Day one of Tanzanian program! Woke up at hostel to breakfast of eggy and three enormous slices of toast. I've learned quickly what life will be like here for the next two months! Shouldnt take long baths, cannot brush my teeth with any of the water, and most places will not have toilet paper unless you ask. Otherwise, I have been pretty comfortable. We got a light tour of Arusha today, most of the town is not very modern and for one of the largest cities in Tanzania its pretty unusual it only has one traffic light.
One of the most frightening things is that there is a 'danger bridge'-when I asked I was told this is where everyone gets raped, killed, or robbed. Totally cool, and we have to pass it when we come from the hostel to gsc HQ. The GSC office is majorly nice, and a great representation of what the organization is about. There are lots of plants and flowers which grow around the office. We were treated to one of the newest techniques the sustainable agriculture program is working on; food drying. I tasted some dried pineapple, dried chayote (thought of my dad!) and some swiss chard. The volunteer coordinators told us these techniques are useful because they hold up pretty long and can be reconstituted in hot water.
Lunch in Tanzania is incredibly cheap! For about 3,000 ($2 USD) shillings you can grab a large plate of food, delicious food. I had grilled kingfish and mashed potatoes for this price, in a restaurant which largely serves tourists. Apparently, Tanzanians don't typically pay this much for food in restaurants. I think I'm gonna like it here.
We had dinner at Center House, which turns out is a Catholic run hostel that serves wuzungu (white people aka foreigners). We sat with a priest who was talking about the Catholic faith in Africa while we shared some of the trends in Catholicism and Christianity in general in America. He was pretty surprised there was really such a downward attendance in churches, and when I told him churches were being closed in New York City he couldn't really believe it was true. He said this very weekend they were ordaining 4 priests and 9 deacons, with still a good amount in seminary. I will look forward to attending mass here in Arusha to really see the differences.
Moment of the day: Today while walking through town, one of the bajillion street vendors trying to sell me something didnt believe I was American, and he kept asking if I was German. Apparently I dont look wazungu enough. Hmmm
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