Like most things I’ve found so far in Dar es Salaam, the main purpose of the bus was not comfort but to move people. They managed to squeeze a whole extra column of seats in from what is standard for most buses back home and the 2-3 set-up made it feel a bit like an airplane. I was very excited to be taking a cool trip like this to a place I’ve never been before because this is something I don’t ever really do back home. It was still early in the morning though so I wasn’t able to stay awake for the whole ride though I did take in the view outside frequently. Departing from the city is something else though, I’ll tell ya. I was able to see the transition from urban to rural occurring while changing climates from a coastal region, to a high flat area and then eventually arrive nestled in a valley with tall peaks. I’m pretty sure there aren’t a whole lot of road outside of cities or in between them though and I’m pretty sure the road we took was the main one (aka the only one) heading west out of Dar. That meant that we would see much of the same thing along the way in terms of the shops that line the roads and the rush of people trying to sell drinks, nuts, newspapers, etc. every time we pulled over and slowed down in some areas. We could see many homes though that were not built far from the road and many were made of brick or concrete, but also we saw a lot made from just mud and sticks. I’d really like to learn more about the lives of the people who live in these homes are like and just to meet them would be something. I’m sure that some of the kids will end up at UDSM one day and I am just curious as to what the transition would be like from a rural place to a huge and busy city like Dar es Salaam.

We arrived slightly later than we intended, but still before noon. I think we were all in agreement that it felt nice to step off of the bus in a different setting than Dar though we still got quite a bit of attention from the local drivers waiting there because of the color of our skin. It took some confusion and a little extra money to get us to the cultural center where the guide for our hike was located and we found out very soon that it would be much more expensive than advertized in the outdated guidebook and also it wasn’t even possible to do the hike we were hoping to do. Fortunately we were able to work out another hike that would take about five hours or so and would let us see some of the local people who live in the hills along the way. After paying our fees (much of which goes to local preservation and conservation) and having lunch, we hit the road on foot approaching the looming peaks. The entire hike was very good for lifting my spirit as I’ve always enjoyed hiking but this was different from any hike I’d ever been on before. The wildlife and plants were different species than I had ever really seen and the entire hillside was dotted with homes of the locals so we were walking on the paths that they use. We reached a point where we got to do a bit of cultural tourism and see women making little soil cakes that I can’t remember the name of. They take this clay-like soil collected from elsewhere and turn it into a powder that they mix with some water so that they can roll these little sausage-shaped things. It’s the same color as bricks and tastes similar, but apparently they are a good source or iron and other minerals. After they are dried, they are sold at markets where they are mainly bought by pregnant women as it is traditional for them to eat them for the nutrients. You’ll be able to see pictures of this soon I hope.

The rest of the hike was not incredibly difficult or technical though the heat did sap quite a bit of energy from us all. The entire walk was just fascinating though and I loved every second of it without a doubt. I was able to think quite a bit along the way about just how fortunate I am to get to be here as well as how nice my life back in the U.S. really is. It was the first time I was really overwhelmed and overjoyed to be here and I think that it was not only because of how nice the area was but also because I didn’t have the normal concerns I have had everywhere else I have been here so far. Instead of having to keep my eyes open for people who might try to mug me or thinking about which classes to take, I was able to just focus my mental capacity on enjoying the hike. We were rewarded for the trek when we reached these two waterfalls that were a welcome site for us to relax. I didn’t come prepared to swim but a couple of the girls did take advantage of the pool at the bottom of the second waterfall. The rain also decided to join us right before we were going to continue the hike and we had to hang out by a wall of rock for ten minutes or so while we waited it out. The walk back down took a little work as we were all just a little tired and definitely ready for dinner. I could write so much more about this hike but I think the pictures will explain things even better when I am able to get them up.

We walked to our hotel which was run by a Greek lady who spoke outstanding English and Kiswahili which was weird to see being spoken fluently by a white person, but she was really hospitable and the food there was outstanding. I was able to get some moussaka which I’d never had before and she also added pesto to a lot of our dishes for free. The room was fine though the bathroom was pretty questionable with no pan under the shower, just a drain in a different corner under the sink. It was only 20,000 shillings per room for the night though (not even $16) and we slept four and three to a room so it was cozy. We woke Sunday morning several times to church bells and began our day with some tea, bread and some fried eggs. The rest of our time spent in Morogoro was just us walking around and through all the parts of town. We were able to go inside the soccer stadium, walk through many busy markets and even just walk down a residential street so we really saw a lot of different aspects of the same city which I really appreciated. I didn’t buy anything because I had to save money for the ticket back but I got some pretty good ideas for gifts to bring back home with me so we’ll see what I return with when that time comes. Before taking the bus ride back though in the afternoon, we got lunch in this dingy little place by a gas station where I am actually almost bothered by the fact that I haven’t yet been sick from the condition of the food there but maybe I just have a stronger immune system now. I’m pretty sure a mosquito got fried onto the fold of one of my samosas though, just sayin’.

The return home was surprisingly easy and uneventful except for someone brought a live chicken in a small black plastic bag along for the ride and another guy was passionately selling bars of soap and lotion for about half an hour during the ride. It was better than the god-awful Tanzanian soap operas they played on the ride to Morogoro though. I think we’re getting better and more confident in taking transportation around here or maybe we were just too exhausted to be stressed by the time we got but we’d experienced so much over the last day that it felt like so much longer since we left. I wasn’t able to type this all after I started writing it yesterday so it’s not about 2:15 in the afternoon on Monday. I still don’t have a roommate yet though that is supposed to be coming really soon and we are all doubting that we will actually have a normal day of class this week. We learned today that we will be tested for placement into Intermediate (or Advanced for a few people) Kiswahili classes here on Wednesday which I am still quite nervous about but hopefully I will do fine. Also, I was told that internet would be working again here on Monday but here we are going another day without a functioning internet connection. I do kind of enjoy being forced to go without internet though it is causing a logjam of blog posts here. It has been very difficult the last days to not hear from anyone or know anything of news back home and I think a little bit more homesickness is setting in. I know I’ll be fine though I can’t think of many things that I want more than to see some friends again or have clean clothes/bathroom/etc. This is life though and it’s part of the process so the most I’m really hoping for right now is to be able to get these online sometime soon.