I was very busy this week and bonded a lot with my “host-family!” On Saturday June 22nd, we took Dr. Strong to the airport and this alone was a great experience. I had never seen a commercial airplane so small and I am excited to go on it on July 7th. Since there are not that many people who fly from Iringa to Dar every day, it makes sense, but I think it’s a very unique and interesting experience to be able to be so close to the pilot while flying. After this, we stopped by one of Getruda’s friends' houses. Getruda is the woman I am staying with, and the mom of Maria and Imo. Her friend welcomed us into her home and was very sweet. I enjoyed being able to see other houses because as I mentioned in previous weeks, the neighborhood I am staying in, Gangilonga, is a very nice neighborhood and is not exactly representative of lower-income households in Tanzania. I think to get the full experience next time I am in Tanzania, I would like to stay with a family in a similar situation as Getruda’s friend in order to fully understand what the day to day looks like. This desire alone sometimes causes me to have mixed feelings though, I will admit. I am a privileged person who would have the choice to just stay and then leave, so I am not sure if it is even fair of me to want to. At the same time, to conduct research here I think it is necessary to fully understand the different ways of living due to social and economic barriers. After this, I took the family (Getruda, Maria, and Imo) to Mama Iringa, the Italian restaurant. I thought it would be nice to have some sort of “cultural exchange” and for them to go there since they had never been there. I think there were mixed reviews but overall, we had a good time and laughed a lot as my Swahili is still not very good and none of them truly know English. Maria is learning English in school but she has a long way to go still, as do I with Swahili.

 

After this, we went to the market and got some new school clothes for Maria and Imo as they are going back to school soon. It was nice exploring the market with them and now I know how different costs are if you are with a Tanzanian family, versus going through the market by yourself as a white woman. I am bad at bargaining and now I know that I have been overcharged a lot of times, which is okay, but it was just a different experience being with Getruda. Later that evening, I took them to Gangilonga rock, the hike I previously mentioned. They live so close but have never been! We went with some of our neighbors, two children and a baby, and we all had a great time. After this, I was asked if I wanted to go to “nyama ya mbuzi” with Getruda and her friends. I know the word mbuzi means goat but I didn’t fully understand what was said and assumed it was a restaurant so I said yes! I ended up riding quite a ways with Getruda and her friends to an unfamiliar place to eat goat meat. All and all, it was a great day and I actually did really enjoy the meat. The only uncomfortable aspect of it was that an actual goat was making eye contact with me while I was eating the goat meat. Since I was vegetarian for a very long time and am an avid animal lover, this was a little challenging for me. On Sunday, we just rested, cleaned, and I worked on some of my school work. Navigating to the hospital, taking a shared bajaj from the hospital, going to the market by myself, etc. all went well. I have been here for quite some time now so I wasn’t really nervous to be by myself and I enjoy walking around all of the different shops as there is so much to see!

 

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I went to Ruaha National Park and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. From searching for the animals, sitting on top of the car, to the joy when you found the animals and observed them in their natural habitats, it was amazing. The bandas we stayed in were inside of the park and I could even hear hippos eating throughout the night. I saw warthogs, antelopes, zebras, giraffes, baboons, hippos, crocodiles, kudu, elephants, lions, jackals, hyenas, mpalas, waterbuck, and even an ostrich and leopard which are uncommon to find. It was an incredible experience.