Today started and ended as a very typical Monday with the usual breakfast at the cafeteria before Kiswahili class. Our group discussion time was again held at the cafe near the degree tree, as they easily have the best breakfast food, pastries, and cakes on campus. After lunch at the cafeteria, we found out that Research Methods had been cancelled, so the rest of the afternoon was ours. In honor of the American holiday of Labor Day, we all decided to spend the afternoon relaxing. Relaxation consisted of a lot of chilling, and included doing laundry, checking internet, and eating Arushan peanut butter. Tuesday: pretty typical with breakfast (consisting of the best chapati I have ever had and chai ya maziwa- tea with milk, which is pretty much piping hot whole milk with a couple tea bags added to it) and Kiswahili class. After lunch, we had class with Professor Bruce, a man originally from the U.S. but who has lived in Dar for the past ten years or so and who teaches political science at UDSM. The class was comprised of Tanzanian students enrolled in a program to be ‘leaders of tomorrow’, our group, and other students from Europe studying at the chuo kikuu (university). Tanzanians were paired with non-Tanzanians and we first introduced ourselves, each in our non-native tongue, and then had a group discussion on human rights and their supposed universality in theory and in reality. It was very interesting, to say the least. The afternoon and dinner were nothing special. After dinner, a couple of us went for sodas and bia (beer) at Hill Park and had a great conversation with a man named Leonard. Leonard is from Malawi and is studying engineering here at the university, specifically focusing on solar energy and panels. Courtney and I decided to start out our morning with an early walk around the soccer and cricket fields in our hiking boots in preparation for Kilimanjaro. Breakfast was again at the degree tree cafe before class. During class, we learned that Friday was the end of Ramadhan, therefore no class! From class we had lunch at the cafeteria and after eating, I sought out the resident mbwa (dog) and her mbua mdogo (puppies). There are now only four left of the original seven in the litter. From lunch we met at the zoology building for our first day of our ecology class. Our professor, Jonathon, is a short man with a dry sense of human and a knack for speaking “Swanglish”. The night was spent eating, playing bao, and doing homework. Thursday felt like a Friday as classes were cancelled. After another early morning walk with Courtney, the day progressed as usual with breakfast and class. A few of us had a delicious lunch at Hill Park that consisted of ugali, mbuzi (goat), and goat broth. Research Methods followed lunch and then lots of relaxation before dinner at the caf. Friday: and so begins the experience of our first holiday abroad – the end of Ramadhan. Well, technically it began last night with the sighting of the moon. After breakfast at Hill Park, we dispersed back to the dorms to decide what to do with the day. I ended up going with Anna, Stacey, Scott, Ian, Shahid, and Caleb to Kariakoo for the afternoon. As the day unfolded, the market became insanely busy. It was my first time seeing a market that included root veggies, garlic, fish, baobob seeds, and so much more. The main covered market is a large building that hold hosehold supplies (brooms, baskets, cooking wares, lawn care, tools, etc). Our group decided to split up and the girls went in search of khanga fabric. As it approached the designated meeting time, we realized that we were all turned around and had no idea how to get back to the main market. We asked a soap vendor to show us the way and instead of pointing us there, he insisted on walking us. Along the way, two men came up and grabbed onto Stacey’s arms and started talking in loud tones. Anna and I immediately starting pushing and pulling her out of their grasp and towards the market area. When we arrived there, she realized that her cell phone had been taken out of her buttoned pocket. When we met up with the guys, Caleb told us a similar story about how the crooks had double-teamed him too and how he had felt his shirt front pocket being picked and then seen the wallet in the crooks hands. He immediately spun the crook arouund and regained his wallet without incident. The man was petrified of what Caleb was going to do. When we had the security talk at orientation, they said that if you yell ‘mwizi’ (crook) in the market, immediate action will be taken by the people. They said that people, the crooks, have even been killed. Anna, Shahid, Scott, and Ian and I were all not picked on at all. From the market, most people went back and Caleb and I decided to explore the Posta section of Dar. We walked around and got sandwiches at the Lebanese restaurant before exloring the Indian section of the city. We also stumbled upon a pastry shop too where I ate an amazing dessert: a chocolate brownie and cake-esque thing covered by a hard chocolate shell and with a dollop of raspberry jelly at the top. We caught a dala back to Mwenge and walked to Mlimani and Survei. On the way, Caleb decided to get his hair buzzed at a retro-looking barber shop. It was certainly a neat experience, especially since I was one of the only women in the joint. For dinner a bunch of us headed to the caf. While there I petted the cafeteria dog, Mainese and her puppy and chatted with the workers who informed me that six out of the seven puppies were stolen by the locals. While we were talking, the puppy curled up neext to the warmth of my legs. When they saw this, one man got his camera and took pictures of several of the workers and I with the puppies. After pictures, the workers introduced themselves and we had a great conversation in broken English and Swahili. Saturday started off with an early morning walk at the track with Caleb. From there the entire group went to Bagamoyo with Dr. Kessy and one of his colleagues. Upon arrival, we toured the orginal area of Bagamoyo, which was a trade center and settlement with artifacts dating from the first century on. While we walked, we picked up pottery sherds from around the area. Some highlights of the old city include: seeing remnants from 14th and 15th century mosques, gravesites of lovers where we could still see the inscription (the woman’s name was Marion, and was written in Arabic), seeing other burial sites with African, Ethipian, and Arab influence, and a gigantic baobob tree that was at least 500 years old. En route to the present day city of Bagamoyo, we stopped at harbor where fishermen were working on their boats (the same style of boat has been used since at least the 15th century) before high tide came in, saw a harbor memorial, walked around the city seeing remnants of Germanic control over Tanzania, and other old buildings. We then got lunch and went to the old slave market (converted into a museum) and another museum. While the old Bagamoyo was a center for the trade of goods, the newer Bagamoyo was the center for the trade of flesh and ivory. Both museums were very interesting. From the museum we went to Dr. Kessy’s archaeological dig site and listened as he explained his work surrounding pottery and lithics from the Later Stone Age and Iron Age. After walking around on the outskirts of the city, we headed back to Dar and stopped to get freshly made chips (french fries) and kuku (chicken) from a local place. Sunday was pretty low-key except for the removal of my yebo yebo braids and the intense studying for our Kiswahili test the next day.
