It's been too long...

It's been far too long since my last blog, but all is well. For many reasons it was tough to stay in contact, mostly it was due to me getting Malaria, an unfortunate plague that left me quite tired but now that I am fully recovered, I can look back on it a unique experience, a true Tanzanian experience, if you will. I am grateful, at the least that I got treated, but all my friends were very supportive as well. Also to make communication harder, shortly after my bout with Malaria, our group started traveling a lot more. We moved into host families, had a week long break, went on safari in the Serengeti, and now are safely settling in to our field camp outside Tarangire National Park.

It has been really nice to be away from the big city. Exploring the northern part of the country has been quite an adventure. For break I went back to Zanzibar and saw even cooler beaches than on my first visit. We stayed in beach bungalows and went snorkeling in the north before heading to the southern part of the island to a place called Jambiani (place of Arab knives in Swahili). Although I didn’t find many Arab knives, I did find some of the best food I’d had in Tanzania, very relaxed and interesting locals, barely any tourists (which was quite refreshing), along with some pretty great sunsets, and one incredible sunrise. My friends and I then headed back to mainland and took a painfully long and cramped bus ride (especially with my long legs…miguu mikubwa!) to the beautiful mountain village of Lushoto, easily one of the most beautiful places I have even visited. We spent most of our time at Irente farm, hiking by day, eating fresh cheese, veggies, and fruits by night, only to awake each morning by the aromas of fresh coffee…MMM! The hiking was incredible. We saw monkeys and waterfalls, walked through rainforests and hiked up to the highest cliff lookouts we could see, and fought over whether the chameleons were cooler than the fireflies and the bright butterflies. What a trip!

We then met up with the whole ACM group in Arusha before heading out on safari through Lake Manyara National Park and Serengeti National Park. As you can imagine, I expected the wildlife to be pretty cool…but there are no words for the magic that these parks contain. Seeing such interesting creatures roam so freely is unreal. I loved it! But now as we are beginning our research projects, some harsher realities are revealing themselves such as the relationship between the parks and the local people not being as healthy as they appear. It is interesting to see both sides, as a tourist and as a researcher. And I am learning a lot as a result. Time is flying and we are having a blast! Sending love as always!
-Brendan
P.S. Internet is super slow in the field so I will work on posting more pictures once we get back to the city, my apologies.



a lion stalking a heard of gazelle across the river.

Home sweet home. Our fieldcamp

so many elephants!!!

The view from one of our Lushoto hikes.

Me next to Ngorogoro Crater. Beautiful. (The Crater).

Poa kachizi kama ndizi...Super cool like a banana!

My aesome chaco tan thus far. Or mabe my feet are just really dirty...?

Pictures from our field trip to Bagamoyo. We got to see an excavation site where graduate students from the University are uncovering quartz tools from ancient civilizations, the first church to ever be built in Tanzania, and ancient Portuguese and German ruins.

The trees here are amazing! These are Baobob trees, some of my favorites so far. Their trunks are massive (up to 35 ft in diameter) and they live for thousands of years. How cool! The group really enjoys climbing the Baobobs on campus, especially biology majors because they are home to many interesting bugs. Once in the field we may have to be a little more careful since they are also home to dangerous snakes! Yikes!

In addition to the monkeys on campus and the bigger animals we are sure to see on safari and in the field portion, we have been seeing lots of interesting creepy, crawly, and hoppy creatures too. A tiny tiny toad we found in a patch of grass and a beautiful caterpillar strolling across a twig.

It's already been a month!

To the right: Our group squeezing into a Dala Dala (the main mode of transport here in Dar). Comparatively this is a lightly packed one. So you can imagine how crazy the fully packed rides can be!

There is so much traffic here, no matter the time of day! At some point in the last couple of years the country started importing more cars from the East. Too many. There are no longer enough roads to support the increasing supply.

One of our Kiswahili instructors invited us over to her home to spend the night, meet her family, and cook a delicious meal. It was great for language practice but we also managed to have a lot of fun laughing with her family, learning about Tanzanian politics, home life, and food (which we ate way too much of). All of the vegetables they picked fresh from their garden (delicious) and for dessert we had fresh milk from her Baba's cow sweetened with cocoa. Nancy, my professor is pictured to the right with me and Sam. Her Mom, Grandma, and sisters work hard to prepare the meal below.

Our awesome hike at Pugu Hills Forrest Preserve.

Enjoying the view and cooling off in the pool afterward and...napping. Clearly it has been real tough to embrace the relaxing Tanzanian lifestyle.

Some of our monkey friends hanging out near the dorms. The big dog-like one is a femal baboon. For some reason she is the only one of her kind on campus so she hangs out and acts as a second mother to the baby vervit monkeys. It is a very interesting interaction to watch.

Some pictures from around campus, everything is open air. It is hot, but refreshing once the afternoon breeze rolls in.

Mti wa 'degree' the biggest and most beautiful tree on campus, named "The Degree Tree" for how many students have received degrees under it!

Our state of the art classroom!

Let's all laugh at the tall, goofy wazungu!

As of late, I have had the opportunity to explore the city a little more. Last weekend we went to the beach, went dancing at one of the clubs, and went out for dinner at some local places just a Dala Dala ride away. So far I think the city is incredibly interesting. It seems to never sleep. No matter the time of night small vendors continue to sell their wares by candlelight. And at Mango Garden, the night club we went dancing at (great live music!), the party was just getting started when we left at 2:30 am! The next day a couple guys from our group were featured in the local gossip tabloid with the headline (an attempted translation from Kiswahili) “Look what our cameras caught at Mango Garden, the crazy white people dancing! We wazungu (white people) have received a bit of heckling, but nothing that can’t be rubbed off with a little humor. I have witnessed this on several occasions, many of them happening while running on the University’s track. On one such run, from the start, a group of secondary school girls began pointing and laughing at me. Some of them even began running along-side me laughing and giggling the entire way, despite my attempts to converse with them in Kiswahili and English. Perhaps they thought I was simply too funny looking to respond any other way? I quickly became distracted by a nearby soccer match so I quit running, but I must say after being laughed at so much I was thankful for an excuse to stop early. I am still curious why the huge, awkward wazungu is so funny…(besides the obvious). The day prior some other girls were laughing at me from the other side of the bleachers, making fun of my poor balancing ability by imitating me falling and screaming…I’m not sure how to feel about it, so I just laugh haha!

As I said, I quit running because just next to the track a fierce soccer match was being played between two vocational schools in Dar (VETA was one of the names I picked up from the cheers). Not only was the skill level extraordinary (and boy, were they fast!) but the celebrations were more than mighty. I found out later that the game was the final match of the season, so the title was at stake (no wonder such intensity from the players and fans). Many students were gathered around the pitch, many of them still in uniform, occasionally cheering (which increased at every goal opportunity) but mostly just enjoying hanging out with friends and watching their peers charge towards the net. Maybe it was because of their apparent casual demeanor throughout most of the match that made me so surprised when VETA scored. Every last one of the supporters for the yellow-clad team passionately charged the field lifting the lucky boy who scored first for his school high to the clouds. A parade of fans pranced around the field chanting battle cries of encouragement in Kiswahili. Just as this parade had finished its lap around the field, the opposing team bounced back with a strike from outside. The other side of the pitch erupted with elation, charging at their own peers, congratulating the striker as if a god. Another brigade quickly paraded around the field to taunt the sorrowed VETA players. While I watched the exasperated players finish the second half, I met a delightful man named Njilu. He had wandered over, noticing me as a strangely dressed wazungu that stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the usual crowd. I attempted to converse with him in Kiswahili for a bit (after only having a week of classes, I was only able to introduce myself tell him “it is a pleasure to meet you“, and ask him how he is) before switching to English. He told me of all of the things he wished to do in the world. In particular he told me of his artistic passions and he wished there was more time in the day to do all he wishes to do. Our conversation was delightful, he taught me a few more words (mpira=soccer) and we talked more about what I was doing in Tanzania. He was very nice, like many people here. I was curious by his ambitiousness, however. Most Tanzanians seem to be very relaxed without much of a concern for time, but for him he seemed very adamant about accomplishing so much of what was important to him. Perhaps all Tanzanians are like this, they choose to care passionately and give respect to the things that matter most, but things such as time and money (although as capitalism and the nation’s economy grows, money is sadly becoming more important) are seen as less important. How neat! The soccer game ended in a draw but because it was the final, went in to penalty kicks. VETA won thanks to some epic foot saves by the keeper. In the end he was the one lifted to touch the skies by his cheering schoolmates. After the game the same group of girls that were teasing me sang for the crowd (they turned out to be choral singers) and VETA dancers took the field, all to celebrate the big win. It was pretty awesome to watch. By far the most enthusiastic soccer match I have ever seen in person.

On Saturday we went to Pugu Hills preserve, a forest preserve 25 kilometers south of Dar to hike and swim. We hiked through some very rural villages which was very interesting. The poverty there was shocking. Nonetheless the people were smiling at us, curious at why we were passing through. And the children really seemed to get a kick out of us! We passed a group of 4 toddlers who would not stop giggling (again I think we must look pretty funny to them for some reason). Not knowing how to response laughed back which only resulted in more laughter. Another group of children were so curious that they began following us, calling to us the only English words they knew (hello, thank you, I love you, goodbye). We tried to speak a little Kiswahili to them but when we would move towards them, they would run away as if afraid. It became a game of cat and mouse. Not knowing how to communicate further I said the only other phrase which I thought they might recognize, “nipe tano”, which means “give me five!” (followed by a pounding motion like how they do it in Kiswahili culture). They quickly responded with big grins and a series of air pounds. I did it several times because they appeared to like it so much. I then faked a sprint towards them and they all charged away briefly before realizing I hadn’t actually moved. They were some of the cutest children I had ever seen, wearing old and battered clothing. It didn’t matter, their smiling eyes still showed nothing but contentedness.

Things are finally starting to feel real, meaning I’m starting to understand the implications of being in Tanzania for a full semester. Going to class at the University and the long hours spent studying Kiswahili are making it feel a bit like school, but more so I continue to feel excitement at the little differences in culture that I find so interesting. What a different world it is here! Obviously, we are all the same in the biological sense. But looking through the cultural lens is absurd to see how our cultures vary, and I have only experienced two weeks of it! So far the biggest cultural difference is the difference in time: not only do Tanzanians count time in a completely different way but the relaxedness of their culture is reflected in their lifestyles, such as when they choose to show up for meetings…(late). Time is nowhere near as important here as it is in America. While some find it frustrating, I find it refreshing. It was a little hard to get used to at first, but I’m simply loving it now. At times while at Colorado College and back home, I feel very pressured for time. There, time is something I’m always taking into consideration and something that is constantly bringing stress upon me. Tanzanians on the other hand encourage a more relaxed lifestyle. And while I am still getting plenty of work done, this unique simplification of life has allowed me the ability to spontaneously change my plans, take the time to stop and get to know strangers (something that is common to the culture here), sleep more, and even show up late for gatherings (a talent I already had perfected before leaving the States). At times, I still find myself having to shut off my American clock, but once I do I enjoy the day so much more. Too bad my college won’t have adapted this more relaxed way of life upon my return!

Hamjambo!

Hamjambo all from Tanzania,


After a long haul across two continents and the Atlantic, I finally made it to beautiful East Africa. I’m starting to catch up on rest, but have mostly been relying on excitement to fuel me through my days. Despite it being only a week since I left Colorado, I am starting to feel at home here already. However, I still miss my original home quite a bit: the people, the variety of vegetables, the extra-long twin mattress (my tall body also has trouble remaining comfortably inside of the mosquito net), and the ability to communicate freely. The language barrier is quite a struggle, but we started Kiswahili classes on Monday, so things are looking up! Despite my picky complaints, I’m still having an incredible time! Tanzania is a wonderful place, full of big hearts, monkeys (whose frequency matches that of squirrels back in the States), vines for swinging (yes, it can be done), and passion fruit flavored Fanta. Most of our time up to this point has been spent on campus (which is a jungle of trees—so big and so green!), so I still know very little about other residents of Dar es Salaam but I look forward to exploring the markets and the local culture more as we become more able to communicate in Kiswahili.


More than anything, I’m simply excited to be here. The semester just began and considering how much I’ve learned already, how close I feel to the group, and the crazy adventure that lies ahead, I can’t wait!


On the first leg of my journey, my flight from Denver to Washington D.C., I sat next to a rambunctious family of five heading home from a long weekend visit with family. Although our conversation started out casual, it slowly grew into an interesting dialogue on opportunity, discovery, development, and East Africa in general, something that this bank investor father from Virginia seemed to know quite a bit about. Throughout the flight, in between exclamations from his young boys, he increasingly began to share genuine excitement for the experience that awaited me in Tanzania, a learning opportunity that neither he nor his wife had ever had the opportunity to experience. Walking off the plane onward to my next leg, he told me good luck and that he hoped someday his boys would be able to have an experience like mine someday in the future, growth beyond the book. Saying this, he inspired a great gratitude to be felt within me. Not to get too cheesy, but what an incredible first encounter to have on a trip that I should feel very grateful to be a part of—what an encounter to have while in route to one of the poorest nations in the world, where deep gratefulness and humility will be forever impressed upon my mind and lifestyles! It seemed like the perfect start to my adventure: a humbling reminder of how to both take advantage of beautiful opportunities and do good with the knowledge learned abroad. Not many get the chance to experience something so special.
Gratefully,
Brendan


P.S. Karibu (welcome) to my blog, for the entire semester, I will be living and learning in Tanzania. I will be studying at the University of Dar es Salaam before moving to the northern part of the country to do research in Tarangire National Park (near Arusha). It’s hard to find the time (or the urge) to get online with so much here to explore but I will hopefully be writing once every couple of weeks to share the really good stories. Hope all is well back in the States! Kwa heri!