Mambo

Remmy is extremely motivated and is an AMAZING host. She arranged for her friends to drive me around Dar es Salaam for the week so I could meet with different organizations focused on health and education. Every night she tucked in my mosquito net and sometimes carried my bag so I wouldn’t be a target in the markets. One of my favorite nights was when we visited her friend Max for dinner and I got a better glimpse into village life on the outskirts of Dar.

UNIVERSITY LIFE: Remmy’s school is surrounded by many countries’ embassies, the National Museum of Tanzania, and the Ministry of Health, so it is located in a very safe neighborhood. She lives with 3 other girls in a girl’s hostel that is located on campus. Sometimes during exam week friends who live farther away will come and stay in their room so they aren’t late to their exams. Their room has a TV, stereo, DVD player, and computer and the girls all seem to get along really well. Remmy said that her roommates were so excited I was coming that they would pretend Remmy was me and would practice what they were going to say.

MOSQUITOS: Remmy just got over a bout of malaria, so she takes mosquitoes seriously. She said the mosquitoes love her and she is the only one of her friends that actually uses a mosquito net. The mosquitoes here are RUTHLESS. They are different than those in the U.S. There was definitely some selective evolution that only left the smartest, trickiest, and hairiest mosquitoes in TZ. They also make this noise that sounds like crickets – creepy!

DALADALAS: Daladalas are basically just big vans that serve as a cheap bus system. Remmy made us stop and watch people race to the daladalas. It was pretty funny. She said sometimes once a daladala passes by, people will start running to catch the daladala two stops ahead. It was madness! People were pushing and shoving to get on an already packed daladala. Remmy said it is not like that in Arusha and she sometimes likes to just watch people in Dar race and fight to get on a daladala. Someone jokingly opened a little luggage door on the bottom and gestured to get in.

Word of the day:

Maji – water

Rafiki – friend