Thirsty Thursdays at the Embassy

It rained in the night last night, after threatening clouds all day. Very cool and crisp this morning, and things dried up pretty quickly. I've realized that, even though I am not walking and exercising as much as Berlin, the humidity here actually does me good...somehow. It's nice having curly hair again.

The thing about networking, here, is you have to be an incorrigible eavesdropper and unapologetic questioner when you hear something that might be interesting or relevant. Or if it just sounds like someone is from New York, which has happened to me once. Yesterday I chatted with a few public health-y folks from UCSF in the internet cafe, and ended up accompanying them to Thirsty Thursdays at the Embassy, which is as the name would suggest a happy hour for expats within the incredibly secure confines of the embassy compound.

The embassy is a good distance outside of the city center, and I spent the cab ride sandwiched between two researchers who are, I think, doing something with infant nutrition. They're coordinating a study, and one is also moving here, so it was all abuzz about buying a car (55% import tax), getting the house set up, dealing with the Tanzanian bureaucracy, and remembering who had talked with whom. All much busier than anything I have done this week, and promising, forward-looking. But the group was nice enough, especially one woman who gave me a bunch of tips about talking with people at the medical college here and was pleasantly maternal.

The embassy party, however, was just hilarious. We were driven in oversized golf cart to a patio where there was a movie screen set up ("The Benchwarmers"), adjacent to a "bar." It was hard to tell who was military and who was Peace Corps and who was diplomatic, but it was all very interesting. The closest comparison in atmosphere was a frat house basement, but a very nice one with a very good pool table. And abundant air conditioning and drinkable tap water. I abandoned the chattering and played pool with some Tanzanian embassy folks and watched the marines/whatever play darts. They are impressive. And I learned a little bit about Tanzanian-rules 8-ball, and played one incredible game of pool. It was nice to just hang out and eat popcorn and not worry about being too American, a sort of strange and guilty comfort.

It was strange, though, to compare how frugal and conscientious most of the grad students and researchers I have met are with the boisterous non-profit bunch. No bargaining with taxi drivers, minimal attempts to speak Swahili, and meetings, meetings, maneuvering. I do know that the frugality of researchers is not necessarily a choice, given grant sizes and such - most people would LOVE hot water every morning, not worrying about bed-nets, etc. There was just a part of me that wasn't sure if the money for a foundation was really well-spent on a shishi hotel. People are certainly more efficient when they aren't as freaked out as I was the first few days, but the whole night just gave me pause.

I can't figure out how to explain why it was a strange but good evening without coming off as preachy. I really have no room to preach. In the end, the nice, very smart maternal woman introduced me to her kids and invited me over, and it will be nice to see them again. I hadn't been hugged in so long, and the kids were great, if a little sour about the lack of toys. And hopefully the research next week will go well because of everything I learned from them.

In other news, I went to the archives today and looked at finding aids, tried to explain in a non-threatening way that although I don't have a research permit, I just want to use the library and am not trying to get to the documents through the back door. I also found my advisor's name IN THE FINDING AID crediting her with organizing and coordinating the archives in the 60s. This was not a major surprise, but dude. It's a deep shadow she has, and a powerful name. Strange.

Swahili is going well, I am making my way around better, and having dinner tonight with some new friends. Hopefully some pictures this weekend, since we might go to a beach and that seems totally fair...