One week here and I'm a natural

I've not been here a week yet and it's already oh so easy. The routine is just perfect.

I planned on uploading TONS of pictures today - I brought my camera and cords and everything - but it turns out Friday is the Muslim Sabbath and lots of places (including the nice internet cafe I go to) close for daily prayers. So I'm here at the crappy one. I'm gonna try to load some up, but it's fickle and hardly worth it.

Other than that, here's a brief rundown of the place, organized by sense:

First, Eyes:

Green: It is very green here. The DalaDala (bus sort of) up to school (about 15 minutes) reminds me a lot of my commute up to the Hyak. There's one part especially- in I-90 when the Freeway splits just before the summit and you can see the valley of evergreen trees between East and West. Here, there are places where its greenery as far as you can see (except for some huts). The big difference is the shade. Instead of the deep forest green its a much lighter shade. More yellowy. It's beautiful.

Black/Dark Brown: I think I'm used to seeing all black faces now. When I see another Mzungu (Swahili for "white person) they seem so out of place. Odd to think that I'm just as odd out as they are. Skin color ranges from light to dark (kinda like the Cosby show) but most everyone has the stereotypical African skin. It's beautiful skin. Very smooth. I just noticed today that there are a ton of Indians here. They are a lot lighter.

Brown. Where its not green, it is brown. It is very dusty, especially outside of downtown Tanga. The houses/huts/shacks are brown, their roofs are brown. I'm turning brown, not so much because of the sun but because I have an ever-present layer of dirt that the cold shower doesn't wash off.

Smiles. Everyone is so dang happy here. Always friendly, alwayssmiling. It'sso weird. (My space bar is having troubles, I'msick of correcting it)




Updates on other sensesand experiences later. Nowlets seeif I can get some pictures in.

This internet is much too slow for uploading pictures. I'll whet your appetite for Africa sights with this picture of Jenny and me inside the DalaDala. It's a bus-type van-type thing that we take to get to and from school. Today the seat in front of me squealed and broke, pinning me under it basically. The drivers like to pimp out their daladalas with names, paint and designs. They are hard-core.


CRAP. Broken link. Next time, I promise.