11/19  Pack everything I might need for a London winter and Tanzanian summer.  Throw a bunch of donated computer equipment in the back of my Subaru and drive to the Saidis in Silver Spring.

The plan for the donated computer equipment was to set up a community computer center in the city of Arusha.  The computer center would be primarily for youth, but would also be a place where anyone could go and take advantage of a bit of free computer time.  The computer center never became a reality while we were in Tanzania, but we did deliver the computers and train a few people.  I still hope that eventually the center will exist somewhere.

11/20  We pack all the computer gear, gifts and our personal gear as best we can.  We have a scale in the living room and load boxes up to the maximum that British Airways will accept for international travel.  After a somewhat confusing start, it is a quick ride to Dulles airport. We have so much luggage that I actually pay $3 to rent one of those stupid shopping carts. We sneak our heavy carryon bags past the guy checking them and all our checked bags are under the limit. Some are too big for the scanner, so security helpfully takes them to some other scanner. We wonder if we will ever see our bags again. I know I'm out the $0.25 that I'm supposed to get back when I retun the Smart Cart. As far as I'm concerned, the security guys at Dulles owe me a quarter. It isn't accidental, they probably score hundreds of carts per day and collect twenty five cents on each and every one. I grumble and while about my quarter while Rachel laughs at me. Finally our plane boards and we are off.

11/21  Arrive somewhat jet lagged in London.  We meet Hussein's friend Mayenge and his family.  They feed us and take the kids to a playground.  They are also kind enough to store the luggage we don't need in Tanzania.  This is primarily our cold weather clothing, but also includs a large pair of Rachel's boots and a large hat.  Nassor had snuck both of these items into his carryon bag before we left the USA.  To this day I don't understand his motivation, but it was absolutely one of the funniest moments of the trip.

Depart London late in the evening.  For future reference, there are free showers (bring your own towel) in terminal four at Heathrow.  The showers are inside security, unlike the Sydney airport international terminal where the free showers are outside security.

11/22  Arrive completely jet lagged early in the morning to Dar Es Salaam.  As the airplane taxis towards the terminal, I notice that someone has hung their laundry out to dry from a window of one of the airport buildings.  Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.  Pay our $50 visa fee.  Interestingly, they would have also accepted 50 euros which is worth about $60, so the well prepared European visitors have US currency for their entry visas.  We depart the airport and meet Hussein's siblings Salma, Rashid and Hamza.

While in Dar we stay with Hanif who is married to Deb, a peace corps friend of Rachel's.  Deb is finishing a job in the US and isn't scheduled to be in Tanzania until just after we depart.  Hanif and his brother run DeskTop Productions (DTP) a printing, design, advertising and training company in Dar.  Hanif is gracious to allow us use of his home while we were in Dar.  He also sends two cars to collect us at the airport.  This is the only reasonable way we could transport our luggage anywhere.  Once we have all the computers at Hanif's house we are able to distribute them, one at a time, to places where they will be stored until a permanent site for the community computer center can be established.

While organizing the luggage we discover that one bag has been secured with a lock for which we have no key.  It is an exciting opportunity for me to try my lock picking skills.  I am able to open the cheap lock in under one minute!  Makes you wonder what sort of security it actually provides.  At least the lock is a pin and tumbler type.  It ius more advanced than most in Tanzania where virtually all locks are the warded type which are incredibly easy to pick.  You often see huge, thick padlocks securing buildings.  They can be picked with a pocketknife in 30 seconds.

We all take naps in the afternoon, then eat dinner with Hanif.  I pepper him with questions about Tanzania and am especially interested in his first hand experiences as a business owner.  The minimum wage in Tanzania is about $70/month.  Hanif's skilled employees earn considerably more, but most Tanzanians actually earn less than minimum wage -- either because they work for unscrupulous employers or don't work full time or are self employed.  In Hanif's opinion the most significant need faced by Tanzania in general is education.  Only about 10% of the population is educated beyond primary school.  This has drastic repercussions on society.

11/23  We take the daladala (small city bus) to downtown Dar and buy a cell phone.  No contract required.  Once you own a phone minutes can be purchased in any amount.  Incoming calls are always free.  Then we take the ferry to Kigamboni island (or possibly peninsula) about 400 yards across the harbor from downtown Dar.  It is here that Rachel and Hussein have purchased some land and are preparing to build a house.  The property is very pretty, with three towering coconut trees along the rear.

Funny story... Hussein had borrowed a soft sided cooler to use as a case for the video camera he brought.  While we are on Kigamboni he discovers a large, sharp, metal, straight blade knife in one pocket of the case.  The case that was his carryon baggage.  The case that passed through scanners in Washington's Dulles airport and London's Heathrow airport.  Yeah Homeland Security!  You go!

In the evening we have dinner with Hanif's brother and their combined families.  Nassor and Sophia have fun playing with children their own age.  The house has power thanks to a generator.  We experience power outages virtually every day we are in Dar.  Sometimes just for an hour, sometimes for over 12 hours.

11/24  We visit a local primary school where Salma teaches.  The kids are very excited... We have brought school supplies to donate, and visitors always provide an interesting deviation from the day's typical activities.  The students enjoy performing a few songs for us (videos here and here).

The students maintain a garden, but the school has no water or electricity.  So the students bring water from home each day to tend their small plot.  On this day there are a dozen cattle and their Masai herdsman on the school grounds.  The Masai find the school's fields a convenient place to graze their herd.

Trying to figure out who all the people are? Check out this genealogy chart that Rachel and Hussein made for me so I could identify all the family members we met.