Arusha

Ah only 14 min to write this one. I know I just wrote on this yesterday but I wanted to elaborate on some things:

-We stayed in Maji ya Chai the first week. Maji ya Chai is a commune founded by former Black Panther Peter O' Neal. Peter was exiled from the United States in 1969 and fled to Algeria but has lived in Tanzania now for over thirty years. They call their commune the United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC). The commune offers housing for people traveling through the area and also provides schooling for kids. Everyone there was so welcoming and friendly. Everyone in our group bonded with the kids and had a great time with each other. Overall, the week was very relaxing and chill (besides the Kilimanjaro hike which was simply an epic adventure).

- We are now in Arusha (we got here yesterday). The city of Arusha is about one hour away from Maji ya Chai. It is a very large and urbanized city so the atmosphere is obviously very different. I think we all got major culture shock when we ventured into the city and experienced the urban life first hand. It's a city so the people constantly want to sell their stuff to tourists like us. That was kinda annoying and made some of us paranoid but it was a great time for us to practice our Kiswahili! We are staying at the Impala Hotel and being taught by Dr. Arens. Mwagi taught us in Maji ya Chai. The hotel is very nice and a major change of scenery. Tomorrow we will go to the markets to continue practicing our bargaining skills haha. They have some really cool stuff that I have already bought like spears.

ok gotta go!
- msafiri