Farewell to Tanzania

A little over two weeks ago I had the bittersweet experience of saying goodbye to my Tanzanian home for the past year at Mzumbe.  It wasn’t easy to bid farewell to all of my incredible students and fellow colleagues, but after a wonderful last week where I was able to share my appreciation with my school and my community, I left Mzumbe knowing that this experience along with the people that I was fortunate to call my neighbors and friends would stay with me long after I returned home.

My last week in Morogoro was filled with many goodbyes and farewells, and also many recollections of fond memories from the past year.  I made a few final trips into town and enjoyed a lot of “last times” of the many routines and habits that were a part of my daily life in Tanzania.  I took a final run in the fields, hand-washed my clothes one last time (thankfully!), and made one more trip to the market for some fresh fruits and vegetables.  While engaging in these last experiences, I reminisced on the many memories of the past year and could truly reflect upon and appreciate how far I’ve come since the day I arrived in Tanzania.

One last Mzumbe morning parade

In my last few days as a member of the Mzumbe staff and community, I taught my final classes, left some parting words of wisdom for my students and shared many memories and laughs with my fellow teachers.  On my last day, I took some final pictures with my classes, exchanged contact information, and said my goodbyes to my community.  In typical Mzumbe fashion, I was also given a great send-off reception by my fellow staff, during which we enjoyed some snacks and sodas together and shared our mutual appreciation of each other for the last year.  Many teachers gave some humbling and heartfelt parting words and I also gave a final speech (with part of it in Kiswahili!) that could not begin to express the gratitude that I had for what I was fortunate to experience as a member of the Mzumbe community over the past year.  It was a great way to say goodbye to all of the truly amazing people I got to know over the year that had such an unforgettable impact on my life.

A Fond Farewell Party

Serving as the guest of honor

Following one last night at Mzumbe filled with packing, and also one last meal with my neighbor and his family, I was picked up and transported with my other fellow volunteers to the beach town of Bagamoyo near Dar es Salaam for our End of Service Conference.  The conference was a chance to relax, unwind, debrief and also prepare for the final journey home.  It was also a time to share memories and laughs with my other WorldTeachers, who over the past year became incredibly close friends.  Even though it was difficult to say goodbye to my Mzumbe community, it was probably even more difficult to say goodbye to my compatriots who accompanied me on this adventure.  We went through many great times and difficult times together, but as a group we were successful in our endeavor as the first WorldTeach volunteers in Tanzania and as a result formed an incredibly close bond that will continue long after our service has ended.  While I leave Tanzania with endless memories and life lessons, it’s the memories with the people and friends I gained that will live on most vividly. 

WorldTeach Tanzania 2010-2011 together for the final time

After a great last hurrah at our End of Service Conference, we traveled back to Dar es Salaam and were sent off to the airport where we would make the long-awaited trip back home.  I could not have asked for a better final week in Tanzania.  It was certainly an emotional time, but I left Tanzania with no regrets and with the satisfaction knowing that I got more out of my experience than I could have hoped for.  There really is no word in Kiswahili for “goodbye” and that’s how I felt upon my departure.  Even though I am leaving behind my amazing community and friends, I don’t feel as if I am saying a true goodbye.  The memories of my experiences as a WorldTeach Volunteer will stay with me forever, which is all I need to feel as if I never truly said farewell.

A Lesson In Courage

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the acknowledgement that something is more important than fear.” - Ambrose Redmoon

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear- not absence of fear.” - Mark Twain

Looking back and reflecting over my experience as a WorldTeach volunteer in Tanzania, one of the most important pieces of wisdom and lessons that I learned and can give to future volunteers is that the experience of living and teaching as a volunteer abroad is truly what you make it to be.  As I prepare to return home, I leave with a feeling of genuine pride and fulfillment about what I have accomplished during this experience, and it was more than I ever could have hoped it to be.  As both a traveler and a teacher fully immersed in a foreign culture, I reached many personal and professional goals, overcame a lot of tough obstacles and experienced plenty of highs and lows along my journey.  Thinking about all the innumerable challenges and rewarding moments I’ve experienced over the past year, I have discovered that the key to success as a WorldTeach volunteer means facing every new challenge and opportunity that you encounter with a courageous mind, heart and soul, even (and sometimes especially) if it makes you afraid.  Living and teaching in a culture so unique and so different from your own brings with it daily experiences that are all new, exciting, demanding, emotional and sometimes scary.  With each of these experiences comes the acknowledgement of fear and the choice to have the courage to overcome that fear so that you can truly make a difference in and out of the classroom and make the most of every moment that an adventure like this can bring.

From the moment I arrived into the beautiful, unique and dynamic culture of Tanzania, I knew that this year would forever change who I was and how I would see the world around me.  Every new experience was a step into the unknown, exposing me to new challenges that would test my character and form my worldview.  Whether it was the first time using public transportation, bargaining for food at the market, moving into my new home, getting to know my new colleagues, or entering the classroom for the first time, every new encounter was always accompanied by at least some amount of trepidation and fear.  Yet by having the courage to face each fear I was able to open myself up to so many truly amazing and unforgettable moments that made my year in Tanzania so rewarding.  From courageously facing each fear, I met many teachers, neighbors and students that I now call my close friends; I came to fully understand and appreciate an amazing culture so diverse and unique from my own; and I helped to make a positive and lasting impact in the lives of my students, at my schools and in my community.

As a WorldTeach volunteer knowing that there was always something more important than whatever fears I faced, I also learned what it genuinely means to devote yourself to serving a community in need and the rewards that come with that devotion and service.  Teaching in Tanzania was easily one of the most challenging experiences of my life, but I leave knowing that gave everything I had to rise to that challenge for my students and my community with the hope that I have inspired them as much as they have inspired me.  As I face the difficult task of leaving my schools, my students, my friends and my home in Tanzania, my hope is that I have given them the courage to face their own fears and live up to the potential for great things that I saw in each of the students that I had the honor to teach.  My year as an English teacher in Tanzania required much dedication, hard work, and sacrifice, but knowing that I have made a positive impact in my community is enough reward for that commitment to last a lifetime.  

Ending my year of service as a WorldTeach volunteer in Tanzania has been immensely difficult, especially as I reflect back upon all that I have personally and professionally achieved, say goodbye to the friends I’ve gained, appreciate the challenge and joy of teaching, and think about how I have changed as a person from when I arrived.  Adapting to life in another culture and devoting myself to make a difference in a community in a developing country was filled with many moments of fear that I knew I had to find a way to overcome.  Facing those fears and having the courage to persevere through them helped to make my time in Tanzania the most unforgettable and rewarding experience of my life.  I leave Tanzania with a sense of excitement, sadness and pride, but also with a newfound sense of courage that I know will help me to conquer any fear and challenge that lies ahead of me when I return home.

Reflection on a Year- Part Three: Teaching in Tanzania

Don't forget to also check out Part One and Part Two of my Three-part Reflection!

In what was undoubtedly the most rewarding aspect of my time as a WorldTeach volunteer, serving as a teacher in Tanzanian secondary schools provided me with some of the most challenging, memorable and fulfilling experiences of my life.  As someone who had never taught in a formal classroom setting before joining WorldTeach, I arrived in Tanzania a year ago with little more than a strong enthusiasm to teach.  What I would discover over the following year as a first year teacher was a deep passion, love and respect for teaching both in and out of the classroom.  My experiences of teaching English to secondary students at a wide range of levels and in a diverse variety of environments taught me as many valuable lessons as I was fortunate enough to teach.  As I look back on how far I’ve come and how much I’ve learned about being a better teacher in a short year, I can truly appreciate every moment and opportunity I had in the classroom to be a teacher, role-model and friend for every person I had the honor to call my student.

Over the past year, I taught over 400 students throughout three different schools in Morogoro. Teaching at each school (Mzumbe Secondary School, Mongola Secondary School and The Hill Education Center) provided me with an incredibly diverse teaching experience, as I was able to teach at all levels of English ability (beginner, intermediate, advanced).  While it was initially difficult to get adjusted to the Tanzanian system of education, eventually with a lot of trial and error and also the great support from my wonderful colleagues I was able to hit my stride and really feel like I was making a strong positive impact with my students and in the school community.  At each school I was faced with immense challenges as a new teacher (class sizes up to 70 students, no books or resources, etc), but I was fortunate enough to have many eager students always ready to work hard in learning and improving their English skills which made my job a lot easier.  This also made for a lot of rewarding and memorable moments.  Moments like hearing my students give passionate and enthusiastic speeches on ways to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, or listening to a student give a thought-provoking and insightful analysis of a poem about slavery, or successfully teaching a classroom of 70 students how to identify different types of conditional sentences.  Also, as there are for every teacher, there were many frustrating moments in the classroom, like teaching a failed lesson, students not understanding me due to language barriers, or seeing some of my students fail their exams after putting in as much effort as possible.  From each wonderful and not so wonderful moment in the classroom I was able to learn from my successes and mistakes and use them to help make me a stronger teacher as the year went on.  With each passing week as I proudly watched my students grow in their education, I also felt myself grow and improve as a teacher and person, as well.

My Mzumbe Form 3 A2 Class

Mzumbe Form 3 A1 Class

Mzumbe Form 3 A3 Class

My Mzumbe Form V HGL Class

 The other highlight of serving as a teacher at my schools was getting to know so many other wonderful and dedicated teachers that I was proud to call my colleagues.  Not only was I able to exchange culture and provide a presence of diversity in the staff room, but I also made a lot of really great friends who served as cultural and professional mentors.  Not only were they my co-workers, but they were also my teachers in many respects, too.  Whether it was at the morning parades, during daily tea breaks or throughout the weeks grading exams, there were always a multitude of opportunities to get to know my fellow teachers and also learn how to become a better teacher from their guidance and advice.  From sharing our unique perspectives as teachers and former students from different educational backgrounds, I truly felt that my colleagues and I were able to fully support one another in making our schools the best learning environment for our students now and in the future.

Mzumbe Secondary School Faculty and Staff

Coming into this year, I began this journey with an open mind and I didn’t really know what to expect from serving as a teacher in a developing country with an educational system that I was totally unfamiliar with.  In a country such as Tanzania, where they take education very seriously and yet are faced with immense challenges, I found the experience of being a secondary school teacher an incredibly dynamic introduction into the profession of teaching.  From my teaching experience, I learned that being a teacher can be one of the most difficult, demanding and also fun, creative and rewarding jobs you can have.  To be a good teacher, you need patience, flexibility and the willingness to want to improve each and every day, and that is no different for any teacher anywhere in the world.  On a good day, there isn’t a better job in the world.  On a bad day, you never want to enter a classroom again.  During my year as an English teacher in Tanzania, I experienced many of those good and bad days, and I’m grateful for every one.  I got to know and teach so many amazing and hard working students, and also befriend and learn from many dedicated and talented teachers and colleagues at my schools.  As I leave Tanzania I can only hope that over the last year I have made as much of a difference in the lives of my students and colleagues as I dedicated myself to make throughout this extraordinary year.

Take a look at one of my classes in action!

Reflection on a Year- Part Two: Living in Tanzania

Don't forget to check out Part One of my Three-part Reflection!

My domestic life in Tanzania provided some of the greatest frustrations and challenges, but also some of the biggest personal successes and achievements.  When I came to Tanzania I was already very independent and adept at living in a new place and adjusting to a new environment, but life in Tanzania brought more unexpected trials and tribulations than I ever could have anticipated.  There were many weeks when I thought it couldn’t get tougher, and just when I thought I had the solution to whatever problem was facing me another challenge seemed to come my way.  Although adjusting to the ups and downs of life in a developing country had it’s difficulties, there were also many aspects to life here that I genuinely enjoyed and appreciated that made my experience here that much more fulfilling.  Living in a country like Tanzania, and especially at a place as beautiful as Mzumbe, has been an exceptionally formative experience where I have learned to enjoy many simple pleasures and could have the peace and freedom to truly value this experience.  While there were countless challenges to life in Tanzania, I can proudly say that I overcame each one and in the process learned more about myself than I had ever expected at the start of the year.

A large part of why I had a fortunate year living at Mzumbe was because I was lucky enough to have a nice, quiet and sufficiently equipped house.  Although it was a bit big for just one volunteer, it suited all of my needs for the year just fine.  Compared to what most families have for housing in Tanzania, I would say I quite comfortable living at my house for the year.  However, for everything that was great about the house, there was often a drawback, as well.  It was quiet, despite the constant rooster calls all day starting at 4AM.  There was running water, except for the few weeks it was shut off. And the fact that it was only cold water and it sometimes turned brown and dirty during the rainy season wasn’t too pleasant.  I had regular electricity, excluding for the 6-month period when it was turned off every other day.  It was easy to keep clean, yet I often had to fend off the occasional bug infestation.  Every setback that came was always unexpected, but the main lesson I learned was to always be prepared and know that there is often a solution to every (domestic) obstacle.  Once I knew to anticipate every problem that might come my way, it really wasn’t so hard to deal with (or at the least, ignore and put up with) the roosters, lack of electricity, dirty water, or bugs.

Along with mastering my Tanzanian life came the acquirement of new domestic skills and also the appreciation of how easy they can be in the U.S.  I learned how to hand wash my clothes, which was an extremely tedious chore and taught me to never complain about doing laundry with a washer and drier ever again.  I learned how to cut the grass by hand which, like hand washing clothes, I hope to never have to worry about doing without the help of a machine ever again.  I also learned quite a few new cooking skills, which I actually am truly appreciative of, and really enjoyed learning and perfecting.  I can now make a killer bean burger, a pretty good homemade pizza, and every combination of beans, rice and vegetables you can think of.  The drawback to cooking was that shopping for food was never easy, and using local transportation to make the trek to the market in town and haggling for decent prices was nowhere near as easy as taking a short drive to the nearby supermarket.

Despite many challenges, I felt more than fortunate to have spent my year in Tanzania living at Mzumbe.  I truly had more than I could have hoped for.  I had an incredibly inspiring and beautiful atmosphere.  I had a peaceful and quiet environment where I could just relax, listen to music, read and focus on my teaching preparation.  I had a lot of facilities nearby, like (albeit slow) Internet and market vendors for any basic needs.  I had amazing trails all around me that allowed me to keep up my running and kept me motivated to stay healthy and in shape.  I couldn’t have asked for a better living situation that kept me focused on doing the best job I could as a teacher, volunteer and member of a local Tanzanian community.  My life at Mzumbe was altogether challenging, difficult, but also extremely rewarding, and it has provided me with the skills and appreciation to fully value and respect the conveniences of life in the U.S. more than I ever did before.  Although I learned countless lessons from my year in Tanzania, I probably learned more lessons about myself from my day-to-day life than from any other aspect of my experience this year. From those lessons, I leave Tanzania more confident than ever that I can face just about any challenge that comes my way.

Reflection on a Year- Part One: Culture and Language in Tanzania

It’s hard to believe that this experience, which has required so much mental, physical and emotional time, dedication and effort over the past year and half, is finally coming to an end.  I don’t think it’s completely set in that I’ll be ending this journey so soon and will be leaving this extraordinary culture, my temporarily adopted home and an unbelievably rewarding year as a teacher in Tanzania to return home to the U.S.  For some of my last posts to end this incredible Tanzanian adventure, I wanted to provide a reflection of what life here has meant to me and what this experience has taught me over the last year.  Since there’s a lot to reflect upon, I’m going to present it in three posts, detailing my final reflections on my cultural experience, my living experience and my teaching experience.  Of course, a lot of what this year has meant to me is hard to fully put into words, but the experiences I’ve had, the lessons I’ve both learned and taught, and all of the people and culture I’ve encountered have no less than changed me as a person and given me memories that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

Culturally speaking, when I arrived in Tanzania, I came with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised at what I encountered over the following year.  I certainly didn’t expect to find a culture as diverse, beautiful, welcoming and wonderful as the one that exists here.  Tanzanians in general are incredibly warm and friendly people that genuinely want to proudly share and express their culture with visitors and locals alike. While there were many times when it was difficult to try and adapt and fit in to the culture as someone of a different race and nationality, with an open mind, patience and a positive attitude, I came to be accepted as equal member of my local community shortly after my arrival to Tanzania.  With each passing week, from shared meals, home visits, relaxing with a cold beer or soda, or just chatting in the staff room with Tanzanian friends and colleagues, I learned more and more about the culture and also shared a lot about American culture, too.  This not only gave me a distinct appreciation of the local culture, but also made me greatly appreciate and reflect on my own culture back home.  In the process, I also made lifelong friends and learned some great life lessons.

Over the past year, I was fortunate enough to attend many cultural events that really illuminated how welcoming, communal, and unique Tanzanian culture really is.  I attended weddings, graduations, a first communion, a funeral, and many more parties, celebrations and gatherings that gave me plenty of unforgettable memories and experiences.  At each event I was welcomed just as any family member would be, and attending these events added an extraordinary dimension to this experience that few people get to encounter.  From attending many of these events, I realized that a big part of Tanzanian culture is treating each person and member of the community with equality, dignity and respect, no matter what their background might be.

Regarding the laid-back lifestyle and culture that exists in Tanzania, I’m not sure if I really came to appreciate it as much as I thought I would at the outset of the year.  There were times when it was great and I totally adopted the “Pole-Pole” attitude, but there were also many times when it led to confusion or frustration and this was one cultural aspect that never fully took hold.  As an American (and also from the Runner personality in me), I’m used to a bit more structure and organization than I experienced with the Tanzanian culture.  There were times when it was nice that I didn’t have to stress out about arriving everywhere on time and could always have an excuse to relax, but there were just as many frustrations- like when nothing would start on time, a meeting would run two hours long, classes might be interrupted for impromptu events or meetings, neighbors and students appeared at your home unannounced without warning, and the fact that no one ever observes the concept of “waiting your turn in line.”  Looking back, however, I’ve realized how much I’ve accepted this aspect of culture as part of life here.  While I was probably a lot more frustrated about it when I arrived, it’s taught me to be a lot more patient and also to appreciate the times when I can have an excuse to just take it easy, enjoy the simple things and not take life too seriously.

As for language, well, I have to admit that I am leaving Tanzania as a less than efficient speaker of Kiswahili than I hoped.  I probably know more of it than I realize (my listening skills are pretty good), but I am certainly far from fluent.  Partially that is to blame on the fact that all of my colleagues were extremely efficient English speakers, so I was pretty spoiled because they were always willing to converse with me in English.  It was the moments when I would encounter a local neighbor or nearby villager that didn’t know a word of English that really tested my Kiswahili skills.  While I can’t have a full conversation in the local language, I am proud to say that I can greet you in Kiswahili in every way there is (and there are more than you can count, trust me).  I was told early in the year that knowing greetings is 75% of appearing proficient in Kiswahili, and that is no exaggeration.  If you greet someone in Kiswahili, they’ll assume you’re fluent in the language.  Luckily, once I mastered that and a few other basics, it was incredibly easy to get by with the locals.

Although there is so much to admire about the welcoming culture in Tanzania, there is also something to be said about the challenging aspect of living in a foreign culture where you are so distinctly a member of another race.  The fact that you are so different and so noticeable to a point where you are called by a specific racial term (Mzungu) really makes you reflect about the role that race plays in all societies, and your own specific reactions and emotions towards it.  I would be lying if I said there weren’t times when it was difficult to even just step out my door.  Yet despite the racial terms, the stares, the shouts and the attention (both positive and negative) that accompanied me everywhere I went, I have learned a lot about human nature and understood how to appreciate people more deeply beyond initial appearances.  I think if any aspect of this experience taught me invaluable lessons about my own nature and value of humanity, it was this one.

Overall, I feel incredibly fortunate to have had such a dynamic and immersive cultural experience as a WorldTeach volunteer in Tanzania.  From the local gatherings and celebrations, to the customs of language, to the integration as a member of the Mzumbe community, I could not have asked for a more complete first hand encounter with Tanzanian culture as the one I had here.  As I prepare to return home, I leave with a great fondness and admiration for the truly beautiful traditions, customs and way of life here.  Not only will I never forget the lessons learned from my cultural experiences, but they will also serve to add to the great pride and love I have for my own culture back at home, as well.

Recipe: Pizza

I’ve already posted a couple of other recipes for some of my favorite foods from back home that I’ve Africanized, and the last recipe I wanted to post was the last kind of food that I cooked here that always brought me comfort when I needed a taste from back home- Pizza!  This is a pretty simple recipe that can be made with easily found ingredients and also allows for a lot of creativity- that is if you’re adventurous enough to experiment with any local vegetables and foods to use as toppings.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. yeast

1 1/3 cups of warm water

1 tsp. salt

2 to 3 tbsp. sugar (optional)

2 tbsp. oil

4 cups of flour

Any desired sauce and toppings

1. Sprinkle yeast over warm water and let stand for 5-10 minutes.

2. Add salt, oil, flour (and optional sugar) and knead on a floured board for 10 minutes.

3. Shape dough into a ball, grease the ball lightly with oil and put in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth.  Let the dough sit and rise for at least 1 ½ hrs.

4. Preheat the oven to 400F

5. Press dough into a buttered pizza pan and perforate dough with a fork.

6. Bake 10-15 minutes, then cover the dough with any sauce, cheese and toppings.

7. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is ready.

I usually just cut up some vegetables and add some cheese and sauce bought at the market, but feel free to experiment a bit.  Enjoy!

Adventures in Transit

When I first arrived I wrote a little bit about public transportation, but since it has been such an essential part of my life and experience here, I wanted to elaborate more on how I get around from place to place in Morogoro.  In Tanzania, where very few people have cars, using public transportation is a major part of life here.  Whenever I’ve told people that where I’m from there are more cars then people, it’s funny to see their jaws drop in disbelief.  Using local transportation in Tanzania can be quite an experience itself; one that can be fun, frustrating, peaceful, funny, easy, difficult, physically demanding, scary, and culturally rewarding all at the same time.  Some of the best and worst moments of life here have come from dealing with transportation, but it’s all just another amazing and adventurous dimension of life in Tanzania.

A Daladala- The typical mode of local transport

The main modes of transport that I use to get from Mzumbe to Morogoro Town are the local mini-buses, called “Daladalas.” These are basically mini-vans that are refitted to be used as passenger transport.  It’s an inexpensive form of transportation (a trip to town costs 900 Shillings, which is about 60 cents), and it’s an easy way to travel a long way for a little money.  Inside the van there are usually enough benches and seats to hold about 14-15 people comfortably, and there’s also some room in the back for any baggage or goods that need to be transported.  Some daladalas are nicer than others, depending on how much the owners want to put into the van.  You can find yourself on one that’s clean and comfortable or on one that might just have a bunch of 2x4 wood slats as seats and has you eating gas fumes for the entire trip (not to mention the mechanical problems).  Each daladala has a driver, and a “conductor” (called a Konda, in Kiswahili) who collects bus fees and gathers passengers along the ride.  The Konda will ride with his head out the window and when he sees a passenger that wants to be picked up, or someone wants to get off (just yell out “shoosha!” when it’s your stop), he’ll signal the driver to stop by pounding on the side of the bus.  Not the most sophisticated system, but it works. 

Riding the daladala gets interesting when the bus starts to fill up.  Since the kondas want to have as many passengers and bus fares as possible, they will often fill the van up with as many as 30 people… in a van meant to fit 15, max.  You may wonder how this is possible, but with some physical ingenuity that would make a clown car jealous and what would be a severe violation of public safety codes in the U.S., it gets done.  When the benches and seats are crammed to capacity, passengers will stand.  Clearly, there is no understanding of the term “personal space” on a daladala.  This is one aspect that I have found to be the most baffling, infuriating, uncomfortable and also hilarious parts of riding a daladala.  If I have a comfortable seat, it can be pretty amazing to see how many people are willing to contort their bodies and put up with a sore back and stiff neck just to get into town (and in some circumstances, have put up with myself).  It’s kinda like watching (and in some cases, playing!) a game of Twister on a 15 person capacity mini-van filled with 30 people (and a live chicken or two, for good measure) going 45 mph.  Just don’t try that at home, kids!

The dala-dala stand in Morogoro Town

Catching the bus from Mzumbe to town is pretty easy, since Mzumbe is the end of the line for one of the major routes of the Morogoro daladalas.  I walk down to the main gate and just wait for one to come by (which is usually every 10-15 minutes).  Luckily, since it is the end of the line, they are usually pretty empty going into town, so it’s easy to get a seat.  The trip to and from town is incredibly scenic, and if I can be comfortable, it’s a really enjoyable and peaceful trip.  Riding the daladala can also be very culturally rewarding, not only because it’s a great time to observe Tanzanians in their daily routines, but also because it’s not uncommon to find yourself deep in conversation with the passenger next to you.  I’ve gotten some of the best Kiswahili and cultural lessons just from riding the bus!  It’s a really cool moment when you can exchange your culture and get to know Tanzanians on a more personal level just from a 30-minute bus ride into town.  When I come back from town I get on an empty daladala headed for Mzumbe at the daladala station in the middle of Morogoro town.  The stand is basically a parking lot full of daladalas headed to parts all over Morogoro.  Since the buses won’t take off until they’re full, you can often find yourself waiting anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour until the bus takes off.  Just remember to bring a newspaper for the wait!  From there I enjoy another scenic ride back to Mzumbe.

I probably have too many stories about riding on daladalas to count, but it certainly has provided me with some of my most vivid and interesting memories.  It often takes an incredible amount of patience to deal with the transportation here (always “Pole-Pole” in Tanzania), but if you have an open-mind you can really discover a lot about Tanzanian life and understand the culture on a true first-hand level.  It is one of those cultural aspects you have to experience yourself to get a full understanding of what it’s really like, but if you do it’s a Tanzanian experience you won’t forget.  Just remember to stretch first!