Last weekend in Dar

I had a fantastic weekend to celebrate the completion of the first draft of my research proposal! Together with a group of friends I took a dhow to Sinda, an uninhabited island off the coast of Dar. Our group were the only people there the whole day. We all showed our inner biologist when checking out the tide pools. Our intrepid guide picked up brittle stars and even crabs for us to see. I have never seen so many varieties of starfish and crabs in one place! Seeking shade in some sea caves was like balm in the heat of the afternoon. After walking around the whole island we had a picnic lunch with CHEESE sandwiches. You have no idea how precious cheese is unless you are completely deprived of it for several months. The snorkeling was great too, but also I have noticed that every reef is very different from the others. This time I finally saw an octopus (Sam saw cuttlefish), many lionfish under ledges, and a sea cucumber the size of a body pillow, no joke. I am fascinated by sea cucumbers and I can’t quite place why, except perhaps just because of their oddity.
Afterwards we chilled on the south beaches and Abby and I went on an eventful walk. A Masai man was leading his herd of cows along the surf up the beach. The funniest part was we hardly blinked an eye at the appearance of cows on the beach, because animals seem to just run around everywhere in Africa.
We visited the slipway for dinner and had cheese again (pizza)! Also, the best ice cream in Dar is at the slipway, in case you are ever in the neighborhood. Sailing, marine life, beach, cheese x2 = good day.
I’m starting a list of authentic Tanzanian experiences
1. If it is a beach, it has a dead puffer fish on it. Somewhere.
2. Toilet paper is a marker of tourist hotspots.
3. Daladalas defy the concept of maximum carrying capacity (k).
4. Scheduled meeting time is more like a guideline than a rule.

I really enjoy my host family. I live with an older woman and a girl who assists her with cooking and cleaning. I enjoy talking with them because they are very expressive and they also are patient with my broken Swahili! Some of my goals for the home stay are to learn how to cook African food and to improve my Kiswahili immensely.
I visited my Kiswahili professor’s house with my class tonight. I really appreciate how far she travels to teach us after traveling to her house, because she lives almost two hours away by daladala! She has a young daughter who provided hours of entertainment, and I enjoyed talking about Tanzanian culture. I could see that her family is quite well off, but I still am amazed by how much more Americans have than Tanzanians. Even poor people in Oklahoma have more possessions and bigger homes than well-off people here. Nearly everyone has air conditioning, a fridge, and water safe to drink straight out of the tap. I feel like I have so much extra baggage with me, and even more useless stuff at home.

Zanzibar

I just got back from the group trip to Zanzibar – where to begin! I enjoyed the much needed break from classes. We have only two more weeks studying at the University before moving out to the field, which means I have to write my research proposal ASAP. This was a chance to get to experience another facet of Tanzanian culture. Zanzibar’s population is nearly one hundred percent Moslem, so the dress code is very strict. I made a mistake there before the trip even began! I only realized once I was on the ferry that the shorts I was wearing are frowned on in Zanzibar. Fortunately I had a kitenge with that I could put on over my shorts, but it was just another example for me of my own foreign cultural norms that I have always taken for granted.

The ferry ride to the island was really chill. You can only imagine how many “I’m on a boat . . .” references were made. We left right at sunrise, and as the ferry cut across the water flying fish disturbed by the wake would zoom into the air! The water in the Indian Ocean is stunningly blue; I never cease to be amazed by the true intensity of the color.

We stayed at a hotel in Stone Town, the old historic section of Zanzibar. The layout of Stone Town is a maze of narrow streets, tiny shops and mosques. Exploring the winding streets reminded me a lot of Toledo, Spain. I have a dangerous affiliation for these maze-like cities because there is so much mystery hidden among the alleys. Every corner you turn presents you with new surprises and snapshots of the local people. I have a good sense of direction so I don’t get lost – except one morning when some friends and I got caught in a downpour and I would rather have not lost my way. We were taking pictures at sunrise and at the beach saw storms coming in. We headed back towards the hotel, but were not fast enough. It rained so hard that I could hardly see, and within two minutes the streets of Stone Town had transformed to rivers. Because there are no drains, all the water runs off the roofs and funnels down the streets. By the time we found the hotel, the rain had turned to drizzle and we were completely soaked. It was such an exciting adventure!

At night the boardwalk down by the harbor transforms from a peaceful little park to a food eating extravaganza. I ate so many mishikaki (skewers) and good seafood! The best was the tuna and red snapper, but I also ate octopus – suckers and everything. They also made this really good drink from freshly milked sugarcane, ginger, and lime juice. I was really overwhelmed by the atmosphere but went again the next night for Zanzibar pizza with nutella and mango. I met a local (Zanzibarian?) who was really interesting to talk to. We talked for over an hour comparing the US and Tanzania, practicing Kiswahili, and just talking about what he does for a living. He works three jobs: a cook at the food fest, his uncle’s shop, and laying cement. Unfortunately I have forgotten his name, but he was really interested in what kinds of fish we catch in the US. I had a lot of fun trying to explain in broken Swahili what a catfish is.

We met with a fisheries ecologist early one morning. I was so inspired by her lecture – she manages about five different projects, pursuing whatever she finds interesting or urgent at the time. Her projects are so cool – working to establish a pearl farming industry, studying dolphins, the effects of development-induced beach erosion on coral reefs, etc. Our group took a tour to the spice farms in the island’s interior. It was completely different from my visions of ordered rows of bushes and vines. The farm was a jumbled forest of cinnamon, cacao, coffee, black pepper, etc. trees with vanilla vines draped all over among the cardamom and ginger plants. It was a lot of fun to taste and smell all variety of spices. I learned that the Moslems use nutmeg as an aphrodisiac at ceremonial events. Their beliefs don’t allow them to drink alcohol, so instead they eat cloves of nutmeg and become drunk from the spice. After the tour we had a special meal prepared with all the good spices that we had seen that morning, plus a fruit tasting where I tried jackfruit, which tastes like a cross between pineapple and banana and looks like a diseased brain. We visited a forest with endemic red colobus monkeys at the conclusion of our day. The monkeys were quite entertaining, as they had no fear of people and thus showed no inhibition in landing on branches right above our heads or just sitting on the ground right in front of you!

The last morning of our stay we all went snorkeling on a reef by Prison Island. The fish diversity at this reef was fantastic, as were the corals and clams. These reef fish are mind-bogglingly brilliant in their coloration and weird in physiology. I feel like I posses a great secret when I explore a reef and discover the amazingly colorful world hidden beneath the ocean. Reefs make dry land seem as monotonous as black and white. On the ride back to Zanzibar our boat driver hit a gigantic ferry! We were going full steam ahead towards port, and we noticed that this large ferry was on a course intersecting with our own. As we got closer I began to think that we were definitely not going fast enough to beat it, nor were we turning enough to avoid it. At the last minute the driver slammed the boat into reverse, but it was too late. We hit the side of the ferry dead on and scraped painfully along the entire boat length. I am still baffled by the fact that in the entire ocean, we had to hit a ferry – the largest possible obstacle out there! Nobody was harmed, neither was our boat although there is now a nice long scratch in the blue hull of that ferry. Crazy.

Time to hunker down and finish my research proposal to prepare for Tarangire!

Bagamoyo and Kawe

Our entire class took a trip out of Dar to Bagamoyo, a town that used to be the major port for slave exports from the African mainland to Zanzibar. There was a lot of Arabic influence, shown by the architecture of the mosque ruins, elaborate mausoleums, and existing buildings. The best part was getting to visit an archeological dig site at the end of the day. Success rate for finding artifacts is really low. I saw really cool bugs when we were walking around out in the field. There was a large praying mantis that looked just like a branch, and there were also a lot of ant lions. Those are really freaky, because when you stick a piece of grass in their “funnel” then they leap out and attack it! The long bus ride to and from Bagamoyo provided good bird watching opportunities.
Sunday I went to Kawe beach with some friends. It was sunny and hot - a perfect day to be at the beach. We crashed at this hotel that was frequented exclusively by sporty British couples and their kids. Every hotel has Masai guards, because they are all trained warriors. All the Masai carry a sword under their belt, even when they are walking around Mwenge or downtown Dar. The coolest thing we saw there was visiting fishermen who were hauling in their catch. We waded out to their boat and I got to hold the different types of sea creatures. Squid that were as long as my arm, lobsters, jellyfish, and many other types of fish unknown to me. I wasn’t slacking at the beach – I was practicing my Kiswahili and learning about culture!
Later we went to Mwenge and bought twelve mangoes to eat back at the dorm. The man selling them was taken aback by the quantity – “are you sure you want twelve?” I was able to barter them down to a good deal because we bought so many. They are sooo good if you crush them inside the skin until they are liquefied and then drink the juice from a hole in one end. Got Passionfruit too - it is so good, it tastes like perfume smells!

Wildlife

This week has been a good week for wildlife watching. One of the best spots on campus has proven to be the "precipice" on the fourth floor. This week two hornbills have been hanging out in the ficus tree outside the dorm. They are beautiful birds! I also saw an enormous white vulture fly right overhead the other day, and in the evening a giant owl roosted in a nearby tree. So cool! Please excuse my abuse of the words awesome, huge, beautiful, etc. but all of these birds really are something else.
We were playing euker on the precipice and saw a baboon pick up a discarded one liter water bottle and tip it up to drink out of it!
Yesterday I went to Mikani beach with some friends. It is one of the south beaches, at a private campground that was really nice. Lots of trees and hammocks, no vendors allowed (at the free beach they come down on you in swarms). Yesterday was the muslim holiday Eid, the end of the Ramadan fast. On the ferry ride to Mikani via Kigamboni I was able to have a conversation in Swahili with a very cheery Muslim man. The bartender at the beach was also impressed that we spoke Swahili, especially when asking where the "msalani" was (it's the polite way to say "bathrooms"). He was so thrilled. "Msalani!! The white people never say msalani!"
The shells this time were the best yet! Speaking of shells, Elizabeth this story is for you:
Last time we went to the beach, my friend Linnea brought back several nice shells and left them on her desk to dry. The next morning, one of the shells was missing, and there was a thin trail of sand leading from the shell pile to the edge of the desk. She brought back a shell that had a hermit crab living in it! So we kept him as a pet for a week, and brought him back to the beach yesterday to return him to the wild. Later in the afternoon Mat found this amazing shell - I have never seen one so beautiful before! Turns out there was a hermit crab living in that one too! When we got back to campus we pulled it out with tweezers.

I really have been enjoying Kiswahili class, especially when it is this intense because I feel like we progress quickly. I can now read many of the signs at bus stops (or the aphorisms written on the daladalas) and also found that campaign signs are pretty easy to read too. So I have these lines of propaganda running through my head all day . . . “Chagua Kikewe, a man of the people”, etc. We have a small class of four people so it makes for great discussion. We have interesting conversations not just in Kiswahili but also enlightening discussions about cultural differences between Tanzania and the U.S.
I enjoy walking around in my African kangas. The concept is basically like wrapping a bathtowel around your waist, except here it’s okay to wear that out in public. Here wearing clothes is all about the colorful patterns, not about shape.
In the evenings I enjoy hanging out with friends on our “balcony”, which is really just a landing for the fire escape. But it provides a great vantage point over campus and we play cards while singing to guitar or just talking.

Weekend Two

Saturday is unofficially beach day, so yesterday we went to Coco Beach, the local public beach. A large reef one hundred yards offshore creates huge waves that were a blast to ride inner tubes on! I ended up swallowing a lot of seawater but the thrill of wave surfing made me definitely want to come back again. However the fact that we were wazungu caused us to be swarmed by locals trying to sell us things or just hanging out around us (that I don’t mind). Farther up the beach there are a network of lava cliffs and sea coves that were fascinating to the biology students in our group. We were also ninja-ambushed by a large blue crab. Mat found what looked like a blue rock that possibly was alive, and after prying at it with his flipflop this creature suddenly burst out of the sand, claws snapping and in the attack pose. It was shocking and at the same time really hilarious, because crabs have this burlesque intensity that makes it hard for me to take them seriously. The coves had lots of sea urchins and I saw an eel. When I envisioned Africa before this trip I never could have imagined such a beautiful coastline!
On the return from the beach we got to ride in the coolest daladala in Dar – it’s bright purple, has a big fin on the back, and has “protected by the blood of Jesus” painted on the front. I have wanted to take it ever since the first morning it passed me while I was running. When we saw it in Mwenge we literally ran cheering to the bus! I think it took the drivers off guard, but they were amused. We were waaay too excited about our ride.
Late last night half a dozen of us and Emmanuel and Hamida, two Tanzanian students that we like to hang out and travel with, took us to a club in Sinza. We didn’t actually arrive until 11:00, but the club was practically empty! I was disappointed at first because we were the only people on the dance floor, but around midnight/12:30 a whole lot of Tanzanians began to arrive. Tanzanians don’t dance at all like Americans: they use very controlled and minimalist movements because they are going for endurance – they keep dancing all night into the wee hours of the morning! We danced until 2 am . . . we can sleep in Sunday morning because the group excursion to Makumbusho (a living history museum) isn’t until early afternoon. So, yeah, Dar has some intense night life going on.

Everything is bigger in Africa! Trees, bugs, animals, servings of beans and rice, etc. After class today we found a giant millipede. Walking when you have that many legs really is an art. I went with some friends to Mwenge on a photography expedition that was semi-successful. We played pool with the locals back behind the chicken cages and practiced our Kiswahili. We are also planning to have a party next week, so we had to think about what we needed to buy.
Mat and I went on a night-walk in search of bush babies that live in the trees around the ACM house. Walking back from the cafeteria after dinner we always hear them shrieking like deranged children, but never have flashlights with. Today we went prepared! The headlamp we used has an incredibly powerful light that illuminates a 180 degree radius and probably could be used on a runway to direct planes for landing. First on the night walk I saw a giant slug just slinking down the road. After being led on and taunted a bit, we did finally spot a bush baby and got a good look at it. Their eyes are eerily bright in the headlamp light.

Bartering at the Markets

This week I visited Kariakoo, an enormous market close to downtown Dar that sells everything under the sun. It was recommended to me by my Kiswahili teacher as a good place to shop, and was not as touristy as Mwenge market (which is close to campus). She was right - there were incredible amounts of kangas and colorful clothing, as well as lots of produce, electronics, motorbikes, etc. The sheer volume of goods at the market was overwhelming. There were shops crammed in every corner. In some alleyways there was only room for people to walk single file, but there were clothing shops tucked in along both sides. I began to wonder: who buys all this stuff?? It seems to me like there are way more things for sale than potential buyers, and in a place where people don't have much money it seems like there wouldn't be capital to spend on things at the market. There definately are not enough tourists to turnover the inventory. We were the only wazungu that I saw at the marketplace. I bought some colorful fabric that I plan on trading with others on the trip and making kangas with it.
We also took a trip to Mwenge to practice bartering for Kiswahili class. It was fun to go out and use our practical classroom skills in the marketplace! I managed to barter a chicken down to 8,000 tsh, but unfortunately did not have a place to keep it back in the dorm . . .
I also have obtained many mystery bites on my hands that look a lot worse than they feel. We suspect that they are perhaps bug bites. Definately not mosquitos, though there are plenty of those around.
Last night a group of Mozambique students gathered outside our dorm to sing. They were really good! It was so cool to be serenaded by african music!