Alex and Adia
Adia : What's your hotel like ?
The New Dodoma Hotel
The hotel is basically standard. I have a bed, a desk, a TV which comes unplugged all the time from a bad electronic connection, a bathroom that serves basically cold water for showers, and a closet for clothes. The hotel is guarded nightly with at least one armed guard with an automatic machine gun. Sometimes there are two. I walk Monday through Friday with colleagues and the guard regularly has to let us out of the hotel, it's entrance is locked. The food here is not good, and the service is not great either - I feel comfortable saying this since I was in the service industry for many many years. The part that makes this challenging is that we're stuck - we have no other place to go. Sometimes our food takes 1.5 - 2 hours to arrive. We get back from work around 6 pm, so if our food takes 2 hours to arrive that means we're sitting around waiting to eat until 8 pm, then it takes another hour to get and sort out the bill since we're unable to get separate checks. On an occasional basis this wouldn't be a big deal, but when it takes 3 hours to eat every day, that means there is no time for anything else, it eats into the time reserved for connecting with family.
Adia : Do you like the food
In general it's fine, it's not my favorite - I mean it's not peanut butter pie or anything, but it's fine. Being vegetarian is easy here, meat is expensive. It's a luxury, so beans and bananas (plantains), or beans and rice are normal. The problem is that there is a limited supply, and limited variety. You're never sure if it's safe to eat. Sometimes I eat food with sand/dirt. It’s not pleasant. I also don't see many places in town for locals to buy food. I asked someone - where does everyone that lives here eat? It seems to be a mystery, no one will tell me for sure, but at the market the other day I actually saw a place that had large bags of beans and rice, vegetables, and fruit. Most of the food in Dodoma is imported, although 40% of Tanzania's GPD is agriculture, I don't see ANY fields or agriculture here in Dodoma. Additionally, 3 of my colleagues have been sick. 2 missed work from it. I think it's that we've been thrown into eating this food that although is not bad, it's unlike what we're used to. We basically eat the same thing every day. There's limited variety. I have started eating almonds, apples, and cereal daily, which I bought from the market.
Side Note
The power just went out again, this is typical. You never know if you'll have power, running water, or Internet services.
OK for the last question from Alex: Why do I live in Africa?
I love this question, right now I'm wondering why I'm here - so far from my loved ones with limited resources, I want to be in Africa to gain a worldly perspective and have the skills necessary to bring humanity one step closer to world peace - peace in the hearts of the people.
I enjoy reading your blog. Although it may be difficult to get down, there are a lot of nutrients in soil. :-
ReplyDeleteYour pix are simply awe-inspiring!
What kind of questions do the people of Tanzania ask you?
Last night we had dinner with our Tutorial Assistants and they asked a lot of questions :
ReplyDeleteQ : Did you read any books about Tanzania before you came here ?
A: Yes, many about 4
Q: Is it different than what you expected ?
In some ways, yes. I expected it to be greener, and I expected the city of Dodoma, being the official capital of the country, to have more large buildings and fewer grass huts. I expected more agriculture, and vegetables and fruit for sale for starters.
Q: Is this your first time to Africa ? A: Yes
Q: Where else have you been ? A: Israel, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, US
Q: How much does it cost to buy a house in the US? A: It depends! This was a long answer which I won't repeat here for everyon'e benefit.
Q: What are the houses like in America? A: I never got to answer this one, but I believe the intent was to understand the size of homes, and how they're organized from the interior, to the "villages" or neighborhoods we're accustomed to.
Q: Do you have any children? Why not ?!
Q: Is there a payment (dowry) for marriages?