Today, Charlie walked 20k with Abbot Alcuin and I stayed back in Dar :) I went around with Br. Nolasco. it is great to be able to talk with him, and he understands my feelings of culture shock and stress because he of course experienced much of the same when he came to America! he has been there for 3 or 4 years now. we went to US embassy again, and it was good that i was there, because it was past appointment hours, so he would not have been able to go in and pick up his passport and Visa, but I could go in and get it for him because of my status as a US Citizen! it was like i was a VIP. we also walked around many different parts of town, went into a bakery, chatted about Tanzanian history, had a pepsi from glass bottles at a little stand, and even went to a Tanzania v. Somalia soccer game in a big new stadium! about$4.80 US for each of us. I was the only white person in the stadium of probably around 5-6 thousand. this is a very homogeneous city...and everywhere i walk in the city i get called "white person" (though that is not a derogatory term in Swahili, just more of an acknowledgment. So when in passing i hear "whats up white person?!" (mambo mzungo) i simply look back and say, "its cool!" (poa!) then we laugh and go on our way.
it is so great to be able to be in contact over the internet.
thanks for continuing to read of my experiences.
1 comment:
Hi Ben! I'm not tried although I should go to bed.... so I thought I would catch up on my friend across the globe. :) I like this post the best and the greetings you share with the Tanzanians. :)
Keep it up over there! Take care!
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