25th of November 2008

The people here are amazing, I keep saying that they are so friendly because I cannot emphasise it enough! I am still living in Dar-es-Salaam in what I can only describe as an interesting living situation, I have meet numerous university students here both local and international, some of these are very intelligent characters, we have spent long hours solving the problems of our planet. The locals are only to happy to show me around, this provides quite a unique experience as I gain a local insight into the capital city. The streets and roads here often look similar to the mountain paths in the Kawekas and sometimes they aren't even to that standard. It is not uncommon to come across a burst sewer pipe in the middle of the street that has been left for days.

Transport here is crazy, you get the very rich driving around in expensive cars while the poor tend to rough it out in the various forms of public and private transport. Private transport involves a cheap ride in a 'tuk-tuk' or a 'dalla dalla'. I say that it is cheap, because it is cheap for the locals, but if you are recognised as a 'musungo' or foreigner (often giving away by your white skin) the price mysteriously triples, so as I keep saying the local help is invaluable. A 'dalla-dalla' is a rough looking van, kitted out with as many seats as possible operated by intimidating Swahili collectors. There is no set price so to use one you really have to speak Swahili to get a bargain, I have been picking up Swahili gradually thanks to the encouragement of my Aiesec friends, but as of yet I am not competent enough for independent life on the streets, still I'm loving the challenge.
Last night I went out for the first time in Africa, my friends took me to a Local pub then on to a local night club. There is no way I intend to get drunk here, but the beer does taste good. The night club was playing local music which I am really starting to enjoy, it sounds typically African with good rhythm. I was approached by a pimp in the night club pandering his wares, safe to say I wasn't keen. It was a good night, but I am very jet lagged now. This morning we (myself Mariam and Zac) approached a local school in an attempt to gain some form of volunteer work. We took a bus right out to the more wealthier side of town and asked for an audience with the principle. She is a lovely woman and seemed very receptive to the idea of having me on. She wants me to teach rugby, some guitar, English and more... I start tomorrow!!! wohoo.. to celebrate we headed to the beach, good times, on the way we spotted a spider as large as my fist, something I'm sure my mother would have appreciated and the colour of the thing definately signalled a warning. The beach was golden and beautiful, with palm trees, coconuts and canoes lying scattered about.

Living here can be hard, you are constantly in fear of the dreaded mosquito, you sleep within cramped nets, in a heat that is not dissimilar to an oven, I could write forever on my malaria paranoia, I'm taking anti-malarial tablets daily, but I still worry. I think I'm drinking as much as I am sweating and applying sunblock and repellant like its going out of fashion. The drinking here is from bottled water, so much bottled water, Tanzania must spend a fortune on bottled water it's like gold over here. I wash my clothes in a bucket full of water gained from a local well, using the fantastic wonder soap, but you could not drink this water or the tap water. I shower, when there is water available, in what looks like a bathroom, really, I am living well! The food is great I tried the local dish 'pelou' last night, Mariam and a Kenyan girl Buryial- (pronounced burial) definately did the local Swahili cuisine justice, I look forward to enjoying more of this type of food. They have interesting soups and vegetable mixtures and delicious fish dishes and the way they do there rice is great! Every minute here feels like an adventure, I'm glad to have work now and will start tomorrow by catching an early bus at 5 am, should be good times.