July 30. Breakfast is between 12pm and 4am?

Let me get in this airplane to get Dar es Salaam! 

Here I am, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania! Through Accra, Ghana and Nairobi, Kenya, I successfully arrived in Dar es Salaam, formal capital city of Tanzania. I had no research about Tanzania yet; all I had to do is to safely come here first. I was not even sure there is dry and rainy season here just like West Africa. My seat was second rear seat. Luckily enough, the airplane front door was out of order and only rear door was opened, so I was almost the first passenger who got out of the airplane, like a first class business man.

Thanks to this luck, I could enter the gate quickly and applied and got the visa on arrival without waiting in a line. My big baggages were already waiting for me over there, and I promptly exited the airport. There he is! He was holding “Charles Park” paper, and I had no problem finding my driver.

Hakuna Matata! (No problem!) I could also use this expression in this situation. It was 10am, today was holiday, so surroundings looked more chilly. It was cloudy, seemed to rain or not, and anyway, I liked this weather! Why have I always assumed groundlessly that Africa would always be hot?

Like this, the first impression of Tanzania was calm, quiet and cool. Comparing to Freetown, Sierra Leone, nobody bothered me here. People looked sedate and calm, cars did not honk a horn, and several multistoried buildings caught my eyes. My tension had always been on in Freetown, but I was relieved here to some extent. I decided to say in Swahili to driver, Prosba, to find out Hakuna Matata! really means No problem.

“Hakuna Matata!”

He grinned. I asked the meaning, and it meant No problem. My neighbor, oh… my old neighbor from now, Nephas, did not make a fun of me. He taught me a right Swahili one.

While heading to Mesuma Hotel, the place where I would stay for 2 days, I asked a few more Swahili, such as Hello, How are you? Welcome! Good morning/afternoon/evening, I love you so much, I am fine, Thank you, I am sorry, Are you sleepy? I am sad… in Swahili. I zealously wrote them in Korean as I heard into my cell phone note app. 콰주아이, 마카디(하바리야코), 카리부사나, 하바리아스고이, 아바리암차나, 아바리야지오니, 나쿠펜다 사나, 조리, 아싼테, 사마니, 랄라? 나세마…

Oh man… When can I learn Swahili? I only have two months to learn Swahili. So then, how much I do need to know? When I was in Sierra Leone, I did not feel much about learning local language, Krio or Mende. Krio language is widely used in Freetown, and it is somewhat similar to English, like a broken English. Mende is local language that people in rural area use it a lot. Sierra Leoneans speak English so well, and I was surprised every time when I talked to them. Here in Tanzania, people seem to use their first language, Swahili for the most of their time. I was embarrassed that Prosba and I could not communicate smoothly, and I tried to find the easiest English word for him to ask something. When I read Denice’s blog, I wondered what motivates her to learn Swahili passionately. She bought Swahili language book, text friends with Swahili, and practice it everyday. I think I also have to do it. Let’s keep learning it!

When I got Mesuma hotel, I was a little terrified to see that a security guard was holding a gun. But I tried not to be scared because I had already treated gun in the military. I asked him, “Is this a real one?” He did not answered, which made me more nervous. Probably, it could be gun with a blank cartridge?

Mlimani City Mall: Samsung is famous company in Africa

I needed to use phone or Internet to let my boss know that I safely arrived here. I presumed that airtel sim card from Sierra Leone might work in Tanzania too, but my phone did not function. There was Internet service in the hotel, but it was not possible to be connected. My another presumption was that hotel in Tanzania might sell sim card and exchange money, just like my favorite place Family Kingdom Hotel in Sierra Leone does. Unfortunately, they did not do anything what I wished. Okay… I have to abandon my preexisting life in Sierra Leone. I have to realize that I start over with new people, new food, new weather, new place, new culture, and any other new.

I should have asked World Vision driver to take me to the place for withdrawing cash and having sim card. He was already gone and I did not want to bother him again. So I asked hotel receptionist several times that I want cash and sim card. Finally, one of hotel employees, Devi, took me to the bank and Mlimani City Mall, so I could have them. The mall was really nice; I felt like I was in a mall in the U.S. The place was in no way inferior to any mall in the world, except relatively small scale. As soon as I got sim card at the airtel store, I let WV staff know that I have arrived in Tanzania and appreciated them to have me.  

Grilled chicken scaloppini with plain ugali

In the evening, I went to the restaurant in my hotel and ordered grilled chicken scaloppini and plain ugali. This was random choose for my first dinner in Tanzania. The restaurant manager, Nasro, explained me what they were in English, but I could not quite understand it. So I asked, “Is it good? Good combination?” and show him my thumbs up. He said, “Yes!” If he says so, I am “Hakuna Matata!” Let’s just try it.

The food was nice. Ugali is almost the same food as fufu, which I ate in Sierra Leone. The ingredient must be similar but the way of cooking must be slightly different. The price was 18,000/=, but I had no sense of exchange rate yet. It must be expensive because it is a hotel food? Maybe, I will know tomorrow when I go to a normal restaurant outside.

Suddenly, I was wondering whether breakfast tomorrow is free. I approached chef Sofu and asked, “Is breakfast free?” “Yes,” he said.

“When is the breakfast?”

“4am.”

“No no, I mean, when is the breakfast begun and finished?”

“12pm”

“No no, when is the restaurant is opened and closed for breakfast?”

“12pm to 4am.”

I was really confused what conversation I had. I wrote the number and “am” and “pm” on my laptop word file and show it to him, and he wrote the number on his note. As far as I know, breakfast is for morning, and I was expecting to hear some reasonable time. Later, Nasro, came to us and wrote the time on the note, 06:00 – 10:00. Yes, that seemed to be reasonable time for breakfast.

Expecting free breakfast early in the morning, I tried to sleep. Next day, I will meet new people. 하지만 당황하지 말고~ 침착하게! I will get friendly with them as quickly as possible as if I have already known them for a long time.