Just Some Random Thoughts

Well I have been thinking and here are some of my thoughts; just go with it!

• Most (like 100%) of Tanzanians really believe that Americans have all the answers, the right ones to all their problems. Scary! They believe that at the age of 22 we can fix all their nations, organizations, etc, problems! 
• Not having consistent running water and power outages could get old 
• I am having a hard time making many Tanzanian friends. I am getting to know all of our roommates and a few of Nasra's friends; but we don't have class with any of them! So it makes studying together or anything like that kind of hard. Not to say that getting to know the CIEE participants is not a cultural experience and fun too, but I would really like to make more Tanzanian friends. I was sort of counting on the swim team to be an in into meeting new people.
• So it is weird - the tech influence - it makes me feel like I am living a split world. Besides having my computer - others have them too, there for the internet is taking over! The Tanzanian girls in my hall also enjoy Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, Twilight, etc. its weird! It scares me that their insight visually into America is Gossip Girl! What does that say about America!  
• I miss not getting the news. I even would like to get local news but I am having a hard time finding the English Paper!
• So I am switching up my classes again - I am not taking the Gender class and am taking African History on Friday instead - it should be good - bummed about not having Fridays free though!
• I am starting to worry about classes and how they are going to get all of whats in the syllabus into the time left. 
• I am no longer taking my internship for credit; but am stilling doing most of the work for it because then I would have a portfolio to give to potential employers.
• I was wrong about the birthday thing; they do celebrate but there is a cultural difference when inviting people to anything - the invitee pays for everyone!
• Did some shopping this weekend = got a conga, getting a skirt made, bought a couple bags, bought a map of Tanzanian, bought a dress, and I kept thinking I was spending so much money, but when I got home and figured it all out - it was really not that much! I am getting use to paying for things cheep! I don't know what I am going to do when I have to pay $10 for a meal! I also was worried that all the free time we had was equating to a lot of extra spending, but I was well within my budget for the month! 
• Nasra my roommate is awesome! She is supper nice, we have great talks- trading info about Tanzania and America, she is really smart, and she is fun. 
• I need to learn more Swahili = but is hard = I only use it in broken sentences = or through in a Swahili word in my English sentences. 
• So I am getting a pass, hopefully to the blue pearl to swim, and I am taking Jen and Kim with me and we are going to do water aerobics! Because the pool is only 10meters - not really conducive to swimming laps!
• I miss chez things! although we did go to this pretty Americanized place yesterday and I was able to order pizza! It was alright - they even had pepperonis! - it is something I am missing -besides milk!
• Most Tanzanians have a tribal name and "baptismal name" = which is found from the Bible - is more common. 
• Nasra and I have set up a dinner date once a week were she will teach me how to cook some of the local dishes! I will bring them all home and cook them for you all! It will probably happen soon when I get back because I will be in cultural shock!      

Moneky Pooped on my Head

Yuck!! That is all!

Classes Changed Internship not what I was hoping for = Tanzania

So just a typical last couple days in Tanzania. Things moving at a leisurely pass and no one seems to worried about anything but the Americans! So my class schedule was changed, I bet it changes again and maybe classes start - for real - February. So not only do I think my schedule change again, I am thinking I would rather take the history class instead of the gender development class. So I will be making a change to it again on Monday! Yeah!! :) I also don't think my internship is going to work out for credit. I think it will be fine - I am still going to do most of the work for it because it will create a great portfolio of my time here and what I did at YOSEFO to show others!

My internship today was not what it seemed. After researching micro-lending and the YOSEFO organization I thought I somewhat new what I was getting into and where maybe I would like to work within the organization, but not the case at all! We had a 2 hr orientation to the organization to start the day off - after an 1 1/2hr dalla dalla ride to get there by 8. That was good; learned a lot about the operations and I had tons of questions (who would have thought) and was really looking forward to going out into the communities that they work with. Then I started asking my questions and my dreams where crushed. I had all these ideas of helping with business plans, budgeting, business seminars, etc. and they where all shut down! Part of it is the language barrier and not being able to explain myself with my broken -1st grade level Swahili and the other part is the organization policies and fear of getting people to payback their loans (this is a major concern and main motivation for workers in YOSEFO). To say the least I was really worried I had picked the wrong organization and that I would end up working in the office in teaching the ins and outs of excel and what it could do for them. Not saying that I wouldn't be helping the organization, but I really had my heart set on doing something where I could work with the avg. Tanzanian running/starting a small business and help them make it more successful so they could support their family! But it is getting to late to keep looking so I am going to stick with it! If anything else the 1 1/2 hr dalla dalla ride each way will be an adventure!

For example - the other morning my internship buddy Kelly and I hoped a dalla dalla with our friend Polycarp (showing us the way) to Ubongo - this crazy bus station. It was nuts - no only did we wait about 30mins for our bus to show up but then when it did it was a fight to get on it! People shoving, people trying to crawl through windows, I have never seen anything like it! Then we are shoved and squished in the bus like the game "how many people can you fit in the phone booth)- so in other words we were sitting/standing on each other. Then I was all ready to recognize buildings so I know when to ask to be dropped off, but no the traffic was at a standstill so we went off roading! That was crazy! I had no idea where we were, how much longer to stay on, I was all turned around... but thankfully we all of a sudden appeared on the main road and I recognized the name of the park that YOSEFO was by and got off! The journey home was just as fun - we did it all by ourselves! We waited forever - again for our dalla dalla to show - then we got stuck in traffic for while, and finally made it to Ubongo, but we had to get out and make our way cross a couple very busy streets where no one follows the traffic lights! We lived through that and then in broken Swahili asked for the dalla dalla that was going on to campus, because there are a few that all go in the same direction but not all of them will go on campus!

Thursday did end quite nicely though - we all hopped a badagi to Blue Pearl to go swimming! This is where I was hoping to get a pass to swim, but the pool is only about 10meters long! So I don't know what I am going to do! The pool had a great view and shower! It was worth it to pay just for the shower. It was hot and running - so I shaved my legs!! Then we decided to treat ourselves to non cafeteria dinner by splurging to eat out (11,500 shillings = $20!) and ate egg fried rice, chips & salsa, and sprite! The chips and salsa where fried tortillas with ketchup that had onions and peppers in it! It made me laugh how excited I was for this and then just get chips and ketchup! The egg fired rice just was not the same as back home at New Garden! I even felt guiltily for eating it with a fork and not chopsticks!

Yesterday since I didn't have class, I slept in again. Leisurely got ready and met in Ken's office for a meeting at 11. We then grabbed lunch and headed to the beach and spend the rest of the day in the sun and playing in the water. The tides here are just fascinating; we probably walked a half mile to just reach the waters edge from where the tide would have been at high tide! So since it was all of use we decided to call our dalla dalla buddies and have them pick us up! These guys are great - they are always so happy to see us and have fun speaking - slow broken Swahili with us! It is great when we meet them when they are working their rout - yesterday when of our guys got a free ride from them! :) They know all of our names and yell the out when they us! One of these times I will get a picture with them!  

This weekend Nasra wants help finding a university in the US, but I need to do some research first and help her figure out which ones will give scholarships to foreign students getting their masters! Any ideas let me know! I also I am setting up a time to meeting with this guy named Moji from China - he is one of Nasra's friends- and he has asked if we could exchange language practice - him English and me Swahili - for Sunday night! Should be fun - and I need it!!

Hakuna Matata! 

From the Top of the Blue Pearl

Tanzanian Flag painted on the top of each building - Blue = ocean/water Green = Land/trees Yellow = wealth Black = color of the skin

        

Interniship Set & Dar Sharks Disbanded

Well today I slept in a little - 7:30, then myself and Kelly went to the CIEE office to figure out our internship with YOSEFA - it is an organization that does micro-lending to youth and woman to help start businesses that will sustain their families. You can google it and micro-lending if you want. It is kind of controversial in the methods of developing nations. I like the idea of helping create sustainable business plans and helping people manage their business to last 5-10 years not just a few months. This is what I hope to be able to help with, but who knows! When we meet with the head director as women we where defiantly being looked down upon, but at the same time given a superiority complex because we have an American education - it was weird. It is also going to be a crazy commute by dalla dalla to get there! We will have to leave UDSM at 6:30am to get there hopefully by 8am! We also have to change dalla dalla in what is called theft central station! So we will be taking nothing with us! We also have to leave work by 2-3pm to make sure we are not stuck at either station at dark! But I am excited - it will be an adventure and one hell of an experience; the internship should be too!! Everyone with an internship though  has a pretty rough commute, so I think we will all be just fine!

I do have some disappointing news though! Kelly and I went to go to inquire about the Dar Sharks and when the pool was open this afternoon and... the pool water pump is broken and they are saying that it won't be fixed until February or March -which in Tanzanian time is more like May! :( They said the Dar Sharks have disbanded until the pool can be fixed! I am really disappointed! I was counting on that for my workouts (and refreshing release from the heat) - cuz there is no way to workout outside in this heat - I would have heat stroke! Unless I went at night and after the 10th safety talk I am pretty sure that would be a bad idea. So now I am thinking I might go and see what it would cost to get a monthly pass or something to the pool at a hotel close by. Hopefully I can do that!  

First Day of Classes & A Day of Fail City & First Night Out!

So Classes at UDSM, pretty awesome! - well hopefully I can say that truthfully by the end of the semester. Right now they are just sawa sawa (ok), it is only the first day though. This is what my schedule looks like -  not exactly what I had in mind but it should fun! We have had some trouble getting teachers - things are sort of hit and miss here - the semester for Tanzanians started 4 weeks late cuz it took that much extra time to grade the final exams and get schedules & professors organized. I cannot imagine what the registration office is like! I don't even want to know - cuz you all know I would want to try and fix it!

Monday: 8am -9am Swahili Class; 9am-11am Gender Social-economics & Development; 11am-1pm African Lit; 2-3pm Development Recitation
Tuesday & Thursday: Internship all day - catch the dalla dalla at 7ish to get there and then probably not home until 7ish that night!
Wednesday: 8am-9am Swahili;  11am-1pm Art (sculpting); 1pm-2pm Lit Recitation; Art Studio 3-4pm
Friday: 8am-9am Swahili Class

So right now I really don't know what to do with my free time! I know I came here to to learn that time doesn't own me I own time, but right now all I want is for classes to really get started and I can start contributing to society because I feel like I am wasting away right now! I am still trying to figure out the swim team thing, I thought I might volunteer at the UDSM Entrepreneurship Office, maybe give some free swim lessons, but I really don't want to committee to much either before classes are in full swing! For real - I went to class today and then did nothing! The girls & I tried to go to a pool (the pool on campus is only open for certain hours and my swimsuit is not appropriate -waiting for my other ones to show up-thanks mom!) close by where we could get internet and such but it was being cleaned - so after a shil 4000 badagi ride - Fail City. Then we took a taxi back to the mall for shil 5000 -Fail City cuz we got ripped off on our badagi ride and the fact that we went to the mall again! We are pathetic! So then we decided - cuz there was nothing better to do today at 4 in the afternoon we went to Tron - Fail City we are in Tanzania and we went to a movie again!! I don't like this! But it is really hard to be hanging out all the time with our roommates right now because it is like midterms for them this week and they take their studies extremely seriously!

Although, my roommate was all for hitting the dance club this last weekend! We did have a great time! They had one of those lighted floors like in the movie Disco Fever! It was sweet - and you all know that I was the first one on the dance floor!! :) Also the whiskey taste the same here! I wish I could have brought my camera - maybe when I know some more Swahili and can hold my own with it I will bring it out to give you all a visual of what its like at night here! Nothing like I would have ever expected! Because we are wazungu (white people) we where recommenced to arrange our transportation ahead of time so the 10 of us rented, you could say, a dalla dalla for the night for shil 50,000 that is about $4 a piece! It was well worth it, cuz we didn't have to worry about anything! (well not anything but less worry). The club was called Misha, and it was alright. I don't think we are going back cuz there were a few to many old creepy men there. Also the dress at night is crazy! For Idaho - those girls would have been called sluts, for Vegas standards they may have fit in, just a few years behind in US style standards. Nothing compared to the conservative serious style front going on during the day! I am going to go back to a previous statement that all 20some year olds are the same around the world - sex its on all of our minds!! Yeah I am laughing - you all are too! 

Tour of the City

Our day started at 8am Saturday morning and it didn't end until 3 am this morning! Saturday we took a tour of the city! It was fun, exhilarating, crazy,  so different, umm... I cannot even think of the appropriate adjectives to use! So you will all just have to check out the photos - they do speak 1000words each!

Fishing Port in Dar

Fishing Port in Dar

Fishing Port in Dar

The crab man - selling his fresh catch of the day

The laidies at the fish market- making fantastic chapati

Our server and table - tasty tested some fresh fish & octopus soup!

The kitchen - very high tech and meets all the US health regulations!

1 of 2 Tanzanian Coast Guard Ships - yes it is beached

city center cost line

Looking down the coastal city center street with some of the oldest buildings

Kivukoni Front - the city center beach front street

Medicine Man from the Maasai Tribe

The 5 start hotel in Dar - with the 8th floor bar & live music

all the mzungus hanging out in the air condition of the 5 start hotel

View into the harbor from the 8th floor bar

ships going through the port - some wait weeks for the tide to be right to get in

City view from the 8 story bar

One of the few older buildings left in Dar, they are all being torn down for new/modern development

Lutheran Church

Catholic Church

Fairy dock to Zanzibar

down town Dar city shot

This made my laugh and have a flash back to high school leo club!

1935 built building - all the old architecture has the name of the family/business and date

At the ritzy hotel - we all got inside these giant blow up balls - and ran on water like mice! 

The US Embassy

So it is not the best picture of the embassy but it does say on that building there "Embassy of the United Stated of America"

Today we went to the US Embassy. It was an interesting experience and insight into what/who embassies do/are. So first off we had to take our passports. Ken our directory had to send in our names 3 days earlier to have background checks done on us so we could get visitor passes when we got there. We had to check all phones and cameras, so no pictures of the inside. Once inside the grounds we where ushered into post 1, which was the main central hub of activity. Once inside there it was like we tell-a-ported to the US! There were water fountains! There were no ants/bugs, garbage, dirt, etc. anywhere! There was a giant American flag! There where photos of US national parks, cities, etc. We were ushered into a conference room with nice chairs, not the typical plastic ones that are used in Tanzania. We were then, for the 5th time, given safety advise and the knowledge of what the Embassy can do for us if we get thrown in jail! After that briefing they then talked about what the embassy does, how to get involved, etc. It was disappointing to hear that most people move around every 1 or 3 years to a different location. Which does has it perks in that you get to see the world. Most of them don't make friends or really live the lifestyle of the country they are working with, most don't even attempt to learn the language because they just move to a different location in year and everyone they work with speaks English! Not what I thought really happened. I can see not living like the locals because we can afford not too, but not even learning the language or venturing into the city to learn what the average person deals with on a daily basses is wrong. How can we really help a country if we cannot even empathize with them.  I don't know...just some interesting thoughts I have been having. We did get to meet the head of USAid for Tanzania and got her contact so we have an in to help the organizations, schools, etc. we are interning with to get funding/grants!        

Interniships and My Contradictions

Ridding in the Dalla Dalla around to our internship sites

Classroom - a lucky one because it has desks!

The Kims and some very excited kids - they loved seeing the photo after we took it!

Soo Cute! They are pretty smart too! This one kid could count in Swahili, English, & Arabic!

Yesterday and Today we all went around and checked out some of the potential internships sites we would be working at. It was a very interesting experience to say the least. It was heart breaking and revolutionary to see how excited and motivated the kids at school are to make something of themselves. We asked what the kids wanted to be when they grow up and a lot of them wanted to be pilots - this is because to fly means they could leave Tanzania and see different parts of the world. A lot of them also wanted to be engineers, which is good if they stayed in Tanzania the country could use them. Every class we asked wanted to come to America. They all also new that Obama was our President. One girl even said she wanted to be the President - girl after my own heart!  They go to school in class rooms built to hold 25 kids but hold 50+ and half the time they don't have a desk. There are normally only 5 to 6 class rooms but there are 2000 students! So they go in shifts which means they really do not spend much time in class learning and they don't get a nurturing/learning environment at home. (So we saw a lot of schools - and this manly has to do with the fact that teachers are not certified or trained by any means. UDSM just started and Education college this year. So to have Americans come and teach is huge even though we really are not qualified to teach - we did come from a system we could all probably simulate and is better than anything they have. All the students wanted us to come back and teach English-could you imagine me teaching English! Just reading this blog you know it would be a bad idea!) Then there are the organizations that are trying to teach reproduction eduction, aids/hiv, importance of hygiene, importance of an education, etc. We also went to a health clinic that is trying to educate women on pre/post natal care, preventive measures, etc. There are also organizations that do micro lending to help support entrepreneurs and those that want to provide for their family. The micro lending would be a great way to help the community and individuals put together business plans and teach them how to successfully operate a business for themselves. I am hoping that maybe I will get to work with a micro lending organization, but there is also a national organization called SOS Villages that I wouldn't mind working for. They believe that every child should grow up in a family with a mother and father. So they take in orphans and put them with a mother and 10 - 12 brothers & sisters raging in age from 0-15. The head of the village is the father and the other homes are the kids' cousins and aunts. So its pretty much just like a giant Gartner family! The thing I am most interested in that they do is this strategic family planning outreach program. They go out into the community and work with struggling families to help them develop a plan to get themselves on their feet, providing for their children, stressing education, health care, and teaching them the skills to provide for themselves. Whatever I do I want to have a sustainable impact and not just a quick fix or be just a white American that must now something that can help them! 

Ok now to the contradictions; so after doing all this and seeing all the different life situations people are living in, we all went to the movie. Ok so that does not sound so crazy, but when you watch the Tourist and forget that when you walk out you are not just going to hop in your car and drive off, but pay for a doga doga (3 wheel bike taxi thing) to take back to your dorm where the water is not running, there is something wrong. I almost felt guiltily for thinking what an awesome deal it was to go to the movie for about 9000 shillings which is $6 (this included my popcorn). That is more then the average student at UDSM spends on lunch in a week at the cafeteria!           

Bagamoyo Town

This weekend CIEE took us to Bagamoyo Town. It is a historic small village on the cost. It is where development started in Tanzania. It is home to the first port where everything from spices to slaves where exported. Bagamoyo is also the place that all the slaves where "dropped off" when they were liberated so it is home to families with ancestors who where slaves. It is also home to the 13th century oldest Mosque and 15th century oldest Church in East Africa. Today the port is still used for transporting goods from and to Zanzibar & travel, but because of safety the government does not allow tourist to use it. Bogamoyo is a small fishing village with a school that teaches boys how to build boats so they can have a business. It is also a majority Muslim because the Persians where the first to immigrate and settle there. It was not for 2 more centuries did Missionaries start coming with the Catholic faith. Since fishing is the major industry of the town the port is the life line. Every morning there is a fish auction where locals buy for themselves and small business they have before the fish is sent to Zanzibar.

Enjoy the Pictures there are quite a few!

 Sign Talking about the First Historical Site in Tanzania where the first Settlers Landed

 Baobab tree- The one Rafiki lives in in the Lion King - this one is over 500 years old!

 Graves from the 15th century

 African Sausage Tree - some sort of fruit!

 Back L: Teddy, Elliot, & Kim

Middle Row: Austen, Jen, Kim, Guide, Nelly, Alison 

Front L: Grant & Kelly

 Lovers Grave - Is said to provided lovers with lasting love & the opportunity to leave earth together

 Holly Water well. Next to 13th century Mosque -said to proved luck and prosperity if drank

 Nelly Me and Kim

 Originally Persian  Fort then used for Slave quarters by the British

 What Tanzanians call the Christmas Tree

 View from the top of the slave quarters

View out of a window in the fort

 View to the Indian Ocean

 Monument to represent a grave for all those hung for wrong doing during British Rule

 Port for all the fisherman of Bagamoyo

 Fishing boat - put as many people on them as possible

Fish Auction

 Door to oldest post office in East Africa - the carving is on all traditional doors and every carve has a different meaning

 Slave shackles that went around their necks

typical slave chain used on small boys

15th Century Church

I sat in one of these pews for Mass on Sunday - It was in Swahili 

 last one says "You cannot have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time."

 "God Bless East Africa"

Sun rise before church

Tide at sunrise

Kelly, Alison, Kim, Jen, & Me