Karibe Tanzania! (Welcome to Tanzania!)

I woke up this morning to the sounds of elephants calling in the streets of Dar.

Just kidding.

It was the 5AM prayer call of one of the nearby mosques. Tanzania has a significant Muslim population, so we take special care to dress conservatively to seem a little more inconspicuous (it helps with the mosquitos too), although it is pretty obvious we are 'mzungus,’ or foreigners. Slightly below the equator, Tanzania definitely gives off a tropical climate, and it's pretty hot and humid here, although not quite as bad as I thought it would be. The rainy season is almost over, so everything is very lush and green, but we aren’t inundated with too many downpours.

Today we met with Claire and Stephanie at Café Karembuzi at Sea Cliff Hotel. The view was amazing!!! Claire and Stephanie are absolutely incredible and super helpful as our MUSC-Charleston contacts who are working on HIV/AIDS research in Dar es Salaam and Kisarawe. Only about 20 minutes away from city center by taxi, the Sea Cliff Village and that area of the peninsula seems to cater towards expats, which was convenient for us in that we were easily able to get local phones, a wifi dongle (wifi is limited to none in Kisarawe), and few essential pharmacy and groceries (immodium and oral rehydration salts is a must) at a reasonable price.

We were invited to dinner later that night at The Fishmonger, also in Sea Cliff, to meet a few of the other medical students/researchers in Dar. At one table over dinner, we had Japanese, Belgians, British, Koreans, Germans, and of course Americans all sharing experiences from their varying times in TZ!

Tomorrow we have a free day to explore the city a bit before heading to Muhumbili National Hospital here in Dar Monday morning, and then to Kisarawe Monday afternoon. We have plenty of recommendations of fun places to go, so stay tuned! The theme here seems to be ‘Swahili time’ and ‘play it by ear.’

Cheers from TZ,

~Irene