Dar es Salaam

*there will be typos in this post, as am using publc compy wth bad keyboard*:-)
Arrved n Dar es Salaam on a Friday afternoon. We sat next to a young man ho, of course, lves in Tanzania. He was very nice and taught us a few phrases in Swahili- ho are you? and I am fine. And,just like he said, very one e've sad ths to has been very happy to see that e aer trying to learn their language. Predictably, ther englsh is ay better than our Swahili, and I think t6hat Tanzanian people are very friendly naturally,k but they really appreciated our efforts to speak Swalhil.

Had no problem fndng a taxi. In fact, the taxi driver found us! He even let us stop at an ATM b/c we had no Tanzanian shillngs ith whch to pay him. Found out later he overcharged us (Tsh25,000! ~ US$20) by about Tsh10,000, but was nothing compared to hat another tourist was charged for the same distance- Tsh 60,000 so I gtuess we ere lucky.

Our hotel as just what the tripadvisor sais: no frills but clean and ith AC. AFter settlng in we alked about town, down our dirt alley, said 'no' poltely to many "touts" selling us taxi rdes, safais, and foods. Got out more money as the hotel anted us to pay in cash only and bought water. E got 6L for 1000 (our best deal yet), but we only had 10,000 bills, so the guy behind the counter had to leave the store to break the bill and give us our change. Then, exhausted from our red-eye flght and all the strangeness of a third orld country, e took a nap.

Woke up and decded to try a nearby restaurant for dinner. Luckily, not only was it recommended by the guidebook but it as on the hotel map as ell. It as very close so Froody and I decided to walk it, agan tellng all ho asked that we didn't need a taxi. When e got in and the waiter asked us for our order, I just said, basically, that "I'll hjave hat he's havng," hich turned out to be hole grilled fsh and chapati bread (did not eat the small garnish/salad of fresh veg, as every ebsite advises not to eat any produce if you didn't peel it or if it's uncooked). Froody ordered chcken masala hch arrved about 20min after my fish and was good but not as tasty as my fish. I messily told the aiter that the food as good, and he smled for the first time and sad "thank you" in Swahili.

Dinner over, e hurried back to the hotel, literally, as everyone from the guidebook, internet, young man, and taxi driver all told us that hile Dar is very safe durng the day DO NOT WALK ABOUT AT NIGHT. I will admt to you all that when e ere n bed that nght, lights off, Froody next to me, I broke down and started crying. I as so tired and Tanzania is so very different from everything I've ever experienced, even more so than Mexico, that I was overhelmed. In fact, for the frst couple of days e both had the "What-the-heck-did-we-get-ourselves-into?" syndrome. Luckily, the cure as fast approaching- our safari on MOnday.