take care all when you are working in the field!!!!
Lin
Currently only Evan, Joy and me settled in our destination, MUHAS university in Dares Salaam, Tanzania. There're several focus for us all at this stage, some pre-tracer study data collection and input, to understand the tracer work to date and think about and creating interview guides for the qualitative prortion of the tracer work.
After few days of living in this new city, i would like to share some personal experience with all of you of this city. I started to write diary since left country, here some pieces of them.
It is ‘winter’ in Dares Salaam but the temperature is still up above 80c. the apartment we rent doesn’t have hanger that could hook the mosquito net, but Ive not had trouble with mosquito so far. But it’s is raining today so, hard to tell what will happen in next few days (fertile mosquito eggs in the water). The apartment locates at the ground floor and no fence outside the window (which is mostly recommended). But the apartment has 24/7 guards and most residents are foreigners. To certain extent, it’s okay now. I’ve been thinking where to hinder my passport and visas :)
The nursing student (Liyuka) I am pairing with from MUHAS university took me to the market to buy the essential daily things like pillow. We took public bus that is my very first time. The mini bus(daladala in local Swahili language) has about 20 seats but jammed by over 30 people plus the crew. There’s no bus stop sign on the street and the drive was very rough, as the Dar streets are crowded with people in most places you visit who doesn’t follow the street rules. It was raining at lunch time, so the street was muddy along unaccountable little retailers on the streets. As a foreigner, I was amazed by the popularity of the cellphone in Tanzania, maybe caused by the unbelievable cheap price of the network. 1s cost 1Tsh and people by seconds (yes, not minutes) through voucher price range from Tsh 1,000 to Tsh 5,000. (1USD to 1300TSH Tanzania Shilling).
I went to the student canteen with Liyuka for lunch, the canteen is unpretentious. Students or other visitors line up to get orders, the choice of foods, is expected limited, bake beans, rice, beef, cooked or fried banana, chips, chicken and of course, world beloved soft drinks. Cost from 1,000 to 2,000. Portion are very small compare to my experience in canteen in other countries. Food are usually blended and people use either spoon or hand to eat. I picked cooked banana (raw banana cooked in tomato sauce and beef. Taste like potato) and beans. Those the carbohydrates in the lunch are really filling so I don’t feel like to eat meal for dinner, but some milk . My roommates already started sick of canteen food after few days of try….will I? I started miss bagel and cream cheese.
Tell you something about the little culture I have learned so far in these two days. Dares Salaam ( learned from internet today Dares Salaam means heaven of peace named by the founder of the city back in 19th century) that in local appears to have considerably large proportion of Muslim and Indian populations. At least from the distribution of satellite TV channels at the resident. We have about 50 channels but ¼ of them are Indian languages ( you can tell from the ethnicity features of the TV program). In the building I am staying has 13 floors and I see Indians very often at the entrance. In regard to Muslim population, it makes up 50% of the population. The consciousness of this group is like everywhere I have been. Most residents at the house have their own cars and apparently are employed by international company.
In Dares Salaam, there is a marked contrast between the conditions of most local ordinary people (crowded on buses, living in ramshackle dwelling, making small retail business for living on the street), on the other hand, the business and international community and travelers are enjoying much higher living standard (living in an airconditioned apartment cost equal to the SF price, and I saw BMW and Benz cars on the street as well the relevant car retailer nearby the airport). Since I am not a casual observer and meant to stay here for quiet amount of time, I plan to discovery a little bit more of this city at least.
There was a scenario from me which was I tried to photo the open vegetable market and central bus station. I was almost caught by the locals and found there’s two guys on the street seems very unhappy with this action. Lucky I was with Liyuka and she helped me explained in Swahili word to them. Later on, I was told a lot of Tanzanians don’t like foreigners taking the photo of their ‘ street culture’ and try to stops me. For people like me traveling from another culture, this was a great lesson that to be very sensitive is crucial and try to minimize your curiosity.
I started feel paralyzed in Dar as I don’t speak Swahili but very few greeting words, plus took a while to remember local people’s name. This is frustrating because not remembering people’s name is either something you’re not supposed to do or a polite manner. The only way to overcome this embarrassment might be taking a small note book with me and keep recording everything. Everyday, I bring the camera to recorder those images which I found reflects the local culture and norms along my way. But taking a photo in public as mentioned, should be very cautious, that is something could bring me into troubleL.
to be continued.......
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