Going into town is quite a task and something that I avoid unless I have a package awaiting me at the post office. You get on the dala dala on campus and go to Mwenge station. A dala dala is a minibus which [is] designed for 12 people but holds up to 25 sometimes. Of course, not everyone has a seat. Every dala dala ride is 100 shillings, no matter if it is 400 meters or 4 kilometers. Anyway, at Mwenge station you get on the bus that is going to posta ([the] post office which is smack in the middle of downtown), so that ride is the same as the first one, but usually the buses going into town are larger and sit legally 30 people, but truly 50 or so. The worst is being in the backseat when you are getting off at a stop where not a lot of people are dropping at because you have to rub/push your way through people and it can be painful to them as well as you (wearing sandles is dangerous!). Once in town every 20 steps you take you hear "hello my friend...taxi?"

My destinations in town are usually [the] United States Information Service where I pick up my mail and [the] post office where I mail it. Sometimes I watch the previous night's CBS evening news at noon, which in itself is an experience. They allow anyone to watch the news which means a lot of Tanzanians come at lunch hour to see the news. Tanzanians, when they see something sad or funny, [make] a little clicking noise with their mouths. A series of three or so clicks when something is sad, and maybe a few clicks and laughs when something is funny. Examples that I have seen are when a girl was murdered, it was a room full of sad clicks, but when they showed Bob Dole campaigning it was the laughing clicks (they love Clinton here). Anyway, I find myself doing the clicking thing too, from anything like when someone trips you click and say, "Pole sana," or when someone is acting crazy you click and shake your head and laugh...anyway enough on the click.

Oh yeah...downtown. Diesel fumes! That's really it! People are selling everything from second hand clothes to oranges to kuku na chipsi to postcards to toys...everything. Some even have crudely constructed structures which are stores. A month ago the police came out one night and demolished all the structures because it was an environmental hazard. The next day people were busy rebuilding them. I went downtown the other day and it was business as usual.

There is a Wahindi (Indian) section of town where as you walk there are Hindi temples every other block. Indians own a lot of the shops (85% of businesses in Dar are Indian owned) and from what I hear from Black Tanzanians is that they view the Indians in the same way that maybe the African Americans in America view the white population (as told to me by a fellow African American student here). The temples were interesting to me the first time I saw them because (I don't know much about Indian history/culture) Hitler stole the symbol which is known as the swastika from Indian culture because Caucasians [allegedly] originated in India or something like that (i.e. the Caucus Mts.) Anyway, the point being is that the Indians of course use this symbol as they should, but it was just odd to me to see it used as a decorative symbol all over these temples or welded into a gate etc., etc.

The whole ride into town takes 40 minutes, as well as back to campus. The whole concept of giving up your seat to women or elders is not a popular thing. I have received stares for doing it, but have also received many smiles form those that I gave my seat to. Students (primary and secondary) pay 40 shillings instead of 100. Because of this the door keeper will not allow students on until he has filled up as much he can with 100 shilling paying customers. Then it is more or less fighting among the students to get on the bus, and many times people are hanging out the side door holding on to the roof. That's about it for town and dala dala rides.---John

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First Online Edition: 22 July 1997
Last Revised: 18 May 2024