Mambo!

First of all, sorry I haven’t updated in a while. I arrived at JFK in New York at 7:30 AM on Monday May 17^th. We actually arrived to our hostel in Dar es Salaam around 5:30 PM on Tuesday, May 18^th (Tanzania time). Once we were actually into our hostel – surprise, surprise – we didn’t have internet service. So now, we are currently in Morogoro, we have internet service and I will do my best to catch you up on my adventures so far.

Tanzania is pretty awesome. Dar es Salaam, or ‘Dar’, was our first stop. Dar spoiled me. Our hostel was surprisingly nice. We had air conditioning, our own bathroom and a comfy, foam mattress. After talking to a local we found that the neighborhood our hostel is in is a ‘rich’ neighborhood. Now that is rich for Tanzania, not for America. Granted the neighborhood is pretty nice compared to others we have passed on the street but these conditions would not be accepted by the wealthy in the west. While in Dar we had 3 lectures at the University of Dar es Salaam. What a difference there is between Penn State and the university here! The campus was nice – every piece of nature here is beautiful – but again, the conditions would not be accepted in the west. Electricity flickering on and off during lectures, hot stuffy rooms. Students at Penn State would withdraw if they had to deal with that! It really shows me how lucky we are and that’s when looking at the one of the most prominent universities in the entire continent.

Other than our lectures, we spent a lot of time stuck in traffic, eating out and walking around. We visited downtown Dar which was nothing like our downtowns. The food in Dar was pretty awesome. There was nothing I had that was bad. The only thing I received but didn’t eat was raw vegetables and some rice with curry (I’m not really a curry fan). The second night we had gotten dinner at a restaurant right along the waterfront. It was very nice but kind of white-person-central. It was very odd to see foreigners dressed up and looking nice coming into the restaurant when I knew of the poverty that lay just down the street.

Life in Dar defiantly is different from that in an American city. The urban poverty is obvious. People are out on the streets, on the sidewalks, in alleys trying to sell something to get some cash and they are there at all times. They literally have EVERYTHING to sell on the streets. For example, when we were driving in from the airport one guy was walking through the traffic lanes with a fish aquarium on his head. Need a fish aquarium? He was your guy.

The mixture of styles in Dar amazed me. You would have some people walking along the street looking like they just stepped out of an American mall while you have others – like the Maasai tribe – who walk around in traditional African attire. I guess it shows how globalization and the western world has influenced these people, but not taken over. I hope they continue to keep their culture. It is unique and very beautiful.  

In Dar we didn’t have too much time to truly interact with the people and the locals. We did spend some time talking to adults who knew English and playing soccer with some school children, but other than that our interactions have been somewhat limited. I am defiantly a minority here, that much is obvious. Being in downtown Dar was a bit much at times. Having so many people stare at you can get kind of old.

Anyways, that was a quick summary of Dar. We left there Friday morning and arrived here in Morogoro where we have been the last few days before we leave for Mang’ula and the Udzungwa National Park tomorrow morning.

Morogoro is gorgeous. The mountains in the background and the green environment all around. I wish I could show you some of the pictures I’ve taken so far. The city is nice. It is smaller than Dar but I think it is nicer. The people are kinder and the environment is greener, more welcoming and easier to appreciate. Traveling here we went through the rural countryside and got a glimpse of some more rural type poverty. The mud houses and limited access were hard to observe, especially when we waste and have so much. However here in Morogoro, people seem to be doing well for themselves. There are many tin roofs which shows a higher income status compared to thatched roofs.

Here in Morogoro we have been spending time doing a lot of work. Yesterday we had 5 lectures at the Sokoine University of Agriculture. We learned all about the agriculture system in Tanzania, deforestation, rural sociology, etc.  It is shocking home much forest land has been altered and degraded here. The mountains shown about normally would have been covered in forests but deforestation for firewood and farming land has removed most of the trees.

This is a topic that has repeatedly sprung up here in Tanzania. The people, government and economy are trying to develop and advance but at the same time the country is rightfully concerned about environmental damage and degradation. Finding a balancing act is going to be difficult. When is ruining the environment okay? And where do you draw the line between environmental rights and human development? In America we have been lucky to develop and establish our country in a time where environment didn’t have to be a concern. Now we are trying to clean up our mess but Tanzania has to consider this from the beginning. Putting more pressure on Tanzania is the extraordinary importance of their land; agriculture and ecotourism are huge parts of the economic sector. Additionally, this country has the most amazing, diverse environment. It would be a shame and a loss to the whole world to see more lost than what needs to be.

Well, that is all I have time for now. We should have internet regularly now so I should be able to post more frequent and more detailed entries for the next few weeks. I can’t post pictures with this internet but as soon as I get back there will be a photo-blog post!

Location: Morogoro, Tanzania