Starting work at the college

The last two days were quite intensive. We put in long days working with several staff members from the college and someone from the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA). On Monday, we spent time revisiting the goals of the project and the course we are mapping out, discussing the types of assessments needed, talking about the demands upon the instructional staff and planning out the next two week’s work.

 

We finally broke for lunch close to 2:30 and went to a local hotel together to get some Tanzanian cuisine. To get there we took a dirt road that wove through a rural market.

Just past the market I took a quick picture of some rather large birds picking through the rubbish that had blown over from the market. 

Lunch was a bit of an adventure. We waited forever for our meal and when it came we had a double order. We could have fed a small army. Our hosts were a little frustrated, but it didn’t affect our conversation. It was really nice to learn more about our Tanzanian friends, their families, and the differences between our cultures.  All three of our Tanzanian colleagues had spent time in Canada and they had memories to share about their visits there. They also tried to help me learn a bit of Swahili. For lunch I had a Tilapia fish from Lake Victoria. In Tanzania they serve the fish whole, I’ve snapped a picture of it for you below.

Then we returned to the college to continue working. That night Jeanne and I were so stuffed from lunch we didn’t really eat supper. We just sat out on the deck in the restaurant and I sipped on a pineapple Fanta while she had tea.

 The next day we picked up where we left off and filled out some basics about the pilot cohort and its composition, staffing, resources, schedule and some of the curricular outcomes. This day, instead of going to the hotel for lunch, we ate at the restaurant that the college runs as a practicum site for their culinary arts and hospitality students. There my meal was almost exactly the same as the day before except I had omelet instead of fries.  I was kind of dreading all the fish I would have to eat in Mwanza, but the tilapia is great (once you can get past the fact that it is looking at you…).

Here’s a bit more of what I learned about the vans they use as public transport. All of the vans seem to be Toyotas. The vans come outfitted to seat 13 passengers, but they move the seats and put in ones that accommodate 20. Some look much fuller than that. There vans are called Dala Dalas and they get pretty banged up going up and down the dirt roads that weave up and down the hillsides in this city of 2.7 million.

Another way of public transport is the Piki Piki, which is motorcycle (ist) that will give you a lift for a bit of money. They zip in and out of traffic and drivers and passengers often do not wear helmets. You take your chances on these bikes. And they are everywhere. Licensed motorcycles are called Boda Bodas. They are no different from the Pika Pikas except that they won’t get fined for taking passengers and they have a different color license plate. I’ll see if I can put up a few pictures later.
 

Two very long days, but very productive ones. Both days Jeanne and I came back to the hotel after 6 and were just bagged… but we soldiered on; comparing notes, editing a few documents and checking emails.  The fact that we can only get internet in the lobby also complicates things. As I write this Jeanne is sitting on one of the couches posting her blog and checking her email.

 

Tonight I’m rolling off to bed early… I haven’t had the best of sleep here yet. While the beds are nice and the air conditioning great… the ideas continue to churn on well into the night.