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Quintin wrote probably the best paragraph summarizing a typical day in Dar Es Salaam that I have read.

Read it.

It doesnt seem possible that these two shops can be on the same street but here you have it.

The first mall in Tanzania:

The other side of the street:

Sidenote: They have a theater at the mall and it was really odd to see ‘The Kingdom‘ playing when a large part of the population here is Muslim…

So I had the good fortune to go to church with a fellow employee the other day and man was it awesome!  We got there by taking a short dirt road just off a street in town.  The church is undergoing renovations so the back of it is missing at the moment.  Church service started at 9am and we were a little bit late so when we walked in, you can imagine a lot of people’s surprise when I came in.  Sitting down was difficult as well as there was only about 8 inches in between each of the benches.  Sunday school is from 9-10am (in the same building as the main church) and from what I had translated to me, was about Samual chapter 7 and being a commando for Jesus.  After that was the most rousing worship/singing service I have ever witnessed.  People were singing and dancing and the energy!  It was amazing!  Of course I had to bust out the handy dandy canon and take some videos to capture it on digital memory which is much better than mine. (the vids will be uploaded as soon as i get somewhere with a decent internet connection)  After the one and half hour worship session came a time where everyone was praying.  And not ‘bow your head and close your eyes with no one looking around’ prayer…  This was from the heart, emotion filled, honest and open, passionate prayer!  Some people were shouting, some were (potentially) speaking in tongues, others seemed to be exhorting God for deliverance right there!  It was incredible!  Being a ‘blue’, I was nearly moved to tears; nearly.

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I have found a great new picture spot at the hotel I am staying at… the roof. It is great… mostly unobstructed panoramic views of Dar. It came in especially handy last night when I kept hearing a bunch of explosions outside. I went up to the roof to investigate (camera in hand) and saw that there was a huge fireworks show going on. It was a cacophony of disorganized rockets and explosions that were intermingled with people blasting stuff off from most rooftops around Dar; I have to say I like their style. Come to find out that this was to celebrate Diwali.

Here is a sunset pic taken from the roof tonight.

And here is a fireworks picture taken last night.

I added some new pics to the gallery.  And I met some people who are staying at my same hotel.  One of them is taking some cool pictures around town/at the parks to.  Check him out.