A Disorienting Orientation

As I said in my previous post, the darkness in Arusha entrances, but it also conceals.

I headed into town with the rest of the group Friday morning and I saw exactly what I had missed on the dark bus ride the night before. Like most underdeveloped countries, the Tanzanian government is corrupt (a stable corrupt), making this country one of the poorest nations in Africa. During the 8-minute walk from the Arusha Resort Centre (ARC) to the National Natural Museum of History (where classes are held), I saw the diversity of Tanzania’s economic situation. Although a few men were dressed in professional attire, the streets were primarily filled with locals who were making a living by lining storefronts and sidewalks with tourist knickknacks, fresh fruit, and bottled water. Amongst the chaos, the thing that struck me the most was the number of people sitting around, seemingly doing nothing. As we learned later, a majority of these persons are unemployed.

It’s all backwards! The light reveals the darkness. The dark is comfortable.

There’s a song by The Mountain Goats (one of Cassidy’s favorite bands) called No Children. One of the lyrics reads “Our friends say it’s darkest before the sun rises, but we’re pretty sure they’re all wrong.” This song has 28 plays on my iTunes, but this particular lyric struck a new chord when I listened to it for the 29^th time in Arusha.

Don’t take all this darkness talk the wrong way! If I took Arusha at face value, then I would contradict myself! (Very well then, I contradict myself). Colors are everywhere. Women wear vibrantly patterned outfits and the trees and flowers are lush with color. The darkness also isn’t expressed through the locals’ demeanors; generally, smiles greet us as we walk by. Like I said, everything contradicts itself here… I have four months to figure it out, which seems like a lofty expectation at this point.

To help me on my quest to explore this city, I have 14 friends and a handful of program directors. Roland Adjovi is our current program director and he’s the man. I’ll tell you more about him later though. The other students here with me are an incredible bunch! The ratio of girls:guys is approximately the same as Miami’s… 12:3. There hasn’t been a dull moment yet, and I doubt there ever will be one! Three students from East Africa are joining us for our studies… they will also help bridge the communication gap between the locals and us.

Friday was spent on orientation with the program and the city. We took a 25-minute walk to a museum about Tanzania’s independence and unification. Even though the exhibit resembled a glorified middle school poster project, it was very enjoyable! We also walked around the grounds of the East African Community building (EAC). We’ll be spending more time here throughout the semester, so I’ll explain more later.

The food thus far has been delicious! The Indian influence on Tanzania is most recognizable in the food. Many of the dishes follow the same formula… rice + choice of meat or vegetable + Indian spices = delicious meal. On Friday night, the program directors took us out to a restaurant at the Impala Hotel where they had 3 separate menus: Indian, Chinese, and Italian. How obscure! I had Chinese, nom nom nom.

It was a very long day filled with A LOT of excitement, and I was so thankful to get a good night’s rest Friday night! Especially since we were going on a SAFARI the next morning…

Ooooh, cliffhanger…

Here's a few pictures!

This is my room that I share with Elise! Hannah is in the other room. Both Hannah and Elise are GREAT roommates!

This is where most classes are held... beautiful flowers and trees! It's the National Natural History Museum where they're researching the early existence of humans.