We're Here!

Hi Friends, we made it!

After a long, but smooth journey we've arrived in Dar es Salaam. Our first few days have been very exciting and we have much to report.

Rafik (literally friend in Swahili, but also Zahra's dad) picked us up at the airport at about 10:00 pm local time with his taxi driver friend, Chonongo. A short ride later we arrived at Salim's house (Zahra's uncle and our gracious host), where he was throwing a party for his friend Sofiya's birthday. This party, which had been put together with only three days notice, was complete with DJ, flashing lights, delicious meats from Salim's butchery: mishtaki (a skewer of meat, where, if you are lucky, you get a magical piece that is purely fat aka beef bacon) and sausage, and plenty of drunk 30, 40, 50, and 60 something year-olds dancing ferociously. It was quite the way to arrive. We ended up staying up until 3 am, but the older, truer partiers made it until 6 am!

Here's a picture of Zahra hiding behind a tropical plant.

Our first full day consisted of a walking tour of Dar's city center guided by Rafik. Highlights from this trip included eating at the KT Shop, which has Tanzania's best samosas and tea, visiting several of the beautiful hotels with high rise waterfront views, and drinking fresh coconut milk on the street (Literally people have piles of coconuts on the street that they cut up in front of you. With a few slashes of a very large and sharp knife, a small hole is cut at the top of the coconut which you can drink the milk out of. When you finish, they cut a larger hole, as well as scoop out the coconut 'meat'). Following our tour of city center, we visited another one of Zahra's uncles and grandfather at their home. Here Karim Uncle taught us a very important lesson about going "polepole" or slowly around tanzania. As he says, "We may go slowly, but we still make progress". This coming from a man who has a PhD in mathematics and has attended or taught at just about every major university you can think of. Our day wrapped up with a couple of beers at the local outdoor bar, and a feast of delicious Indian cuisine.

Yesterday was our first day on our own and we used it to recover from jet lag, waking up at 1 pm. We were made cheese on toast (an instant favorite) by Salim's worker Hadithi (splg?). She only talks to us in Swahili...and major confusion ensued. But we sorted out that even though it was afternoon, we still wanted breakfast. We then ventured out of the house 10 minutes away to Slipway, a nice small market place (think outdoor strip mall meets craft fair) near Salim's. Hightlights from this trip included seeing Kanga's (East African serong-type fabrics) with images of Barak Obama and Michael Jackson printed on them (now you all know what you're getting for gifts).

So yeah, that's what we've been up to. We are currently writing you from a YMCA in the city center this morning. Plans for this afternoon...tbd.

Hope all is well wherever you may be,

-Zahra and Max

PS - We couldn't figure out how to post pictures today.
PPS - If you're wondering about the weather, it's gorgeous.