Hey guys,
I am safely in Dar es Salaam and just as sweaty and exhausted as I had imagined. August is actually winter in Tanzania so this is only the beginning of the heat. With that being said I am so thrilled to be here and excited about the upcoming four months. I am here with ACM (Associated Colleges of the Midwest) and there are about 20 of us students on the program. We are staying in the dorms at the University of Dar es Salaam and are paired up in rooms ranging from the 3rd to 6th floors. We arrived late on Monday night and went straight back to the dorms to pass out. Our rooms are pretty nice and are accompanied with our own balconies to dry laundry and mosquito nets. The only downfall is the bathroom, which doesn't seem to have any lightbulbs or toilet-paper, and the toilets don't seem to exactly flush. There is also no hot water, but I don't mind at all because it is so dang hot.
Yesterday morning we awoke at the crack of dawn to the morning prayers at the local mosque and the resident rooster. We had breakfast at the cafeteria on campus and had fruit and chapatis for about the equivalent of one US dollar. After breakfast we had a campus tour (which is HUGE, by the way) and after lunch (which is a whopping portion of rice with an assortment of vegetables and sauces) we had a talk regarding campus security. We had the evening to chill out and I think a lot of us took really long naps, and after dinner I promptly went to bed.
Today I felt a little bit more lively and in the morning we had a discussion about gender roles and other cultural to-dos/taboos, and in the afternoon we went to a museum and experienced the town fish market. Being downtown is over-stimulating and I think will be much more manageable once we start taking Kiswahili classes. We have already learned some key phrases such as greetings and how to say "thank you", but I am looking forward to when we can actually converse with the local people. Every one we have met so far is really nice, although I do feel very awkward and out of place when we walk around in our huge group of white students, otherwise called "mzunga". I think though as time goes on I will grow more accustomed to being a conspicuous foreigner and learn how to embrace it.
Well that's all for now, over the next few days I am going to work on getting a feel for the campus and adjusting to the climate and overall environment. I forgot to mention that there are Vervet monkeys just running around the campus, which I was super stoked about but the Tanzanians seem to view them as squirrels or something equally as mundane.
Hope all is well with you guys!!
Love,
Amanda
I am safely in Dar es Salaam and just as sweaty and exhausted as I had imagined. August is actually winter in Tanzania so this is only the beginning of the heat. With that being said I am so thrilled to be here and excited about the upcoming four months. I am here with ACM (Associated Colleges of the Midwest) and there are about 20 of us students on the program. We are staying in the dorms at the University of Dar es Salaam and are paired up in rooms ranging from the 3rd to 6th floors. We arrived late on Monday night and went straight back to the dorms to pass out. Our rooms are pretty nice and are accompanied with our own balconies to dry laundry and mosquito nets. The only downfall is the bathroom, which doesn't seem to have any lightbulbs or toilet-paper, and the toilets don't seem to exactly flush. There is also no hot water, but I don't mind at all because it is so dang hot.
Yesterday morning we awoke at the crack of dawn to the morning prayers at the local mosque and the resident rooster. We had breakfast at the cafeteria on campus and had fruit and chapatis for about the equivalent of one US dollar. After breakfast we had a campus tour (which is HUGE, by the way) and after lunch (which is a whopping portion of rice with an assortment of vegetables and sauces) we had a talk regarding campus security. We had the evening to chill out and I think a lot of us took really long naps, and after dinner I promptly went to bed.
Today I felt a little bit more lively and in the morning we had a discussion about gender roles and other cultural to-dos/taboos, and in the afternoon we went to a museum and experienced the town fish market. Being downtown is over-stimulating and I think will be much more manageable once we start taking Kiswahili classes. We have already learned some key phrases such as greetings and how to say "thank you", but I am looking forward to when we can actually converse with the local people. Every one we have met so far is really nice, although I do feel very awkward and out of place when we walk around in our huge group of white students, otherwise called "mzunga". I think though as time goes on I will grow more accustomed to being a conspicuous foreigner and learn how to embrace it.
(the beach next to the fish market)
Well that's all for now, over the next few days I am going to work on getting a feel for the campus and adjusting to the climate and overall environment. I forgot to mention that there are Vervet monkeys just running around the campus, which I was super stoked about but the Tanzanians seem to view them as squirrels or something equally as mundane.
Hope all is well with you guys!!
Love,
Amanda
No comments:
Post a Comment