So we landed in the Dar es Salaam airport at 10:00pm on Sunday night, spent about an hour in customs, and then met Saidi, the driver sent from CARE. He was very nice and helpful, despite th fact that he had been waiting for more than an hour outside. After attempting some basic conversation with him, it was clear to me then that my Swahili was far better than I had given myself credit for, but still MILES away from even THINKING about fluency. Still, the people here are just happy that you are trying to learn, since most of the foreigners do not even do that much.

Saidi drove Fatima and I to the country director, Paul Barker's house. We will be staying with him until they have our long term living arrangements set up. His house is very nice (which I expected since he is the top ranking executive in the CARE Tanzania office).The most exciting part about staying with Paul is that he HAS WIRELESS!! Those who know me, know this made me almost pee my pants! For me, the most terrifying part of coming here was not the threat of contracting something like malaria or yellow fever or being robbed. What REALLY sent shivers through me was the possibility that I might not have the internet! So with that fear put to rest, I knew this trip was going to be just fine!

And I was right!

The next day, they put us straight to work. We got in at 10:00pm (saa nne usiko in Kiswahili) and by 9:00am (saa tatu asubuhi in Kiswahili) the next morning we were at the CARE office.

Day 1

So apparently there are two CARE offices in Dar es Salaam. First, we went to the main office where Paul works, although I will be working in the other office. Paul's wife, Nora, dropped us off, before she went to a very important meeting. As she was leaving, Paul casually mentioned that I will be working with Joyce Kulwah and, in trying to remember if Joyce was who she thought she was, Nora made a gesture as if to say "Big Joyce?". To which Paul replied (trying to be as PC as he could be), "Yes, she is a larger woman..". And Nora goes "Ah! She is quite the personality.". It wasn't clear to me exactly how she meant this, but at this point, all I could do was say a small prayer. "Dear Heavenly Father, Please bless me by giving this woman as my Boss and please let her be as great as it sounds like she is from these roundabout comments. Amen." So Paul calls Joyce to come and meet me and she says she will be right over. While we wait for her, we meet at the people in the office.

The people were all incredibly nice. Very welcoming. They also make me feel good about my Kiswahili -as broken down as it is. Although I am sure the fact that Paul (the Country Director) introduced us definitely was in factor in our interactions. Whenever we entered a room, you could feel the dynamic shift. Usually people would be casually talking or going over something, then when Paul would walk in the air would get just a tad more serious and formal. It made me laugh on the inside just a bit. Usually the interaction would play out like this.

We walk in. People sit up a little straighter and become a little more serious. Paul introduces us. We say hello. I speak a bit of basic kiswahili and they seem genuinely impressed. (I have a very small moment of ego tripping until thay try to say something more complicated to me. At which point, I say either "sifahamu" or "sema tena tafadhali pole pole" which means "I do not understand" and " Could you please repeat that slowly"). Then Paul will make some type of joke and there will be that somewhat fake laugh people always do when their boss tells them a joke. And then we leave.

About 30-45 minutes later, Paul had introduced us to everyone but Joyce was still not there. Paul was a bit puzzle because the other office is 10 minutes away and Joyce said she would be right there. I, on the other hand, was thinking to myself "I think Joyce and I are gonna work really well together". Anyone who has ever tried to meet me at a certain time, knows exactly why! = )

So finally Joyce comes. We walk outside and when she sees me, she goes, "Tiffany?" and I reply "Ndiyo (yes)". Then, she RUNS TO ME AND GIVES ME ONE OF THE BEST HUGS I HAVE HAD IN A VERY LONG TIME! It was like a reunion! Even as i am typing it, I cannot help but to smile.

When we finally release from our hug, she remarks "Nilifikiri ulikuwa mzungu" which means "I thought you were a white person". I could not help but to burst out laughing at this! I told her "Hapana", which means "No". She said it was because of my name and gives me another hug. At this point, in my mind, I cannot help but say "Thank You, God!". She was also excited that I had a basic understanding of Kiswahili.

She asks Paul if she can take me to the Kinondoni office, but he says I have to go look at a house with Saidi now, but he will have Saidi drop me off afterwards.

The house we saw was GREAT! It was very big and clean. It had a HUGE TV in the living room and my room was pretty sizable. The woman I would be living with was fairly young and said she would she me what there is to do around there. It was also right by the beach! Although I told Saidi I would like to see another option (just so I would have something to compare it to), I was pretty much sold.

When we finally reached the Kinondoni office, where I will be working, I met some of the women in the WAGE program. They had made different crafts that they would be selling at Saba Saba (Intenational Trade Fair). WAGE assists then women in selling their goods and also trains women in the community to teacher other women about entreprenuership. I brought this great necklace made out of watermelon seeds.

Later, I met with Joyce about what I will be doing. I have basically three seperate projects and will be spread across three different offices throughout Tanzania.

• Create 10 human interest stories and 5 write-ups about the IGAs (Income Generating Activities) of women in the WAGE Kinondoni program.
• Create a newletter with the staff in the Kahama office and then train 2-3 people there about how they can do the same thing
• Create a brochure for the WAGE Kinondoni program

I am also supposed to be doing some work for the office in Mwanza but it is not clear to me what exactly I will be doing...

This seems like a lot for only 8 weeks, but I am confident I can get it all done. Also, Joyce told me I would be going into the field tomorrow with Anna to talk to some women in the WAGE Program. Not a minute wasted.

By that time is was 5:00pm, so a driver came and picked me up and took me back to Paul's house. At which point, I promptly passed out for 6 hours!

Also, shout out to my Sorors Princess and Donna for their encouraging words about the blog.

Letters and postcards in the mail as of today

• Evelyn Addo-Wallace
• Daphne Larose
• Bettina Lee

Letters and postcards I am currently working on

• Pam Jackson
• Stephanie Louis-Charles
• Amy Duffuor
• Marcia Sells
• Sara Vogel

You too can make the list if you send your mailing address to me! tiffany.n.dockery@gmail.com

I usually like to include pictures but have none really to include as of yet. More to come.