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| I Live Behind the Black Gate on the Far Right |
I left my placement
in Rubya village in June and following my holiday, moved to Dar es Salaam,
Tnazania’s largest city. I’ve mentioned before that my first impressions of Dar
were not entirely positive, but I have also mentioned that it is a city that
quickly grows on you..... and grow on me it has! I am very happy with my new
placement, my new home and my overall surroundings.
I am still working
in human resources in the health sector, but I am now working out of the VSO
office. I have reviewed Tanzania’s five year strategic plan for Humana
Resources for health and have met with some people involved in the implementation
of the plan. Much of the work that has been done to date in the health sector
in regards to human resources has been at the national and regional level and
very little has been done in the actual health facilities themselves. What I am
hoping to do within the remainder of my placement is to create a toolkit of sorts,
which is fully compliant with all national and regional activities to date, to
be utilized at the facility level. I will have some opportunity to travel in my
new placement and plan to visit several hospitals in the regions of Pemba,
Mtwara and Kagera that VSO is currently partnered with.
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| My Compound - My Door is the One in the Right |
My new home is VERY small,
but comfortable enough for me. I am living in a compound that houses a few
other VSO volunteers so I feel fairly secure. Security is a bit of a problem in
Dar es Salaam, as it is in many large cities, and it is important to be aware
of your surroundings and to keep yourself as safe as you can. I have luckily
not run into any dodgy situations as of yet (in terms of security anyway.....)
and I hope that it will stay that way.
Dar is a large city,
and while I would not be able to compare the amenities to those in a city like
Toronto, I have been very comfortable here. I know where to get a good
cappuccino along with an ocean view while I drink it, where to go for drinks
and watch the sunset, where to get a nice meal, where to go to party all night,
and where to get a decent bloody mary the afternoon after I’ve partied all
night (a bloody mary has to suffice in place of a Caesar as I think Canada is
just about the only place in the world where one can get a Caesar). Coming from
the village I think I was a little bit starved for stimulation and I’ve really
enjoyed having good friends and good times around me since I moved here. There
are certain things about this city that I really love. A few of them are:
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| Me in a Bijaj |
- Getting around town – I can get just about anywhere that I would want to go for between 2000-5000Tsh (approximately $1.50 - $3.00).... and at that price I don’t even have to deal with the horrendous traffic conditions in the city. Generally I get around town using a bijaj (please see photo). They can zip through/around traffic jams and get you where you need to be quickly and cheaply. I’m not sure if they are the safest vehicles ever, but driving on the streets here isn’t really a completely safe experience anyway. Traffic rules aren’t so much laws as they are general guidelines.
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| Looking Kinda Cool Without RiyDons |
- Shopping – This is an activity that is easy most
anywhere, but there are added charms here in Dar es Salaam. There are malls and
supermarkets so shopping for groceries offers much more diversity here than it
did in the village, but that’s not really what I’m referring to. I’ve become a
big fan of car shopping. There are vendors that hang out at busy intersections and
you can buy a surprisingly wide variety of items on your way to or from work.
It is convenient and since there is a time limit (red light or lull in traffic)
it eliminates a lot of the back and forth on price. My favourite street vendor
item is RiyDon sunglasses. I’m pretty sure that they are the coolest sunglasses
that I have ever owned, and they seem to increase just about anyone’s cool
factor by at least 5 points. In addition to that (as if the increase in cool
factor isn’t enough reason to snatch up as many pairs as you can...) they come
at the low, low price of only 3000Tsh (or just under $2.00). Cool has never
been so cheap!
Another favourite item is bootlegged DVDs. As I mentioned above, I really do not have the best internet connection so downloading movies is not an option. The vendors on the road have all the latest movies, complete with their personal reviews, for only 3000-5000Tsh!
Looking WAY Cooler with my RiyDons
- Pampering myself – I never ever would have expected to include this item on a list such as this, but it’s true! It’s not necessarily easier to pamper myself, just a lot cheaper than it would be at home! I don’t go too often, but it is affordable and pleasant to take a trip to the salon for a pedi or massage and I have certainly taken advantage.
- Entertainment – Just like any large city, there is a lot to stimulate the senses here including great restaurants, fun bars and clubs, nice beaches and even a super fun water park. Boredom is not an issue for me here at all!
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| Not the ACTUAL Lizard in my Shirt |
While there is a lot that I love about this
city, from time to time something happens that serves to remind me that it’s
still quite a bit different from home. Last night for example I was out for a
nice dinner with some friends when we spotted a little baby lizard on our
table. My first reaction was “awww! He’s so cute!”...... and then he jumped
into my shirt. Not really the sort of thing that has ever happened to me while
out for drinks in Toronto. I of course jumped up and knocked over my chair in
the process and almost ripped my shirt off right in the dining room (all the
while screaming like a little girl: “WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS IT? OH MY GOD! IS IT
GONE? IS IT IN MY SHIRT? WHERE IS IT!!!!!!!!!”). The server was very helpful
and suggested that perhaps I should go to the ladies room before I stripped
down completely, which I did..... and as soon as I got my shirt off he fell out
of my bra into the sink. This made me scream like a little girl once again, but
at least the ordeal was over. A lizard needs to understand his place in life.
On the wall or ceiling is a perfect place for a lizard to be. In my shirt is
not.
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| My Home During a Power Outage |
Water outages and
power outages are another challenge in both the village and the city. Anyone
living on the eastern seaboard in Canada or the US is likely to remember the great
blackout of 2001. The power was out for less than 12 hours and yet it was such
an unexpected and surprising event that it made international headlines. While
the power outages here in Dar tend not to last more than an hour or so, in the
village the power would often be out for days at a time. Did any of you at home
read about that?... Didn’t think so. To be an optimist in regards to the water
outages, while they are frustrating, I suppose they reinforce an important
lesson: water is precious and should be valued. It is very easy to take for
granted the fact that when you turn on the tap in the sink, water will come
out.
I have a few weeks left in my placement before returning back to Canada. While I obviously miss home I am already getting a little bit sad that I will have to leave this place behind. It has been a great adventure so far and I’m sure the last 6 weeks will not let me down.
Miss you all,
V
