I had expected…
1. To be overwhelmed the first week with new faces, sites, sounds, smells, but I think most of it will be very positive.
Verdict: True
From seeing tropical plants and the number of people on the streets every day, to the smell of the sea, interesting culinary concoctions, and diesel fuel, almost everything was new. The hardest thing to get used to was being woken up every morning at 6am to the sound of roosters and the strange forest birds. However, the “new faces” part wasn’t so true. After three months of talking to the team via teleconference, we already felt like old friends, so the only thing that was overwhelming about that was actually getting to see everyone in person!
2. Dar to look much like Mexico did when I arrived there for vacation in the sort of way that it is inherently beautiful, but also sprinkled with signs that the community is struggling to catch up with the developed world.
Verdict: True
There is a lot of beauty in Dar along the coast and in Arusha, but it’s always juxtaposed with things like kids working with an ancient fishing net in the sea, run-down buildings, and poverty.
3. The food to be cheap and delicious.
Verdict: True…especially if you’re a local
Local Tanzanian food, mostly made of rice, ugali (cornmeal mush), chicken, bananas, and various sauces is very delicious (as long as you don’t eat it every day for both meals)! You can find places like Pizza Point, located right next to the African Wildlife Foundation where you can get a buffet lunch and drink for under $5 USD. However, most places in Arusha will charge you the ‘mzungu’ price (foreigner price), so you could end up spending a lot more on meals if you’re not careful.
4. The air to be very dry, the days very hot, and the sun to be relentless.
Verdict: False
Here in Arusha it is much cooler than in other parts of Africa due to its altitude. Each morning starts off cold (ok, for us Minnesotans, it feels tropical, but by cold I mean jacket weather – maybe 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit). It stays that way until all of a sudden around early afternoon it gets really hot for about two hours. After that and especially when the sun sets around 6:30pm, it gets a little chilly again. It’s only rained a couple times while we’ve been here and for the most part, I consider Arusha weather to be perfect. Not too hot, and very pleasant every day. It’s too cold for mosquitoes most of the day, which is another huge plus!
5. Grocery stores to be small and most people will shop in outdoor markets.
Verdict: True
Most grocery stores are very small and only offer a few snacks and toiletries. However, there is a Shoprite on the West side of town that is what I would consider “normal-sized”.
There is a big market in the middle of town where locals can buy just about everything and there are also a lot of little specialty shops lining almost every street downtown where people can buy electronics, cell phone cards, clothes, DVDs, books, just about everything. This and the market is where I think the majority of Tanzanians shop.
Below is a typical Tanzanian grocery store. This is where we bought 5-liter bottles of water for 2000 Tanzanian shillings or the equivalent of about $1.71 cents.
6. The hotels won't have air conditioning and I may have "friends" (perhaps a lizard or two) living with me.
Air Conditioning Verdict: False
The hotels are mixed. Our Arusha hotel does not have air conditioning or a fan, but it does have open screens and even some holes in the wall that lets in the cool air at night (so it doesn’t need air conditioning). Our hotel in Dar had air conditioning, but most of the lower cost hotels just use fans. The air conditioner really depends on how much you want to pay for a hotel room. If you’ve got $100 USD to burn every night, you should be able to get one.
Lizard Verdict: True
Just in the past week I've had a gecko and weird brown praying mantis thing in my room. One of my teammates also had a giant spider in his room the first night. The housekeepers leave the door and windows wide open while they're cleaning, so I'm actually surprised that more strange things haven't ended up in there!
7. Electricity will go out a lot, since we'll be there during the dry season and much of Tanzania is powered by hydrolics.
Verdict: True
If you would have asked me about this a week ago, I would have said false since up until now, the electricity has been pretty good save one night in Dar where we had dinner in the dark. However, in the last week, the power's been out almost every night. Our hotel doesn't have a generator for the rooms, so we have to venture out with flashlights to find places for dinner that have light.
8. There to be a couple of the most prevalent examples of U.S. cultural outsourcing (i.e. McDonald's & Starbucks) - after all, they've been everywhere else I've traveled in the world!
Verdict: False
I have not seen one chain restaurant in all of the African cities I’ve been in, which really surprised me! The only place that is remotely familiar is the Shoprite grocery store, which I don’t have at home, but some of my teammates do. I'm actually really confused as to why these restaurants aren't here? Are they overlooking a giant market or is there a good reason they've steered clear of Africa (like, maybe not enough disposable income)?
Usually I have a rule that while I’m away from home, I don’t eat anything that I can get at home, but after a month here, I have to admit, I could really go for a Whopper or a nice, juicy Culver’s Butterburger. Not to mention that I’m curious how they would say Big Mac in Swahili. The closest thing I’ve seen to a restaurant from home is the “Chicken Hut” we went to in Dar.
9. To see people playing vibrant music in public, and perhaps dancing to it.
Verdict: True & False
I don’t see as much of this as I thought. However, we do occasionally see a pick-up truck driving down the street with a marching band playing in the back of it. I found out yesterday that normally happens on a Thursday when parties get started for a Saturday wedding. There’s also a strange bookstore down Old Moshi Road by the Impala Hotel that is little more than tarps with stacks of books underneath it by day, but at night, it turns into a bumping hangout for the owners and their friends. They always had something playing at night, until one day the entire thing vanished into thin air!
10. Arusha will not have a movie theater (but I bet I'm wrong about this one)!
Verdict: True
At least, I haven’t seen one yet and when we asked the locals what there is to do on weekends, they told us that there was nothing to do besides go on safari…seeing a movie didn’t come up!
11. To be able to see the Southern Cross constellation.
Verdict: False
This one I’m pretty sad about. Because we are so close to the equator, the Southern Cross would be very close to the horizon. However, there is usually a nice blanket of clouds obscuring the view, so I haven’t seen the constellation yet. My husband, Nathan, thinks our best chance to spot it might be during our Kilimanjaro climb next week.
12. The people to be extremely friendly.
Verdict: Extremely True
You can’t walk down the street without people saying “Jambo” “Mambo” “Habari” and “Hi” to you. If you look lost, most locals will offer to take you wherever you need to go and some walk with you for blocks chatting about where you’re from, etc. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I’ve come to realize that most of them mean well. The ones that want to sell you something are not the majority (though it might seem that way some days).
13. The working climate to be a little more relaxed than here at home.
Verdict: True
This is most definitely true. Although most Tanzanians work Saturday mornings, they take long lunches, leave before it gets dark at 6pm, and generally are not to be hassled by deadlines. That’s not to say they don’t get anything done, but there is such a thing as “Tanzania Time”. It’s refreshing and I noticed the other day that since I’ve been here, I haven’t had one stress headache. It’s probably adding months to my life.
14. The people in large cities to have a decent standard of living, but to meet and understand the plight of those living on less than $2 a day.
Verdict: True & False
Many people in the cities have a decent standard of living, but many do not. Note that a decent standard of living is very different from the luxury we have at home in the US. Most don’t have a car, they live in small apartments or homes, they buy used clothing, they don’t eat out, but they are happy. I did meet people in the villages I visited with AWF who are living on less than $2 a day. Their lives are getting better, but there is still a long way to go and non-profits like AWF are doing a good job to make that happen.
There are still people like the guy in the picture below who fish on nothing more than a large wooden stick, using a basket to hold the fish.
15. To have the time of my life!
Verdict: Yes, I am having a great time here. The team has been amazing and we've had many adventures together with include visiting two National Parks, surviving the Pamoja (our hotel), eating exotic foods, and working "Africa Style". I wouldn't give up this experience for the world!!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment