Tanzania: The First Day in Iringa!

After that grueling bus journey to Iringa, the following morning was a relatively quiet one. A quick early morning run immediately underscored the clear differences between Iringa and Dar Es Salaam. Although I was running in a relatively quiet neighborhood, I was still taken aback by how peaceful and laid-back everything was. I ran past groups of school-children walking to school, on quiet streets with only a few cars. The roads felt empty after Dar! There was also a notable temperature difference--Iringa is much cooler and less humid than Dar. On my run, the temperature must have been around 60 Fahrenheit, with very low humidity. Admittedly, this is the coldest time of the year, the "winter" (although Tanzania is so close to the equator that there is not much seasonal variation in the weather). Regardless, the cooler temperature was a welcome change from the tropical heat of the last week.

Following a quick breakfast, it was time to begin our day. We had more orientation and Swahili lessons, designed to get us ready for the day's activity--a scavenger hunt around Iringa. Our director, Justin, really wanted us to get a sense of where things were in Iringa, so he pitted several teams against each other and instructed us to ask for directions. At each stop, we were told to take a selfie of ourselves with the place in the background. Charged with our instructions, we raced out into the city to find as many different places as possible. Below are a few of the selfies from the competition.

Soko Kuu Market (The Main Market in Iringa)

The Fire & Police Stations (with all the policemen looking on)

Aga Khan Clinic (which I would later become very familiar with!)

Maasai Market (with a Tanzanian friend who helped us find it!)

After an hour and a half of racing around, my team returned to the Lutheran Center (our base) to find that we had managed to win the challenge. It was a close call, but we managed to get nearly all of the locations on the scavenger hunt. Following the hunt, it was time to pack up and get ready to move to the university. We loaded all of our stuff into a pickup truck and boarded a dala-dala to take us to the University of Iringa.


The University of Iringa does not sit directly in the heart of Iringa, but rather on the outskirts of the city. It's about 7km away from the center and is located in a neighborhood called Kihesa. The campus is located on a hill, which makes for a slightly quieter atmosphere, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a group of administrators and students, who helped us unload our stuff and move into the dorms. I will have pictures of the dorms up soon, but for now, know that they are basic. I knew going into this experience that the dorms would be very different from the US equivalent, but that didn't stop the reality from being very challenging. However, it's all part of the experience--they are clean, functional, and better than what many Tanzanians have, so I can't really complain. Once we were moved into the dorms, we had a lengthy dinner at Mama Iringa's (a local Italian place which was divine). I had a delicious blue cheese & sausage pizza, rounded off with a cappuccino and tiramisu (who would have guessed that I could have a cappuccino in the middle of Tanzania?!)

The Cappuccino!

After dinner, it wasn't long before I collapsed into bed and passed out. I will have more photos and updates about the following few days in Iringa soon!