Tanzania, part II

I arrived in Tanzania last night for 2 weeks of follow-up research (mostly interviews). I am staying with the same family I was with during the summer at their invitation. When my flight got into Kilimanjaro an hour late and I still had an hour ride to my family’s house, putting me there at 11 p.m. (I had originally projected 9:30), I was worried for about two seconds that I would be arriving too late and they would have already went to bed. Then I remembered that I was in Tanzania now, when within two hours is pretty much on time. Also, over the summer my siblings stayed up until 11 each night or later, so considering that they are on Christmas break, I figured it was a safe bet that they were still up…and I was right. Despite having to pound on the front gate for five minutes and the subsequent two minutes of unlocking 15 locks or so, my dadas greeted me with hysterical shrieks and hugs when I arrived.

The weather here is GREAT! Mid-80s and sunny, and it smells wonderful. I guess I have not walked by any burning piles of garbage yet though, so my opinion will probably change after that. Driving to my house last night, I fell in love with the stars again. In the states, I live out in the country, so I am used to pretty bright stars. But these ones are amazing and extend down to the horizon which is crazy. Last night, I juxtaposed my experience riding in the taxi with my first arrival in Tanzania and riding in the GSC van. I was probably technically a lot safer the first time, but I felt much more comfortable last night. And the people creeping along the side of the road did not creep me out nearly as much this time.

I will start my interviews soon, using a combination of friends from the summer that I did not have a chance to interview, snowball sampling (asking people I know for people I should interview), and approaching authority figures (teachers, directors of health clinics and HIV programs, etc.). For today I am just going to enjoy the sunshine and play with my dadas though :)