Dar: A Second Look

Somewhere in between then and there did the transition take place. As subtle as it was, there was no denying the impact that not only until a few days ago did I consciously accept. Though I’m still not sure what I have concluded to myself… an epiphany I suppose. Yet no matter the case I must write a blog post on something or else I’ll have to do the laundry. So, in one of those rare, quite moments I fleetingly escaped back to Africa and retraced our last days in Tanzania. Carefully remembering, I reflected with all seriousness on the ubiquitously sly and ever-cunning perception of change. For me I don’t always recognize, whether it be big or small, the changes that take place each and everyday, yet as I recounted our stay in Dar Es Salaam, I was shocked to finally notice—however obvious it may seem—the contrast from our first meeting with the sprawling city to a month later when we revisited.

 

First of all, let me just point out that Tanzania is very different from Morocco. With that said, we were all not exactly prepared for the abrupt change in pace. Sweaty, squished, and smothered by luggage, it was a very rough drive from the airport to the hotel and back again. That was, in fact, all we did, yet it brought on a whirlwind of pandemonium that lasted approximately nine hours (six of them being in a hotel room completely passed out). Such a meager excuse of a stay in Dar doesn’t truly merit an actual assessment of the whole. But that’s exactly what we did and we assessed the city as just one big, chaotic gridlock which you’ll be lucky if you happen to make it out on the other side.

 

My parents always say when they’re traveling to a new place that it’s a beta test for the next time they come. Well I guess I got to understand a bit and experience what exactly they meant in our second stay in Dar. There’s really not much to say other than when we reached the outskirts of the city and plowed our 25 passenger “Respect Jesus” van into the still traffic-jammed roads we were barely even phased by the onslaught. Of course, we were accompanied by Nayay, Erin, and Marqus who, by reading earlier African blog posts you’ll know, were of so much help and are always so calm and patient— not to mention that Erin and Nayay lived in Dar for three years so they knew all the best places to go. Also, more conversant, we brought back all our adventures and misadventures and each value we attained because of them while exploring this beautiful country. A month in Tanzania definitely transforms you. It’ll make you rethink you’re set bars of craziness levels and then turn those crazy moments into treasured memories you’ll keep with you forever.

 

If there’s one thing that I took away from my unnecessarily long rant, it’s that changes are happening every minute of everyday. Bad and good; inside yourself and outside in the world. Sometimes they occur globally and affect many people, but others they’re more minor and it might be only you who is either made better or worse. It seems to me that change is a continual and fundamental part in our lives. So let me say this though: if the only constant in life really is change, than why does it never fail to surprise us every time?