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Published: August 2nd 2011
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Even though I am staying in a home that is considered middle class, life is tough in Dar es Salaam. Nothing comes easy to these people. Whether its meal preparation, washing dishes, having a shower, going to the bathroom, shopping for goods, driving anywhere, dealing with the smallest cut or not knowing the cause or reason for constant chest pains, trying to keep cool, or fighting off mosquitos – everything here feels it’s harder than it has to be.
I would say that on average it takes 3-5 hours to prepare, cook, and clean all the dishes used every meal. With no dish washer, oven, stove, big fridge and freezer (most families, if they have one, are half the size of the ones we have back home), running water, or reliable electricity, no meal is quick and easy. On the one hand this is a good thing. We eat our foods fresh here, basically go to the market, buy the food, cook the food, and then clean. Wait a few hours, and start the process all over again. But on the other hand to do this for every meal eats away at the day and before you know it its
Footy
Check out the ball they play with beside them. dark out and you are exhausted from all the cooking and cleaning you have done since you woke up in the morning. Add in the heat, power shortages, and the pests that hover over everything and you get the bleak picture of everyday life in most homes across the country. Its work, work, work with little reward. Sure there are cherps thrown across the yard as different family members are either cooking or cleaning different things at different corners of the property, but for the most part – especially in the eyes of a Canadian who is used to either throwing some precooked meal or left overs in the oven or microwave, haha or having his mom cook for him – this is way too much work for any meal and no real time to have a good time.
Then again, what are people to do? Despite the whole country lovin their ‘footy’ there is definitely a lack of fields. I saw my first one yesterday and have only seen 3 in total. Thanks to a lack of city planning parks and open fields virtually do not exist. No grass on these existent pitches either, your playin basically on
Northern touch
According to a friend, 80% of the cloths donated to Dar comes from Canada. Beauty. the street. The surface is hard with little to no give, it definitely isn’t level and as I saw yesterday, cars are not afraid to drive across in order to cut traffic.
All over town traffic is crazy. People drive on the left here, so already there off to a bad start. There are designated lanes, sometimes, but even then you’ll see people not afraid to hop the curb, cut you off, and come on to oncoming traffic to try and get ahead of the constant traffic jam. Intersections are even crazier. They are like the wild west, its every man for themselves – you want the right of way, you go out an punch it bud – on the city’s largest intersections, often youll see 5 er 6 cars, daladalas (city buses), picky-pickys (motorbikes), and push carts battling to merge lanes or cross on-coming traffic to get to their destination. Probably the only time I’ve ever felt unsafe so far is a car or daladala – can’t wait till I get to Mumbai!
In a few days I will be in Shinyanga to start working in a nearby farming village called Nhobola. But before I do were
headin to a big music festival that features all kinds of local African bands. Eat your heart out Bluesfest. Should besweet. Ohh and the headliner, is Ludacris!
Talk to ya when I get to Shinyanga.
Ohh, but before I go, how bout those Bombers!
Love the Jays trades by the way. Lookin real good.
Cheers,
Matt Jaworski.
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