Tanzania Tidbits: Day 5

Again, the early morning drill to prepare course material and again, only enough material for the day.  These lectures are starting to feel like manna!  But in some ways, this has been for the best because it has allowed me to adapt the lectures to best meet their needs.  A comment from Conrad resulted in an extra lecture on quantitative symbols, and a question from them resulted in a lecture on georeferencing.  I’m sad to say it also helped that the sister of a colleague passed away, which necessitated them going to give their condolences and taking more time.   This was also the day when Julie and Conrad left me to go into the Udzungwa Mountains with another CEPF grantee, Francesco.  John had made him sound like Roberto Bernini, so I was surprised to see how mild-mannered he was.  I was sad to loose my DC support, but by this time felt comfortable with the SUA guys and actually a little protective of “my boys” and their education.

We had an extended lunch today for a field trip downtown.  The Dutch girl had given me the name of a boutique someone had recommended to her, and the guys offered to take me there during our lunch break in the hopes that I could find a beautiful outfit like all those Tanzanian women.  Alas, their focus was on western wear—the clothes either had a dated look or were formal enough to wear to prom.  At least lunch was a success!  We ate downtown at a place called the Blue Room, with some tasty food and a good view of daily life in Morogoro.  It was also nice to be inside during yet another short downpour, but the street didn’t drain as well as SUA’s campus.  After lunch we waded across the street to a stationary store so I could buy an anniversary card for mom and dad.  Conrad had mentioned they like cheesy greeting cards here and this store didn’t disappoint.  Unfortunately, the best ones were all romantic ones featuring sappy lines and pictures of couples from the 80’s.  Still, the one for my parents was pretty good.  This resulted in a late finish and I opted to stay where there was internet to continue working on the next day’s lectures until it was time for dinner.  They only have dial-up internet, which has been a real challenge to download files from our ftp site, not to mention checking email.  I suppose it teaches me patience, but since some of the lecture slides depended on it I really just learned frustration.

The guys treated me to a local joint on the outskirts of town called Glonnency 88.  The neighborhood is called 88 and refers to their Farmer’s Day, August 8th.  We ate tasty roasted goat, again with lime juice, but the entertainment will remain the most memorable.  I have nothing against Lionel Richie, but hearing “Stuck on You” performed by a guy and his keyboard with an original tempo was…special.  The rest of the music was mostly African so I can’t comment on it, other than to say it was a little to loud at some points and involved the synthesizer at others.  His cover of a Harry Bellefonte song actually wasn’t that bad.  It was nice to see the guys relax, unwind, and get into some more personal conversation.  I was also this close to getting a dance party out of Japhet, but it didn’t happen.  His car has a big sticker saying “Real Men Love Jesus” on the back, which led to some good discussions with him.  Again, something about the religious bond allows me to feel more comfortable.  I didn’t mind having the room to myself for the night so I could work late, but upon my return discovered a bucket of water outside my door.  Turns out all the rains caused them to shut off the pipes to prevent them getting mud-clogged.  I can appreciate that, but if I wasn’t already aware of all the water I consumed by drinking, I was now aware of how much I spent flushing the toilet—and how important that is to keep a room from smelling.  Good emergency prep experience, I guess, and I’m glad I had my facial wipes on hand for the night’s bathing.  

I opted to spend part of the evening counting out my millions—literally.  I needed to pay for the driver and the room we were using for the course in cash, so with the exchange rate of ~1/1,300 I was literally a Tanzanian millionaire for a few days.  If I hadn’t felt sketchy flying with that much money in $100 US bills, I did when the exchange bureau lady handed me a 2-inch stack of 5,000 notes.  Kinda ridiculous to have a pile of money to roll around in, and I must say the older notes had a funny odor and I didn’t want to know the cause.