Hello again friends,

I have just returned from Dar es Salaam, the capital and largest city in Tanzania, where I was sworn in on the 3rd as an official Peace Corps Volunteer. The next day, there was a picture of our group on the front cover of at least three different national Tanzanian newspapers. It's a little strange to walk down the street in a city I'm visiting for the first time and see my face staring back at me from every newsstand. It was plenty of fun, though, pointing myself out in the to the newsstand owner. He was a bit taken aback.

Dar is a crazy city. It's much bigger than anything I've seen here in Tanzania; it looks to be about the size of Indianapolis, maybe a little smaller... and a lot dirtier. There are actually lines painted on the roads here, and some people even obey the traffic laws. I even saw stop lights at some intersections. (There's not a single one in Arusha, the country's 3rd largest city). There are many hotels and several discos, all with prostitutes coming out in droves. They're much more agressive than the ones in Arusha.

Dar is HOT. It's situated right on the Indian Ocean, so it's about like Ohio's hottest and most humid day in July; only all year 'round. We were extremely fortunate to have box air conditioners in our hotel rooms, which were great when there was electricity. I'm extremely glad to be back in Arusha region, where everything is nice and cool. If you go down by the ocean, though, you can get a breeze. One of the highlights of the week for me was playing a game of Ultimate Frisbee on the shores of the Indian Ocean. (The third ocean I've seen in four months, I might add!)

There are also a lot more American/Mzungu attractions in Dar. Much more English is present, in signs, billboards, and local speech. It's actually quite depressing, how far removed a culture will become from itself when money is involved, not to mention values imposed by television, et. al. One particular place we visited was the American Club, a place out on the Peninsula (the highbrow district where many embassies are located.) It has satellite TV which gets them ESPN, CNN, and the Armed Forces networks. The prices are in dollars, and while by American standards the prices are cheap, when you convert to Tanzanian Shillings the prices become astronomical.

So now I'm back in Monduli. Since I'm replacing a PC Volunteer who's not leaving until January, I've not yet moved into my permanent residence. Instead, for the time being, I'm living at the "big house one the hill" that I mentioned before, the one belonging to the Lutheran volunteer. She's in the States visiting her folks until mid January, so I've got the place all to myself.

Since classes don't start until mid-late January, I'll have some time to get settled here. I'll be using this time to explore the town, buy anything I might need to make myself feel at home, and spend lots of time writing out my first few months worth of lesson plans, so I can be a little ahead of myself. Most importantly, I'm going to take this opportunity to get out into my community, and meet as many locals as possible. This will make the village a little safer for me, and also let me understand the fundamental workings of the town; knowing the proper channels helps when I may want to do something.

One last thing I'll have time for is a little more email than I've been able to do so far. I won't be able to do a lot of quick back-and-forth, since I still have to take the bus to Arusha whenever I want to send or receive. However, I'll have time to write more thoughtful responses, so I'm looking forward to hearing from you folks sometime soon.

Topics of some future mass-mails will include:
· The Kiswahili Language
· The Tanzanian Educational System
· The Maasai
· Medical Issues
· Tanzanian Food
· Peace Corps stories from around the country

Please feel free to suggest any topics, or anything in particular you'd like to hear about first. I hope to hear from you soon!

Uhuru na Umoja,
Ethan

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