Tanzania Ni Bomba

The market

2009-12-22T04:21:00.000-08:00

I love going to the market. Aside from a chance to practice my Swahili (and learn all sorts of useful expressions such as, "are you married?" and "you are beautiful"), when I get home it's kind of like Christmas. I start unpacking my bags and find that I have lots and lots of goodies. This is the aftermath of a recent trip to the market. Just thought I'd give you an idea.....

Bongoyo Island

2009-12-22T04:01:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, my dear, dear friend from grad school, Emily was in town. She had come for work but had managed to find a little time to play as well. So we decided to grab a few friends and head to Bongoyo Island. This is a small island just off of Dar es Salaam, that is actually a national park. A ferry ride lasting around 30 minutes and about $20 USD will get you there. The beaches are beautiful, with just a few bandas for shade, and a simple restaurant where they sell seafood.

We were able to snorkel and see a bunch of coral reefs with brightly colored fish, as well as some pretty dangerous looking sea urchins :)

Here are a few pics from our trip.....

Mary Crassmas

2009-12-22T03:05:00.000-08:00

I'll be travelling to Uganda on Christmas Eve to spend the holidays with my friend Yen and her boyfriend Charles, who live in Kampala, and another friend of ours, Christi, who is currently working in Sudan (the girls are friends from my grad school program). Yen told me she was getting a Christmas tree, so I didn't do much decorating at my place. But I did a little bit....TZ style...

My baobob Christmas tree :)

And one of the Christmas ornaments I purchased to put on Yen's tree...

My Apartment in Dar (the "Before" pictures)

2009-12-22T02:37:00.000-08:00

Many people have been asking me to post some pictures of my apartment here in Dar. It is ridiculously large and spacious, and really quite nice (with the exception of the ugly couches). It's a small source of guilt for me, as I had wanted to both live alone and live in a neighborhood that would be safe and secure but not in the part of town where the majority of ex-pats live. This made finding a suitably sized apartment quite difficult, and so I ended up with this 3-bedroom, 2-bath place all to myself.

I have done some decorating and light remodeling since I moved in, so the apartment is looking significantly better these days. The "After" pictures will follow in the new year :)

Walking in the front door. My place was oddly (?) equipped with a water cooler.

My living room furniture. Otherwise known as my ugly couches...

Looking down the hallway into the rest of the apartment. Note the pepto bismol colored trim on the walls. This is in every, single room of my apartment. Ugh.

The kitchen.

My apartment building seems to have been built by the Chinese. This is my induction heater. Neither me, nor my neighbors, actually know how to use it...

Maybe it would help if I could read Chinese????

Originally I had no stove or oven. Only the induction heater that no one knows how to use. I insisted on a gas stove with oven as one of the conditions of signing the lease. Isn't it lovely??

My bedroom...

My bathroom....

There's no tub, but a $15 investment in a new shower head has made this an incredible shower!!!

Although if you look a little closer, you'll see that upon moving in I may or may not have done some minor damage..

My washing machine, which broke after its first use. Luckily my landlady was nice enough to replace it with a new, functional machine...

My patio/laundry area...

It takes a while to load pictures, so I've only included the master bed/bath. The other bedrooms are similar.

Lost in Translation

2009-12-22T02:05:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have seen my facebook pictures, you've probably already investigated these. However, I feel like they are too good to not post here....

Outside of a movie theater. Note that a power failure is "likely" and that no one should panic.

Major TZ paper.....what a headline!

The horoscopes are simply classic. Read on for guaranteed amusement :)

To shop or to eat...???

2009-12-21T23:20:00.000-08:00

On our last day of Kiiswahili class, we decided to go out for lunch after class. We went to a local restaurant for Tanzanian food and a chance to practice our language skills. There isn't much to report about the meal itself, but I thought the shopping that was accomplished while waiting for our meal was quite impressive...

Imee is buying a bug zapper....

and she is very happy with her purchase!!!

Notice the variety of items that can be purchased from this one individual...hangers, pillows, soccer balls, bug zappers....

This was the restaurant's knife-sharpening service. It's a bit hard to see, but the guy is essentially riding a stationary bike that rotates the wheel that he sharpens the knife on.

Dar Driving School FAQs

2009-12-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

What do you do if you are caught in a traffic jam?

Be resourceful! Are you next to a "sidewalk" that is wide enough to accomodate a car and relatively free of trees, large rocks, or other obstacles that might make driving difficult? [Note, pedestrians should not be included in this list]

If no - Pole sana (very sorry). You'll probably be sitting in traffic for a while. Hopefully you....

have a good stereo (that actually functions) and there is good music on the radio, and/or
are on a major street and can do some "window shopping" (by which I literally mean buying things out of your car window); items you can likely buy include...

Car essentials: floor mats, emergency reflective triangles, steering wheel covers, etc
Seasonal fruits (mangos, bananas, pineapples, watermelons, etc.) and other snacks such as peanuts and ice cream
Home essentials and seasonal decorations: wall clocks, pillows, coat racks, hangers, large maps of Tanzania, fake Christmas trees, etc.
Phone credit for any of Tanzania's major cell phone providers
Toys: kites, soccer balls, pool floaties, wooden cars, etc.
Fresh fish (sorry, no meat options available)
Pets (I haven't actually seen this myself but am told you can buy puppies & tropical fish)
Furniture and landscaping materials: sofas, papasan chairs, large potted plants, etc. (and although you might have to pull over to buy these items, you wouldn't actually have to get out of the car)

If yes - Is there a policeman nearby who might see if you were to, say, drive somewhere you are not supposed to?

If yes - Pole sana. See above.
If no - Check for both oncoming and passing traffic, and slowly pull out into your new lane. If you run into obstacles, simply force your way back into the line of traffic until you have passed it. Note, this "lane" does not necessarily have to be on your side of the road.

If a road appears to be a 2-lane road, does that mean that it is a 2-lane road?

Looks can be deceiving. A 2-lane road can actually become up to 5 lanes. Refer to the answer to question #1 for some tips on expanding your use of the road.

Do I always have to drive on the left-hand side of the road?

Of course not. Typically, you are free to use the entire road, although it is best to avoid collisions with other vehicles or large objects. Some instances in which it might be imperative that you drive on the wrong side of the road are:

There are obstacles on your side of the road (this might include a vehicle parked where it shouldn't be, a public transport vehicle letting passengers on or off, a bicyclist, a person pulling a large cart, etc)
The vehicle in front of you is driving too slow for your liking (remember, you can pass on any street - you do not need any kind of designated "passing lane")
There are large potholes on your side of the road and you would rather not slow down for them

If there is a pedestrian crossing the street, do I have to slow down?

You might be tempted to, but this is actually completely unnecessary. Simply use your horn repeatedly and continue speeding towards the individual. They will get out of the way.

If I come upon a 4-way intersection that has no traffic lights or signs or any kind, what should I do?

Generally, those driving on the more "major" of the two roads are considered to have the right of way. However, it is often unclear which road is more major. If you are in a hurry, it is not necessary to stop or even slow down.

When is it appropriate to use my horn?

At any time. For any reason.

If a policeman steps into the road and signals for me to pull over, what do I do?

Consider why s/he might be stopping you. If you know you have not done anything wrong, and that there is nothing wrong with your vehicle...the policeman is likely after money. Simply continue driving. S/he does not have a vehicle in which to give chase, so you will be fine.

How does the middle lane on the road to Mwenge work?

Although the two outside lanes on this 3-lane road are designated as moving in opposite directions, the middle lane is not designated as going in one direction or the other. During rush hour periods it functions as a second lane going the direction of heavy traffic. During non-rush hour times, it functions as a giant game of chicken, or sometimes known as "my vehicle is bigger than your vehicle". Feel free to use this lane to go either direction, even if faced with oncoming traffic. Just be sure your vehicle is bigger than the oncoming vehicle, or that there is space to cut back into your designated lane at the last minute to avoid collision.

The Salty Grandmother

2009-12-21T22:08:00.000-08:00

Recently, there was a European Film Festival held here in Dar es Salaam, with a variety of films being screened over a two week period. I had found a flier about the festival beforehand, and decided that some of the films look interesting and worth checking it out. The first film that I selected - The Heir - was from the Netherlands. I should have had a little more of an inkling about what the quality of the film would be like from its description (below)..... but alas, I had high hopes. And although I should have known that any movie about a black market in cheese was unlikely to be a winner, I still dragged Julie and Imee with me to the theater (hey, the movies were being shown for free).

The Heir
Vico, a young African, inherits an Alpine pasteur in Gruyere. He comes to Switzerland with the firm intention of selling the land. Amused to discover the local black market in cheese, he manages to defeat the plans of a local bigwig who is too sure of his white man's superiority, does his best to become an "armailli" (Gruyere-style dairy farmer) and saves the village from disaster. With a tiny grain of African sand, the well-oiled mechanism is thrown out of kilter... A humorous and offbeat look at a clash between two cultures that reveals Switzerland in a new and unexpected light.

We arrived just in time to get in line for tickets. For whatever reason, although the films were being shown for free, you still had to get a ticket with a seat number on it. Actually, each ticket had 2 seat numbers on it - apparently you are only allowed to go to the movies in pairs or even numbered groups of people. And of course, we were three. So....the woman in the ticket booth told me, after handing a ticket to Imee and Julie, that I would just pair up with one of the people behind me. And so, I made a new friend (embarassingly, I cannot remember his name). He was a young college student studying IT, and we became movie partners. I assumed that once we got into the theater, we would be able to sit wherever we liked (especially once it became clear that the theater would not be completely full); however, my movie partner insisted that it was very necessary to sit in our assigned seats. And so we sat together....and it was actually quite pleasant (thankfully his English was pretty good so we could actually communicate!).

I decided to get popcorn and, in an effort to practice both my Swahili and my Tanzanian manners, offered some to my movie partner. Or, at least, I thought I did. I couldn't quite remember the word for "popcorn", so I used as close of an approximation as I could come up with...."Karibu bibi". Which roughly translates to...."You are welcome to grandmother". And so I accidentally offered my movie partner some grandmother. Luckily, he was kind enough to correct me, and, as an added bonus, had a great sense of humor about the situation. About 15 minutes into the movie, he leaned over to me and said, "Your grandmother is really salty!".

An additional fun fact about our movie.....
* It was in French with English subtitles. Except, they forgot to turn on the English subtitles. So everyone in the audience missed what was said during the first 15 minutes of the film.

Kariakoo market

2009-10-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Last week my Swahili classmates and I went on a little adventure with our Swahili teacher.....to one of the big markets in downtown Dar es Salaam called Kariakoo Market. Here are some photos from our trip!

The 5 CDC fellows: Tom, Julie, me, Nnenna and Imee

The inside part of the market, where you can buy household items...

spices and lentils, etc...

and fish...

This section is dedicated to things like produce, grains, spices, etc...

and then just outside the market you can buy fresh fruits and veggies....

and of course, no matter where you are, you must always be clear about which football team you support....

Photos!

2009-10-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

This is my hotel room at the Slipway. CDC has put us up here for our first month in Tanzania, giving us time to find a place to live and learn our way around the city. They are cute little studio apartments...

Some views from around my hotel...

The view from my room....

Our hotel is actually next to a kind of shopping center - it's the yellow building in the background. There are a few shops and restaurants that you can see here - it's actually quite a nice and rather posh spot.

This is the construction going on next door to my hotel.....check out that massive amount of manual labor!!

Kigamboni Beach

2009-10-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Imee and I decided to join two other Americans for a trip to one of Dar's many beautiful beaches. We grabbed a daladala into town (we are now getting pretty good at public transport - at least in our neighborhood), and I had my first successful "Shikamoo" interaction with an elderly gentleman that sat down next to me (this is a greeting used only for elders). He had his bible with him and was on his way to church. I had a book and some sunscreen with me and was on my way to the beach :)

First Imee and I met up with Jamie and Emily for a morning coffee at what I'm fairly certain is the nicest, most expensive hotel in all of Dar. I regrettable did not take any pictures of said hotel, but I will be sure to go back there (especially when I need to use some good wireless internet!) and take some.

From coffee, the four of us headed to the ferry. The ferry was a relatively chill form of transport, except for actually getting on the ferry. It felt kind of like cattle being herded through a small gate - with a huge crowd of people all waiting peacefully in the designated waiting area and then rushing to get on the ferry as soon as the gate was opened. Remembering that in TZ there is no such thing as "personal space" should help add to your mental image.

Getting onto the ferry....

This is the view looking towards where we were going...

Once we had arrived across the bay, we caught another daladala and headed to the Sunrise Beach Resort, where we spent the afternoon swimming, relaxing, eating, and attempting to do the crossword puzzle in one of the English language local newspapers (I actually have quite a lot to say about that crossword puzzle, but I'm not sure I would be able to do it justice, so I plan to either scan or photograph a crossword puzzle example so that you will all be able to see for yourselves its full glory). Oh, we were also quite amused by the newspapers' horoscopes.

The beach was like many other African beaches I've seen - beautiful and endless, with people selling a variety of items including coconuts, sunglasses, kites, soccer balls, hard boiled eggs, ice cream, bathing suits, and more.

There was a mix of foreigners and Tanzanians hanging out and swimming, but the thing that was unique about this beach was that the mixture of Tanzanians included all of the Tanzanian races and religions. Tanzania has large populations of Muslims and Indians, which tend to have more conservative styles of dress that range from burkas to "normal" clothes combined with simple head scarves. And you could see all of this on the beach! There were people wearing Western-style bathing suits playing in the ocean alongside men and women who were essentially fully clothed! Very strange.

And then there was this guy.....chilling on his bicycle and talking on the phone. One of my favorite pics thus far...

Until I saw the cows on the beach. Then that might have become my favorite picture...

Kiswahili

2009-10-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, I decided to dive head first into learning as much Swahili as possible. Thankfully, CDC was of the same mindset and enrolled all five of the fellows in a 3 week intensive Swahili language course. We have class from 8-12 every day (M-F) outside on a covered terrace (which is nice, except that it actually gets pretty hot by the end of class) with our teacher Nikolas, a couple of other students, and a lot of flipchart paper. We're now 2/3 of the way through - this coming week will be our last.

So far the class has been absolutely fabulous! Swahili is such an interesting language - a mixture of several indigenous Bantu languages plus a substantial amount of Arabic or Arabic-derived words. Many of the Bantu words are very similar (or in some cases exactly the same) as the dialects that I learned bits and pieces of in Mozambique and Zambia, and the language itself is structured in the same way as those languages, which is definitely a plus for me! However, the Arabic words are really difficult for me, and take me at least twice as long to learn!

The funniest story from language class so far is definitely about the day that I essentially asked Nicholas how to cuss someone out in Swahili. I was not quite so direct with my question - I actually asked him what I could say to someone if they gave me the "dirty" handshake. He was completely shocked that I had had someone do that to me, and gave me a phrase that he assured me was a culturally appropriate response. When said in a mild tone of voice, it apparently is like saying, "Leave me alone" or "Get lost". However, if said in an angry voice it becomes more like the equivalent of "F*** off!". Needless to say Nicholas was a little hesitant to write that on the flipchart paper with the rest of our lesson. In the end he decided to write the first word of the phrase at the top of the page and the second word at the bottom, just so they wouldn't be written together! We were all very amused.

This is a photo of our "classroom" and our teacher, Nicholas...

The other students...

Our book!

Some views from our "classroom"...

Public Transport

2009-10-17T02:45:00.000-07:00

The Daladala

Although I was told I "shouldn't" use public transportation, I went ahead and took 2 of my fellow fellows on a little adventure involving a daladala (the mid size buses used throughout Dar for public transport). Our way into town was relatively uneventful, our trip home was quite the experience. I haven't yet figured out the deal with the daladalas coming to our part of town (maybe there are very few?)....but it was quite literally a shoving match to get into the vehicle. By the time the daladala had stopped to let people off, there was already a huge crowd gathered around it waiting for that last person to get off so they could get on. Actually, I take that back. Not everyone waited for the last person to get off - some people climbed into the daladala through the back windows once it had started to empty out. And once that last person did get off, it was every man for himself. People were pushing and shoving to get in, in a way that I have never seen before.

Not surprisingly, the 3 of us were not really interested in throwing elbows at total strangers, so we had to try and squeeze our way in at the very end, which seemed like it was not going to be possible (an important lesson learned for the other fellows - there is always room for at least 5 more). But we managed to do it - after the conductor did some very expert people arranging to maximize every square centimeter of available space for us to fit...and then he had to hang out the door because he couldn't actually fit inside the vehicle. But hey, all in a day's work for him!

Some photos of daladalas...

The Bajaje

Unlike Mozambique and Zambia, Tanzania has a tuk-tuk like type of public transport called the bajaje. It's about half the price of a taxi, and it's pretty clear why. I don't have a photo yet, but I'll try to get one soon!

Welcome Back

2009-10-17T01:42:00.001-07:00

Upon arrival in Tanzania, I experienced a series of events that I like to think of as my "Welcome Back to Africa" experiences. It's like the continent was waiting for me, and doing its best to make me to feel instantly at home....

∗ Luggage. I left for the airport with two overweight bags and two rather heavy carry-on items, which I had to lug across the entire Atlanta airport after being dropped off at the wrong place. Surprisingly, getting my bags checked went pretty smoothly - I paid my overweight fee and that was that. The problem came when I was in the Amsterdam airport during my layover. I was checking in for the second leg of my KLM flight and, after having my carry on bags screened at the gate, was told that I could only take one bag on the plane and that the other would be "locked" and checked. I hadn't slept, it was the middle of the night for me, so I handed over my bag without giving it much thought. It was "locked" with a plastic zip tie, which I can only assume was promptly removed once the bag was out of my sight. To make a long story short, my bag arrived in Dar (along with both of my other checked bags), minus my small digital camera. Luckily I had all of my other electronics and valuables in the bag I took with me on the plane....but the camera had slipped my mind. Welcome back to Africa.

∗ The "dirty handshake". You know the one. When the guy shaking your hand tickles your palm with his middle finger while shaking your hand. Needless to say it is not a very polite thing to do, and I will assume you can all guess what it means. I received my first dirty handshake on day 2 in TZ. Welcome back to Africa.

∗ Luggage, continued. As if losing the camera wasn't bad enough....I discovered a few days later, after unpacking more thoroughly, that my four pairs of nice sterling silver earrings had also been removed from my bag. KLM received a very nasty complaint letter from me.....to which they have yet to respond. Welcome back to Africa.

∗ Swahili lessons. Although English is one of Tanzania's official languages, people don't actually speak a whole lot of it. Naturally, I was eager to begin learning Swahili as soon as I arrived (bargaining is significantly more successful when done in Swahili!). So I started asking people to help me learn, and I have to say, my very favorite language teachers are the taxi drivers. Every time I get in a taxi, I try to use all of the Swahili words that I know (and learn a few that I don't). And it never ceases to amaze me how excited people are to share their language and culture with you if you express even a tiny bit of interest. I have had taxi drivers spend an entire trip patiently and enthusiastically counting to 10 with me or practicing the days of the week with me over and over and over again. Karibu tena Afrika.

∗ Wazungu. There are a lot of foreigners (wazungu) in Tanzania. And a lot of them live in Dar. One of my least favorite, but always present, interactions with other foreigners is the "safety and security" discussion. When I was looking for a place to live I told another woman that I wanted a place that didn't feel too isolated - I wanted to be able to walk out of my house and walk down the street to buy vegetables. Her response: "But you're white. Why would you walk anywhere?". Welcome back to (the ex-pat mentality of) Africa.

∗ The posh part of town? The CDC was kind enough to put all of the fellows up in a hotel for our first month in country, while we look for places to live and settle in. And of course, they chose a nice hotel in a rather posh part of Dar where we would have access to restaurants and shops. And yet, even though we are in the posh part of town, our hotel is still on a dirt road. And every time I walk out to the main tarmacked road, I am more or less instantly covered in sweat and a fine layer of dust. Welcome back to Africa.

Back in Africa

2009-10-10T09:03:00.001-07:00

First things first. What am I doing back in Africa? Even as I was getting ready to leave the U.S. I was not able to answer this question in much detail. However, after spending 2 weeks in Atlanta at "orientation" and a week and a half in Tanzania, I can at least begin to give you all an idea.

Some background info...

Earlier this year, as I was completing my Masters Degree in Public Health, I applied for a Global Health Fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control. I knew that the fellowship would entail spending 1-2 years working for the CDC within the Global AIDS Program (GAP), and that I would be placed with a CDC office somewhere in the world (although the majority of the CDC's work is domestic, they have a small and growing presence all over the world, working with Ministries of Health to improve the health and well-being of their populations).

As it turns out, I was fortunate to be offered one of the 17 fellowships awarded this year, and was invited to work for CDC Tanzania with their HIV/AIDS Clinical Service/Care and Treatment team. The focus of my fellowship is Program Management, and the scope of work suggests that the range of activities I will be involved in is quite large. I have been told by the Country Director that my team is the busiest team in the office, and that there will be no shortage of work to be done! More details to come on all of that once I actually begin my work! [For those who are curious, the other fellows are spread out among CDC's offices in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Thailand, DRC, Nigeria, Namibia, Cambodia and Atlanta).

Orientation...

Prior to leaving for Tanzania (TZ) I spent close to 2 weeks in Atlanta at an orientation for all of the fellows. In addition to getting rained on almost every day, we learned a bit about the fellowship and the CDC, as well as how to adjust to life overseas.

By far the most "interesting" part of this orientation was the Department of State mandated 3-day course entitled, "Preparing for Work Overseas". All federal employees who spend 3 months or more abroad for work related purposes are required to complete this course. Although they claimed that it is not, one who did not know any better might think that the purpose of this course was to scare us all into never leaving our a) safe and secure homes, b) safe and secure places of work, and c) safe and secure vehicles. We learned all about thing like: bombs, what to do if you are kidnapped or carjacked, intelligence and counterintelligence, and a variety of other terrorist tactics and their appropriate responses. Though informative, interesting, and at times entertaining, the majority of what was discussed over those 3 days will fortunately not be relevant to my stay in TZ.

And although I'll admit that learning about American spies who were caught spying for the Russians was very interesting, my favorite part of the orientation was getting to know the other fellows. It is a very cool group of people, and hopefully a number of them will pass through TZ during the next year, either on business or for a visit!!