Hujambo from Mikumi Sita!

(above: One of the buildings at Msimbazi Centre called “Mikumi” where our training in Dar took place and I stayed for the past 4 days in room sita, or 6.)

Our first night in Dar felt a lot like a covert operation. It was executed swiftly and with impressive precision. We were greeted very warmly at the airport by the Country Director, Andrea, a few staff members and apparently the U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania, who was sort of half introduced to us. Upon leaving the baggage claim area, we were told to look at the moon quickly, as by some strange coincidence our arrival coincided with a lunar eclipse at which we all gawked until we were instructed to grab a liter and a half bottle of water and get on the bus.

We then drove about 40 minutes to Msimbazi Centre, a Christian affiliated compound that serves a lot of purposes beyond hosting foreign trainees. (Apparently there is a group of Korean foreign service volunteers here as well.) There are a lot of students here studying and taking exams and on our last night there were two very large weddings going on at the very same time. The centre seems very removed from the rest of the city, almost as if we have been tucked away safely in a type of holding place/buffer zone for the rest of the country. They are giving us our culture in doses. That is, until this Sunday when they literally throw us to our host families. (More on this later. As anxious as I am, I really can’t wait!)

No time was wasted when we finally got to the center. We were introduced to everyone on Peace Corps staff that was present and given a medical briefing, including our first malaria suppressants. (The medical staff here is very sharp. I understand malaria better than I ever thought I would.) They briefed us on the next day and a bit on the few days ahead and then gave us our room assignments.

Getting to my room was exciting and turning on the light for the first time was nerve-racking. I flipped the switch and waited. Nothing. Then a flicker. More darkness. As I waited, I couldn’t help but see the success or failure of the light as an omen for the days that were to follow. It struggled to turn on, but the longer I waited and willed it to, the more it flickered and eventually the entire room lit up. Even more than an omen the light sort of turned out to be a metaphor for our first 4 days in Dar. It has definitely taken awhile to get rolling, but at this point every day looks brighter than the last.

These last 4 days have felt like weeks considering the amount we have been learning. Every day is filled with safety and security training, cultural briefings and language training. I was really concerned about my ability to pick up the language before we arrived, and I still worry about how well I’m doing, but I really think that studying language in the past as made the experience up until now SO much easier. I know what to look for and how and why things work. I can even make comparisons to how things work in Spanish. I do, however, catch myself about to speak in Spanish when I’m trying to speak in Kiswahili at times, which can be confusing. The language training staff has been incredible so far and apparently they’re the best in the country, which at this point I would have no problem believing.

One of our very first lessons was how to use the Choo. A.k.a. cleverly shaped hole in the ground. I haven’t had to use it much yet as our rooms all have working toilets but I need to start remembering to carry toilet paper when we leave tomorrow. I’m all for assimilation, but the whole left hand bucket of water and ladle thing might take me awhile…

For as little as we have really scene of the country so far I have still very quickly fallen in love. The people are incredibly nice (apparently long 5 minute greeting are VERY common when seeing people you know here, even before any business is actually discussed) and the scenery here in the centre (as well as the 10 minutes a few of us escaped to look just past the entrance of the center one night) were everything I had hoped for but don’t believe is actually real. I wake up every morning to a rooster crowing and the call for morning prayers at about 5:30 and go to bed listening to some pretty serious parties at what must be a club across the street. Tonight it is some sort of special drum group I think, the night before sounded like one right out of Pazzo’s.

We leave tomorrow at 6:30 for the city we will spend the next 10 weeks in with our new mamas, babas and maybe even a few cacas and dadas. (moms, dads, brothers and sisters.) I think all of us are a little anxious to meet our new families. We probably know enough of the language for maybe a 10-minute conversation, and that’s including the time spent looking up the words I am likely to forget in the moment. We have met a few current volunteers during our time in Dar as well, which has been INCREDIBLY helpful. They’re great at answering all of the questions the staff can’t and have given a lot of helpful insight and advice. They all also say that their time with their host families was some of the best, and they speak of them as if they really are family. Once again, I can’t wait to wake up in the morning.