Well it’s been one week since I arrived in Tanzania and so far it’s been amazing, for the most part (we’ll get there). Everyone in this city is so warm and welcoming, although it may not seem so at first impressions. You know when people (like me) have a blank look on their face and it seems as if they are angry or annoyed even though they are not? That’s everyone here, but the moment you smile, give a wave, and/or a hello (jambo, mambo, habari, or shikamoo for elders) their faces light up with the biggest smile; usually followed with “hello, how are you?” or “hello, welcome!!” and there you have it – you’ve made a new friend for life! Tanzanians are proud people, proud of their culture, their city, and they’re proud you have come to visit and experience it for yourself.  As they should be, I can already tell this place and these people are so special!

Here’s a few pics from my neighborhood….

Dar es Salaam is quite a big city but taxis, minibuses (Daladala), Tuk Tuks, and Ubers are readily available. You can actually get a Tuk Tuk /Bajaji through Uber, these are preferable for short distances when you don’t feel like walking. (I’m really terrible about taking pictures, I’ll try to post some pics of these later.) From my home I can walk to work, a few supermarkets, pharmacies, and a few shops. Over the weekend I learned that walking is best way to get some Swahili practice in. You see, Tanzanians are relationship oriented meaning they look out for their communities and do what’s in best interest of the community. That’s one reason it’s important to greet people in passing. If I’m walking to work and I pass 30 people and I greet them all, I now have 30 people looking out for me in case I encounter any trouble (very unlikely); but should I not greet them, well than I’m not really trying to be part of the community and there’s reason to watch out for me. Interesting, yea? I took so many walks this past Sunday and Monday that I sounded liked a Swahili robot, one that is only capable of saying “Hello”, ”How are you”, “I’m well”, “Thank you very much”, and “Sorry”.  Not bad for one week though, haha!

Our first week of work was not really work, just a volunteer induction where we went over all the necessary information we need to know as new volunteers; this included meeting all of the local staff in Dar es Salaam office. They’re amazing and so helpful! We (the new volunteers) also used this time to get to know each other. Below are few photos of my new family and they’re amazing, I’m so thankful I ended up with such a great group of people to take this journey with. We have Anita and Sam (+ Sam’s wife, Jane) from Randstad Netherlands, George from Randstad Sourceright Malaysia, Aloyece a volunteer nurse from Tanzania, and Lawrencia a volunteer nutrition specialist also from Tanzania. Only Anita, Sam and I will remain in Dar but we should get to visit everyone else as we’ll be traveling to visit most projects.

We had Monday off work due to a national holiday so most everyone went out to Zanzibar Island to be tourists. I caught a gnarly cold on Thursday and spent most of Friday and Saturday in bed, I was able to get out for a few walks on Sunday and Monday. I’m feeling on the up and up now, and finally got my appetite back so I’ll save the food section for my next blog post!