MZUNGU- Is what most people call me. My team which is the staff is playing in the semifinals  tomorrow. Soccer is a big deal here. People show up and totally surround the field. The most fans I have ever played infront of. When ever I touch the ball they shout MZUNGU which "The White Guy". I feel as if everyone knows me here at the college. Lots of people come up to me just to talk to an American. I'm the only white guy here except one teacher from Colombia -Father Hugo and two priests from Poland and one of them is the president of the college. I will say I feel thirty when I play soccer against these college kids. Most are in the early twenties and they are fast. The field is always muddy and a lot of the time I wish I had cleats.
I went into town with Brother Philip and we rode on the Dollar Dollar. That is what they call all the buses here. And all the buses are privately owned so there is thousands of them. They all go to the stations downtown and that is it. Dollar Dollar they are called because when they first started up that is how much they cost and the bus drivers would yell ,"dollar dollar" out the window to get peoples attention and it has stuck ever since.

Well I get on the dollar dollar. It is the size of an old school VW Van. Now imagine 23 seats in there. The seats are about 8 inches wide. I get in and I get a seat and there is only one seat left. They make another stop and I kid you not 8 more people got in. I don't know how but they did. Two people half there body is hanging out the window. Four children are sitting on top of parents laps. One adult is sitting on anothers lap. Its incredible. I wanted to buy an mpira which is a soccer ball. However if you are white here you are considered rich and the prices go up. Even though I was with other Tanzanians who were doing the talking for me. The fact I was there the price is 50% more to double. The guy wanted about $30.00 dollars for a soccer ball that wasn't very good. I guess there normally $20.00 or less for the Tanzanians. I guess now matter what I buy there will be a white man's tax. Except if I give someone the money and not go into town with them. Even if they see me outside the store they know who I am with. The are no such things as commercial stores. Every single store is privately owned. Most stores are about 10ft by 20 ft.

I went into the Motor Vehicle Registration building. There DMV or MVD is just like ours. You wait in a hug line. I'm surprised because cars are very expensive here and only the rich can afford them. It was the fist building I had been in  that had Air Conditioning so I didn't mind being in there.

I also went to the Agriculture college here. I guess it is the largest in Africa with a total of 10,000 students at three different campuses. Someone from the college showed me around. It looked like a college that was built in the 60's. We then traveled to the other campus. They even have a successful laboratory that have trained mice to find land minds. How I have no idea. But they have used them in many countries here. I got to see the doctors house that was on campus. It was probably 1,000 square feet with 5 rooms. The wife stays at home with the 4 kids. The house itself  was probably from the 80's but looked like the 60's as well as the equipment and furniture in it. That was a middle class home. That night we went out for dinner and had boiled chicken with vegetables. It was good.
The best meal I have had so far was the next day I attended a meeting at Morogoro hotel. It was grilled pork , vegetables and french fries. It was nice to eat something unhealthy for once and I still think it was healthy. The meeting was about starting a Masters Business program and going through the classes and the curriculum that should be taught. The hotel was the nicest place I have been so far. It is basically just foreigners there. It was also the first pool I have seen since I had been there. I wish I had brought an extra pair of shorts or a swim suit. The fee was about $4.00 usd to go swimming.

So far I have stayed Malaria free from what I know. It is impossible not to get bitten though. It is like living in Minnesota during the summer. You are going to get bitten.

Well I hope all is well in the States. That reminds me everyone wants to talk to me about Obama. He is on just about everyone's notebook here.

Mungu Akulindi _ May God's peace be with you.