Blogs from Dar es Salaam, East, Tanzania, Africa - page 5

Starsucks. The word is graffiti’d beside the pictures of English football stars in the wall of the alcove where the coffee guys prepare their wares for the day’s selling. It’s a strident reply to the world domination of a certain brand of cuppa they will never be able to afford. But once you drink their hard-earned brew, who would ever want to. My friends know I’m not normally a coffee-drinker, and I didn’t think I would especially like this which had been boiled in the pot over a tiny charcoal burner for an hour! But it was smooth! Barbe just hopes I won’t be this wired all day! One of the young men busied himself with roasting the beans as we arrived, also in a small pot without a handle over charcoal. The wooden spoon fit ... read more

Habari ya asubuhi! A bit hotter today than the last two days, but at least most of the power problems appeared fixed. For now. Work coming along slowly – lots of thinking on how to best apply the existing tools in a new more efficient and effective process. Project plan is complete along with usual breathing room. No extensions on this gig — plane ticket is bought and change fees are extraordinary. No worries though, I’ll figure it out. I have had pints in Irish or English pubs all over the US, in London proper, in Beijing, Metuchen (Hailey’s!), Shanghai and Bogota. Add Dar es Salaam to that list. Went to the local ex-pat watering hole last night, the url=http://expatdirectory.telegraph.co.uk/british-pub-bar/tanzania/dar-es-salaam2/george-and-dragon4/George and Dragon. I’m sure to be back plenty of t... read more

Translation: I'm here! For the past six days I've been cramming swahili and tomorrow I leave for my homestay where I will find out what I have actually retained. For the next nine weeks I'll be learning to live like a true Tanzanian. What I've learned so far: Tanzanians have an incredible sense of humor and my most valuable skill to master over the next two years will be my ability to laugh at myself. Should be a blast! Miss you all! Love, Kim... read more

I have been home from Africa for six weeks. Each day I have sat down to write this blog and I literally sit and stare at a blank page. The longer I sat home the more difficult it became. My intention, of course, was to write a blog like my previous one from Cambodia and Thailand, while traveling. But Africa was such a different kind of trip. First, we had little to no electricity from day to day, with not a computer or any sort of electrical appliance in site. Second, our day started with gongs, chants and drums each morning at 5:45AM with a full tiring day arriving home around 7PM, just in time for dinner and packing supplies for the next day, quiet hours beginning at 10PM. The showers were trickles of cold water, ... read more

The view from the train was pretty amazing, rolling hills, forests, villages and farmland. We seemed to stop very often, it was the ordinary train not the express. There were lots of little villages, but since we were at the back of the train all the people selling things on the side of the tracks would run down the train to sell things to passengers. Wehad bought most of our food in Kapiri Mposhi so didn’t need to buy much. We did however occasionally buy a meal from the train restaurant. Because we were in first class, a man would come along for each meal and take orders, then bring them to the room for us. The bar was a few carriages up the train between first and second classes. It was just a few lounges ... read more

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 ... read more