Hardship Posting

July 7th, 2007

Myself and the two other interns are met at the airport by my boss-to-be, Mr. Khamis Said. I ask him to wait because our bags have not arrived. They were placed on another plane after the baggage handler told us in Dar that they were too heavy for our plane. Of course for his troubles, a small fee would be required that totalled the amount one could live off of in Dar for over a month: 60 USD. It was extortion at it’s finest, and not wanting our stuff to be “simply forgotten about” whilst in transit, we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. So I put up a fuss and gave the handler the “we’re recent student interns ” speech and knocked his trouble money down by 50 per cent to 30,000 Tanzanian shillings (about 30 USD). Victory was ours, or so I thought until I heard the laughter coming from his friends after we reclaimed our seats in the waiting room. We got “bongo-ed” (Swahili slang used to describe those living in Dar who use their smarts to survive) after only being in the country for two days. They could smell us miles away I’m sure.

Upon collecting our bags we drive off into the surrounding darkness towards the famous heritage city of Stone Town. Built in the 16th century, Stone Town was the hub of the slave and spice trade ruled over by a succession of Sultans, who later in turn were ruled by the British until 1963, and then permanently abolished after a short but bloody revolution in 1964, in which the majority resident East Indians and Arabs were chased away or killed. Since then the city began deteriorating – the stone buildings crumbling due to neglect and abuse. By the early 1990s a movement to restore the historic town gained momentum after realizing Zanzibar’s greatest asset in a global economy, in which Tanzania had just opened it’s economy to, was it’s heritage. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture spearheaded the way and a few years later the infamous stone buildings and the labyrinth of alleyways in between them had been restored to their original appearance under the rule of Omani Sultan Said bin Sultan in the mid-1800s. The hard work of the restoration committee paid off, as the city began attracting many tourists since then, which helped encouraged UNESCO to designate it a World Heritage site in 2000. It is common for a Stone Town rookie to spend many hours trying to escape its claustrophobic alleyways that turn in all directions to create a labyrinth the Minotaur could call home.

* * *

We are shown our accommodation for the next week – a four star hotel with large beds, air conditioned rooms, fridges, television and large bathrooms with hot water. Khamis offers to find us better accommodation if this does not meet our standards, at least until we find a place of our own. I think of the other IDM interns who were posted in remote village locations deep in the abyss of the Global South and grin widely. I feel like sending them a postcard.

Suddenly the air is filled with musical cries calling devoted Muslims to prayer, which echo off the stone buildings in every direction. The sun is setting over the Indian Ocean, while a lone bat flutters wildly in the sky above, feasting on the evening’s selection of insects.