A Day in Mjini

After some background Internet research on the pathogenesis and pathology of malaria, I went across the street to check out the dogs that are trained to sniff out land mines. I spent a couple of hours over there and was given a very lengthy tour of the entire facility. The dogs even have their own swimming pool. The training facility itself is pretty modest but the idea behind the experiment is really interesting. They train the dogs to sit in front of samples that contain a certain concentrations of TNT. They have yet to field test it but have been fairly successful to date. I met a number of the lab assistants and technicians, all of whom have English names (which tends to be a trend). Afterwards, I ventured over to another research facility where they have successfully trained rats to do the same with land mines. Training in the field is in the early morning so I missed it but I will probably go over and follow them out one day next week.

After a short rest in the lab, my guide and I ventured over to the unofficial taxi and bus stop on campus. When I went into town with T-Man we took a cab for about 3 bucks but to get the full experience, this time we took a dalla dalla--kind of like a shared van version of a cab--that dropped us right at the Morogoro Market. The dalla dalla was an adventure in and of itself. Of course, all the kids in their primary school uniforms were staring at me and giggling about the mzungu--white person--sitting across from them. They packed us in; in a van that would normally seat about eight, there were eighteen. But the price was right, for the two of us it was TSh 500, less than 50 cents. Morogoro Market was founded in 1953, just towards the advent of independence. One section has stands with mounds of fresh vegetables and herbs, another has used clothes. Think trendy vintage shirts, worn Levi's, and handmade leather shoes. Not exactly where I will be doing my food shopping but an awesome experience. My eyes were particularly drawn to the two- to three-foot high piles of dried sardines. Even at around 14:00 the market and the downtown area were packed.

The search for a cell phone began. Unfortunately AT&T wouldn't "unlock" my phone from home so I had to buy a new one. To my guide's surprise I didn't want a fancy phone with Internet browsing or a camera function, just phone and texting, although the prospect of a QWERTY keyboard was tempting. The SIM card I purchased at the airport was also useless--go figure, the mzungu gets ripped off. Set on getting me the best bargain, my guide insisted on looking at each of the cell phone dealers before making a decision. We passed by a market where I picked up some bottled water, beans, and pasta to have later at the hostel. As per usual, the first place we looked had the best deal but by the time we got back to them they were closed for afternoon prayer. An interesting dynamic in Morogoro exists between Tanzanians and Arabs. Tanzanians seem to work in most of "the professions" and the Arabs open stores. Arabs also tend to live in the subsidized government housing closer to the town center and make less of an investment in property. We grabbed a Fanta at a kiosk and practiced Kiswahili until the shop owner returned. Finally a simple Nokia! I charged it up with TSh 5,000 worth of credits which to my surprise will get me a three second phone call to the US. According to the Professor, it's much cheaper to have anyone in the US call me.

Exhausted, we returned to campus on the dalla dalla and I walked up to the hostel after checking in with the Professor. I am still pretty hesitant about the food so I prepared myself a can of beans and some crackers, snapped on the television in the hostel common room and zoned out. I later become more acquainted with the shower, which has a hot faucet but doesn't seem to ever have hot water. After the shower, I could not fall asleep (I'll spare readers the details though)...