Saturday, October 22

Hard to believe I've been here three weeks already... I made it through my first week of classes, though there are two that have still not begun. One because of the 50th anniversary celebrations that were going on all week, and the other because the Kiswahili department is still working out its timetable.

Classes are.... Interesting. It's great to finally be back in class; I'm just not entirely sure what's expected of me. Nothing. Is. Organized. Ever. TIA. Occasionally professors will switch to speaking in Swahili, especially when telling jokes or anecdotes-- which can be frustrating. The African lit prof, though, is great, because if he does that, he'll look up and say "oh sorry, madams from the U.S. or wherever... " and then explain what just happened. The good news is that profs usually speak very slowly and repeat themselves many times since although English is the "official" language of the university, it is not the first language of students-- So I have plenty of time to take notes on what they are saying. The bad news is that even after they have repeated themselves three times, I often am still uncertain of precisely which words are coming out of their mouths.

It's been a slow start to the semester because of the aforementioned anniversary celebrations (fifty years of TZ independence, fifty years of the university). Thursday was the climax event where the president of TZ and his delegation came to UDSM. All morning people were outside waiting for him in the ridiculously hot sun; All morning people were calling me, "Kelsey, hurry, the president is coming soon, you can't miss it,".... so it was slightly amusing to hear all the booing and songs about bad government when he finally arrived. Even later in the evening, everyone was asking, "Did you see the president?!" Despite his vast unpopularity, he still holds celebrity status and people will sit for hours just to see him. (See photograph below)

I have more to say, but I'll say it tomorrow because I'm off to bed.
Side note: Apparently the boys made it to state? Congrats to them, I soooo wish I could've been there to watch, but good luck to all
Love