With week one coming to a close, I’m already recognizing routine and finding comfort in the pace of things. Life around this corner of Dar seems to run from 7am to 10pm. The sun rises at roughly six every day, and sets around six at night (gotta love the equator), and the predictability of that schedule is something I'm happily adjusting to. Early afternoon showers and naps have even been worked into my day, providing a nice chance to escape the heat for a bit and repower. And it is hot, that is one adjustment I will not understate.
My host family is quite sweet. I live with my host mother, her son (my age but he has a dorm on campus so is only here sparingly), her live-in housekeeper (also my age, and seven months pregnant), and two other American students. My host mother and her son both speak excellent English on top of Swahili, but the housekeeper only speaks Swahili. One of the exchange students has been here for two months, and the other arrived at the same time as I did. It’s a nice mixture of people, a comfortable place to call home for the semester.
Our place is on the fourth floor of an apartment building on campus, about a 20 minute walk from the academic buildings. It’s as comfortable as anything I could have asked for... certainly better than my apartment in Marquette last semester, ha. The only real adjustment I've had to make here is with the unpredictable running water access, and "showers" actually being a bucket of water in the bathtub for washing. But when you factor in the chorus of frogs and insects at night, exotic birdsong with the sunrise, the gorgeous trees in bloom outside my window… everything else more than makes up for the lost amenities.
This past week has been a lot of orientation trips with the kids in my program. There are four of us, and each day we've been set up with a student guide to show us around the city. So far we've visited Mlimani City, the local mall that has most any western comforts you might crave (I don't think it's a coincidence they put that first on our orientation schedule). Mwenge Market which is a hodgepodge chaotic place full of street venders, tiny shops, and artisan stands. The City Center – about an hour's drive with traffic (and oh is there ever traffic), where you find the post office, large banks, hotels, embassies, and all the business people. The fish market and a quick stop at a beach (which is where I took that picture I posted yesterday). And Kariako City Market - another maze of venders and shops. It's been a whirlwind of new experiences and each place has its own appeals, I'm thankful to have months here to really let myself get acquainted with them at my own pace. There's only so much you can soak in during quick introductory tours.
My favorite thing right now though (okay, second favorite, after the monkeys and egrets and frogs and lizards that live all over campus) is something my roommate has been taking me to each night. For the last few months she and the other students in her study abroad program have been working in Mwenge market each night teaching English classes for the wood carvers. I'm sure my description won't do it justice; it's really the most adorable thing. Everyone meets at about 7pm each weeknight, in this outdoor area behind some of their workshops. They pull up wooden benches and old chalkboards, a light bulb hangs from the sheet metal roof and the rest of the field is illuminated by starlight. Each night about dozen people come to work on their English skills, and a half dozen study abroad kids take turns teaching them. The beginner classes are for grammar and vocabulary; skills that will help them sell their carvings to tourists. My roommate teaches the advanced class though, which is an hour of English conversation and whatever subject her and her friends feel like discussing that night. Last night was the French Revolution, two nights ago was plate tectonics and the tsunami in Japan, and tonight the students said they wanted to learn more science so the topic is evolution (and living here in such an epicenter of archeological discovery, it should be fascinating to see what they already know and what's news to them). Some of the students follow along better than others, but they're all eager to learn more and just seem so grateful for these free lessons each night. I love it.
Shoot, now that I've actually sat down to write, I could just go on forever. I’ll update again soon. I haven’t even talked about food, or my host mom's politics, or Swahili, or classes, etc etc etc. Too fun.
