Well folks, it's been awhile since we talked last and boy do I have a lot to tell you. I should start by saying that I am no longer in Arusha, but am now settled into my permenant home here at the University in Dar. We got here on Sunday night around 6:30 after a crazy-ass bus ride that took us accross most of Tanz. in 7 hours. The views were absolutely spectacular, and it was really cool to watch the landscape change as we headed farther south and consequently closer to the equator and ocean. After we arrived and got semi-situated in our rooms, we had dinner at this really nice Malaysian Restaurant downtown (don't worry, Barbara and Terry paid) and I absolutely fell in love with Indian buffet night......there's a good chance I just might go back next Sunday! Thomas and Mama Mabel Kaaya, our Univ. facilitators, are very nice, very reliable, and very helpful. That's especially nice to know considering that we'll be heavily relying on their assistence and guidance for the next couple months. Furthermore, they know practically everything there is to know about the Univ., Dar, Zanzibar, and basically Tanzania in general, so it's very comforting to know that they're on our side.........so don't worry mom, I'm in good hands! But anyway, it has been kinda nuts since we arrived and I havn't really had a whole lot of time to devote to blogging (and the computer's here are worse than the ones in Arusha, haha), so please accept my apologies for the untimely nature of this post. The good news is, we started our kiswahili lessons and I can see myself improving everyday! Our mwalimu (teacher) is a wonderfully bright and energetic women who I can tell is very interested in our success and is making our 4 hour lessons fairly enjoyable. I can't tell whether it's impressive or pathetic that I feel like I already know more Swahili than French (which I took for two, painful semesters), but I am hoping that my good fortune will continue......not without hard work though! (*insert cheezy grin and thumbs up......bomba kinyama rafiki zangu!) The campus is very rustic, brass, and jungly, yet has this urban-metropolis feel to it......very cool, very African; plus, you need not walk any farther than 300 yds. in any direction and you've got full access to clean water (in bottles..."don't drink from the tap"), cheep food, toilet paper (which i found out the hard way is NOT provided in any of the bathrooms) and cell phone cards.....all of the neccesities! If you can imagine, I can basically gorge myself on wali na mararangua nzuri sana (really good rice and beans) for less than a buck '50! Ndizi (bananas) are like 10 cents a piece, chai (tea) is like 30 cents, and chapati (fried tortilla bread stuff) is also only 10 cents (sidenote: chapati with a banana and a little sugar rolled up in it for breakfast is amazing and is so CHEAP!......i think i'll try peanut butter in there too.......man i'm gonna get fat...). I'm also in love with chili sauce......it look's like fry sauce and smells like tabasco, but it's the closest thing to heaven I've experienced and I put it all over my wali. However, it's frustrating that a country whose resources are slowly depleating and whose national economy is constantly struggling with external debt can provide basic, clean, accessible, and healthy neccesities at an amazingly affordable price while we as Americans, citizens of one of the richest nations in the world, can easily spend $10 on a hamburger and fries that we don't even finish. Ah, America... But yeah, I'm gonna be so fruggle when i get back... The toilets and showers are an interesting topic also....aside from the fact that I'm sharing this bathroom on our floor with 9 women, the place is always floding in some way, the toilets have a history of not working (which is dangerous when considering what comes out of my ass), and the showers, when they work, are way cold and smell like rusty urine......but to be honest, it's awesome. I'm surprised that I'm saying this because I'll be the first to admit that I love me a nice, long, hot shower, but it's all so exciting because I literally have no idea what to expect from one day to the next in that bathroom, and for the first time in my life I'm okay with uncertainty and change (in more ways than just dealing with the bathroom.....i feel like our bathroom is a metaphor for my life in general...). This morning when I was sitting down to "do some reading", the biggest bee I've ever seen in my life came flying out of this hole in the floor beside me. Scared the shit out of me (literally) but it was absolutely hilarious because I was hopping around with my pants around my ankles, splashing freezing cold water from my shower that had assembled in a nice puddle in front of the john, while 3 women were busy brushing their teeth outside the stall. Ah, good times......hakuna matata(it means no worries.....really). In general, I think it's safe to say that Dar kicks some serious tail; havn't seen a ton of the city, but in buying our cell phones (which I will talk more about later), registering at the Embassy, eating at this swanky Ethiopian place last night, and wandering around the campus and dorm hall, I can tell that it's gonna be way fun to explore every inch of this crazy but beautiful port city. And to be breif but frank, I absolutely love it here and am confident that it's going to be a great semester. I was slightly worried about leaving the Centre in Arusha where I was begining to feel really comfortable and at home, because I was worried that I might not like it here as much, and since Arusha was so amazing I was worried anything else just might not measure up. Fortunately though, what I have seen and experienced on the campus and in the city thus far has been awesome and I see no reason why I won't come to genuinly love this place. In other news.......................I found what I think is a Swedish coin the other day and it made me think of John. I'm not entirely positive that it's Swedish, but it has this crazy lady on the front holding a spear in one hand and a big sheild with the Swiss cross in the other. On the flip side it says 1 Fr., so maybe it's French..........it doesn't really matter either way, seeing as how we use shilingi here and the Euro has taken over everywhere else, but it's cool and it made me think of you, John. Only a few more days my friend and you'll be joining the international student community! Woohoo for study abroad! Anywho, back to Africa..............it seems weird to be talking about it now because it feels like it happened so long ago, but this past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we made an awesome trip to the village of Maroroni, which is about 30 min. away from the Centre in Arusha. The purpose of this "shamba excursion" was to stay /camp on a traditional Tanzanian farm (they harvest maize, millet, and beans) with a Tanzanian couple whose home was to become a center for regional discussion and cross cultural exchange for 3 days between us, the Americans from various private Colleges throughout the Midwest, and several citizens of Maroroni Village and its surrounding area, including the village commissioner, the headmasters of the Primary and Secondary Schools, and the regional chairperson and representative of Tanzania's leading political party, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi. During the day on Thursday and Friday we did some service work at the Primary School, independently talked with some Secondary School students about HIV/AIDS in Tanz., and had the opportunity to help out a little on Ruben and Martha's (our hosts') farm.........and boy did I get some serious blisters on my hand from beating the shit out of this big pile of millet. Millet is harvested on these leafy branch thingys that then need to be beaten and separated in order to get the small pebble stuff that one feeds to chickens and such. Interesting experience nonetheless, but my hands still hurt. Another neat experience a couple of the girls in my group had was being able to help out with the cooking. Stephen's wife, Magdalena, is one of the head cooks at TCDC, so lucky for us she came along on the trip and, with the help of Mama Martha and a few others, did all of our cooking for us while we were doing various other activities during the day. At night time is when all of the various village members assembled at Ruben and Martha's house (front yard really) for an amazing meal (thanks to Mama Ndosi and her kitchen staff.........including a few of our girls) and open discussion about the similarities and differences between American and Tanzanian politics, religion, culture, education, health care, etc., etc., etc. Their questions about the US were so sincere and yet so indepth; I have to admit that some knew more about US foreign policy than I did, and were understandably quite upset about some of our country's recent desicions internally and abroad. It made me realize that it should be one of my highest priorities as an American to not only know more about and become more involved in American politics, but to actively and consistantly encourage others to do the same. I was very embarrassed and really had no answer as to why when they brought up the statistic that roughly only 40-50% of Americans voted in the last election, and that everyone, including the rest of the world, is now suffering the consequences. Tanzanians realize that not all Americans are bad, and in no way want our help (believe me, we should be taking lessons from them.....there new President, Kikwete, is doing AMAZING things), but are very concerned as to why so many Americans talk a big agenda yet become complacent and inactive (including me) because in the end it really doesn't affect them. Whether we realize it or not, our actions as Americans affect the rest of the world SO much more than anyone else and often times whether it's wanted or not. But, forgive me, I won't waste any more time and space talking about personal convictions that may be overly biased at this point............... I should actually probably be going. This has been a long post and to be honest I am quite tired. Nina choka sana. As far as my cell phone goes, I just realized that I have no idea what the number is (the country code is 255 though!), but can tell you simply that I have one and can be reached on it.......its very expensive for me to call any of you in the states, but with an international phone card or whatever, anyone can call me for fairly cheep.......I need to do some more research though and will hopefully figure out what will work the best should anyone want to talk to me. Plus, I should probably figure out what my number is first so......I'll get back to you. So long for now though; it's been fun and I thank you for your time. Know that I love and miss all of you, and am doing quite well here in my new home. Until next time...salama. p.s. i had the opportunity to play my drum for the first time yesterday. i found a sweet spot on the roof of my dorm that looks out over the entire campus and city (and one can see the freakin ocean from there too!) and was able to play for about an hour. freakin sweet....safi sana sana sana. man am I lucky... p.p.s. if you havn't already, check out some of my pictures by clicking on the "booziepics" link on the right hand side of this page. couldn't give you guys all of them, but hopefully a pretty sufficient taste! ok bye!