Dar es Salaam, TZ

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We are no longer on Unguja (the main island of Zanzibar. Zanzibar is really the islands of Pemba and Unguja together), but are on the mainland for 10 days. We are spending the first week here in the capitol city of Dar es Salaam, and are attending lectures at the University of Dar. It is the largest university in Tanzania, and has 17,000 undergrads, and 2,000 graduate students. We have two two-hour lectures a day, lunch, and on campus free time to do research in the library, use the pool and use the internet. Speaking of which, I will probably be in less frequent contact from here on out during the program, as we are moving around a lot. The evenings are back at our hotel, or we are going into Dar to go dancing at nightclubs. Should be interesting. We have one free day to explore Dar during the day. After our week here, we head to the national park outside of Dar (2 hour drive) for a three day safari. It is supposed to be the same as far as animal density as the Serengeti, just less touristy and well known! Cool! I learned something interesting from our lecture today. 25% of the land mass in Tanzania is protected either by national park, preserve or other protected conservation zone. That is pretty cool!

Honestly, I am not all that thrilled to be in Dar. It is a big city and it is not safe to walk around anywhere alone day or night. That is hard to get used to after all the independence we had in Stone Town. We could go anywhere alone, and always felt totally safe. Plus, being in the city is loud and really filthy, and TONS of crazy traffic. It is only for a week though. On the plus side, we do not stick out nearly as much in Dar. We do not have to wear headscarves and the dress code is a bit more lax. I am going to get to wear pants in public here if I want!

Malaria update: our group has the first case. One of the girls has had a fever for the past 24 hours, so we took her to get tested at the medical clinic on campus. It is a simple $3 test, finger prick, and then it came up positive. She is starting her 5 day treatment so she should be back in class tomorrow. We are doing our best to avoid it, but I am sure this is the first case of many that we will have this trip.

When we get back to Zanzibar, we have 2 days to recoup in Stone Town before we head off to Pemba for 10 days. We will have Eid on Pemba and that will be a great experience.

Well, until next time, kwheri,

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