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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

DAR

Recently, some of my very good friends have moved to DAR to do their mission work. So a friend from Morogoro and I decided to go this past weekend and visit them at their new homes. We all had a really great time together helping one of the families move into their finally finished house, going to the beach, eating all kinds of awesome food, and visiting their church.

DAR is an amazing and magical world full of exotic foods like Subway sandwiches, stuffed crust pizza, fettuccini alfredo, cheesecake and more. It's a strange city that somehow combines African culture and western culture all into one big lump. You can find all kinds of places like malls, beach resorts, and restaurants which are created especially for foreigners. And, at the same time, you can find all of the normal small African shops as well. There are many cars, motorcylces, buses, and as a result so much traffic because the roads are narrow and poorly maintained. Yet, at the same time, there are so many poorer people walking and trying their hardest to sell things on the streets. It was a very strange combination to experience; especially after having been away from western life for so long. The strangest part of the experience was going from church on Sunday (which is not complete, but it does at least have a roof), and then going to a mall where we ate fast food at a chicken place (sort of like KFC, which there also is one of those in DAR). I also got to walk through a real supermarket for the first time in a year. I was overwhelmed by the number of choices in food. I even found Clif Bars (one of my favorite snacks), Reece's cups, half an isle with just different types of teas, and so much more; though, of course, all of these things were grossly overpriced.

In spite of the shocking aspects of the weekend, it was just what I needed since things have been really stressful for me in Morogoro as of late. Any transition is difficult, but I think that the transition of a cross-cultural move is even more stressful than most. I'm used to life here now, but lately, knowing that I will be leaving soon, some cultural aspects of life have really been getting on my nerves. Mostly this has had to do with the attitude of locals towards white people and the fact that I can't go anywhere without attracting a lot of attention from people. It's very frustrating because I simply can't be friends with every single person I meet and it's impossible to greet everyone. If I did stop to greet every person, I would never get anywhere and if I was friends with everyone I met I wouldn't have time for anything. It's very overwhelming sometimes. In DAR, I suddenly became invisible and I was able to walk around and, well, just exist without extra attention being brought to myself. It was such a relief for me.

Here are some pictures of the weekend. My friend is supposed to be sending me pictures of the beach, but I don't have them yet.

Yeah, that's right. The first thing on this list is "Cajun Chicken". I didn't try it, but I was shocked to see that on a menu in Tanzania.




Hope you're having a great week so far!

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine


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