Kiswahili Confessions - originally published on January 16, 2007

Today, after more than two weeks of living in Dar, I began Kiswahili lessons. Great delight. Not a shining pupil by any means (painful for a language teacher by profession), but I chose a Swahili name (Aisha), practiced greetings, and asked the language tutors many questions. Not easy at first but I caught on somewhat quickly. Problem is, tomorrow I must take off my “student” hat and put on the study abroad director’s hat. I will head downtown to the bank, meet with the on-site coordinator and do paperwork for the first part of class. I'm already skipping class! The second I will attend, and the students promised to catch me up.

Our group has stuck together incredibly over the four days since they arrived, surviving bacterial infection, thievery, Tanzanian bureaucracy, and severe culture shock-induced anxiety. On our way to Jangwani Beach last week I was guiding 14 students in Mwenge market, and a thief dipped his hand in my outside purse pocket, where I’d just put my cell phone. I felt him stealthily make his way into the pocket, and edged away. As he put it in deeper, I clasped my purse tighter ( I was, after all, responsible for the group’s funds), and yelled out, “F***ER!” He jumped and fled. As I hopped into the daladala (where students were awaiting), they shouted, "Our fearless director!”

Otherwise, our social circle is expanding slowly as we get to know people at the university and beyond. P and I went to dinner at Luitfrid’s house; he works at the Food and Nutrition Dept, and is coming to give a seminar for the students. We’ve also already eaten dinner at our neighbhor's place twice – and he fixes a mean mango/pineapple fruit smoothie. He hosts a number of music students who seem to come and go all the time and jumps about campus on a scooper.

Bayamoyo past, Morogoro future

This week has brought my discovery of the Immigration Office (get paperwork stamped and money paid for students’ residence permits), the New Zaidi (lunch in the Asian Quarter of Dar), scarves at Kariakoo (with our neighbors, some Tanzanian undergrads), seminar tonight with our neighbor, M, and his grad student, K, who told, sang and showed stories of Tanzanian music (especially the infamous Wagogo people around Dodoma).

Last weekend it was Bagamoyo, a historical beach town on the northern coast, one hour from Dar. We first visited the Kaoli Ruins, the remains of an Islamic society dating from 13th century. Then we saw the Catholic Mission and Freedom Village, where missionaries were responsible for stopping the slave trade controlled by Persians between inland Africa and Zanzibar. The Caravanserail museum housed former lodging for slaves and traders. At the College of Art we saw traditional dances; on Saturday we shopped around and chased crabs on the beach.

Happy to meet some Frenchies in town, and the mix of Kiswahili and French together is fun! Swimming in the pool is X, a Tanzanian student who works at the French Embassy. I also met a Tanzanian French prof at the University of Dar es Salaam and interpreter. Before she left for Addis Abbaba, to do work with the African Union at a meeting this week-end, we talked about French and Francophone Literature and she said I should meet C, the French assistant and Dr. H, who teaches courses on phonetics and civil servant French. Tomorrow we are having C, who hails from Normandy and has lived in Tanzania for 5 years, over for dinner.

Coming on Friday: a trip to Morogoro, 3 hours away from Dar, and close to the Uluguru Mountains, where some of the oldest forest in Africa exists—the 25 million-year-old Eastern Arc Mountain Chain! It’s home to the yellow baboon, blue monkey, wild pigs, antelopes, the Usambara eagle owl and the Uluguru bush-shrike. We are taking a Hood bus from Ubungo Junction Friday afternoon, to arrive in Morogoro early evening, then going for a hike past a German colonial settlement called Morningside up to Bondwe Peak.