I have included a picture of a dead crow. We seem to be collecting these. Not sure if it's a bad omen (I choose to believe it is not) but it is weird. Right now there are three in the back yard. The other day we found one under the table as we were eating dinner- yuck! There are also a slew of dead crows on the dirt street leading to the the neighborhood. Very strange. I am choosing to believe that either someone is really good with a sling shot or our new neighbors have laid out some poison to try and control the massive (and loud) crow population that has taken over the area. It does seem weird that right at the one month mark of my stay I am once again confronted with strange deaths. At least these are of the crow kind and not the human kind, I suppose.
This weekend actually turned out somewhat as I had planned. I got to spend a significant amount of it with my nose in a book but still managed to get out and about and enjoy Dar, all in all, a good weekend. I managed to see the sunset from Slipway (well, it actually ended up being the Irish Pub around the bend since the restaurant at the Slipway was all booked up but still amazing views of the red fiery sky and the little fishing boats in the ocean). Magnificent.
On Saturday, after a nice relaxing morning with my book, I got two calls from Zain, my mobile telephone company telling me I had to register my number or they were going to shut off my phone in 5 days. Well, that definitely got my butt into gear so off I headed to the Zain shop which happens to be across the street from my regular daladala stand. So after registering my telephone I decided to hop on the daladala towards town so that I could finally see what Dar city center is all about. The only drawback of this otherwise awesome decision was that I did not have a map or my travel guide with me. I actually thought that maybe I had read it enough already that I could manage. Ha! Big mistake!! I got off the daladala at Posta which is the central bus station in town and just started walking. I basically followed the largest group of people I could find and off I went. I was actually looking for water since Dar is on the ocean and a good way to orient yourself is to have the ocean in view. I never did get to see the ocean from Dar! Anyway, as I was completely lost, there was a beacon of hope as I stumbled, purely by accident, on A Novel Idea, a local bookshop. I went inside and casually looked up my location in one of their travel guides and cooled off in their air-conditioning before heading back out. Confident that I now had my bearings and could find my way around I managed, somehow, to get lost again. This time I ended up in what can only be described as little India. I kept walking and knowing the general direction of the daladala stand, headed back in that direction. After two hours of aimless walking, I was ready to head back and try again another time with a map or guidebook in hand. To be honest, there was not much of Dar city center that was really worth the trip and it is very much like any other city. This makes me feel like I was missing something so I will definitely have to do a little more research, however, most of the books seem to agree that Tanzania should not be judged by Dar. From what I saw on Saturday, I think I may agree with this sentiment.
After getting back and finally getting my body temperature back to a normal degree (it was HOT out there and the packed to the max daladala did not help!) I returned to my book for a little while. That night Sunday took me to meet some of his friends at the Doubletree bar for drinks and some smooth tunes. We had a fantastic time and I thoroughly enjoyed my first night on the town, Dar style. The ladies were dressed to the max and making me miss my glorious shoe collection tremendously. No fear though, one of Sunday’s friends is in the shoe selling business and judging by the fantastic pair she was wearing, I will be a good customer J
Sunday was a bit of a lazy day. I did return to the Slipway to buy some baskets. I somehow managed to maneuver the car without killing myself or anyone else, dodging bicycles and daladalas left and right. Driving here is like Super Mario Cart on crack (or at least what I imagine that to be like). I also managed to get petrol even though I had no idea where the button to open the gas tank was. Thankfully people are really helpful and looking confused is all it really takes for someone to step in and offer assistance!
I also managed to plant Olaf’s lemongrass this weekend. It’s been sitting in plastic containers since I got here and since he has been kind enough to let me continue to stay with him, I thought it was the least I can do. They are still alive today, which is surprising since I have the tendency to kill all plant matter I come into contact with. Case-in-point, Olaf’s beautiful inside banana plant. I watered it once and it died two weeks after I got here. Please everybody, keep your fingers crossed that the lemongrass survives (at least long enough for Olaf to see my handiwork on Thursday). I am being really diligent about watering them every day and checking on them obsessively. It may help that the rainy season seems to have started since two nights in a row it has rained. Not a lot of rain (not like Zanzibar) but enough to suspect that the season is about to kick in. At least so far it has only been at night. This has done very little to cool things off and it is still blisteringly hot.
As for work, Grace and Albert are due back this week and I am hopeful they will have some good feedback for me regarding the girls’ thoughts on the trainings they have received so far as this will be infinitely helpful in drafting my manual. I am currently also trying to put together some scenarios for possible role plays that the girls can participate in. This is not as easy as it seems and I take my hat off to others who developed some of the scenarios that I myself have taken part in. If I end up happy with the results and once approved by my supervisor, I may post some of the scenarios here and you can give me feedback on them.
Here below are some pictures of the sunset from Slipway and Dar. I hope to get some better, more interesting pictures of Dar in the future, but so far, this is it.
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| Found under the dinner table, stiff as a board |
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