A Gator in Dar Es Salaam

Mom and Dad Photo's from Tanzania

2006-03-12T18:47:00.000+03:00

2006-03-12T02:41:00.000+03:00

Elephants in Taragire

2006-03-12T02:36:00.001+03:00

2006-03-12T02:36:00.000+03:00

Mt. Meru in Arusha

2006-03-12T02:34:00.001+03:00

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Karama Lodge in Arusha

2006-03-12T02:32:00.000+03:00

The safari official !

2006-03-12T02:29:00.000+03:00

One of Sue's great photo's

2006-03-12T02:27:00.000+03:00

A look into downtown Dar

2006-03-12T02:19:00.000+03:00

Karama Lodge in Arusha

2006-03-12T02:17:00.000+03:00

Safari

2006-02-26T17:44:00.000+03:00

Just returned back to Arusha after a great 5 day safari. We saw literally hundreds of elephants in Tarangire National Park on Wednesday. Have seen 40 lions, 10 Cheetahs, some Leopards, and thousands and thousands of Zebras, Wildebeest, Impala, Antelope. Saw everything so that was great. We had a great driver who was really helpful and friendly. Also we saw Lions mating, so that was pretty much the highlight for me. We got extremely close to almost everything, including the lions. Tommorow morning we catch an 8 flight to Dar and then we will get the noon ferry over to Stone Town, Zanzibar. Stay in Zanzibar until Friday, with atleast one day at the beach and then I will be leaving Tanzania on Friday getting back to Jacksonville late Saturday if I get a standby seat or midday Sunday otherwise. Definitely having a great time with the parents and they enjoy that I can barter for things and get annoyed at being ripped off for being a goofy white man. haha. Be back soon, not sure if Im ready to go, but it will be an interesting change for sure.

Matt

Mom and Dad

2006-02-21T09:34:00.000+03:00

Well the parents arrived Sunday afternoon. Mercer and I got to the airport an hour early and they were probably the last people to clear customs and get their luggage. Not decked out in safari gear, they were respectably dressed for getting off the plane in Africa, haha. We got to the hotel and just hung out on the patio at the back of the hotel and just talked. Yesterday morning we walked in to town and then caught a cab out to the university. We had lunch with my roommate Daniel and that was great, saw my dorm room and walked around the University. Daniel wants to meet Babu(my Grandpa) since he made us a bunch of movies to watch in the dorm. Mom and Dad then got on the DollaDolla with me from campus up to Mwenge market and they did great with that. We caught a cab back to campus and while my Dad took a nap, Mom and I walked around all over downtown and she seemed like she had been here as long as me.

Last night we met about 8-10 of my friends at Addiss in Dar Ethiopian Restaurant, the best place in town and they had their first taste of Ethiopian food and Ethiopian Honey Wine. We had a great time and everyone loved them, and my mom brought goodie bags for everyone, so those were a big hit. I finally finished the run-around with Emirates this morning and have a hard copy ticket for my flight home. We leave in about 3 hours to fly up to Arusha and then start the 5 day safari tommorow(Wednesday) morning. Having a great time and it seems like my parents are really enjoying being here and the differences in life here.

Take care,
Matt

Back in Dar

2006-02-17T15:58:00.000+03:00

The rest of my trip was great. More time in wonderful Kampala. Such a great city. I arrived back in Dar last night after a 29 hour bus ride. Saw the top of Kilimanjaro for the first time as it was clear and it is true that indeed snow can be found in Africa. I will be sleeping on Tonys couch for a couple nites and maybe the beach for one and then my parents arrive on Sunday and I move on to classy digs. Hope all is well, not much time now, but my trip is complete and was a trip of lifetime! Now Im about to start another one, with mom and dad in tow. Will be back in America soon(what they say in Team America is true), haha.

Matt...in his adopted home of Dar es Salaam Tanzania

Kigali, Rwanda

2006-02-10T18:26:00.000+03:00

Well currently I can be found in Kigali, Rwanda. Got in yesterday(Thursday) but before I get to that, here is a quick recap of what I have been up to...

Friday Jan 20
Board the Tazara Train bound for Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia. Stay in room with Tony, a Scotsman, 2 Tanzanians and a nice Zambian guy.

Jan 21
Arrive in Mbeya, SW Tanzania at about 2. Watch the Cameroon football game in the Cup of Nations. Wait to leave Mbeya...and wait. Leave Mbeya about midnite headed for Zambia.

Jan 22(early)
Disembark from the train and get exit visas from Tanzania(at about 2:30 a.m.). Get back on the train and 30 minutes later, get passport stamped by Zambian immigration.
Arrive at Mpika, Zambia at about 12. Sit at Mpika for sometime, rumours abound about how long we will sit there.

Monday Jan 23
Still sitting in Mpika. Mercer, me and Tony go in to town in a pickup with 6 South Africans to get Zambian money and maybe find a bus to Lusaka. Get money, but bus pulls away full as we return to bus station. Rumours continue, and we play UNO. AT 8:30 the train moves and we head on down the road to Lusaka. Beatiful lightning storm lights up the magnificent Zambian countryside.

Jan 24
Arrive at the Kapiri Mposhi train station about 8 after a beautiful sunrise through Zambia. Get off train and load on to minibus for the last 3 hours to Lusaka. Arrive in Lusaka about noon and get a taxi to ChaChaCha Backpackers, about a 15 minute walk from the city center. Nap and shower after 88 hours on a train. Everyone smells better. Walk around the city and enjoy lunch at Subway. Nice quiet evening at ChaChaCha.

Jan 25
Spend the day exploring Lusaka, my favorite city perhaps. We head to the market, which is an enjoyable experience and completely different from Mwenge/Kariakoo in Dar. Suprise...we are the only white people at the market. I buy a Zambia scarf and Tony meets the manager of the market who shows us a place in town where we can buy Zambia flags. The 3 of us love Zambia. People are great, friendly, clean...outstanding. In the afternoon we go to the national museum which is pretty nice and has a lot of info about the independence era. From there we head over the Irish Pub at Nanda Hill. Great place, we enjoy the Angola-DRC football game.

Thursday Jan 26
Head down to Livingstone on the 10 a.m. bus. We arrive at about 3 and watch Zambia lose in football with a number of Zambians. Spend the evening playing pool and drinking Mosi at JollyBoys Backpackers.

Friday Jan 27
Catch the 10 a.m. shuttle to Victoria Falls. Spend 3.5 hours wandering around the falls and marveling at how ridiculous they are. Tony and I hike down a steep hill to the view the bridge and part of the falls from below. Have a nice lunch of fresh fish at a great seafood place.

Saturday Jan 28
Decide if we are going to Namibia or back up north in to east Africa. Head to the market and get a few souvenirs while enjoying the coziness of Livingstone. Mercer and I decide to head back up north while Tony decides to go to Botswana and Zimbabwe for 5 days before returning to Dar.

Jan 29
Mercer and I catch a bus up to Lusaka and enjoy Baby Police 1, 2, and 3 as well as a few other classic Nigerian films. They are great...right. Get in to Lusaka about 5 and book bus tickets to get to Kampala on the bus that leaves Monday at 6. Check in to same room at ChaChaCha Backpackers. Go to Irish Pub again and spend a great deal of time talking with our waitress and chef who are hilarious. Decide Zambia is the greatest place ever.

Jan 30
Mercer and I walk around Lusaka all day, use internet and eat some ice cream, a few good meals and bookshopping to entertain on our large bus excursion. Bus leaves at 6.

Jan 31 Spend the day on the bus, go through Tanzanian border at about 7 and reluctantly admit that Tanzania is obnoxious, rude and dirty when compared with Zambia. Drive through western Tanzania watching bad movies and trying to zone them out. We are seated next to the bathroom which stinks. Sometime in early afternoon we seem to run over a baboon with the bus. These things happen. Drive through Mikumi National Park and see about 20 Elephants not to far from the road. We arrive in Dar at 10 and they send us to a pretty nice hotel, although we have to pay for it. Sleep in a bed for 6 hours.

Feb 1 Get to the Scandinavian bus station at 6:30 and the bus departs at 7:30 getting out of Dar at 8ish. Head north through Moshi and Arusha and then north around Mt. Meru where we are able to view Mt. Kilimanjaro as the sun sets on it. In to Masaai Land. Plenty of Zebras around. We go throught Kenyan border at about 7 and experience few problems although the Masaai women insist on us buying there jewelry, I am suckered in to buying a bracelet for a combination of Kenyan and Tanzanian money. About 60 cents. Get to Nairobi about 10 and they clean off the bus and we eat dinner. Nairobi is very western and also considered the most dangerous city in Africa for robberies, muggings, etc. They do have a highway system, which is crazy, not much desire to go back.

Feb 2 Get in to Uganda about 7 and watch the sunrise over the Kenyan/Ugandan border. Ready to get off the damn bus. Get to Kampala at about 11 and get some Ugandan money. We check out the backpacker place, but its no good and we then head to New Gloria Hotel, which is nice and close to the city center. Meet my friend Alex(Tufts Univ.) and Leila from Tanzania at Dominos. Great pizza, just like at home. So exhausted that we retire early.

Friday Feb 3
Explore Kampala a little bit. We check out the Garden City mall, which is outstanding, good prices and just like a US mall. Eat great Indian food and head back to New Gloria. After 55 hours on buses in 3 days we are still so exhausted. Enjoy African Cup of Nations and chicken and rice at the hotel.

Saturday Feb 4
Walk all over Kampala. I really like it, similar to Dar is someways, but again I prefer it over Dar. Eat at a sidewalk cafe and check out the parliament building. Gawk at the ridiculously large storks which patrol everywhere and look capable of conquering Kampala if they want. Do a little shopping . Head over to Just Kickin' a football and rugby sports bar. Large crowd gathers to watch Nigeria-Tunisia. And lots of white guys getting pumped up for the England rugby match. Nigeria dramatically wins in penalty kicks and the 100 hundred or so Kampalans and myself and Mercer go wild as the north Africans Tunisia are eliminated. Stay to watch the Man United game and I buy Alex and Leila Smirnoff Ice. Not sure how or why, but Smirnoff products are about half what they are in the US.

Sunday Feb 5
Enjoy sleeping in and head to one of Kampalas famous Ice Cream parlours. Great ice cream, pretty laid back day just watching movies and exploring Kampala.

Monday Feb 6 Head back to mall where we get a few more things and enjoy the best Spaghetti in East Africa. Check out Munich at the movie theater. There are 4 people in the theater. I would highly reccomend Munich, it was outstanding. Figure out we want to go to Kabale in very southwestern Uganda.

Tuesday Feb 7
Get on the post office bus to Kabale at 8. Think we will be there by 1 but end up getting there at 4. 8 hours on a bus here is exhausting and we find a hotel room and eat a great big dinner before retiring for the night with our books.

Feb 8
Leave for Bunyonyi Overland Camp at 9. This region of Uganda is described as the Switzerland of Africa. It is beautiful. The Lake is amazing with a few of volcanoes on the Uganda/DRC border. Described in Lonely Planet as a "Lord of the Rings" setting. Basically just lounge around the place and look at the lake, play pool and checkers. Turn down the staff of the place when they ask if we want to smoke "the good stuff" Same guy who tries to sell us pot then asks for a church donation for a new building, hypocrite. Watch the Duke-UNC game one day later. My first basketball game all year and I forgot what it was like. J.J. Reddick is sick. Great dinner and then early to bed. Cold in this part of Uganda.

Feb 9
The cab driver we met the day before picks us up and we head thru Kabale to Rwandan border. We stop for an hour so he can fix a part, Mercer and I play 20 Questions. I win, obviously. We get to Rwandan border at about 12:30. Americans do not need a visa for Rwanda so that is great. We wait at the border for 2 hours until the minibus fills up with people. I am frustrated, but no other alternative. Get to Kigali about 4:30. Its an unbelievable drive in to Kigali. Rwanda is just beautiful/huge hills with farming all the way up. Strange to be here though. We get a hotel and enjoy a nice meal, not sure what to think of Kigali and all that it is, but we have great view of one corner of Kigali and suburbs.

Today I got some Rwandan Francs, Rwanda is almost as expensive as the US. We thought about changing to a cheaper hotel, but all are pretty nasty. Walk around town some. At 1 we head to the National Genocide Memorial and Museum. It is one of the most beautiful museums I have ever been to. It is so well done and difficult to get through. Lots of good information and then pictures of people who were killed in the genocide. There is a part that is pictures of children and then how they died and what there last words were. Kigali is so beautiful and so normal now, it is nearly impossible to imagine what happened here in 1994. Spend about 2 hours at the museum taking it all in. After that we got a cab over to the Hotel des Milles Collines(the hotel in Hotel Rwanda). I found this extremely surreal and strange. When I saw the movie last fall, I never imagined I would set foot in it. The actual hotel is different from the one in the movie, but I had a beer and spaghetti right next to the pool that was used as drinking water for hundreds of people housed by Paul Rusesibagina in 1994. If you havent seen this movie, then you should.

I am baffled in many ways by Kigali and Rwanda. I cannot possibly come to grips with what happened here and the genocide took place on a scale that I can not imagine. I did not cry at the museum or anything, its just impossible to comprehend. People live there lives, but I look at every person, wondering Hutu or Tutsi? Killer or Victim or both? Did this person use a machete to kill fellow Rwandans? What were they doing 12 years ago? How could something have happened like this? Where was the western world? Its a peaceful place now, but at the museum it said that almost no one doesnt know someone who was killed, killed someone, or aided in the genocide in 1994. I cant believe I am here in Rwanda.

The trip has been great, still one week to go...so tired...still a mzungu.

On The Road Again

2006-01-30T16:25:00.000+03:00

Returned from Livingstone yesterday. Back in Lusaka now, but we are taking a Scandinavian Bus from Lusaka to Kampala in 2 hours. This will take like 3 days or something crazy. Long time on a bus and we unfortunately have to back track a bit, because Tanzania has no real roads in central, southern, western, or northwestern Tanzania. Back thru Dar, just to pick up passengers, thru Nairobi Kenya to Kampala Uganda. Hopefully sometime on Thursday. Should be great, and hopefully I will see lots of movies. Probably starring either Arnold Schwarzenager or Sylvester Stallone, the best actors of our time. I will miss Zambia, but it is much more expensive than Tanzania so it will be nice to go someplace cheaper(Uganda) I will be back in Dar on or around February 17, and my parents arrive on the 19th. They are not going to know what to do, so I will be babysitting for the most part and showing them around. Also they will be riding public transportation which I cant wait for. So about to head over to the bus station. Zambia is beautiful, great people, and great atmosphere. I will be in Jacksonville, Florida on March 5. Soon.

Matt...Headed 20% of the way up the continent of Africa

Victoria Falls

2006-01-27T17:42:00.001+03:00

This morning we awoke and planned where to go over the next 3 weeks. That is coming together. At 10 we departed Jolly Boys Backpackers to go to Victoria Falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It cost 10 bucks to get in and was amazing. Lush vegetation everywhere and you can get extremely close to the falls, and the mist is everywhere. I believe it is twice as big as Niagara and doesnt have all the crap in the associated town.

We walked around for a long time and admired the falls from different angles. We were unable to cross on the Zimbabwe side where the views are equally good, but it was hard to be dissapointed with what we saw. Difficult to explain, but I will have pictures when I return that may convey that power of the falls. Going to head back to Lusaka tommorow or Sunday before leaving for eastern Africa.

Matt...Victoria Falls and Livingstone, Zambia

Victoria Falls

2006-01-27T17:42:00.000+03:00

Livingstone, Zambia

2006-01-26T19:10:00.000+03:00

Yesterday(Wednesday) we enjoyed the Lusaka immensely. Went to the market, which was great and much nicer than Kariakoo in Dar. Went to the national museum, which was nice. We bought Zambian flags and concluded the day by going to an Irish Pub. The city is outstanding, it is so nice, and the people are extremely friendly.

Right now I am at Jollyboys Backpackers in Livingstone, Zambia. This is where Victoria Falls is and also within 25 miles is the borders with Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, and Botswana. Its a really neat little town, and the backpacker place is great. Took us about 5 hours to get down here today, and tommorow we will go to the falls. Lots to do there, not sure what we will choose. After tommorow we may go to further south in to Botswana, or there is a bus to Namibia, which is kind of what I want to do. We are really getting in to southern Africa which was not the original plan, but it is great.

Currently it is half time of the Zambia-Guinea football match and Zambia is winning 1-0. Exciting first half and Im going to get back for the 2nd half. Having a great time and thoroughly enjoying Zambia and all it has to offer. Looking forward to the falls tommorow.

Matt...Livingstone, Zambia

Lusaka Zambia

2006-01-24T15:24:00.000+03:00

Well after 88 hours on the Tazara Railway and 3 hours by minibus, I have arrived in the capital of Zambia, Lusaka. Zambia is a beautiful country from what I have seen. Probably the greenest place I have ever encountered. It is currently raining outside.

We were supposed to arrive at 8 am in Kapiri Mposhi Zambia, about 3 hours drive from Lusaka. Due to a 10 hour delay in western Tanzania and a 30 hour delay in Mpika Zambia, we arrived exactly 48 hours late. Apparently a car had derailed on the tracks ahead of us, carrying cargo or something and we had to wait for it to be cleared away. So 4 nights on the train and I am so glad to be here. I am staying at ChaChaCha backpackers, a nice hostel and I just took a HOT shower. The rural infrastructure of Zambia really puts Tanzania to shame. Their is maize growing everywhere and I even saw nice irrigation systems. The houses are nicer and there is even yellow lines in the middle of the road. Lusaka itself is great so far, so much nicer/cleaner than Dar. I will be in Zambia/Botswana/Zimbabwe in some combination for atleast the next week before catching the ferry up Lake Tanganyika to western Tanzania. Having a blast and loving Zambia, a beautiful country, so green, and I dont get stared at here, craziness.

Take care,

Matt Stacy

Saturday

2006-01-14T09:34:00.000+03:00

I had a History of Globalization final on Tuesday. Wrote for 2 1/2 hours. The exams here are 3 hour blocks and most people seem to take that whole time. I have my last exam today at 11 and then I am done with this University.

I went to the beach on Wednesday and stayed the night there. It was another Islamic holiday so the beach was packed with non-Muslims. It was really cool and basically a huge party with people walking up and down the beach. Spent the night there on Wednesday and a good portion of the day there on Thursday. I saw a guy almost get runover by slow moving cattle, hard to explain I guess.

Yesterday I went in to town, got some money and then went to the train station. Me, Mercer, and Tony are booked on next Friday's Express train to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. The trip takes about 40 hours and we are in second class. I will be back in Dar on or around the 17th of February and cannot wait to travel. Mercer has to ride in a different car than me and Tony because men and wome do not ride together. It is supposed to be a beautiful train ride and we got half off for being students, so that was nice.

We will be going to Zambia for a week or 10 days, maybe Namibia, on the Atlantic Coast and then we are meeting are friend AmEric in Kigali Rwanda. We are planning to take a boat up Lake Tanganyika(the world's deepest lake) to Kigoma in Tanzania and then a bus from there to Kigali. After that some time in Uganda and probably Kenya and maybe a boat across Lake Victoria to Uganda. It is going to be an amazing trip I think and we will be gone just under 1 month. I will try to update my blog along the way with great travel stories.

I thought I had malaria again, but apparently I do not. I felt worse yesterday than when I had malaria, but it is a bacterial infection. The medicine they gave me helped a lot. Take care and enjoy the weekend.

Weekendi Njema,
Matt

Interesting things that have happened to me this week

2006-01-08T09:56:00.000+03:00

Because of the East African drought power cuts will be implemented this week in Tanzania, that also includes all water services. Hopefully it won't be to bad, Dar es Salaam is definitely the most reliable water source in the country. Anyways the following things happened to me this week:

While walking from the computer lab towards the cafeteria I noticed a cat climbing up a tree. I did not think much about this, because cats occasionally climb trees. As I walked nearly directly under the tree a fun little green snake fell from the tree and slithered away. It was a Green Mamba, but a small one atleast. I laughed and the guy next to me said "I'm glad no one was right over there"

I got in to the shower on Friday and turned the water on, the pressure quickly started to fade, so I hurried...unsuccessfully. I then returned to my room to get a bucket of water. You would be suprised how clean you get with just 10 liters of water (2.5 Gallons).

My professor asked us to turn a paper in last week, then he went out of town and no one can tell us when he will be back.

I thought I won a contest by getting a goal logo on the inside of a bottle cap of Castle Bia, I had in fact won nothing, and the contest has expired.

I watched a soccer game that ended 0-0(shocking I know).

2 Dalla Dallas got in to a fender bender. This is one of the first little crashes I have seen. Despite feeling that at any point the traffic system will totally break down and cars will just ram each other, this doesnt happen. Despite the lack of traffic lights and busy 4 way intersections, there is hardly ever any wrecks.

Have a nice week, I finish with exams next Saturday, which will be a great feeling and I am so excited to finish classes at this silly bureaucratic school.

Matt

Update

2006-01-07T09:36:00.000+03:00

Well my finals have started here. I had one Thursday that was ok and one tommorow(Sunday). We have been trying to find a professor here for over a week to turn in a paper, but he is not around so I hope we find him eventually. I got my haricut this week by my friend Kevin. It was his first real hair cut, but it came out pretty good I thought. I feel like a different person and am not so hot anymore. Have mostly been around campus this week, studying and the like. Last night we went to see Lords of War at the Mwenge movie theater, it was pretty good I thought, but was moderately racist in how it portrayed Africans as gun-loving and not very intelligent. Hoping to get online tommorow morning to see that the Jaguars have won, so hopefully that will be the case.

Take care and enjoy running water,
Matt

New Years Eve

2006-01-02T12:49:00.000+03:00

Saturday started out with very few plans. Myself, Mercer, Tony, Justin, Tonje, Keena, Olaf, and Rob watched South Park and movies in my room for most of the afternoon. Was a nice distraction. At about 6:15 Tonje got a call from Florian in Nairobi that Camille had passed away early Saturday afternoon. She was with her parents. Although that was not necessarily suprising news, it still was a shocker. We kind of went our separate ways for a few hours and I was with Mercer. By 10 we were all back together taking our minds off things with South Park in Tony's room and some beer kept him distracted for at least some time from having to totally think about things.

Just before midnight we went up to the roof of our building to countdown the time until the New Year. We sang the song that no one knows the words to and toasted Camille. The bells from the church next to my dorm went off for a few minutes, which was cool. And there were a few fireworks in town(We are at the highest point in the city and can see pretty much everything). What was really cool was these red balls floating hundreds of feet in the air and looking like UFO's. They turned out to be flares, which are apparently really fun to look at. By 12:30 I had walked Mercer home and was retiring for some sleep.

Sunday, we didnt do much, movies and such and things to keep everyones minds occupied. I am writing a paper now for tommorow and have to write what I did for Christmas for my Swahili class by 5. My exams start on Sunday I think and I believe I am done by like the 13th. I changed plane tickets today and will be back in Jacksonville on March 5. Take care and Happy New Years

Matt

Camille Bouquet

2005-12-31T10:06:00.000+03:00

Tuesday afternoon my friend Camille and her mother and father were in a bad car accident outside of Arusha in northern Tanzania. I spent Christmas weekend with them and had Christmas dinner with them. We rode the ferry back to Dar es Salaam together on monday morning. Camille was taken to Arusha hospital and then transferred to the hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. She has been unconscious and is on life support. We have been dealing with no absolutes and cannot really get in touch with who we need to. The US Embassy has failed the students here on a level hard to explain. Im not sure what they do but they are no help and as far as I am concerned can go straight back to the US because they arent helping us and are certainly not helping Tanzanians, so they dont actually do anything. That has been very disconcerting and I have been disapointed in my country and how they help their citizens.

Camille's mother broke her leg and pelvis but came through surgery ok. Her father hurt his back but can make the decisions that need to be made. They have taken her off life support and she will pass away sometime today. Camille is 20 years old and a student at Barnard in NYC. Shes a hilarious person. Mercer was her best friend and she cannot handle any of this. I suppose Im kind of in charge of things for everyone here, which is good because it keeps me occupied. I guess just keep Camille and her family in your thoughts and prayers, thanks.

Matt

Boxing Day

2005-12-26T16:02:00.000+03:00

Well it was a very unusual and memorable Christmas, and at absolutely no point did it feel like Christmas. We had dinner at Forodhani Gardens, an outdoor eating bonanza with 50+ food vendors, mostly selling the same things, Tuna, Snapper, Octopus, Squid, Barracuda, Shark, Mishikaki. That was good, but kind of annoying because of the increased number of tourists, people were hustling us constantly. Many seemed to be under the influence of one or a combination of alcohol, marijuana, glue(a cheap and common high) and any number of other substances. That was funny and I can't count the number of times on Saturday I was offerred Bangi, Ganj, Dope, Malawi Wowi, gets old after a while. I had Barracuda and Shark and we were eventually overcharged for our food, but not much you can do about that. Saturday night we had hoped to hear Christmas carols played by a live band, but they turned out to play bar band songs such as Lionel Richie's "Hello, Is it me your looking for?" and Tanzanian stalwarts such as "Mpenzi Nakupenda"(Lover, I love you always). Mercer and myself headed back early to the Pyramid Hotel and were greeted with Christmas cards by the amazing lady who works the desk there. All the guests got personal Christmas cards. I cannot count the number of times I was wished Merry Christmas by Muslims this weekend, very interesting. Sunday we woke up at 8 to head over to the East Coast to go to the beach. I had not been to this part of the island and the drive over is nice. You go through a forest that is one of the few homes in the world to the endangered Collobus Monkeys, much bigger than the Vervits I see on campus. The beaches on Zanzibar's east coast are world renowned and I was not dissapointed. Great white sand and blue-green water, atleast as good if not better than any beach I have ever been to. Had a great day there, and at one point we walked out in to the ocean, maybe a half mile, with the water rarely reaching my chest. The waves were breaking maybe a mile off shore, very beautiful. Got back in to Stone Town, just about an hour west, and we all met up at Mercury's again for a nice Christmas dinner. The service was stunning for a tourist locale, on par with anything I have experienced in Tanzania in slowness, and never seeing a waiter. The food was good however and after being there for a few hours I was pretty exhausted. We took the 7:30 ferry this morning and by 10:30 this morning I was back in my bed at Chuo Kikuu and enjoying a nice nap.

Not sure how this happens when it is consistently 90 degrees but I have a cold, pretty mind boggling really. Nothing bad, but not something I really expected to happen. We had no school today because it is Boxing Day and I have a bunch of school work to do this week, before the semester wraps up. Merry Christmas again and Happy New Year to all.

Christmas Eve

2005-12-24T14:09:00.000+03:00

Christmas Eve

Woke up at 5:30 on Friday to catch the ferry to Zanzibar. I saved $30 each way because I am a Tanzanian resident(officially until September). I really like saying that. So this is the one benefit I get from it. The ferry took less than 2 hours and the seas were pretty calm. On the way over they showed Dumb & Dumber. I couldn’t believe it and didn’t think the humor would be cross cultural and cross the language barrier. Literally almost everyone on the ferry was watching it and the lady down the row from me, who is maybe a 40 year old Tanzanian woman was cracking up hysterically through the whole movie.

Anyways by 9:30 we were in Stone Town and after passing through customs we went to our hotel to put our stuff down. The Pyramid Hotel is great, really cheap, nice people, mosquito nets, communal baths but they are very clean, and included breakfast every morning served by the nicest old man around. We had lunch at Archipelago Restaurant and I had pueza(octopus). It’s a strange sensation when the little puckers come off in your mouth but its great food. Went back to the hotel for a nap and then some reading on the roof. All of us(myself, Mercer, Rob, Florian(Austrian), Tony and his parents, and Camille and her parents) headed over to Mercury’s for dinner. It is named after Freddie Mercury of Queen who was born a few blocks away here in Zanzibar. Great food and watched the sun set on the Indian Ocean. Hard to beat. I headed back early, through the narrow streets of Stone Town, between buildings constructed well over 100 years ago. A little reading and then hit the hay.

As I write this I’m across the street from the Harbor, looking out at the Indian Ocean and enjoying the nice sea breeze. Today have been Christmas shopping for Mercer and just had some Middle Eastern food. I think tonight we will eat fresh fish outside at Forodhani Gardens and then go to a club/bar called Sweet Eazy which is featuring Christmas songs and Santa Claus himself(smart man, tired of the cold at the North Pole). Enjoying the nice breezes here and will be heading to East Coast of Zanzibar tomorrow to spend Christmas on the nice white sand beaches. Have a very Merry Christmas, and again Kwanzaa doesn’t exist, haha.
Matt

Recent Pics

2005-12-17T10:14:00.000+03:00

Thanksgiving in Dar es Salaam

Some ruins

Kilwa Masoko Street

Drying Fish on Songo Mnara Beach

Napping on a Dhow(Indian Ocean)

Sunrise Kilwa Masoko

Thanksgiving Chefs

Thursday

2005-12-15T11:54:00.000+03:00

Im in town right now, using a bit faster internet, changing my flight hopefully, picked up a package. It takes about an hour for me to get downtown. I live on the 4th floor of my dorm, which has a windy staircase, outside of course, although covered. I talk to the cleaning lady, who washes out the bathrooms every day. Sometimes we have guards at the bottom of our building. Sometimes we dont, its hard to predict. Sometimes they are asleep and/or passed out from drinking too much Konyagi on the job. The guards are really cool for the most part and help us with our Swahili, although they typically get blank responses from us.

I head down the hill in front of our building, occasionally running in to the clan of monkeys, or a mongoose. At the base of the hill is the Container bus stop. This is where I get on the dalla-dalla. Sometimes they are too crowded and I dont like to stand in a minivan so I wait for the next one. The dalla dalla stops every couple hundred meters to let people off or pick up more people. We wind around campus until we reach the gate. It is manned by guards, they dont check vehicles entering the campus, but when we are leaving the Dalla Dalla has to stop and the guards peer inside. I have absolutely no idea what they are looking for and they dont seem to really care, but they do it anyways. from there we get on Sam Nujoma road, which is 2 lane, lots of potholes and takes us past the Mwenge arts market and to the Mwenge Market. We disembark there and walk around the dusty market to the Posta Dalla, just 100 meters away. People tend to ignore me and the people at Mwenge are used to seeing the foreign University students, I have found that saying I am a University Student studying here gets me credibility immediately and differentiates me from a tourist. The bus leaves when it is full and we get on Old Bagamoyo road. Go past Millenium Towers and some foreign restaurants. The road then becomes Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road(Tanzania's second president 1985-1995) The road eventually goes past the beach, but it has a big tidal variation and stinks like the intercoastal and sewage water. Not a place to swim but a nice view. Shortly after we come in to the city center and go past the airline offices, government offices, some embassies, and other assorted businesses. Arriving at Posta(at the post office) get off and then walk to wherever I need to go in town. Internet, food, grocery, whatever. Takes about an hour to get in to Posta from the time i leave my dorm. Not bad at all. Sometimes good music including a very popular Nigerian song called "African Queen"

My friend Jim leaves tommorow and some people will be leaving throughout the next couple of weeks. Will be a little strange not seeing these people who I have spent the last 3 and a half months with and have gotten to know so well. Here is a few more pictures and I should have a bunch up this weekend.

Matt

Mt. Meru-Arusha

Chagua CCM Chagua Kikwete and Kilwa Kisiwani

2005-12-14T09:18:00.000+03:00

I have today, Wednesday, off from school because of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections. CCM will win, and Jakaya Kikwete will be the President of Tanzania. Hopefully the process will be violence free, but surely problems will arise somewhere. The US Embassy has told us to be careful and what not, but no real problems anticipated. I talked to a number of people yesterday who said they would not be voting because it didnt matter. It is hard to argue with that logic.

I have made arrangements to go to Zanzibar on the Dec. 23-26. Should be great and will be right in Stone Town. Anyways here is what I did the rest of last weekend.

Saturday Morning we left our guesthouse at 9, went to the market and purchased Pineapple and Chapati and water to get us through the day. We then walked about a mile to the end of the road where the harbor is. The 5 of us, along with a Italian woman who lives on Zanzibar and her boyfriend boarded a dhow and headed for Songo Mnara, about 2 hours away. It is only 8 km, but traveling by dhow is a slow way to travel, but very nice. We were in inlets, similar to the intercoastal all the way, with the Indian Ocean opening out in front of us at times. We arrived at Songo Mnara and saw a small fishing camp, where local fisherman stay from time to time. There were many fish drying on a table, and naturally the smell was not fantastic. We walked up the beach and then in to a path with knee deep water. There were mudskipper fish, but being saltwater there was no reason to worry about tropical water borne diseases. Walked through this little path for about 10 minutes and then it opened up in to the ruins at Songo Mnara. There were many coconut trees as well as cattle grazing around the ruins. The ruins are not in great shape, but their setting is amazing. Built around the 14-15th Centuries, you can sense the history of a once thriving city. Old Mosques, houses, all set amongst palm trees, baobab trees, and other huge trees that have grown up amongst the ruins. We had fresh coconut and coconut meat here. Not a huge fan of fresh coconut but it was pretty good. It is safe to say that we are probably among less than 100 hundred people to visit Songo Mnara this year.

From Songo Mnara we headed north to Kilwa Kisiwani(Kilwa on the Island). Took about 90 minutes to get back, but beautiful sailing. To the west you can see coastal highlands rising on the mainland. We arrived at Kilwa Kisiwani, on a sand bar that was perpendicular to the Island, walked about 100 yards on the sandbar up to the shore, blue-green water, very tropical. We walked about 10 minutes to reach the ruins, fortunately it was low tide, so it took less time to get anywhere. The ruins at Kilwa are a UNESCO World Heritage site and are relatively well preserved. They are very extensive and stretch in some degree for miles. Many old mosques and some huge palaces. Some were originally 3 stories high. Built around the same time as Songo Mnara. People live on Kilwa Kisiwani, and over the years some of the stones from the ruins have been used to build houses on the island. Their is a 16th century Portugese fort that was renovated by the Omani Sultans in the late 18th Century that is is pretty massive and the famous building from the site. We spent some time in the west ruins and then walked about 20 minutes, on the beach that would have been covered by water a few hours earlier. Beautiful, amongst mangrove swamps, and rising hills. We reached the bottom of the remaining ruins and climbed up the hill to reach them. There is a mosque there that was built in the 11th century, so not to long after the beginning of Islam. The ruins here overlook the harbor and the Indian Ocean, the view is amazing and I think the Omani's had great taste in where to build there palaces. At this palace there was a swimming pool that once contained 5,000 gallons, all brought up the hill by slaves. The ruins here were really cool, but we were getting tired. We went to see one more site, but to reach it we had to run through tons of ants. This was hilarious but the ant bites were not great. Millions of ants, and even sprinting they managed to climb on to my feet.

We waited about 30 minutes for our dhow to pick us up, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, so it took some time. We headed back to Kilwa Masoko about 7 after spending an entire day in the sun and viewing great ruins. Got up at 5 on Sunday and boarded a small bus back to Dar. We traveled on better roads this time and the journey was much safer, shorter, and more relaxing(though that is a relative term). Made it back to Dar at about 1, exhausted and took a cab back from Temeke bus station which is south Dar, near the airport.

Not sure what I have planned for between now and next Friday, when I will be heading by ferry back to Zanzibar, cannot wait for that. Beach and 19th century Arab buildings. Interestingly Zanzibar is over 95% Muslim, but it is a popular Christmas destination, for somewhere in East Africa anyways. Merry Christmas to all, I miss Christmas music, haha. No big Christmas trees growing here in Tanzania, that I know of atleast.

Matt

Update and Kilwa

2005-12-11T16:56:00.000+03:00

Been a while since I've posted, I guess thats my bad and a little bad luck on the internet connection stuff. My Malaria got better pretty quick, but I still hope to avoid getting it again.

Anyways, past couple of weeks I have watched some football including Manchester United's shock exit from European football this season. Watched that on Wednesday night with my roommate and about 10 of his friends in our room, everyone left very sad. But more importantly we had Friday off for Independence Day(December 9, 1961, I believe the Queen was in Dar es Salaam for the ceremony). Myself, Rob, Kevin, Kate, and Mercer decided to trek down to SE Tanzania to visit the historical sites at Kilwa Kisiwani. They were built between the 13th and 15th century and was a the center of an empire that controlled gold as far south as Great Zimbabwe and Ivory as far north as Kenya.

We awoke at 4:30 Thursday to catch the 5:30 bus to Nangurukuru. Our bus line was Classic Mamlo's, which as it turns out is located at the back of the Ubungo Bus Station. At about 6:20 the bus appeared and with a running start got started and we boarded. It would be very difficult to describe this particular traveling experience. We were in the 2nd to back row, generally you want to avoid the back of the bus here, not a great ride. Anyways the bus was probably built in the early 70's. It looked kind of like it was falling apart and this interior showed this as well. As we boarded there was still some smoke in the cabin. The bust was mostly full and then we stopped at Temeka on the outskirts of Dar to pick up the rest of the passengers. I would say this bus was designed to tightly fit about 60 people. That having been said we had about 90-95 on this bus. People sitting on buckets in the aisle, a guy standing virtually on top of me. It was hilarious. As we got going it became apparent that this road down the coast would not be paved, and would be made up of dirt and rocks. Since the bus didnt have any shocks I would compare the hours from 7-1 very much like a rickety roller coaster, except with some holes in the floor and us flying around. Our seat kind of became detached and the guy behind us actually cut his head on something.

As bad as that sounds, it was an adventure and when traveling in Tanzania I have found that no matter what the conditions are the final result is always well worth it. After an hour breakdown we made it to Nangurukuru, and took a cab in to Kilwa Masomo. Kilwa Masomo is a sleepy town situated on a Peninsula on the Indian Ocean. The drive in was beautiful with sweeping views of the Indian Ocean. We checked in to a guesthouse. 9 dollars for a self contained double room about a km from the beach. After a quick nap we headed down to the beach. Not too many people live in Kilwa Masoko(Kilwa of the Market) but they were very friendly and the children loved saying "Bye Bye, Bye Bye" to us, the only english they know I suppose. The beach is situated in a bay with mangrove swamps on one side. There was no one there, except some goats and cattle when we arrived. We had a nice fish dinner and a strange tourist place that doesnt generally serve food to people unless they are staying there. But they were nice and accomodating and we had great fresh fish, without the skeleton, scales, and face as samaki is typically served here.

Awoke Friday morning and headed down to the beach for a nice relaxing day in the sun, reading and swimming. Had a great time just hanging around and we went back in to town to one of only about 3 food places to have some chipsi-mayai. At 7 we headed down to the beach, got lost along the way and ended up walking all through the neighborhood type streets. People were extremely friendly, except for the children, who no doubt are not used to seeing white skinned people. Finally made it to the beach where we built a bonfire and hung out looking at stars and Venus, which is very bright here right now, probably the same wherever you are. Great time there and then headed back to our sleeping quarters. I will add Saturdays excursion tommorow. But it was a blast, ruins, ancient mosques, 2 hour dhow ride in the Indian Ocean, swimming, beaches. Great trip, and the return today was better than the trip down. haha.

Go Jags,

Matt

Monday

2005-11-28T21:07:00.000+03:00

The doorknob broke off my classroom door and we were briefly stuck in the room. Karibu Tanzania! I managed to escape though. Me, my friend John(Brown U.) Dan(Fresno State) and Jim(Concordia College, MN) ordered Pizzas last night from a place called Jan's Trattoria. Got them in about 90 minutes via mini-bike and they tasted delicious as we enjoyed our West Wing and Office Space. My malaria is doing better I think, seriously it should be going away. Finished the medicine yesterdayl, and feeling ok, except for headaches. I cant ever give blood again however, which is kind of a bummer, but what can you do. Ive been kind of laying around watching movies, such as Crash with my Tanzanian neighbor(a movie about American race relations, yea I laughed deep down) and Wedding Crashers on a copy that was filmed in a theater and included the laughter of the filmers.

G0ing to watch Monday Night Football in town on satellite(starts at 5 AM here) so go Steelers(my friend Justin is a huge Colts fan).

Have had water 2 days in a row without interruption and power longer than that. Karibu 1st World Tanzania.

Have a great week and I hope you enjoy the Pictures, I enjoyed posing for them.

Matt Stacy

Lots of Pictures

2005-11-26T10:29:00.000+03:00

I previously had almost no pictures on the site, now I have a lot. I hope that they are not too big and dont take forever to load, but enjoy. Most are from my recent trip to Serengeti/Ngorongoro Crater. Some from Zanzibar, which was over 2 months ago, and a few other assorted photos. Hope you find these pictures as exciting and as fun as I had when I was experiencing them. Also, my malaria is not so bad now, my ear hurts. But the medicine helps and I have such a strong will power that even Malaria cannot stop me...ahaha. Ive just laid in bed for a few days.

Thanksgiving:
Had a great Thanksgiving meal on Thursday evening. My first very international Thanksgiving. Maybe 15 Americans, some Norwegians, 10 Tanzanians, and a wacky Canadian who obviously hates my freedom. It was a lot of fun, had spaghetti, some chicken, macaroni, mashed potatoes. All in all a pretty solid Thanksgiving meal, and almost certainly the only Thanksgiving I will have had in Tanzania, with Malaria, on a day that I took a bucket bath. Haha, have a nice weekend and Go Gators

Matt

Pictures Continue

2005-11-26T10:19:00.000+03:00

Chapati, the great breakfast staple

A Pregnant Lion, made funny noises

Baboons cleaning each other...or something like that

Huts outside of Ngorongoro Crater

Inside Ngorongoro Crater

Serengeti Sunset

More Pictures...Pretty Cool Ones Too

2005-11-26T10:08:00.000+03:00

Looking in to Ngorongoro Crater

Moses, Kate, Matt, and Justin in the Safari Cruiser, somewhere between Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park

Lions right next to us in Serengeti National Park

Going up the outside of Ngorongoro Crater

Group in Morogoro, September

Pictures

2005-11-26T09:59:00.000+03:00

Here are some assorted pictures from my friends camera, Sorry if some are really huge, havent figured out how to resize them. Hope this gives some perspective on the voodoo that I do.

The view from out of my window:

Florida Group shot in Stone Town, Zanzibar

Sun going down in Stone Town, Zanzibar

Huge Tree and Safari crew on the edge of Manyara National Park, 50 KM west of Arusha

Me on Halloween

2005-11-26T09:53:00.000+03:00

This is me, my friend Kate from Gainesville, and Christopher from Norway, a fun time had by all.

So You Have A Tropical Disease

2005-11-24T09:37:00.000+03:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I have 2 frozen chickens sitting in my fridge, that will be cooked this evening. Looking forward to it. Also I have Malaria. I got the test done last night. The whole cost for the test, seeing a doctor, 27 pills, everything was 4,000 TSH, which is about $3.75. Crazy. Anyways Malaria isnt so bad, so far and the drugs really help. The reason it kills thousands of people every year is that they have no access to the lifesaving drugs, which I got last night. So its a memorable Thanksgiving for sure. Nothing to worry about and I should be back to normal by early next week hopefully. Again Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the football games.

Matt

A Day In The Life

2005-11-21T20:48:00.000+03:00

I will add some stuff about my trip from a few days ago, but here is what I did today.

6:30-awoke, to music from other rooms(notably Shania Twain, who I will destroy)
I dont think a single Tanzanian student, atleast in my building sleeps in past 6 and 6:30 is deemed the appropriate time for music to be played, loudly...haha. Its actually quite funny.
7:00 The short rainy season started yesterday and it absolutely poured until 7:30, could not see hardly anything out my screen.
8:00 Went to internet cafe nearest my building. Got on to update this site, and research for a test I have tommorow
8:15 Internet ceases to work
8:25 While typing paper Internet connection returns, sparking mass celebration by me.
8:32 Internet goes out, prompting flow of tears from the white person in the computer lab.
9:30 Finish paper, go for breakfast
9:45 Happily enjoying my standard breakfast of Kilimanjaro bottled water(owned by of all companies the Coca-Cola Company) and Chapati basically fried dough with lots of oil, its great.
10:30 Rinse off clothes that had been soaking in my room since yesterday, removing the soapy residue
10:45 Take clothes to roof of Hall 4 to hang them up so they can dry in the sun.
10:46 Encounter posse of Monkeys, maybe 15 of them, including some babies, who have decided to hang out on the roof. Dane Cook would be in heaven and I am too.
10:52 Still staring at the monkeys and hanging my clothes up when one of them does some kind of scowl at me. I run away.
11:15 Take a shower, water still on, bonus for this morning.
12:00 Class, I make a list of Tanzanian cities I have heard of, play the states game, and otherwise zone out of Theory and politics of development, presented by an unintelligible English speaker, who generally shows up for class, but not always.
1:07 Go to my History of globalization class, have this one twice on Monday, and we had agreed last week that the test would take place in the second class of the day
1:08 The test has begun, I was looking forward to the hour before the second class to study. But as the topic was basically to write an essay on American globalization, not a particularly difficult topic, especially since we talk about it most classes and I can see it in effect everyday.
4:00 Watch an episode of the West Wing, on DVD that my friend John has...revel in American glory and the fictional world of the Bartlett White House
5:00 Go to Swahili
5:15 Swahili teacher arrives and lesson ensues
6:00 Go to History of North Africa for a seminar, which is where students present on a topic. Contemplate why I even decided to attend this class, make lists of things.
7:00 Dinner at Cafeteria number 2. Rice and meat, standard fare.
7:25 Wait in line at the ATM machine
7:51 Complete my transaction at the ATM machine.
8:00 Arrive at computer Lab and begin typing this.

10:00 Watch La Revancha, a Spanish language soap opera filmed in Miami and dubbed in English. Every Tanzanian I know watches this ridiculous show that never fails to mention revenge(la revancha) atleast 7 times an episode.
11:00 Probably do a little reading and then sleep.

Thats what a day in my life on campus is like. Its great, not at all like at UF. Patience is a virtue and a great one to have here, as well as being phenomenally laid back. Planning a dinner for Thanksgiving on Thurs. probably no turkey. Will have to explain another strange American holiday to Tanzanian friends(Halloween was obviously a pretty baffling day for the Tanzanians in our building). Going to enjoy it though and hope everyone there does as well, enjoy the food, and the football.

A little more about my trip to N. Tanzania

We spent most of Sunday in the Serengeti, saw 22 different animals, most of the good ones, no rhinos though. As we were leaving we saw a lion on a kopje, which is these huge piles of rocks in the middle of the Serengeti, we were able to get close, and we realized it was very pregnant and had left the pride to give birth(by we realized, I mean our guide realized). I have a short video of it groaning loudly and it was definitely a few hours to a day away from giving birth.

We headed for the eastern exit of the park and went thru the exit. We were very low on funds at this point, so we invested in a can of Baked Beans, a can of Green Peas, a beer for everyone, crackers. We hit the road which gets worse before it gets better. The beer ran thru everyone at the same time, aided by the little bit of Konyagi we had purchased as well. Pulled over quickly and realized we were not going to make it thru Ngorongoro National Park on time and the gates would be closed and we would not make it to the Tiger Tavern where we were staying. Anyhow we continued on with our Eucher card game, a difficult task on the bumpiest road you can imagine, but hilarious for sure. Raced up the outside of the Crater at high and probably very dangerous speeds in an attempt to get out of the park without paying the bribe that would have opened the gate. Saw many Maasai along the way as they inhabit the Crater region moreso than any other part of Tanzania.

We made it out of the park thanks to our smooth talking guide and driver Sam who did an excellent job and is very much a smooth talker. We made it to the Tiger Tavern about 9 and settled in for a quiet night. Kate, Justin, and Tony went to sleep, but I decided to stay up and play pool with Sam and my friend Moses. Eventually I was able to see the "We are the World" music video from the 80's. I laughed hysterically, especially when I saw Dan Ackroyd in the back. Got to sleep around 2, after having multiple Tanzanian men say they needed to set me up with a Tanzanian lady. I got a love letter from a nice young woman at the bar....I wrote one back, it said "labda kesho" maybe tommorow. We left early, and I didnt see my soulmate again, haha. Nice drive back to Arusha where we arrived in the afternoon.

Dealt with the Bus station and our bus tickets. Bus stations here are the worst places to go. People are trying to scam you and your posessions are not safe at all. Its where pickpockets and scam artists hang and make a living and there not fun places to go. Checked back in to the boarding house we stayed on Thursday night. 5,000 TSH per person with a bathroom and shower. Great deal. We then went to Moses' favorite eatery on the outskirts of Arusha. I had a whole leg of goat, mbuzi. Its great stuff and Im gonna find me a good goat somewhere in Waldo when I come back to Gainesville. Enjoyed that and a night of mini pool, not little tykes, but not the full size thing either, much harder I think.

Bus back home, where I quickly went to sleep.

Last weekend I went to the beach on Saturday, its beautiful. This weekend, just kind of hung around campus ate at a place called Spurs, which is like applebees and is in SeaCliff, which is not Dar es Salaam at all. Its the most surreal place I have ever been. Its like a very nice all enclosed shopping/food center. Sad to imagine that the only exposure many people get to Dar es Salaam is SeaCliff, because its not at all accurrate and is kind of disturbing, but it is beautiful and the hotel is on a seacliff and is gorgeous. Also, the food was good.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone, stay warm, it should be about 91-92 here on Thursday, the rain in the mornings is beautiful, and I get to see monkeys so I get the last laugh. Check back here soon, gonna try to do a better job.

Matt

Matt & Daniel

2005-11-18T01:58:00.000+03:00

The Serengeti...And My Rant

2005-11-13T18:24:00.000+03:00

Being in Tanzania is by far the best thing I have ever done in my life. No other decision comes even comparably close. I spent last weekend on a once in a lifetime trip to the Serengeti, a trip, that if I so desired I could take next weekend for a minimal cost. Being here for over 2 months now, and having decided that I will be in East Africa till the beginning of March atleast (including stops in Mombassa, Nairobi, Kampala, Kigali, Mwanza, Addis Ababba, Lusaka, Lake Victoria, Victoria Falls, Stone Town, and other places) has broadened my horizons to a pretty spectacular point. Being here and talking with people who live on the other side of the world(+8 hours from EST and +9 from Grandma, Grandpa, na Chuck na Linda). It is time for people in the United States to wake up. I'm not someone who studies abroad and constantly criticizes the United States(their are very few countries in the world that offer a study abroad program in East Africa).

The rest of the world knows that our President is not an overly intelligent person. With an approval rating of 37% its hard to argue that W represents a majority of Americans. We are in Iraq and I don't advocate just bailing out, but this adminstration has lied from the get go, and if you're still buying the rhetoric, then I don't know what to tell you, but the rest of the world gets it and sees what is happening. If you believe in Hell, then you must expect to see George W. Bush on the seat next to Lucifer. Sorry, but preaching Christian values and practicing them in real life are two different tales. Sorry for the rant, also Im so glad I havent had to deal with any T.O. bullshit, celebrity babies, other things that dont effect anyone's life...............on to my supersweet trip

Woke up early on Sunday(about 5 A.M.) We got our room and there was maybe 40 bugs in it, nice Im sure but nonetheless they were there. So Sam swept them out, and we were doing ok. The shower wasnt working, but it happens. We got up at about 5:30. Waited for our safari gari(car/jeep) for a while, haha. Nothing happens to fast and we were rolling by 7. Stopped for a quick breakfast. Have to mention that when we went to sleep, it was in the middle of the Serengeti. And even going to the bathroom, which is not a big deal, you could hear the Hyenas and wild dogs in the background that would gladly rip out any bone marrow that was available.

Sorry, Internet is 'bout to go out, but I will finish my post of Serengeti hopefully tommorow. The most beautiful place on Earth, quite possibly, Go Jags................Matthew L. Stacy

My Amazing Weekend

2005-11-09T15:47:00.000+03:00

Well I just returned to Dar yesterday (Tuesday) after a great time in the north of Tanzania.

I met up with my friends Tony and Justin at about 4 on Friday, after spending the day wandering around Arusha. They came up with my friend Moses whose dad owns a safari company. By 5 o'clock Friday I was all of a sudden headed out west to visit Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. The drive out of Arusha was very beautiful and the road(paid for and paved by the Japanese government a few years ago) was very nice. Got some cool pictures of the sun setting on Mt. Meru which overlooks Arusha and is Tanzania's second highest mountain. It was about a 2 hour drive to a place which translates to english as "The River of Mosquitoes" which is about 30 km west of Ngorongoro National Park. It was cool there, and the town name proved not to be true. Learned how to play Eucher, which is quite an enjoyable game.

Saturday we left early and headed toward Ngorongoro Crater, which is one of the world's largest Calderas(sunken volcanoes) and home to a wide variety of animals. Coming up the side of the crater is beautiful. It is a lush forest that goes on for ages. After about 20 minutes climbing up the slope, we got our first glimpse of the Crater. It is absolutely gigantic, and it is hard to make out any details of what lies on the floor of the crater. Im not sure how high up we were, but it was high.

Ngorongoro National Park is the home base for the Masaai people. Probably one of Africa's most recognizable groups of people. They were booted out of Serengeti earlier in the 20th Century and are now allowed use of Ngorongoro to graze their cattle. They are a traditional society that is based on cattle grazing and livestock is the sole factor in status among the community. My friend Kate and I talked to this really nice older man who had spent 1971 in Oregon. He has 2 wives and 10 children in Tanzania...and also a daughter in the US, the result of his time there. It is really cool to be living in the US but your father is roaming around Tanzania with his cattle and 2 wives. Really nice man, who spoke great english.

Anyways we made our descent in to the crater and quickly we saw lots of animals. There is all sorts of different little self contained eco-systems, from jungles, to salt flats, and just plain grassland. Its so beautiful and the crater walls are all around you. We saw lots of zebras, wildebeests(Mufasa Killers, for those familiar with The Lion King) monkeys, baboons, elephants in the jungle portion, lots of hippos, hyenas, a Rhino, a cheetah. It was an awesome start to the trip.

We left Ngorongoro in the afternoon, and headed to Serengeti. We stopped at a Masaai village and talked to the people there for a while. The road to Serengeti is terrible and is all rocky. It was fun though and it is impossible to explain the views as you come down the outside slope of the crater in to the vast stretch of land that makes up the western Ngorongoro conservation area and the start of the Serengeti. Unfortunately it is not the time of year for the wildebeest migration which is generally considered the coolest time of year to be here, but that having been said we had an amazing time.

About 20 minutes after paying our park fees to enter Serengeti, from our sweet Land Rover with flip up roofs that allowed us to stand and look out the top, so cool I spotted 2 Lions playing about 100 yards away. We stopped and were the only car in sight and could look for miles and miles in any direction. 2 other Lions were quickly spotted and they began moving closer to our Land Rover. Before we knew it, the Lions, all female were drinking water right next to the road and about 20 feet away from us. It was basically the coolest thing ever. A few minutes later the male Lion approached, and to top off an already mind-boggling 20 minutes, he passed right in front of our car and looked at us for a bit, but basicalyl paid no attention to us. This all took place right as we had entered the Serengeti. It was an insane day. We ended up staying in a guesthouse. It had bugs in the room but we shooed them out. We got up early Sunday and embarked on another day of safari.

I will post the details of Sunday and Monday tommorow. But a preview includes tons of giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, looking for 50 miles, endless plain(which is what Siringet means in Masaai) me eating an entire Goat Leg, absolutely delicious. Also a pregnant lion sighting and grunting, baboons, monkeys, crazy looking lizards, a 9 hour bus ride, strange bus rules, Tanzanian pool, hilarious 1980's music videos, including that Bryan Adams song from Robin Hood, rural hookers, eggs, a hot shower, the best damn pizza in Africa again, fun, beautiful scenery, and great company. Check back tommorow. One of the best weekends of my life, easily.

Back to shule.

Here is the lyrics to the Toto song "Africa" its geography is not great, but its cool.

I hear the drums echoing tonight But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation She's coming in twelve-thirty flight Her moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation I stopped an old man along the way Hoping to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies He turned to me as if to say: "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you" [Chorus:] It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do I bless the rains down in Africa Gonna take some time to do the things we never had The wild dogs cry out in the night As they grow restless longing for some solitary company I know that I must do what's right Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become [Repeat chorus]

2005-11-06T05:13:00.000+03:00

2005-11-05T16:01:00.000+03:00

Arusha

2005-11-04T12:27:00.000+03:00

I left the University of Dar es Salaam campus at 5 yesterday (Thursday) morning. Caught a dalladalla to the Ubungo bus station and we paid a guy 50 cents to help us locate our bus, nothing is free of course, ha. Our bus, suprisingly left on time at 6 and we got hooked up with the seats in the front, we had some leg room and didnt ride in the back where the ride is rougher. The road to Arusha is pretty good and quite scenic. Saw miles and miles of Sisal and it got increasingly green as we made it closer. About 90 minutes west of Arusha is Kilimanjaro, which rises from the savanna and monstrously huge. I couldnt see the top because it was in the clouds, but it was pretty neat. You could see it from a long ways away, as one might imagine. It is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world and has beautiful green slopes up as far as I could see. We arrived in Arusha at 4, so it was exactly 10 hours. Arusha is listed in Lonely Planet as the home of "street touts" who try to woo you on to real or non-existent safaris as this is the major departure for Serengeti and other National parks. So we got mobbed getting off the bus, but that is pretty typical. We ate a place called PizzArusha, which claimed to serve "The best damn pizza in Africa" Quite a claim, but it was pretty solid pizza. This morning we had a nice breakfast for 3.75 total, for 4 of us, not bad at all. Our room is 5 bucks each and we have a bed and I got to take a lukewarm shower, for the first time since August. Tried to go to Rwandan War Crimes Tribunal this morning but it is closed because of Eid, the Muslim Holiday. Just been walking around the city and getting offerred ugly overpriced paintings, and the like. Not sure what else we have planned, but I was pretty excited about seein Kilimanjaro, even if it was from a distance. Heading back to Dar on Sunday morning and another 10 hour bus ride, which wasnt actually bad at all. Going to the Arusha Declaration Museum now, which commemorates Nyerere's Arusha Declaration which proposed his socialist policies in 1967. Ujamaa was an economic failure but united the people of Tanzania, all 127 tribes. I just saw a paper that said US doesnt recognize Zanzibar poll results. The subtitle said CCM questioned the 2000 Presidential election in the US. Obviously the point being that the US has little show as an example of totally fair and effective elections. I think the violence on Zanzibar has calmed down and CCM was overwhelmingly the winners, so their was no doubt some trickery at work. Let everyone know what comes of that and Im sure you dont here anything at all about the US calling out Tanzanian elections in the US. From Arusha, a very green and pleasantly cool city.

Matt

My Life...Since I last wrote on Here

2005-11-02T09:13:00.000+03:00

Again, sorry for the delay in posting time, but anyone who knows me knows how important I am and how much I have to do to maintain my high degree of cool. I am going to try and include a picture on here of my roommate Daniel. He is the man, pretty much no way around that.

About 10 days ago, our team of International students took on a team of Tanzanians in soccer. I fully expected the game to be hilarious and a disgrace for us, considering that well over half of our 11 man team has very little footballing skills. However, thanks to superb play from our 3 Ghanaians and are Norwegian striker we ended up winning something like 8-4. I added basically nothing, but reveled in the glory. I also was extremely sore the following morning.

My classes are pretty ridiculous and we refer to our history professor as Bwana Historia, meaning Mr. History, because as far as we can figure out, he teaches virtually all the history classes at UDSM and knows almost nothing about any of them. Its generally fun and horribly sad at the same time. Last Friday, myself and some friends went to Italian food, called Jan's Trattoria(Im not sure Jan's is a typical Italian name, but this is a city home to a clothing shop called Jelly Disabled Fashion, not even sure what that means). It was pretty good food and I was pleased with my Pizza and spaghetti. The next morning, Saturday, I went looking for used clothes and my friend Olaf went looking for soccer cleats. We went to the Bridge, forget what it is called in Swahili, where lots of things can be found. But, unfortunately I didnt find any good clothes. I did see a number of University of Florida related merchandise, which made me laugh.

The election in Tanzania and Zanzibar for President and Parliament was supposed to be held on Sunday. Unfortunately an opposition candidate for Vice President passed away on Thursday so the elections have been postponed until Dec. 18. I actually dont think their was any foul play involved, but I have another 6 weeks of CCM paraphanalia everywhere. The elections were held on the 2 islands of Zanzibar(Unguja and Pemba) where CCM won almost everything. There has been violence there and video of police beating up people was on BBC International. This was kind of expected. Apparently there was some rioting near the Kariakoo Market in Dar es Salaam, so that could be worse right before Christmas. The TV stations are mostly state-controlled as are most of the newspapers so its hard to get full stories on many things.

I got 2 packages from my parents last week, one took a month to get here, no real suprise there. So for the last week Ive been eating the candy my Mom is so famous for and Goldfish, its very nice. Last Saturday I went to watch a football match with my roommate at this place down an alley near the Ubungo Bus Station. Im of course the only white person there, but no problems. Manchester United sufferred its worse loss in something like 4 years, so it was not good, but always fun to watch anything with 200 people on a little 22 inch tv.

I had to my first seminar presentation on Monday evening for History of North Africa. I met with my partner Erasto on Sunday. He is from southern Tanzania near the border with Mozambique. Very nice guy who has taught me some new Swahili phrases. I think our presentation went well, even though Bwana Historia looked like he wanted to die throughout the whole thing.

I did laundry most of yesterday and will do it today as well. I needed to do it about a week ago, but I didnt, mostly because Im lazy. Its actually kind of an enjoyable experience and you can only pull clothes out of the dirty pile for so long before you get completely disgusted with yourself. Last night I ate dinner at the Emirates Building, named after my favorite airline in the whole world, it was good Indian food and you eat on the roof, so its a pretty nice environment. I continue to have a great time, despite the level of my classes. Im going to be going to Arusha tommorow, we have a 4 day weekend for the Muslim holiday of Eid, the end of Ramadan, its about a 9 hour bus ride, and the low temperature there is something like 48 at night, so not sure what Im going to do for clothes. Its about an hour from Mt. Kilimanjaro and the long bus ride is supposed to be pretty beautiful. Im going to try and go see Kilimanjaro so I can sing that song "Africa" by the fine 1980's band Toto. May see some animals and we may also go to the Rwandan War Crimes Tribunal which is held in Arusha, that would be pretty interesting I think, Im going with my friends Rob and Kate from Florida and maybe my friend Kevin from Columbia University in NY. Its supposed to be a great city and very beautiful so I will post Sunday or Monday when I get back.

In the meantime...the BBC Focus on Africa radio show airs 3 hours in Africa and every hour they have a segment called "Why I love Africa" So I decided to write things about why I love Tanzania, and many of these would surely apply to other places on the continent. I will post them regularly for laughs and to give more perspective on my life here, maybe. Have fun, and glad the Gators beat UGA. I watched the game live, no...no I didnt. Maybe below is a picture of me and my roomie Daniel. Nibb High Football Rules.

2005-10-25T05:57:00.000+03:00

Sunday

2005-10-23T10:20:00.000+03:00

Havent had too much exciting going on lately, so thats why no posts. First few days of this week mostly just went to class, checked out some books from the library on campus and hung around. Watched soccer games on Tuesday and Wednesday night in my room with roommate and some of his friends. We get along quite well and all his friends are very nice as well. Thursday me and 2 of my friends studying here through Brown University went to Slipway on Msisani Peninsula. It is a nice shopping center in the north part of town that is inhabited predominantly by tourists and people doing business in Dar. Its quite a shame that a majority of foreigners only see that part of the city. Anyways I bought a few books at a nice bookshop and we had a delicious Japanese meal. Atleast once a week it is necessary to get off campus for some food variety.

I am a big fan of chipsi Mayai which is french fries and an egg fried together. Hard to picture but its really good and maybe I will make it back at home. Friday some of us from the Florida program went to place in downtown called the Florida Pub. Its kind of a grungy pub and the power was out in downtown so it was quite warm. I had a Florida burger, which apparently is a beef patty with an egg on top, maybe not authentic Florida fare, but it wasnt bad. Went to the European film festival that is going on at the Mwenge movie theater. It is free and has been running for 2 weeks now. I saw a British movie called Dirty, Pretty Things. It was pretty good. The theater is really nice but the only American movie showing right now is Dukes of Hazard so I will wait to check out an American flick.

I came back Friday night after the movie and we had no water or power, so it was a little dark on campus, but I was tired and just went to sleep. Im not sure why or what causes the power/water to go out, but it happens a few times a week. Not really a big deal though. Saturday morning I met a guy from Uganda who came up to me and invited me to watch the Manchester United soccer game in his room, because they have a satellite dish. So me and my friend from Norway Olaf watched the football match in a small dorm room with about 10 Ugandans and 5 Tanzanians. It was a lot of fun, even though it ended in a draw. We are starting and International student soccer team to play against the other faculties, so I think we got a lot better by recruiting the Ugandan and Ghanaian students. We are going to practice this afternoon so I will be sleeping great tonight.

Thats about it, the election is a week from today, but its very corrupt system. They basically do as little as possible to be democratic to avoid the wrath of America and other countries so hellbent on democracy. So the winner is already known and will be maybe 80% or something totally ridiculous. Have a nice week at work and school and could someone from UF tell me when registration is or if it has started. Asante sana.

Kwa herini,
Matt

Photo of Dar Skyline

2005-10-22T18:22:00.000+03:00

A view of the city. Look for an update tomorrow.

Weekend

2005-10-16T09:27:00.000+03:00

I hope everyone had a great Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Day on Friday. He was the founding father of Tanzania and is revered by every single person in Tanzania I think. Anyway we got his birthday off and I spent the day like Nyerere would have wanted...by going to the beach.

Thursday night I had Indian food for the first time, lots of Indian places in Dar and this was a pretty good one, apparently. The food is great, very spicy, but a nice change of pace. I got up at 7 to pay my respects to Nyerere, i.e. leave campus to go to the beach. I went to Kipepeyo Beach which takes about 2 hours to get to, by 4 different transports. I went about a month ago, but this time I stayed in a little bungalow right on the beach on Friday night. It was very nice, only 20,000 TSH for a double room, and literally right on the beach. Got a good bit of sun, and pretty much just relaxed on Friday and Saturday, before stopping off in town for a late lunch and then returning to campus. It is definitely nice to get away from campus for a few days. Not sure what I have planned for this week, but Im going to try to make it up to Nairobi, Kenya in a few weeks to see some friends there. I think it is about a 14 hour bus ride, so that should be fun, but I would like to see another of East Africa's biggest cities. I guess thats about it, the beach is beautiful, greenish-blue water, white sand, very picturesque. Have a nice week.

Matt

Wednesday

2005-10-12T13:13:00.000+03:00

Sorry the delay in posting. Cant seem to find an open computer on campus and the power has been off so its been closed for a few days. Im posting from Millenium Towers again, and am going to grab a great South African burger when I am done. Anyways here is what I have been up to in a country where nothing makes complete sense, or any sense for that matter...ahah.

Saturday morning left campus at about 9:30 to go to the Kariakoo Market, the cities biggest which has food, clothes, pretty much everything. I got a nice shirt from what amounts to a store here and then we came up the GoodWill jackpot. If you like to shop for hilariously random t-shirts at Goodwill then the Kariakoo market is like heaven, its basically Goodwill on steroids. For about 80 cents each, I was able to pick up a QVC Network take your child to work day t shirt, and a few other hilarious items. I got a Brazil soccer jersey for 3 bucks, really comfortable. We were with some Tanzanian friends, so they helped us get some better prices and I got a kanga, what the women where around there waists with the future President of Tanzania's face on it(Jakaya Kikwete). His face is plastered up everywhere in Dar, and it will haunt me the rest of my days, but just in case I would ever forget what he looks like, I know how have his Kanga. Im still trying to get a CCM campaign poster. They are the ruling party and will continue to be. I have never seen any campaign ads in Dar es Salaam for any other parties. In Zanzibar the CUF opposition party has a chance to win the Zanzibari presidency, but lately their supporters have been shot at with tear gas and live bullets by the CCM's police force. Its really a joke of an election process, and not really at all exciting to be here for like I was hoping. Kikwete will be president on July 30 and hopefully very few people will be killed in the process.

Saturday night we went to our T.A.'s house for home made dinner, it was great. Banana stew, Chapati, Pilau, great stuff and I also got to watch the England soccer game. Sunday I didnt do too much, had some homemade guacamole, which was very nice and ended up watching Italian Job.

Class all day Monday. I have the same professor for both of my history classes and I feel like I might know more than he does, which is not a good feeling. He seems to read information aloud that he admittedly has found online. I guess the internet only has truthful, reliable, and insightful ideas(just look at this site for examples of that)...haha. So thats not so great, my Swahili prof. didnt show up for class on Monday, but maybe this evening he will. Who knows, I have no idea how anyone graduates from UDSM but Im so impressed that they are able to deal with all the nonsense, but I guess they are more used to it.

I feel that common sense doesnt exist in many cases, and if you try to find out why something is occurring you might lose your mind. It is kind of annoying that people rush the classroom while you're still exiting, but I dont hope to change that trend anytime soon. I watched Mean Girls last night, which is actually pretty funny and has some Swahili words in it, check it out. At one point Lindsey Lohans character asks "Have you ever walked in to a room and felt that everyone was talking about you/or staring at you?" The answer is supposed to be no, and that was the case for me about 6 weeks ago. Not a day goes by that this does not occur a number of times. Just when I might forget that Im mzungu, some kind Tanzanian reminds me that I am a foreigner. It can get annoying, but again, it happens...all the time.

At Kariakoo market on Saturday, I did have 2 people try to reach in to my pockets, which is what that market is known for. I kept my hands close to my pockets, so I felt what they were trying to do, and kept my wallet and phone. A friend of mine, Kate from UF had here purse and phone stolen out of the car she was riding in. Basically a guy came by the car, opened the door and took her purse before anyone realized what happened. So that was kind of a bummer for her. If you shout Mweze which is thief, atKariakoo and other markets(atleast if you are a Tanzanian and you yell that you have been robbed) there is a pretty good chance that the person will be chased down, tires will be thrown around them along with gasoline and they will be set ablaze. Im hoping to avoid seeing this while I am here, but it does happen. The theory is that the thief will be out in 2 days from jail, and if you rob from someone in Tanzania, they probably dont have a lot, and it seriously hurts their economic prospects. Pretty wild stuff, but it is fairly well justified by people here I feel.

Lots of people have come down with malaria in the past few days, including a Tanzanian girl that I know, so the inevitable seems to be nearing. Everyday I wake up without malaria is a great day, haha. Its basically like the flu, and not really a huge deal, someone should tell the travel doctors in the US that.

So I guess thats it, stay in touch via the email and enjoy the approaching fall like weather. Its about 90 here most days, but when the power goes out, its not such a big deal, because Im not used to having AC so its no warmer than normal. Water went out last night, but was back this morning, and I have 2 big loads of laundry drying on the roof, Im the hand-washed laundry king...haha, never thought I would say that.

Matt

Friday

2005-10-07T16:47:00.000+03:00

I started classes yesterday so that has been kind of nice. I am taking Swahili, History of North Africa, History of Globalization, Politics of development, and something else. On Wednesday I went and played frisbee with some local missionaries from the US. That was fun, but the most physically exerting thing I have done since I have been here, so Im a little sore. My earliest class is at 11 and the times are still being moved around. I love more than ever the way UF does its class registration, so easy, no complications. The second place soccer team in the Tanzanian league practices everyday at our school, so I watched them the other day. I guess that would be like sitting 20 feet away from the Pittsburgh Steelers and watch them practice any day, kind of cool. Been busy getting used to classes and the internet cafe on campus has been packed, so I might not be able to update this site as much as I would like. At a wazungu hotel right now using their internet. I think Im gonna go out to dinner at a new place tonight. I got my stipend from the University here, I paid for it as part of my program but it was nice to get right now. It was 750.00 US which is 843,000 TSH. Which are stashed in various places around my room, like in Blow. I have 200 2,000 bills, so I was walking around with an envelope full of cash, I pretty much felt like a pirate. So I got cash money, and now Im gonna go spend it, have a good weekend. Go Cardinals, and maybe the Gators, Jaguars, and Blues will win this week.

Matt

school starting

2005-10-05T19:56:00.000+03:00

Well the strike here has been settled and the students received their money, so I will be attending classes starting on Thursday. Go Cardinals and I hope everyone their LOVES that hockey is back. So hopefully class goes well. I had Ethiopian again last night, its amazing food. Gotta go but keep it real.

Matt

Students Strike at University of Dar es Salaam

2005-10-03T19:56:00.000+03:00

Well the past 24 hours here on campus have been pretty exciting. With students awaiting their government loans and the daily stipends that come with them dragged on in to a second week, the student body has taken action. My roommate is a high ranking official with the Student Union so he has kept me updated about the possibility that action would have to be taken against the government, but it seemed unlikely until yesterday.

Around 1 A.M. Sunday night/Monday morning, I heard loud chants and the approaching sounds of drums and yelling. A group of 800-1000 students(who mind you are not typically up this late) began their official protest and marched throughout the vast campus. I could hear them in the distance until about 1:35. Without their government stipends some students have been unable to eat, and I heard that a girl had passed out on campus yesterday, from not eating. So this was all pretty exciting, and my roommate was appreciative and glad to know that the International students supported their decision although we certainly dont understand the whole situation. Anyways it was decided by student leaders, that the student body would boycott classes today and for as long as it takes until their loans are processed. To avoid any repercussions and avoid trouble the international students decided to skip classes as well today.

I was walking down the hill in front of our building at about 10 this morning on my way to finish registering for classes when a sizable crowd of 1,500-2,000 turned the corner and I was just about a hundred yards away. Not worried, but also not wanting to be involved in a political demonstration in apart of the world where dissent is not always handled legally, I returned up the hill and watched the procession pass. Most of the students were boisterous and many had signs. Apparently one of their chants in Swahili and roughly translated as "The government rapes students" So this was all pretty wild and unusual stuff for me. The University expels students after 3 continuous days of strikes, so I have heard that students will skip tommorow, go Wednesday, skip Thursday and Friday,and so on, until a resolution is reached. So I realize that many of you are reachign the midterm portion of the semester and my brother has been in school for almost 2 months, but I still have yet to attend a class.

It is not unprecedented for the University to shut down for a semester because of something like this,although that still appears to be a long shot. I think their is a bit of concern that the government will distribute the FFU, a special police force that just yesterday used tear gas and batons to control an unwieldy bunch of citizens who were having their houses torn down by the government. Again that seems still a longshot, but that would escalate this situation and I would be able to quote the famous Ron Burgundy "Things really escalated quickly" So hopefully it all works out, although its very interesting to be here for all this and to see what an angry student protest looks like. Nobody seems to upset, or all that organized for that matter, but I guess anything is possible at this point. We will have to wait and see, but I will stay out of trouble and will not be partaking in any rally/protests, although some international students did.

On a lighter note I went in to downtown today for lunch and some shopping at a grocery store, lots of things available, although about 1/5 the size of an American grocery. Got some items and bought the Will Smith DVD collection for 12.00 US. 6 of Will's finest movies on one DVD. Hitch, Men in Black 1&2, I,Robot, and Bad Boys 1&2. So about 2 bucks a piece and the quality is perfect. These are forsale in basically a mall, so its great that Tanzania doesnt care about pirating. America needs to get on this cheap dvd/5 on 1 disc thing.

Leaving Posta at about 4:00 is always a bit exciting and today we decided to play a fun game. Each person who boards must pay 20 cents and the driver and money collector were in my opinion trying to set the new high score in "How many Tanzanians can we fit in 1 bus" This is not a particularly fun game, and when 1 person would get off about 4 would come on. I just barely made it on the bus, so I was packed tight from the start and things got progressively more crowded. Im glad to be a part of the new high score in this great game, haha. A record is a record, no matter if it wasnt so wonderful at the time.

I've been enjoying lots of wali maharage, rice and beans. The diet here is the exact opposite of the Atkins diet, all starch...all the time. Not much protein, but plenty of card energy. Things could get very interesting in the next few days, but I hope to eventually start school...or have it officially canceled, not get any credits and have 3 months to travel, which would not be a terrible thing for me personally.

Also, glad to see Tom Delay finally indicted, he deserves to be in prison, although I doubt highly he will end up where he belongs.

Matt, taking it all in.

Saturday

2005-10-01T19:04:00.000+03:00

So not too much exciting to write about. Been on campus most of this week. I know for sure I will be taking History of globalization and history of north Africa, but apart from that Im not sure. There is supposed to be a sit-in on Monday for students protesting not receiving their loans yet, so I guess I wont be starting on Monday. Thursday night we had a Wazungu party with invitations and everything. The attire was whatever you had that would be the most touristy/foreign/white. Copies of Lonely Planet and sunscreen were readily available. I was nominated for best dressed with my flowery board shorts, boat shoes with socks and a nice kind of safari shirt. I was defeated by a Tanzanian friend decked out in a Florida Gators shirt and looking pretty wazungu all around. The party ended/migrated to hall 4 at midnight since the men cannot be allowed in the girls dorms after midnight. We ended up going to a popular club and didnt arrive home until late at night or early in the morning depending how you look at it. That was pretty fun, and I have just kind of hung out and read on campus the last couple days. Hope the Gators beat Alabama.

Matt

Glory Glory Man United

2005-09-28T19:12:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I was able to sign up for 2 History classes, bringing the total of classes I am registered now up to a grand total of 2. The registration process for classes here is pretty unbelievable, classes although officially starting on Monday, the schedule for many departments came out today, or is still not out, so that makes signing up pretty convenient. The students here are awaiting their government loans which has created quite a stir. Their was a problem with the government paying loans, but it looks like a resolution has been reached. Their is still a small chance that the semester might be canceled, but because it is an election year, that is very unlikely at this point. Their some talk about a student strike/protest set for Friday. I am hopefully going to Bagamoyo for the famous arts festival on Friday and camping out up their. And I hope to start attending classes on Monday, but we shall see.

Last night myself along with 4-5 other international students went with some Kenyan friends we met last week to a great place to watch a football (soccer) match. The European Champions League is a 9 month tournament that features all of the top club teams from Europe. Here in Tanzania the English teams(notably Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea) are by far the most popular and their great interest for the English professional league. Although it is possible to watch some games at a bar on campus some of us wanted to watch Manchester United(my favorite team) and Benfica of Portugal. As it was not being featured on free tv we left campus at 8:30 (Saa mbili nusu) on a dalladalla and headed for the Ubungo bus station, neighborhood. I had not been there at night before but it is a pretty safe place I suppose. We walked about a half mile to a little place down an alley that had about 10 rows of benches and 1 roughly 27 inch tv. The game kicked off at 9:45 with about 125 watching this 1 TV with most all of them cheering loudly for Manchester.

Manchester took the lead right before half time, to the delight of the residents of this particular outdoor theatre/football watching place. Unfortunately, despite Manchester dominating play Benfica tied the game in the 60th minute. And a few fans of Arsenal and Chelsea were quite glad to see Manchester tied. As the game wore on it looked as is the Red Devils would run out of time, but with just 5 minutes to go Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored the game winner for Manchester and the sent the place in to bedlam. They held on for the victory, and it was pretty cool high fiving the other Manchester supporters. Of course we were the only 5-6 white skinned people in the place, and certainly more than a little out of place, but it was a truly great way to watch a football match. Tonight is Chelsea vs. Liverpool and I will watch that on campus or in my room with roommate Daniel (a fellow Manchester supporter).

Coming from the US and being apart of the majority race it is very easy to forget that race is an issue. I have gained a new perspective on race. It is a very unusual(for me anyways) situation to walk around campus by myself and realize that in any direction and do not see another white person. This is something I had expected, but no white person in Europe or the US could quite know how this feels without being apart of the .1% of the population that is different, atleast in appearance if not economic background from the other 99.9% of people. I believe this is a big part of the valuable experience I have already gained here. It is a new experience for me(despite my obviously head turning physique and physical beauty back home, haha) to realize that as I walk around literally 9 out of 10 people is looking at me, and certainly not always in the friendliest of ways. So I have a new appreciation for what it feels like to be an overwhelming minority, but it is a really good experience.

Most everyone is friendly here, but of course we still get the Wazungu calls and jokes, although I dont understand what is being said. I hope to keep learning new things and experiencing totally different emotions and circumstances than those I had prior to coming to Tanzania. I'm not sure it is a place for everyone to visit, but if you don't mind using a whole in the ground as a bathroom, can get used to cold showers, lots of rice and beans, and can accept that yes in fact you probabaly will contract malaria while you are here, I cant think of too many other places I would rather be. Enjoy the baseball playoffs, they are really popular here...right.

Matt

Weekend Recap

2005-09-26T17:49:00.000+03:00

I enjoyed Ethiopian food on Thursday night. Not sure where you can get it in the US, but any big city should have a few restaurants, it was very spicy, but very good. Friday we had an orientation for international students with lunch included. Food was supposed to be served at noon, but by 12:55 I was eating a delicious meal of rice, fries, meat, beans, and water (Wali, Chipsi, Nyama, Maharage, and Maji). Friday evening I was going to leave for the beach to spend the night on the beach and get up early Saturday for a long day at the beach. But I decided to stick around for my Norwegian friends birthday. We hung out on the roof of our building starting around 8, with most of the international students, some Tanzanians, and even 2 Kenyans. The international students studying here this semester are from Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden, US, Lebanon, Ghana, Canada, and maybe one or two others. All in all a pretty diverse crowd.

We decided to go to a bar frequented by ex-pats in Dar. We ended up leaving the campus at around 12:15. Somehow we chartered a dalladalla and crammed 20 wazungu aboard. The trip should have taken around 20 minutes but ended up taking close to an hour, because the driver got lost, not a major problem though. We arrived at Q-Bar just after 1 and quickly it was obvious that it was a bar frequented by local prostitutes and middle aged American and European men, so that was a new experience. Good looking hookers no doubt, but almost certainly HIV positive. The band was great, played lots of American songs with an African flavor to them, didnt finish until after 3. We left around 4 and their were plenty of taxis around so we bartered with a few until the price became acceptable, around $4.50 to take us back to Chuo Kikuu (University). So Friday night was a great time and my first experience out at a Tanzanian bar/club.

Saturday we left campus around 9 and headed for Kipapayo Beach, just south of Dar es Salaam. This a frequent tourist attraction and despite being located right on the beach, a double room can be had for $20 a night. We took a dalla dalla from Campus to Ubungo, from Ubungo to Posta, Posta to Kivukoni, took a ferry from Kivukoni to Kipapayo and then another dalladalla on to the beach where are friends had stayed the night before. It is a beautiful beach, white sand, green water and hardly anyone on it. After a few minutes some local men herded their cattle along the water line, moving them to a better pasture I presume, definitely the first time I have seen cattle being herded down a white sandy beach. The beach was also a lot of fun, lots of sun and then I decided to go back that night to sleep in my own bed, rather than potentially on the floor.

Got back to campus around 7 and was very eager to wash off in a refreshingly cool shower. Got in the shower, hung my towel over the rack, turned on the faucet and...nothing happened. Haha, the water was out from Saturday until mid-day Monday, so Im still preparing for my shower, got plenty of Indian Ocean Beach sand in my bed though. Sunday was the first day since I have been in Tanzania that I have had absolutely nothing to do, so I took advantage of that and did absolutely nothing, sleeping past 9 for the first time.

All is well here, someone from my Florida group got malaria on Friday, so that was exciting, just saw her and she is doing fine, kind of just a bad fever, although I dont believe you can ever give blood again. So my bout with malaria may be just around the corner, it seems the drugs the give you to protect against malaria are not really effective and most likely a scam by drug companies(shocking I know). So hopefully I will stay malaria free, although I wouldnt bet on it, as the longer you are in East Africa, the chances get better and better. Haha. Some friend from Brown and Columbia University just returned from Kampala, Uganda and Kigali Rwanda. They loved Kampala and said Rwanda was very sobering, but something that everyone should experience, so I doubt I will get a chance on this trip but hopefully sometime will make it there. Also met some students from the University of Nairobi in Kenya who invited me and a Norwegian friend to come visit anytime, just about a 13 hour bus ride, so very doable for a weekend trip. Glad to see the Jags won. I will be watching European soccer on Tuesday and Wednesday night with many Tanzanians and really looking forward to it.

Kwa herini,
Matt

Downtown Dar es Salaam

2005-09-22T15:54:00.000+03:00

I am currently in downtown Dar, specifically in Posta. I have been out with a friend most of the afternoon. We took a dalladalla from campus to the Ubungoo dalla dalla stand and then caught one headed for Kariakoo market. We got off, by saying "Shusha" which apparently is the how you say stop this car, or something along those lines. We went to a used clothes market and I got a few shirts, including a soccer jersey like the ones sported by tons of people. I also bought a DVD with 5 Movies on it...Godfathers I, II, and III. Heat and Scarface. We will see the quality but I can get movies that have recently come out at theaters in the US on DVD here and people have said the qualities are pretty good. It cost me about $6 US. We caught another dalla dalla headed for Posta(the rides are either 150TSH(15 cents) or 200TSH(20 cents). They are really a trip to ride and I think I could do it all day. Certain places we go we are the only Wazungu(white people) and many times I have been walking around town or campus and been the only white person within site, certainly a different experience from the US. We are going to catch a dalladalla back towards the campus shortly and go to Addis in Dar which is an Ethiopian restaurant. We just met a Clothing salesman from India who works in Hong Kong. Well Im going to go and maybe check out some hats or shirts and then climb aboard a dalla dalla. Some of our group met the new Ambassador to Tanzania(the president of the Alabama Republican party, who speaks no Swahili and had never been to Tanzania until 3 weeks ago, money money money-it buys anything). They asked the ambassador if he had or planned to ride around his new town in dalla dallas and he scoffed at such an absurd idea. Not for everyone I guess.

Hakuna Mbo Wengi(their arent many mosquitoes)

Matt

Tuesday-Roommate

2005-09-20T19:07:00.000+03:00

After Swahili class today I returned for a siesta and some shopping at the oncampus market where I picked up some water, muffins, and other items. I put some clothes in the bucket with soap and will get them out in the morning to scrub and then dry them. I did not get my new room key but did meet my new roommate, just 2 doors down from where I am now. His name is Daniel and he is a 33 year old engineering student. He, like me is a fan of Manchester United and he has both a tv and computer. Definitely the first of either items I have seen someone personally owning on campus. Oprah was on TV, shes everywhere I guess. I will probably move rooms tommorow and finish up my wash. I got BBC Focus on Africa magazine at the market and would reccomend it to anyone looking for a quarterly look at African news, business, sports, and pretty much whatever else. I listen to the BBC on my radio and they do a great job of covering events from all over the world. I have also started listening to Tanzanian and East African stations. Some play English and some play Swahili and most play both. I have heard 50 Cent(and saw the G-Unit hair cutters while I was in Morogoro). I like the Tanzanian rap, called Bongo Flavor. Dar es Salaam is referred to as BongoLand(Bongo is brain) because one needs a good brain to make it in this large city. The music mixes English and Swahili. I guess that is all for today, my roommate to-be seems nice, certainly a little different (atleast in age) from your typical American college student. Kwa heri,

Matt

Morogoro Pic

2005-09-19T19:24:00.000+03:00

Morogoro/Safari

2005-09-19T18:48:00.000+03:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, mostly just had class the second part of last week and not too much going on. Anyways Friday night we went to one of our teachers/fellow students house for dinner. We took a dalladalla to the market at Mwenge, which is always a wild place but particularly after dark, I really cannot compare it to any place anywhere in America, but that goes for all the markets I have been too. We caught another dalladalla and got off near the Posta market. We met all of her neighbors and her husband to be, after she graduates next June. He was very nice and the food we had was unbelievable. Anyone who knows me knows how much I despise bananas, but we had banana/meat stew that was unbelievable. Basically the bananas tasted like potatoes. That was a pretty cool cultural experience that Im sure I will have again while I am here. On to my trip to Morogoro/Mikumi Nat'l Park.

We left Dar es Salaam at 8 A.M. Saturday on a pretty nice bus, similar to Greyhound buses, but with much smaller seats. The ride to Morogoro lasted about 2.5 hours and was unlike any ride I have ever been on. These huge buses think nothing of passing slower moving vehicles, and as with all driving excursions in Tanzania it is better to not look out the front window and just hope for the best. Most of the buses and virtually all of the dalladallas have a message on them like, "May God be with us" or "What comes will come" basically hopeful declarations to maintaining life while driving/riding in these autos. Pretty interesting.

Anyways, on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam and into the country one gets a pretty overpowering look at Tanzanian poverty. Houses are made of local clay bricks, or anything else that may serve as a wall or roof. There is not a single city or town in America that is on par with the way many in Tanzania and sub-Saharan Africa live, most on less than $1 US per day. Despite all that is working against them(lack of electricity, clean water, etc) the children here appear to be the happiest on Earth and are by far the cutest.

We made it to Morogoro and bought some food to eat for the following morning. We stayed at Sokoine University of Agriculture, in their dorms which were fine, although again no hot water. I had a few holes in the mosquito net they provided, but what can you do, so far no malaria or other mosquito-born illnessess, haha. Morogoro is at the base of the Uruguru Mountains and reminded me a little of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The tops of the rounded mountains are in the clouds and resemble what I picture as the mountains of Germany/Austria.

We left Morogoro at 4:45 A.M. or sometime in the 3rd quarter of the Gators impressive victory or Tennessee. Driving west on the Dar-Zambia highway we encountered many men riding bicycles loaded down with wares they would be selling in Morogoro or other small towns along the way. Not many cars out at this early hour, with the exception of buses headed for western Tanzania, about 20 hours away or somewhere in to Zambia and points beyond. The highway enters what is considered Mikumi National Park and within a few minutes we started seeing wildlife.

Just off this interstate were 2 giraffes, on on either side, and just a mile or so down a huge African Elephant more or less in the ditch next to the road. We entered the park about 6:45 picked up a tour guide and headed in to the park in search of Africa's finest wildlife, in one of Tanzanias most diverse National Parks. Before long we had seen many Impalas, Gazelles, and Zebras, as well as Giraffes. About 20 minutes in to our trek we came across a pack of 10 Elephants, including 2 babies, about 40 yards from the path. They are incredibly impressive from such a close perspective and in their natural habitat. We continued on seeing Wildebeests, made famous for stampeding Mufasa in The Lion King(on a side note, from the Lion King, Rafiki is the name of the blue monkey who is the elder statesman, in Swahili Rafiki literally means friend, so those Disney people went all out in using their imaginations). We saw Water Buffalo, many Zebras, and lots of Baboons just off the road. We saw more giraffes, much taller than I had previously thought. Eventually we stumbled on to a watering hole, where 3-4 Hippos were soaking in the water and not far from them was and African Crocodile, about as active as Florida Alligators generally are. After about 3 hours in the park we had pretty much seen all the major animals except for Lions and Leopards, so that will have to wait for another day.

Seeing animals in their natural habitat is pretty cool, but it is disapointing that that is what most foreigners go to Africa to see. I have enjoyed the people and the culture far more than I enjoyed seeing Elephants and Giraffes, not to discount that once in a lifetime experience. But there is much more to Africa than animals, warfare, and starvation.

We left the park and then for whatever reason went to a Snake Park which is basically what the name suggests, the same as such things in the US except they let you bang on the glass and get the Egyptian Cobra all angry so he attacks the glass and spits his venom at it, so somewhat different. That was fine, but not totally sure why that was a part of our trip. We ventured back to Morogoro in the early afternoon and went straight to the regional commisioners office where we recruited some local boys to go with us up one of the local mountains. We climbed for about an hour and reached a school, you have to be a dedicated student to consistently attend a school that is atleast a 45 minute hike up a steep hill. We reached the school, although no where near the tope of the mountain and the view from there was pretty remarkable. The mountains could be anywhere and the overlook the valley that contains Morogoro, a small city. We made it back down in hardly anytime at all and headed back to the University for dinner at the SUASA Club, and Austrian Kitchen on campus, and apparently one of the best restaurants in town.

As with so many things in Tanzania the name Austrian Kitchen is relative, and aside from Wienerschnitzel, the menu was pretty much standard Tanzanian fare. For the first time we were asked if our drinks should be Baridi (meaning cold) and that applied to the soda as well as local Tanzanian Beer. We stuck with the Tusker baridi. Got up this morning and visited a residence for mentally and physically handicapped children. They enjoyed our visit and we brought school supplies for them. The place was better than I had imagined although certainly not anything like facilities available for handicapped children and adults in the US. We made it back to Dar es Salaam this afternoon and I am exhausted from a weekend of getting up before dawn and riding crammed buses in to the interior of Tanzania. Interestingly the large buses stop along the way to let people out, in their towns along the way and the ride was pretty cheap, about US 6.00 for a 193 KM trip. Grabbed some lunch, typed this up and now headed for a much needed shower, my first since Thursday(you do what you gotta do) and some sleep.

Asante Sana,

Matt

Mikumi National Park

2005-09-16T16:04:00.000+03:00

We talked to Matt this morning and he asked us to post for him since he was in class then will be moving downstairs to his new room and helping the American girls move into another dorm. Matt is off to Mikumi National Park in the morning. It is 5 hours from Dar. They will stay at a university in Moro Goro where he thinks there is hot water! He says he'll update everyone on his adventures when he returns. Students start arriving next week and he is worried that it may be more difficult to get a computer once the population increases, but he'll do his best. Hope you all are enjoying his journaling as much as we are. Kelly & Sue (Matt's proud Mom & Dad)

Tuesday

2005-09-13T14:16:00.000+03:00

Tuesday

Congratulations to Mr. President Todd Stacy, the people have voted and for whatever reason, they have chosen you to be their leader...haha, way to go, 3 years in a row, just 1 more for the 4 year sweep.

Caught up on sleep last night. Today we have a lecture on Tanzanian politics, should be pretty interesting. In Swahili class today we learned about Shingazis…rated PG-13.

Your Shingazi is your Father’s Sister. (There is different names in many African cultures that delineate between your Father’s brothers and sisters and your mothers. Our teacher Mutembei explained this with us, not as common today but a fellow student/teacher from Dar named Elisabeth who also went to Zanzibar with us explained this would be apart of her wedding night.

After the wedding when the bride and groom return to their room, the husband’s Shingazi(fathers sister) goes in to the bedroom with them in order to cheer them on, and make sure everything goes smoothly, when she leaves the room all of the family members are waiting and they can tell by her facial expression if things were good or not. We all died upon hearing this, but apparently still a large part of Tanzanian culture.

So that’s a little bit different cultural tradition that I learned about today. Also yesterday on the barge back, they showed Toni Braxton music videos and an awful Sharon Stone movie called Gloria or something, that I cant believe was actually an American movie. I also found out I will be staying in the same dorm building, Hall IV block D when the semester starts and will be moving in to that room sometime early next week, with my Tanzanian roommate.

Baadaye.

Zanzibar = Awesome/Beautiful Island

2005-09-12T18:52:00.000+03:00

I must start by saying what an unbelievable place Zanzibar is...way too cool. Little kids playing soccer in the small alleyways that make up the streets and old men having coffee together on the curb...amazing.

So we left Chuo Kikoo Dar es Salaam (The University of Dar es Salaam) at around 10:30 Friday. We took a dolladolla to the Ubungoo bus depot where we got 2 taxis to take us to the harbor. Traffic is crazy at times especially in the downtown area. We took the 2 p.m. ferry across to Zanzibar. It was about a 2 hour trip, and ironically they played Deep Blue Sea (a movie about people eaten by sharks) on the way over. The ferry was nice. It is hectic when you get to Zanzibar Town and we managed to navigate thru customs, we are in the process of getting residence permits so things like the ferry will be cheaper and we wont have to go thru customs. Our hotel was not too far from the Ferry exit and we walked their in about 10 minutes. We had nice rooms at the Pyramid Hotel, complete with their own mosquito nets, so we did not have to bring our own. After we checked in, we went to have some Ice Cream at an Italian place and then on to the outdoor market/cookout place.

Their are a decent number of tourists on Zanzibar, which was kind of a nice change, because everywhere in Dar that we go, we are basically the only white people, and vendors try to rip us off. We finished ice cream and got some good pictures as the sun was setting over the Indian Ocean. The water looks a lot like the Carribean but maybe a little bit greener. All of the fisherman and vendors set up stands right next to the water in an open park like area and sell their days catch. I had Pueza (Octopus) and Barracuda. Both were very good, although Pueza is very chewy. It was very cool to mingle in a local tradition. We stayed there for a while and then went to an Indian restaurant for "The coldest beer in Zanzibar." That was their claim and I can vouch for the authenticity of it. The owner was and Indian man who had all kinds of great stories about Zanzibar and his life, very cool.

Saturday morning we got up at 8. Don't think I have stayed awake past midnight, or gotten up past 8:30 the whole time I have been here. We went to Chogwe Island, also known as Prisoner's Island, where unruly slaves were sent to be imprisoned by the Omani (middle eastern) rulers of Zanzibar from the 15th century. It is a beautiful island with a great beach, but the highlight is the giant land turtles that inhabit the island. Apparently they were brought there about 150 years ago, and now their is probably a couple hundred.

The turtles are in like a park/zoo, but unlike in the States you can get in with them and they wander around all over the place as they please. We fed them and I have some really cool pictures I hope to post whenever I figure out how. You cannot imagine how huge these turtles are. Some are over 200 years old and probably 6 feet long and hundreds of pounds. They are hilarious and let me pet their necks and heads. We did that for a while and then took are little boat with its 15HP motor back to the mainland. We went to Mercury's Restaurant which was definitely a tourist place. It was named for Queen singer Freddie Mercury who was born and lived for some time in Zanzibar Town.

Zanzibar is 95% Muslim and after shopping and bartering with vendors in Swahili(I got the numbers down so I am able to do this ok) we took a van to the very northern point of Zanzibar called Nungwi. The ride their was a humbling, or insightful trip. Along the way is mostly stone shacks and and little farms and lots of kids running around. Zanzibar is very impoverished, like much of Tanzania, but we definitely got to see that side of the Island on our trip north. The roads were good until the last 15 KM when they pretty much went to junk. Deep holes and strategic paths meant that sometimes we got to drive on the right side of the road. We arrived at our hotel in Nungwi as the sun was going down and were again pleased with our accomodations.

It is amazing how your standards for living can change so much in such a short time. A month ago, a hotel with necessary mosquito nets, no bathroom door, no toilet seat, no shower door, no hot water, no soap, and no blankets would have sounded horrible, but times have changed and it was just fine...it had toilet paper, so we were pleasantly suprised. We enjoyed our night in Nungwi with dinner right on the beach, fresh fish and rice and Safari Bia. We made plans to go out on a boat to see some large creatures and to do a tour of a Spice Farm the next day.

Sunday morning awoke with the anticipation that we would be getting in the water and swimming with wild Whale Sharks, the biggest fish in the ocean, and more like a whale than a shark. We could see a large white tail fin a few miles from shore and took a small boat out to see. Whether lost in translation or simply false information it did not turn out to be a whale shark, from what I could tell. But we got to see a huge whale and its baby. I don't know if it was a Blue Whale or what, but it was gigantic and would be face down in the water with its tail sticking out for 5 minutes. It was really an impressive animal, the baby must have been 20 feet long at least. It was crazy, because we could see this huge whale from shore and got right up to it just a few miles from the shore. Unlike the US100 or whatever it costs to see a whale in Maine, like most things here, the cost was negligible, TSH 5000, about 4.65. After that, we laid on the beach for a bit and left to return south, stopping at a Spice Farm along the way.

Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island and that is what it needed so many slaves for in the 18th and 19th century. We went to a local farm and got a tour from very friendly and interesting locals. We saw starfruit plants, and lots of fruits and then cinnamon, nutmeg, hazelnut, and on and on, pretty much every spice, got to smell them and taste them and whatever. There was a wild plant that you crack open and crush up the red nuts and use it as natural lipstick/paint/food coloring, which is still on my hands, doesn't come off easily. We saw all kinds of things, I dont rememer all of their names, and at the end one of the guys climbed probably 60 feet up a coconut tree, cut the coconuts off and we had fresh coconut milk and meat. It was really good. He sang a song as he climbed, which they do to warn those on the ground that falling palm branches and coconuts are on the way. We then returned to Zanzibar, pasisng thru a town called BuBuBu, which is funny, even if your a college student.

Last night we again had ice cream and then some of met up with the students from Luther College and Norway who went to Zanzibar yesterday and are staying until Thursday. We went to an expat bar for a while and had a nice time. Zanzibar Town is tiny alley ways with 3-4 story buildings, most of which are about 150-250 years old. With people still residing in them. The old neighborhoods where we stayed are stronghold of the opposition party CUF and we saw many campaign signs for their candidate Malim Saif. He will not win, but for the first time we saw opposition party posters. Also on Sunday afternoon at the spice farm we saw maybe 50 trucks full of people going to a CCM rally, their colors are green and yellow, they are the ruling party and will certainly win the Oct. 30 election. They were cheering and singing and it was pretty cool. Came back to Dar this morning, definitely wanted to stay in Zanzibar longer, but I will definitely be going back for a weekend trip or two as the semester continues. It was an awesome place, very nice people and a unique blend of African/Arab/and Indian cultures, cuisines, and lifestyles.

Also, on Sunday we went to the Zanzibar Town Lutheran Church which is built on the site of the old slave market. In the mid 19th century upwards of 50,000 slaves past thru the market per year, headed for somewhere in Zanzibar or the middle east/gulf region. The church was built in 1875, 2 years after the slave trade was discontinued and the altar is located right where the slaves were chained and whipped to see how strong they were. The man who built the church is buried right behind the altar and the church is beautiful, with copper carvings of Saints and traditional religious figures all along the walls. We saw the slave quarters where up to 75 men were stored at one time, with little ventilation and 3 tiny windows. The rooms did not seem suited to hold any more than 12-15 people...uncomfortably. It was a pretty sobering place. This was the east Africa slave trade, so none of these slaves would have been bound for the Americas, but it is not common knowledge that the African people of the coastal regions were captured and sold in to slavery for work in Arabia.

All in all I had an incredible time in Zanzibar, cannot wait to go back and would reccomend in to anyone who will be in East Africa or is looking for an adventurous honeymoon/vacation getaway.

Also, the beaches were pristine, the sunsets gorgeous and the fish as fresh as you could possible eat.

Matt...back in Dar es Salaam

Zanzibar

2005-09-08T18:07:00.000+03:00

Karibu, I will be leaving for Zanzibar on Friday morning and will not return until Monday. I hope I can figure out how to post some pictures so that you all can see some of things I am seeing. We had some Norwegian students move on to our floor last night and they are pretty cool. One girl from my program is going home, but she wasnt nice and I wont miss her. I have my first Swahili test tommorow, so I should study, but we will see. Gotta run, but I will let you know how Zanzibar was on Monday.

Matt

Mwenge

2005-09-07T16:07:00.001+03:00

Mambo! Today after 4 hours of Swahili, we went to Mwenge Market for the first time. It is the closest market to UDSM and the first time I have been to an African market. You can get pretty much anything you would ever need and more. Many American things are availabe (Mach 3 Razors, Nivea, etc). The Art Market was incredible with tons of wooden carvings, paintings, and all other forms of art. To get there we rode the Dolla Dollas for the first time. They are probably a little bit bigger than a mini van, and about 20-25 people ride in them. It costs TSH 150 to get to Mwenge, which is 15 Cents. There is a driver and a money man, and when it is time to pay he clanks the coins in his hands. Dolla Dollas are the best way to get around Dar and Im sure I will be riding them a lot more. Driving here is an adventure. There are no lanes and at times it seems as though you are about to hit oncoming traffic. A girl from another program here was telling me that a Dolla Dolla she was in hit a man (see Dane Cook for the hilarity of that) and that he got up and was ok. The market was pretty dirty and your not supposed to get food there for that reason. We all stand out as Marekani. Today a monkey (these ones are called Vervits, but monkeys all the same) was up on the 4th floor where we stay eating a banana peel, they are really hilarious. There are lots of baby monkeys and they ride underneath the mothers when they run from place to place. It looks like they are about to start talking to you at any moment, but not to be. Last night I went up on the roof of our building. It is pretty amazing. You can see the whole sky and most of Dar es Salaam from up there, probably 20 miles in all directions. Also we learned today the Swahili and most of African way of keeping time. You add 6 hours to whatever time it is here. It makes a lot of sense. Since 7 A.M. is the first full hour of daylight it is 1:00 and and since 7 p.m. is the first hour of darkness it is 1:00. 12 hours of daytime, 12 hours of night time. It is 4:15 p.m. here so that would make it 10:15. Just over an hour and half left in the first 12 hours of the day.

Kwa Neireini,
Matt

Mambo

2005-09-06T16:02:00.000+03:00

We made it to the embassy today. We went yesterday but it was closed because of Labor Day. Nobody thought about it being closed. I don’t think we spoke with an American the whole time we were at the Embassy, only Tanzanians. On Monday we went to Posta market and bought cell phones. It is roughly $2 a minute for me to call US so I will not be doing that, the country code is 000 255 and my number is 746-262 726. I have been trying to text people, but not sure if it has been getting thru, it is cheap for me to do that. I got a nicer phone here than in the States, all the phones are tiny and it seems like everyone has one. Last night we went to dinner with professor Mutembei and his family. He is in charge of the UF exchange program and is very friendly. His family is very nice and their home is quite nice as well.

Thomas who is assists the international students and is a student himself goes with us on the things we have to accomplish, phones, embassy. He is from the Lake Victoria region in the northwest. His father has 3 wives so he has about 20 brothers and sisters. He is the first in his family to go to university.

I slept thru the 5 A.M. Muslim prayer for the first time today, it is quite loud. I started my Kiswahili today, I am not very good at all. Very few people speak English here, so it is important that a learn a fair amount soon. That is the only problem with going places is that I cannot really communicate. Some in my group are pretty good with it though, so that helps. Here in Tanzania I am a Mzungu, which means ghost/white person. When we have been in downtown Dar or driving around I have probably seen only a handful of other Mzungus. It is very different to be surrounded by only dark faces, and unfortunately I obviously stand out to everyone.
Some of the women here and stunning. Most Tanzanians are very attractive people, kind of olive skin. The food has been good, beans, kuku (chicken) and chips (French fries). Ketchup is different, much sweeter. Coke and Pepsi are all over and so is Fanta (don’t ya wanta Fanta) They recycle all of the glass bottles here, so you can tell that the bottle you are drinking out of is old. I don’t think I have spent more than 1.50 on a meal so far, sodas are 250 shillings (25 cents). We go to Zanzibar on Friday and all the other students who have been there said it was awesome. It is almost completely Muslim.

The elections are in October but there is no doubt who will win. This will be only the 4th Tanzanian president, but he is from CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) the party that always wins. We have only seen signs for CCM (green and yellow is their colors) and supposedly signs from the other parties are torn down by CCM party members as soon as they go up. Not really a multi-party state, but it doesn’t seem to worry many, we will see as the election gets closer.
Not sure what we are doing tonight, maybe going to the nice grocery store (there is one or two in the city center). Hope all is well.

-Matt (6-9-2005)

After Sleeping

2005-09-04T12:25:00.000+03:00

I got a good night’s sleep last night, definitely got woken up at 5 by the Muslim prayer song, lasted probably 5 minutes. I had Chipati for breakfast which is basically fried dough. Pretty tasty. Things get started early, definitely lots of traffic and noise by 6 o'clock or so. It was pretty comfortable sleep, gets a little warm in the morning. I am inside but because their are no windows it feels as though Im outside all the time. Pretty cool feeling. No door on the bathroom, no toilet paper (available most places, but not provided in bathrooms). Also no curtain on the shower, lots of funny things like that. My room is basically the same as my dorm at Florida. Glad to see the Gators won. Im going back to sleep, it is weird to wake up at 5 and realize everyone I know has not gone to sleep yet. Hope all is well, things still dont look good with the hurricane.

Matt

Arrival

2005-09-03T16:59:00.000+03:00

I have made it to Dar Es Salaam. 2 days after leaving Jacksonville I have arrived. I had a great time at the Dubai Airport although I didnt sleep so I have not slept since Wednesday night. The simply sleep pills are calling my name. My ride at the airport was not there but I talked to them and they told me to just take a cab to campus, there arent lanes on the roads, so the driving is pretty interesting. It is not as hot here as I thought, and their is a nice breeze. My room is on the 3rd floor and has a pretty good view of the city as well as the monkeys outside, and the one baboon who lives on campus. I am relieved to finally be here, the airport in Dar was pretty nice, probably 75% of the plane from Dubai got off in Nairobi so it was pretty empty for the final leg. Last night in Dubai I talked to a Norwegian who had been in Iran for a month, a British couple going to see their son in Colombo Sri Lanka, a British women going to open a shop with Indian husband in India and some Saudi Arabians decked out in there white garb with the red sat down next to me and offerred me peanuts or cashews or something and they proceeded to get intoxicated on American whiskey. Dubai is by far the most diverse place I have ever seen, many women in the full Muslim dress with just their eyes showing, a planeload of Koreans going to Egypt and all kinds of people. I guess I am going to go get settled but wanted to let everyone know that I made it here safely and have had a great time so far. My cabdriver did not speak much english, so it was a quiet ride to campus. haha.

Matt

Dubai

2005-09-02T20:34:00.000+03:00

Hello from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. I left NYC at 11:30 Eastern time last night, and arrived at 8:30 tonight in Dubai. It was a 12 hour flight and I gained 8-9 hours. Emirates Air is the real deal. Every seat has its own touchscreen tv screen with probably 100 movies and 100 tv shows. Finally saw Meet the Fockers (not that funny, very predictable). The Dubai Airport is unbelievable, they have the biggest duty free shop I have ever seen with good prices on everything. It is kind of a cool experience being here, it seemed like a lot of people on my flight were continuing on to India/Sri Lanka/Saudi Arabia. Pretty interesting to be immersed in such a different culture, if only for 12 hours. I have about 10 hours to kill at the airport, and hopefully I will get some sleep, didn't really sleep on the plane. My plane had a camera at the front and underneath, and had global gps so you could see where we were. We flew right next to the Iraqi border and you could see this huge mountain range in Iran easily. I will get a better look at Dubai in the morning when I fly out, but it seems like a great vacation destination.

Matt Stacy (Dubai)

So Long Friends/Family

2005-09-01T01:01:00.000+03:00

After months of preparation, paperwork, and excitement, I will finally be embarking on a wonderful journey. While most have asked me if I am nervous about my trip, my honest answer is that I am not nervous. I feel that I'm well prepared and ready for whatever comes my way. I realize that my trip is not the same as a trip to Paris would be, but I wish that none of you will worry about me. I am as prepared as a I possibly could be for whatever life throws my way in Dar-Es-Salaam. I am looking forward to finally being there and next Friday We leave on a trip for Zanzibar, a historical and beautiful island. I will miss everyone here, especially those in Gainesville who will need to cheer on the Gators in my abscence. I will hopefully be updating this site on a regular basis (I hope with pictures) and will be in touch via Email (MattStac@ufl.edu) I will miss all you and I'm glad that you all (lived in the south for 7 years now) can be apart of my trip and my time in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania.

Matt Stacy

By the way, US Soccer Vs. Mexico is on Saturday night, we can clinch a berth in the World Cup, and since Im not here to cheer on Kasey Keller and Co. I hope everyone can tune in and cheer on America's Team.

Bye and I will miss all of you.

Tanzania

2005-08-29T19:14:00.000+03:00

I will be in Dar-Es-Salaam on the Indian Ocean. It is the industrial and cultural capital of the country.

Welcome

2005-08-28T10:39:00.000+03:00

Welcome to my site. Throughout my stay in Dar Es Salaam, I intend to regularly update it with pictures and information about what I am doing and allow anyone to post anything to the site as well. I hope to keep it fresh and interesting for as long as possible. Thanks for stopping by...And you stay classy San Diego