The weekend started with three of us girls getting our hair braided at a little hair salon near campus. It took nearly 3 hours, and we each had several women working on our hair the entire time. I look rather ridiculous now, but it was a lot of fun to do, and having a lot of small braids instead of a lot of easily-tangled hair is certainly convenient!
On Saturday the entire group spent the day at Pugu Hills, a place outside of Dar. Along with eating good food and lounging around a pool (perfect activities after a week of intensive Swahili!), we took a walk along a ridge to a gravel quarry and back through a village. The people working at the gravel pit were asking us for water, as they are not able to afford enough water to bring with them to work. I can’t imagine working outside in this heat all day without drinking liters of water. In the village, almost everyone greeted us, and at one point a bunch of kids followed us, laughing. We would wave to them and say “mambo” or some other greeting, and they’d wave back and reply, and keep following at a distance. It is frustrating to be so limited by language!
On Sunday, four of us went to Mbudya Island. To get there, we took a dalla-dalla to Mwenge, another dalla-dalla to somewhere, and a bajaji (a tiny three-wheeled vehicle without doors) to a beach. From there we went to a hotel that Lonely Planet said was near where the ferry to the island went and asked where it was. We were told to sit down, and some phone calls were made. Half an hour later, we got on a small motorboat that had come over from the island. On the way there, the boat stopped by one of the many small dug-out fishing boats and bought some fish – the fish that we later on were served for lunch! The island was beautiful. Two people went snorkeling (which evidently was great – at some point I’m going to have to overcome my fear of live things in the water and try it) and two of us took a walk. The tide was out so we wandered around tide pools and saw lots of little fish, crabs and starfish. The boat ride back was fun since the waves were fairly big by then. I’m fairly sure that at times the entire boat was out of the water.
Overall, it was a very nice weekend! It was relaxing and yet eventful. Just hanging around campus would feel like a waste of time. Two weeks have already gone by. That’s 40% of our time living in the UDSM dorms, nearly 30% of the time before fall break (after which we go to Tarangire), and 10% of the entire semester! It’s scary. Maybe I’ll feel differently later on, but right now the last thing I want is to leave, and knowing that time is going by so fast is sad.
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