Karibou

6/19
Today, Nick and I visited EARD-CI to begin DHE work for the summer. We were picked up by Naomi, one staff member. Backpacker's Hotel, where we are staying, is located in Arusha and the EARD-CI offices are located in Usa, a town an hour away. It was a lovely trip filled with honking cars, motorbikes, and dala dalas, the death trap public transportation system in Tanzania. Once we arrived at the offices, Nick and I were introduced to all of the staff members at EARD-CI, a very small NGO with a staff of around 8 people total. We were greeted with "karibou sana", translated to "you are very welcome here". We replied "asante", or "thank you", the most useful word I have come across thus far. After learning about the organization and planning out our briquetting work with EARD-CI, Nick and I began a compost pile outside. After an hour or so of work, some staff members came outside and walked over to a papaya tree on the grounds and began knocking down some of its fruit. Half an hour later, we were invited to have some fresh papaya. It is really unfortunate that my first time trying papaya was fresh off the tree in Tanzania because from now on, I will expect nothing less.

Our work space

On our way back, Nick and I took the dala dala home, an hour long trip that cost less than a dollar for the both of us. It was definitely worth the dollar, since these dala dalas are way past their expiration date- on our way up a hill, we stalled and started rolling back down the hill. The chances of survival are higher than the chances of dying, though, so I think we're going to stick with it. Also, a dala dala seats around 15 people, but so far we've seen up to 21 people crammed in to these tiny buses. You are guaranteed entertainment of some sort whenever you are riding the dala dala!

                        Such an enjoyable dala dala ride!                                 Mt. Meru

The trip home consists of a lot of cropland (corn) and great views of Mt. Meru. I talked to one lady at EARD-CI about this, and apparently you can hike up Mt. Meru for about $40. The cost is for a guide, not to show you up the mountain but to handle the wildlife, consisting of giraffes, elephants, buffalo and such. We will definitely do this hike before we leave! After our ride, the dala dala dropped us off at a marketplace, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. As we were walking, I saw a man on a piki piki (motorcycle) wearing a very stylish jacket.

Piki pikis- another death trap TZ transport system

That night, our group went to a Chinese restaurant, run by a man who spoke fluent Chinese and Swahili, and a little bit of English. Kevin is fluent in Mandarin, so we were entertained by him speaking to the man in a new language. Afterwards, we went to a sports bar to watch Euro. We found that not only was the game not playing at the bar, but a horse race was on instead. Nick tried to change the channel but another man at the bar yelled at him until he changed it back. We left soon after.