Tanzania

Well guys I have been here for the last three months and so far things have been well. So I arrived July 15th and had the opportunity to stay with my classmates for about a week and catch up and see them. Then I moved to USA River, Tanzania (pronounced ohh sa), a small town about 45 minutes away from Arusha,Tanzania. It was bit hard to adjust to the rural life. I mostly missed hanging out with the girls and having their company. But now I can say things have gotten much better in USA River and my host family has been amazing throughout the whole time. I am accustomed to USA river during the week and back to Arusha on the weekends. I like the balance of the nature, peace and quiet in USA (my house is nestled between Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru so on a clear day I see both mountains) and the city life of Arusha.

For those of you who don’t know about Tanzania, let me give you a little bit of background. It is currently part of the East African Community which is comprised of five countries including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya. It has a population of about 41 million people, with over 130 African tribes and the country’s father was Julius Nyerre. Tanzania has been the only east African country that has not had any civil unrest or conflict within its borders.

The life expectancy here is 52 years and the average monthly salary is 40 dollars per month. So it is still very much a developing country. The country’s current president is Jakaya Kikwete and there is a 35% Muslim population in Tanzania (while in Arusha, I hear the call to prayer five times a day) and the capital is Dar-es-Salaam.

Arusha to me is like a melting pot of people. You have the locals, the expat community, foreigners and tourists who are all here because it is very international and there are a multitude of non-governmental organizations here as well as the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda). So in any given day you could meet people from all corners of the globe who happen to be in Arusha so that is pretty interesting in itself.