Church and State

Last Sunday I visited the Lutheran church called Azania Front, along the Dar es Salaam port area. It’s an old and historic church building with stained glass brought from Germany. It was a nice service in Swahili and I especially enjoyed the music. After the service, a member offered to give me a little tour of the place, so I ascended many stairs to get up to the giant ticking clock and then even higher to the bell tower with a great view of the harbor.

As I went back home, I passed through the lively Kariakoo again for some fresh fruits and veggies, then caught a dalla-dalla (small local bus) for the ride back. Along the way, I saw a couple of polling stations. Thankfully things were incredibly peaceful, and all that I observed was people waiting patiently in line. In the evening, I watched some of the Tanzania local news commentary, with live coverage of the elections. Not surprisingly, the incumbent president Kikwete won the election.

SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY: “changuzi” means “elections”

First day in Dar es Salaam

After all my preparations and well over a day's worth of travel, I have arrived in Tanzania. I'm staying in an apartment on the north side of town, which is somewhat secluded from the city center. So I set off this morning to discover the hustle and bustle of downtown.

It began with an Anglican church service in Swahili at St. Alban's. The fact that I am familiar with the Anglican liturgy, had studied 5 lessons of Swahili on the plane, had a Swahili Bible in hand, and could draw on my Arabic religious vocabulary meant that I could follow along decently, but definitely didn't catch every word. It was an interesting and beautiful service nonetheless.

As I hungrily downed my vegetable curry at one of the few restaurants open on a Sunday, I reflected on the fact that the Asian Tanzanian population (mainly of Indian and Pakistani origin) is quite involved in the country's society and business life. This is a fascinating country that merges Arab, Asian, and African influences. Likewise, several people have emphasized to me already that Christians and Muslims live together in Tanzania quite peacefully.

Armed with my recently purchased book that features a dozen routes through the city, I embarked on an exploratory trek. Large trees lined the street to the botanical gardens, which turned out to be a bit underwhelming. But reaching the Indian Ocean was a treat. This picture was taken along the beach where I savored the blues and greens of the gently lapping water. Down the coast I happened upon the lively fish market, full of all kinds of freshly caught seafood. My favorite sight here, though, was a bicycle-powered knife sharpener - genius! With this being Sunday, most of the government buildings and shops along the rest of my route were closed, so in the end, there wasn't as much hustle and bustle to be had, and I jumped in a minibus to take me back "home." I'm hopeful that tomorrow I'll get to enjoy a bit more of the sights and sounds.

Swahili word of the day: CHAGUA
It means "choose" and is followed on many billboards with the name "Kikwete". Elections are coming soon in this country, so many posters of this incumbent president, and a couple of other candidates line the streets.