Returning Home - A few days in Dar Es Salaam
We landed in Dar at about 10:30 on Monday. Fun fact Mwanza is so famous for fish that people check in buckets of fish that come out at baggage claim! 
Checked fish buckets
The amazing Violet was there to greet us at the airport with a big hug, cold water, and a car with air conditioning. Man, is it hot here in January. It’s about 90º and muggy, and the sun is simply relentless. We first dropped Besha off at his University where he teaches - Ardhi University. This was formerly a part of the University of Dar Es Salaam and is where I originally studied when I first came in 2005. It was nostalgic as usual coming back to the campus… We then drove to our hotel to drop off our bags. The hotel is wonderful, we really lucked out this trip with hotels. It is literally right on the water, called Hotel Mediterraneo. It was developed by an Italian and the grounds are so beautiful. Hearing the ocean waves, it is so tranquil and a huge contrast to the city chaos. Most of the areas along the water are wealthier areas, and this hotel was fairly expensive at $120 per night, but so worth it. After dropping off our stuff we headed back to Ardhi to meet back up with Besha. 
We first met with the accountant from Elephant Motel in Same who had driven down (a 12 hour bus ride!!!) to give Liz the refund for her credit card. They accidentally charged her a few times and could not digitally refund the money so she literally brought a brick of millions of shillings. We were so glad to have Vai and Besha there to explain what we needed for the refund. Also it is really interesting to hear the conversation in Swahili. The facial expressions and intonation does not match at all what we do in the US, so it is really hard to understand where conversations are headed, and especially when they end. But it all got resolved and we agreed to meet later.
We had only a couple minutes to get to Besha’s classroom for the lecture. He wanted to give a lecture that gave his students design inspiration for the homes they were designing. So he pulled together a few slides, some of famous buildings and some just of elements of housing projects, to help the students start to think outside the box about their designs. There were about 50 students in the studio class and it was so hot, even with great passive cross ventilation. Even the Tanzanians were wiping sweat which I dont think I have ever seen. Besha’s lecture did a good job of giving students an idea of “what if” and I chimed in on a few things. I started by introducing myself and talking a little bit about my office but also talked about design and how that is a differentiator as they enter the professional world. That clients will be looking to them and trusting them for the value they contribute, and that comes from being thoughtful, creative, and good listeners. I showed the work of 3 different architects in the US that have single family home designs that are very responsive to their client’s needs or their context and showed a couple KFA projects that are thoughtful designs without a big budget. A lot of the points I brought up were aligned with Besha’s and some were not, but we definitely cross referenced each other’s points which reinforced the ideas. Violet also chimed in and even Liz said some words at the end about how she experiences architecture in the world. Some of the students were really inspirational in the way they were engaged in the conversation. Vai reminded them all that they need to work hard, and push themselves now in order to prepare themselves for the future. All in all, it was really fun to engage with the students and a handful of them came up to me after the lecture to ask me questions about the US, AI in the industry, and to ask for advice.
After the lecture we headed back up to the faculty dining area for a beer and ended up chatting for another long while. We shared a lot about what is going on in the US with immigration policy, interestingly enough Tanzania is on the block list for travelers into the US. It has been weird to be in Tanzania for events like the Super Bowl and the Olympics because they are non-events here, but we chatted a little bit about the Bad Bunny halftime show. Everything is all soccer all the time. I didn’t know they could play that much soccer in the world that was worth watching! Finally, after a very full day Liz and I finished the night with pizza and hot tea overlooking the ocean.
Our second full day in Dar was jam packed with activities through this bustling city. We began with a trip to Mwenge, which I remembered from my first trip to Dar. This is a market for tourists but the vendors will bargain and it is reasonably priced. I couldn’t help but to buy another painting, I just loved the colors. And I bought some gifts for my volleyball team since I have been missing them! Liz bought a wooden tray and a really cool painting as well. It was fun to bargain agin and try to use my Kiswahili, which usually impressed the vendors. I’m not sure I got great prices, but good prices is ok for mzungu :) From there we went on a mission that we gave Violet - a mission to find a Tanzania sweater like the kids in primary school wear. Liz and I think they are so cute and love the colors. Most people Violet asked basically said that those are kid sweaters and do not come in adult sizes, but Violet got a tip that we could buy the larger sweaters in this huge market in Manzese. So we drove there and walked through the market which was so chaotic. The vendors all have a loudspeaker where they record their own voices saying “elfu mbili” or “Tsh 2000” over and over. If you have ever been to an Arab country where they play the call to prayer in the mornings, it is a similar noise times about 200 saying different things at each vendor stand. You could buy anything here, from clothing to chickens to housewares. And again, so so hot. Some of the knockoff brands were funny, like I saw shoes that were ddiddas brand. And they love knockoffs of the Louis Vuitton logo. Anyway, deep in the market we found the sweater in size 38, which was great for me, but nothing that fit Liz so half success! Violet was shocked that a kids sweater fit me. So we will see if I can style it back in the US.
After the market we headed to Slipway for the final shopping trip to buy some Tanzanite. I saw an amazing ring that I couldn’t justify spending $2000 on so I bought a very pretty flower shaped ring instead for much less.
The beautiful ring I didn’t buy
I remember this market also from the first time I was in Tanzania. Generally in Dar the transportation is much improved from when I was first here. There are still daladalas but now many bajajis and so many motorbikes. Also uber is a thing, and bolt. The traffic is just as insane as I remember. Here are some fun “from the car” photos:
There was a seafood restaurant right on the water close to slipway called Dar Fish Market. Again a very nice restaurant overlooking the water, and Liz and I got some delicious poke bowls with fresh fish. I dont know if travelan is just the most amazing thing on the planet but we have really had food from everywhere her and been completely fine.
The afternoon started with a long drive to the home and office of Dr. Vicky Hailman. She is the leader of TAWAH, which runs the mentorship program I am a mentor for. The offices were on the third floor of a beautiful building with epic views over the city and amazing cross ventilation that went through the entire conference area. TAWAH stands for Tanzanian Women Architects for Humanity and began as an organization of volunteering. They try to serve women, children, and elderly in underserved communities throughout Tanzania. The organization has evolved since 2011 to focus on mentoring young women who are entering the AEC professions. They still do volunteer projects, and now they also provide job training and certificate programs for trades like masonry, electrical, carpentry, etc. Dr. Vicky now does this work full time and has a wonderful staff.
As we were meeting as a group, I started to say that Liz and I met at Catholic University, and it turns out that Vicky also went to CUA- what a small world. She was there from 2004 to 2006, so the year after I left. But we bonded over DC and the professors that we remembered. I will definitely be sharing this with the alumni magazine! TAWAH has been recognized by the UN for their work as well. It is amazing how many connection opportunities I have made that could be relevant to the project in Same. It is so exciting to think about what we could achieve together.
From TAWAH offices we headed back to Ardhi University to meet my actual mentees, Caroline and Veronica. Violet also invited a 4th year architecture student at Ardhi to listen in. It was truly an inspirational mentorship session with generations represented well. We started talking with Veronica and how she may look for a new job that might allow her more work-life balance. We talked about how she can build her confidence and we gave some examples of how taking risks can pay off professionally. I encouraged her to give her elevator pitch a couple times and she did great. We talked about how speaking confidently is a way to achieve respect and people taking you seriously. She said it is hard to have a small professional network because she can’t talk about her job with her work colleagues and her parents do not have a lot to offer so she is grateful for the mentorship group. The meeting really helped me to understand what is helpful for my mentees and I left the meeting feeling energized. Veronica and Caroline gave me and Liz both a gift that was incredibly heartfelt and our goodbyes were so bittersweet. I wish I could meet with them in person every week!
Vai trying marrekani bug spray
At this point we were extremely late for our last stop - dinner at Besha’s house. We got there after 9pm but Richard’s 14 year old and 6 year old daughters were up waiting to greet us along with his lovely wife Lillian. They had made a wonderful dinner for us of chapati, rice, goat stew, fried bananas, cucumber salad, and smoothies and fruit for dessert. Richard’s 14 year old daughter Brianna is so impressive, outgoing, and well spoken, spoke perfect English and has aspirations of being a biological statistician… reminds me that 1/2 of the careers of the next century haven’t been invented yet! She plays volleyball and soccer at school so I showed her some pics and videos of my volleyball team which was kind of fun. We had more great conversation and then had to wrap it up because we had a big day heading to Dodoma with a wake-up time of 4:15am!
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