Tanzania Day 3

Jack Fruit

Inside bus on drive to Dodoma.

Locals selling things.

Cars driving through lots of water.

Today we left from Dar Se Salaam, Tanzania.  It was raining and the streets filled immediately.  Cars, bikes, and motorcycles were going by the hotel in a foot or more of water.  Guess we have to appreciate our sewer systems back home.  We had about an hour drive on a small bus to get to a big bus.  The bus station was crazy.  People were everywhere, selling virtually everything.  I had the opportunity to "train" some of the team on not being overly friendly with the locals until the missionaries give them clearance.  One almost had their cell phone stolen off their hip.

The bus ride to Dodoma was long and the two lane road was fairly rough at times.  We left at 10am and arrived here at nearly 5:30pm.  We were crammed like sardines, but the air-conditioning was working.  They had a TV playing ridiculous Tanzanian music videos and shows.  The front of the bus was locals and the back was our team.  We had one stop in a little rest area with mud everywhere and again people selling everything.  The road along the way quickly transitioned from city dwellings made from tarps, blocks, wood, and sheet metal to rural plots of grass.  The farmers were working their fields with only a hoe....no tractors or machinery. Their houses were made from bricks and some had pens for their animals made from sticks.  Lots of kids running around everywhere.  Some that were Trace's age were just running around with no mommy's or daddy's.  Crazy!  Lots of hills and small mountains on the drive.  Very scenic despite the rain.  Dodoma is actually at ~3500 feet of elevation.

Dodoma is more rural than Dar Se Salaam.  It is the countries' capital, but not much else.  Dar Se Salaam had over 5 million people.  Commerce was everywhere, but also lots of garbage and trash everywhere.  Even the river was full of garbage.  Yuck!  Dodoma looks much cleaner, but still has many dirt roads.  We'll see more the next few days.  Supposedly the people here are nicer as well.  I'll have more to report.

The place we're staying is decent.  We have several houses.  I'm staying in one with five other guys.  The swimming pool is a little sketchy.  Tonight at dinner we had a beef stew and rice.  Then for dessert we had a Jack Fruit.  It weighed over 30 lbs and was prickly on the outside.  It had a sticky, fleshy middle.  We had to wash our hands four times to get the stickiness off. The swimming pool looks a little green. Ugh.  It was actually really cool here anyway, which will be great when we work if that stays.  I already almost stepped on a big toad and a large bat flew over my head.  Crazy!

Tomorrow we start work on the ministry centre.  I'm ready to get to work after 2 days of travel.  We'll be tiling floors, making bricks, and doing carpentry work.  Hopefully it doesn't rain too much.  It is still in the forecast each day.

Well, those are the highlights. 

Trevor and Daddy