fishbowl

Wow! There's nothing like being in a major metropolis in Africa. There are so many people and they all look at you like you're in a fish bowl. We have eaten Indian food for dinner for the past few days and I'm loving it! We've met current health PCVs in town for their first IST (In Service Training) including Jen and Tait. Dar is a different place at night. Most of us PCTs and the health PCVs met at a local bar and had some drinks. Last evening just a handful of us went to the Storm, a local bar/night club. I swear I could have been in England...the room was so nice and clean, the AC was blasting, and the deco was like things you'd see in Europe. There was no one there, probably because we were early having drinks at 8:30 at night. I guess the crowds don't show up until midnight and that's too late for me. Anyways, getting back to Dar at night. For safety reasons we always walk in groups. It was pretty scary last night when we went off the main road (four of us) to try and find a bar that people were at. It got dark and there were no people around. Eventually we found the place we were looking for and all was cool. When we got out there again was no one around and the city was quite. Thankfully the electricity was up so the buildings provided lighting to walk home. In TZ rich people hire security guards to guard their homes and buisnesses at night. In Dar every other store or so had a security guard sitting outside. Most of the time they are older men so Russ and I say "Shikamoo" to them and be on friendly terms with them. I hope it's not a false sense of security but I feel safer walking around at night with these "security guards" chilling outside every hundred feet.

We got to spend a day at the US Embassy which was pretty cool. We also visited the PC office and got to see the PC lounge, storage, offices of workers, etc. It was especially great because we got mail!!! Thanks Hannah! I hear there's another package for Russ and I and it's at our training site.