My Tanzanian Journey Begins

Written on June 3, 2008 from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
By Philip Arscott

My Tanzanian journey has finally begun. After deboarding the plane and waiting anxiously with the other 100 people trying to get a visa, the warm, humid air of Dar Es Salaam filled my tired body with hopes of a good trip. It turned out that I still had about seven hours to burn until David and Jake arrived, so I went outside and got to business. I purchased a phone, ate a great meal at the the only cafe I could see and spent most of the downtime reading and observing. Dar Es Salaam is a very diverse place, and the airport is an even more concentrated taste of that. While sitting by the airport entrance, a little boy was running in and out of the security checkpoint with a lollipop in his mouth and toy gun at hand, every once and a while taking aim at whomever he chose. I thought about how a plastic hand gun would be confiscated immediately at an airport in the U.S. but oh well. He came up and briefly sat next to me, on the bench where his scarfed mother and I assume sisters sat as well but did not give him enough entertainment. So he jumped up and ran around tapping the knees of those sitting around us. It was very amusing and took whatever judgements I may have made for letting a kid carry a plastic gun in an airport disappear. The day went by quickly, with countless taxi drivers offering me a ride to which I always replied, "No thank you, I have a friend who will pick me up." I think they must have been confused though, because I saw many of them throughout my seven hour wait outside. It was a relief when David and Jake's plane arrived and more of a relief when Noel Joram, the Assistant Country Director of Tanzania, approached me and asked if I was associated with VEF. Now with my other two interns and our Swahili speaking leader, I did not feel so alone.
We took taxi to the hotel, a ride that was overwhelming after seeing the same scene outside the airport all day. Everytime we stopped, vendors would carry their goods between the traffic; nuts, fruits, books, knives you name it they got it, and every once and a while made a sale. Once at the hotel we sat for a meal, I had not eaten for a while and my middle-eastern inspired dish was delightful. During our meal, evening prayers spread across the city, reminding us that Dar Es Salaam is very much an Arab inspired city as it is African. We finally made it up to our room, and after realizing how tired I was, I was out before the lights were turned off. What an amazing first day.