On Sunday, we drove the route down to Dar es Salaam--all 12 hours of it. It was definitely a long drive, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. This was partially due to the fact that the natural scenery was constantly beautiful--we would go from lush, green mountain terrain to open plains and back, eventually catching sight of the flora that accompanies the coastal region. The other thing that made the drive go faster was all of the people alongside the road on the way. It was so interesting to be able to catch snippets of so many people's daily lives as we flew past--this was an aspect of driving we don't really get to experience when on the interstates of America. I felt like I was getting a split second view of these people's lives that I could never witness otherwise--the children playing hopscotch in the dirt outside of their houses, the men shaking hands after what had maybe been a business deal, the women sitting underneath the shade of a banana tree, likely sharing the latest gossip--all going about their daily lives, oblivious to the assessments that I was making about their simple actions during that millisecond in which I passed by. It was quite an interesting experience for me, and such observations made the time pass more quickly.
We made a quick stop on our way to Dar at a chapel where David Livingstone, a forerunner of humanitarianism in Africa, had been. He was also buried in a nearby location that we passed by, as well. We also caught our first glimpse of the ocean from this road, which got us all very excited. We finally began to drive into the outer reaches of Dar, and it was apparent right off the bat how different this place is from Arusha. It has such a big city feel, as it should--it has a population of 6 or 7 million people. Don't hold me to that number, but the largeness of it is partially due to how spread out Dar is. But it's also just a really big city! After getting into the hotel and dropping belongings off, the group headed to an Indian restaurant for dinner. I (and Jennifer) stayed behind because I was tired, not hungry, and by god, I was not getting back on that bus after already spending 12 hours on it that day. So I got a good, long night's sleep and was ready to go in the morning!
Monday morning, we got up and had breakfast at our hotel. After breakfast, we headed to the US Embassy! I was so excited about this trip, and it was so not a let down. We met with a few people in the USAID (US Agency for International Development) department, and they told us all about what the US is doing in Tanzania and the various programs that they have implemented here. USAID was started under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and the three main tenets of the program are diplomacy, defense, and development. They have various development portfolios that are as follows: Agriculture and Food Security, Democracy and Human Rights and Governance, Environment and Global Climate Change, Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, Global Health, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Water and Sanitation. We heard a bit about each program, and it seems like all the work that is being done has been quite beneficial to Tanzania. For example, their health program has decreased the malaria rate on Zanzibar from 25% to less than 1% just since 1995. The hope is that we will be able to help Tanzania improve economically to become a middle-income nation so that the US can step out at some point, but the development steps that have been taken can be up kept by the Tanzanian government and people. Each program within USAID is designed with an exit plan in mind--the purpose of the program is development, not dependency. This was my favorite briefing that we've attended since being in Tanzania, and it was just an added bonus to technically be on American soil for a couple of hours and listen to a bunch of people with American accents talk--it was a little slice of (very educational) home!
After this visit, we went to see the University of Dar es Salaam. It was in many ways a lot different from our traditional universities in the states, but it was the same in that the students walking around have the same agendas as most other students, including ourselves--they go to class, they chat with friends, and they work to further their future career goals. It was a beautiful campus, filled with green space and giant trees. We only stayed for a little bit, and we then headed to a nearby mall to pick up whatever supplies we might deem necessary for our Zanzibar trip. We were able to pick up a few things (and to give me enough time to cause an accidental ruckus with my camera in my bag setting off alarms at the front door, requiring me to be escorted into a back administrative room where they could search my bag, only to eventually apologize for wasting my time). After this, we went back to our hotel and had a short break before class. A few of us took this time to walk down to the beach. It was so beautiful! I love the ocean, and now that I'm displaced from a coastal state into the middle of Oklahoma, I don't get to the beach nearly as often as I would like. And this beach trip was a special one because I got to stick my toes in the Indian Ocean for the first time! We only stayed for a few minutes, but we left knowing that in a few days, we will have plenty of time to spend on Zanzibar's beautiful sands.
We had a quick lecture from one of Dr. Bass' former students who is now living in Kenya doing NGO work, and then it was time for a quick dinner and off to bed because we had a change of plans for getting to Zanzibar in the morning. Since the water between Dar and Zanzibar is considered some of the roughest in the world, our thoughtful trip leaders decided to save us the seasickness and book us flights over to the island instead. The only downside to this is that we had to be leaving the hotel by 5:00 am in order to catch our 7:00 am flight, so it was a very early morning for all.
And after our 20 minute flight, now we are in Zanzibar, just checked into our hotel for the next couple of days, with this killer view:
We're about to start our walking tour of Stone Town, so it will be great to check out our new surroundings for the next few days! We're all so happy to be here, and can't wait to see what comes next!
Until next time!
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