Dar to Morogoro

After arriving in Dar es Salaam (which everyone here just calls Dar) and collecting my baggage (which wasn't lost, hurray!), I was met by a taxi to take me to the Swiss Garden Hotel. Dar is pretty dirty and there are a lot of beggars who come up to the windows of the car selling randoms things like car mats and cashews. The only other white person I saw on the half hour drive to the hotel was what looked like a businessman driving a Mercedes. The hotel was very nice and everyone was extremely helpful. The orange juice I had while checking in was probably the best I've ever had, just a touch of mango--amazing! I was a big fan of the mosquito net which looked more like a canopy. Below is one angle. (Notice Dennis Bear and the amazing orange juice on the table.)

I had dinner at the hotel with a German anthropologist studying AIDS activism who had been at the hotel for 3 weeks already. She was really helpful and recommended that I take a trip to Zanzibar, among a number of other adventures. I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have to travel but she was certainly an extremely helpful single-serving friend.

I left early this morning to catch a bus to Morogoro. At least five of the people I have met have said Morogoro is their home. I was the only tourist in the bus station, I may venture to say that I was also the only person who spoke English. A family of German tourists got on the bus at the second stop with two children that could not have been older than four. A small Tanzania girl (mschina) sat next to me, stared and smiled for the first ten minutes. I wasn't really sure what to do, then she pulled out about 15 photographs and showed them to me. Just nod and smile. Here's a picture out the window of the bus while still in Dar es Salaam. I think we spent more time getting through traffic in Dar than actually moving towards Morogoro. The smog certainly isn't as bad as LA!

Morogoro is really pretty and I'm so happy to finally be here. Everything is so lush and the greenery is amazing. This really nice guy--who I'll give the nickname T-Man--met me at the bus station in Morogoro and helped me check into the hostel. While the attendant speaks very little English, the accommodations are nice and very safe. I have my own bathroom and there is a common room where I can imagine watching many a soccer game. The hostel is on-campus and very near to town.

After checking in, I followed T-Man to the lab and the hospital. Right now I'm in the "containers" which are literally shipping containers that they've turned into offices and study spaces for the graduate students. The internet connection is good, even good enough to g-chat with the original Poopie-pants (I told you I'd give you a shout-out). The graduate student that I'm going to be working with is SUPER nice--let's call her Kitty. She lives right down the street from me and speaks very good English. She has two girls or waschina (5 and 2) who I am really excited to meet. Tomorrow we'll have lunch together. Later tonight I'm heading to dinner in town with another graduate student and T-Man, possibly some others. If I don't crash immediately following I'm going to work on the Kiswahili. Since I've traded Stella McCartney for OFF! mosquito repellent, I'm looking forward to a shower, however short and cold it might be.

The Journey Begins

My internet browser is completely in Arabic so it'll be a miracle if this actually works. I'm currently in Dubai International Airport after a twelve hour Emirates flight from JFK. The flight was spectacular with the exception of the baby two rows back that insisted on crying for all but two hours and my uncontrollable allergies. I think I watched five different movies. (P-Man, they had Horton Hears a Who!!!) My first single serving friend was a Catholic nun from Tanzania who went to high school in Morogoro on her way back to Dar es Salaam for a two month holiday. Many more to come, I'm sure.

Dubai (at least the airport) is impressive. You enter into a hall of overwhelming opulence and Duty Free shops with more stuff to buy than you might find in the average strip mall. The travelers range from scantly clad Italians to women with head scarves and nothing but their eyes showing. Once you get upstairs the people sleeping on the floor in more modest apparel start to appear.

Apparently, AT&T doesn't have coverage in Tanzania so I'll be on the search for a cell phone promptly after arrival. If that fails, Skype and email will be the best way to reach me. Update to follow once I arrive in Tanzania.