Reentry Rummaging

It's cold. Whenever anyone asks me how it feels to be home, that's the first thing to come to mind. Obviously it's not the most important thing, but it is foremost in my mind because it is the difference that I can comprehend without much thought at all. It was warm in Arusha for four months straight. It is cold here. Simple enough.

And beyond that I'm still processing. I think. Tanzania already feels like such a distant experience because that life is just so opposite of the life I lead here. Sure there are reminders of it every so often, but despite that it feels like months, if not years ago, that I was wandering the streets of Arusha and sweltering on the bus on the way back from Zanzibar. There is no way that is less than a month ago. But alas, it was, and somehow I feel as though my brain will never really be able to grasp that. Really in the scheme of things, hopefully, four months will be just the blink of eye and just a chapter of my life, but at this point my brain doesn't know whether those four months felt like four years or four weeks. As I said, more processing is in order.

Apparently, though, I'm dealing with reentry culture shock by compulsively giving away things. The night that I got back from London I opened my closet, stared for a moment and almost said aloud, "there is so much stuff!" I wore the same clothes for four months and needless to say, saw people with next to nothing in their possession, so seeing a closet full of stuff just felt odd. I proceeded to give away a garbage bag full of things starting the next day. It was an ongoing process that took about a week and took me to literally every surface of my room. I now have a lot less stuff partially because I feel like I know what I don't actually need, and partially because I know that if those "just in case" situations have not occurred since I went to college two and half years ago, then they're probably never going to happen. And so, like I said, reentry culture shock seems to have manifested itself in me purging my room of excess. Not so bad I guess.

So since I've been home I've started working again at the office where I worked this summer. I was able to go back for about two weeks, which has been great. It's always nice to have an opportunity to make some money, even if it is only for a while. I'm looking forward to Christmas at home and then Virginia for New Years. I go back to school January 9 and will be starting an internship this semester at a human rights NGO that I'm really excited about. So life back in the US has been good and it's been nice to not have to really jump back into anything too hectic.

Besides the cold, the things that I have been extra alert to are: the fast internet, the fast pace of life and of walking, being in the (overwhelming) racial majority in Minnesota, and the pronounced lack of Swahili being spoken. Not too bad, really. I haven't become an American-hating elitist, nor was I absolutely dying to get my feet back on US soil. Tanzania has changed me but to be honest, I'm still not quite sure how.

Look! Look! Fast Internet!

I'm home safe and sound with amazingly fast internet! I'm definitely still in the processing phase of reentry so I don't have a very coherent post at the moment but I decided some pictures were in order just to show off how many things I can upload! I promise I'll write some more entries eventually, though. Keenan and I went into London Friday from Egham, where Royal Holloway University is. This is the Eye of London, built for the millennium, next to Big Ben and the House of Parliament. Friday night we went to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria for 15 pounds apiece - not bad! It was absolutely astonishing The picturesque Zanzibar beaches. Like I said, Paradise. Local women on the beach cleaning the fish they just caught and that we're about to eat :) The House of Wonders in Stone Town - second largest doors in Africa! It also held its own during the shortest war in history (45 minutes vs. Britain)This is inside a cathedral built by freed slaves on the site of the slave market in Stone Town. The supervisor left for a week and the slaves, unclear about how the pillars were supposed to look, installed all of them upside down. They're perfectly sturdy and really look normal until you know their flaw. A poignant monument to the slaves that were bought, sold and killed at this site during the slave trade. The chain around their necks was actually found in the ocean off the shore of Bagamoyo from a sunken slave ship. During our spice tour - a man climbing up a coconut tree to retrieve coconuts for us. It was incredible how fast he scurried up there! Our trusty Cupcake! This is the dala dala that we took to the hot springs and that promptly died the morning we tried to leave. Also, you can't see it here, but he most definitely had leopard print upholstery. My birthday dinner at the Arusha hotel - Christina, Jan and I Momma and baby when we visited a home in Lake Eyasi in October. Adorable, right?

Snapshot of Paradise

Zanzibar is amazing. It is one of the most picturesque places I have ever been. Our trip was fantastic and it was good to have some much needed relaxation. And the best part was that we’re all college kids so we swung the entire trip (transportation, accommodations, food, etc.) for about $300.

But let us begin with the week before Zanzibar. Finals were going along fine until one day when I started feeling kind of off. I didn’t think much of it except that I was not looking forward to a ten hour bus ride feeling that way. And then all of a sudden I realized just how sick I was feeling and sure enough I had about a 102º fever. I ended up at Selian Hospital in Arusha at about 11 pm that night. Although the hospital is really nice we had to wait about 45 minutes for an English-speaking doctor at that hour, which is, as you can imagine, not fun when you feel that way. We were also sort of puzzled why nobody was really reacting to me saying that I had a102º fever until we realized that if someone told us that they had a fever of 38º C we wouldn’t think anything of it either. It ended up just being some infection of some sort – NOT malaria, which was good. The doctor first tried to tell me that it is probably just because I’m eating food that’s different than the food at home. I had to make it clear that I have been here for FOUR MONTHS and I eat at the SAME PLACE EVERY NIGHT. I think I got the point across. So anyway, I have now been to a Tanzanian hospital and police station (when we got robbed – don’t worry, there’s not another story that I didn’t mention).

Because I wasn’t feeling 100%, my friend Christina and I stayed behind one day from the group before leaving for Zanzibar. It was great to feel better, but traveling as two young women alone is definitely one of the more stressful experiences I’ve ever had. It was uneventful but literally for over 24 hours my body did not let its guard down once. I was on high alert from the minute we got in the cab to the bus station until we finally pulled up to Les Toits De Palme in Kendwa on Zanzibar. It was pretty mentally and physically draining. But there’s no better place to recover from that stress than on the white sandy beaches of Zanzibar.

The day after we got there we went on a snorkeling excursion and it was awesome. I had never been snorkeling before and was kind of indifferent to the idea but decided that it would be a fun time. The whole adventure cost us $15 and included one of the most amazing lunches I’ve ever eaten of freshly caught tuna fish on a deserted beach. Wonderful. Worth more than $15 in itself in the States. When we were snorkeling we saw angel fish, star fish, sting rays and Dory from Finding Nemo! Once I had my breathing through a pipe figured out I really enjoyed myself. Despite really enjoying myself, though, I’m still kind of indifferent to snorkeling I think.

The remaining days we pretty much sat around and read and explored the beach. AND I will have you all know, I did NOT get sunburned! Because I know that if you’re reading this you were probably worried about that. We also found a restaurant in the village called Kijiji Restaurant, which literally means Village Restaurant that had whole meals for 5,000 Tsh ( about $3.80) that were absolutely incredible. They served prawns, calamari, octopus or tuna fish in your choice of coconut, masala or curry sauce, caught from the ocean not more than 500 feet away. Incredible. It was kind of humorous, though, juxtaposed with the 4,500 Tsh we then proceeded to spend on cocktails at the resort nearby.

After four days on the beach we traveled south down the island to finish our trip. On our way to Stone Town, the major city on Zanzibar, we stopped for a spice tour. Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island and exports spices all over the island (although there are definite remnants of its socialist history apparent when they told us that individuals are not allowed to sell their spices – the government buys them and then exports them). We saw all sorts of cool spices – cinnamon, pepper, vanilla, cloves, ginger, and cacao (not nearly as cool before its turned into chocolate). The cinnamon tree was really cool because they were telling us that the leaves, bark and roots can all be utilized. The bark is what is rolled up into cinnamon sticks and the roots are used as medicine, in fact they smelled like menthol. A guy also climbed a coconut tree and retrieved coconuts for us, which we got to drink and eat. Also, I now LOVE pineapple after my experience in Zanzibar – they were so juicy and delicious.

After the spice tour we traveled to Stone Town, which was basically like entering a completely different continent. There is a huge Arab influence on Zanzibar and 95% of the population is Muslim. I felt like I traveled to an Arab country for the afternoon before returning to Africa. We didn’t visit nearly as many historical sites as I would have liked, but we did see the old slave market, which was really an amazing thing to see. There was also a cathedral there that was built by freed slaves after the trade officially ended there in 1873. The coolest part about Stone Town, though, were the amazing doors. They were very intricate and huuuge – in fact, Stone Town has the second largest doors in Africa. There’s a fact you never thought you would know.

When I think back on Zanzibar two things come to mind. One is the amazing beach and relaxation. The other is the almost unbearable heat. Literally you wake up and have to shower because you’re sweaty from sleeping. It is 24/7 heat and humidity that is only bearable when you get to lounge around in your swimming suit all day. I cannot fathom how people can live everyday in that heat. We avoided noon outside at all costs. I have never appreciated Arusha’s temperate climate as much as I did on Friday night when we returned.

I suppose the third thing I will remember is the incredibly long traveling involved. We left our hotel in Stone Town at 6 am on Friday morning. We got back to our apartments in Arusha at 9:30 pm. We had to take a ferry to Zanzibar and then a ten hour bus ride back to Arusha, which was one of the more unpleasant things I’ve experienced. Remember that heat I was talking about? Yeah, multiply that by however many sweaty bodies were on that bus and being wedged in between two people, one of whom has no concept of personal space. I felt like a parent that needed to draw a line and say “You can’t cross this line!” Ugh… awful. It’s a strange sensation to be thinking so much about going home and being excited to be home, but then when we returned from Zanzibar to Arusha we definitely felt at home here. Let’s just hope this time we don’t get robbed.

We have one more full day in Arusha and then we’re gone, which is a very strange and exciting thing. Today we went to the orphanage one last time – amazing, as usual – and tomorrow we’re going to attempt for the third time to see a trial at ICTR. Then we’re having a birthday/goodbye party at our friend Aziz’s house and packing our bags! I will definitely write more once I leave and once I’ve returned but I think this will be my last post from Arusha! I will see many of you soon!

Also, and by "Snapshot of Paradise" I meant "Mental Snapshot of Paradise" and I will have to put up pictures once I get my laptop back from our super-secret hiding place where we stashed them while we were away :)

Hot Springs and Cold Milk

The only times I have successfully camped (as in the middle of nowhere, in a tent because there is nowhere else to sleep) have been in foreign countries, why is that? We tried to camp with the Wilsons when I was in like fourth grade and somehow that fell through. Bailey, Kevin, Hantho, Tucker and I tried to camp two summers ago but it started storming and trees fell down in the park we were in. But somehow I successfully camped when we were in the mountains of Panama and also this past weekend at some hot springs outside of Arusha. The hot springs (maji moto in Swahili) were wonderful and it was really relaxing to get out of Arusha for a night and away from the crazy amounts of work that we have to do this last week. Our friend Aziz is a tour guide but he is also awesome so we had him set everything up for us and he did it perfectly. There were tents, sleeping mats, and absolutely delicious food. And the hot springs were also wonderful (I wish I could relay the story of my roommate Bailey falling in while trying to find a place to pee in the dark, but I just couldn’t do it justice). So after finally getting our dala dala started on Saturday morning because we killed the battery the night before by using it to light our cooking, we dragged our feet back to the reality of schoolwork. It was a nice one-night hiatus, though.

I know last week I said we were going to ICTR, but that didn’t happen last week. It did (sort of) happen today, though. We went there for our international law class with the intention of getting a tour, listening to a speaker and then seeing a trial. But of course once we finally got in we learned that the court session was closed because of a sensitive testimony and so we never got to see a case in session… leaving us with a documentary and speaker. It was a fine documentary and the speaker was very knowledgeable but it was just not what I was hoping for. Also I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about the quite melodramatic statement that on April 6^th the people of Rwanda awoke to discover that “God had abandoned Rwanda and would not return for 100 days.” Everyone deals with tragedies differently, but I’m pretty sure it can’t be empirically proven that God just straight up left.

Basically I have spent the last week writing papers for all of my classes. This week we have six papers due. Six. Grasp that for a second. And now you understand why I haven’t written much. Actually the real issue is not necessarily not having time to write, it’s more about not having anything new to write about since I’m spending my time writing papers. Although I will say that I have learned a lot of very interesting things in writing these papers. I know I already listed some of them, but the list of all the papers I’m writing are about: Female Genital Mutilation in East Africa, the sewage treatment plant that I talked about in an earlier post (actually two papers about that topic), rape as a weapon of war and its correlation (or possible lack thereof) with HIV transmission, a very unique volcano in Tanzania, and the Lord’s Resistance Army and regional efforts to contain the conflict. Some of you may be thinking that none of that sounds remotely interesting, but I know I made a couple of you jealous with some of those topics :)

I guess those are about the only updates I can give since, like I said, nothing super exciting is happening. Next week is final exams and the week after that is Zanzibar! Please google image search “Zanzibar beach” and tell me you’re not jealous. I’m not sick of Tanzania, but there are definitely a number of things that I’m looking forward to doing in three weeks. One is not having to use a bednet every night while I sleep. I’m getting excited just thinking about how easy it will be to get into my bed. Also, I’m excited to not have to plan showers twenty minutes ahead of time in order to have hot water. And I’m ready for some cold milk. The milk here pretty much always needs to be boiled before you drink it, which only really allows for you to put it in coffee, etc. and not drink just straight. And I want Chipotle.

3 Down... 1 To Go

And again I’ve neglected my blog.

So as those of you in the US are aware, yesterday was Halloween. What many of you might not be aware of is not only does Tanzania not celebrate Halloween, but people think that you’re acting strangely, even for an American, if you walk down the street dressed as an orca, a zebra, a cat, Swine Flu, and Bollywood stars (Jan and I were the latter). A couple of the clubs that cater to wazungu hosted Halloween parties so we went to one, but felt lame for being the only ones in costume and left after a while. Not your standard Halloween, but hey… pretty good for a place that doesn’t celebrate anything like it.

The family left on Tuesday and arrived home safely (Matt about 9 hours later than expected, I believe). It was really good to have them here. I think that they saw the Arusha that I know, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. Yes, we went on safari, but we kind of got that out of the way at the beginning and the next week was spent exploring Arusha. The highlight for me was bringing them to the orphanage that my friends and I have spent some time at. They brought some things for the kids, and although they were definitely appreciated, I think the most fun part was reading with the kids earlier in the day. It was really fun to spend time with the kids because they really remind you how to hope and that there’s plenty of reason to.

After the orphanage, we stopped at the home of Dave and Eunice Simonson. For those of you who don’t know, the Simonsons are pretty much legendary. They came here I believe in the 60s as missionaries and have stayed here ever since doing really genuinely great things for the community. Dave has had some health problems in the last couple of years so he couldn’t talk with us much, but they were both very hospitable and Eunice told some great stories. I had visited them when I was here in 2007 but her stories don’t get old and their beautiful home never loses its effect. It really was a great day.

When I got back last night and looked at my calendar, I saw that I have only a month left here. I knew that but it didn’t really hit me until I saw “Leave” and then “LONDON” on this month’s calendar view. We only have two weeks left of classes before exams, and believe me those will be a busy couple of weeks. But we’re squeezing in some interesting field trips before classes are over. Tomorrow we are going to go on a tour of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and then hopefully to see a trial. ICTR is literally right next door to our classroom and things like that are basically the reason that I came here, and yet I haven’t gone to a trial yet. It has definitely not been for lack of opportunity, and so I’m glad that we’re finally getting a chance to go. That will be a very interesting experience, I’m quite sure.

Also, in class on Thursday we went on an interesting field trip to a sewage “treatment” “plant”/ dump. You will understand the quotes in a minute. Basically we traveled in our nice little mini-van with our professor into the slums. We thought seeing an example of an unplanned area was going to be the field trip, until we came upon a giant reservoir of crap. There was a pool of water with garbage and other debris floating on top of it and a layer of some sort of sludge, as well. The water then “filtered” through multiple of these reservoirs before apparently being used by the local population. Words fail me at trying to describe the smell of this place and just how vile it all was. We literally had to leave because we were feeling nauseous from the smell. We may have places like that in the United States but I’ve never heard of people being forced to live next to (and downwind) from them and using the runoff to irrigate the crops that they then sell in town. Maybe I’m missing something. Anyway, that was a shock to the system, and for that reason a trip well worth two hours of class.

So the ¾ mark is feeling a bit strange. When I say that I still have a quarter of my time left it seems like a lot, but then I remember that after two weeks of class life will move probably the fastest I’ve ever felt. I think four months is a good amount of time. I haven’t felt too heavily culture shocked (not yet, at least – I’m not looking forward to re-entry), I haven’t really missed home too much – just people from home, but I also feel like I’ve really gotten to know my surroundings quite well, and really juiced this experience for all that it’s worth. But I still have four more weeks to squeeze a little more out.

Dik Diks and Wait A Bits

Wow… it’s been a while. And it’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks.

Just to get all of it out of the way in the beginning – it’s hard to say that the whole robbery thing has been ‘resolved’ because we couldn’t recover any of our things and there was no insurance coverage on any of them through the program and the hotel is not liable. We have yet to get an official statement from Arcadia about the situation and overall we’re feeling like we just kind of have to accept it because nothing is going to change. I know that’s a virtue, but it’s pretty hard to accept that when you did nothing wrong and someone waltzed in and stole all of your valuables that somehow nobody gets any blame and nothing really gets fixed. After trying to play it cool for pretty much the entirety of two weeks I feel like maybe I just need to like punch a wall or something and just stop thinking about it.

On to much lighter things:

As many of you know, my family is here right now. Even Matt could make it! They got in last Friday night and early Saturday morning the four of us left for safari. Even through the jetlag and culture shock we had a really great time in Ngorogoro Crater on Saturday. I think the animal highlights were all of the lions that we saw: two right after a fresh zebra kill and two more basically just basking in the sun two feet from the side of the road. We stayed at a beautiful lodge on the crater rim, where on our walk back after dinner we encountered two Cape Buffalo who apparently are notorious for eating the lodge’s grass and drinking from their pool. Wouldn’t you?

After our day in the Crater we drove to Lake Eyasi, which in theory is not a very long drive. But in practice it is one of the more miserable drives that I have taken. The driving was slow, bumpy and dusty, but the road led to a wonderful camp where we stayed. The lake was pretty much dried up since they haven’t had a drop of rain in the region since April 15. Six months. No wonder it’s dusty. That afternoon we went on a so-called ‘cultural safari’ (I really don’t like that term – although it does kind of feel that way when you’re there). We went to the homes of two Datoga families, one of which was a blacksmith. We got to see their homes, Matt got to melt some metal, I got to grind some maize, and mama got to hold a wee little baby.

And then came the real adventure. Monday morning we woke up at 5:00 IN THE MORNING to go on a hunt with a group of Hazabe (Bushmen) hunters. The Hazabe are one of the last click-speaking tribes and they still practice hunting and gathering. Our guide says there are only about 700-800 Wahazabe left in all of Tanzania and for the most part they all still live this lifestyle. When we arrived the men and seemingly any boy who had gone through puberty were sitting around the fire smoking from their pipe (what they were smoking varied) and chatting. They then showed us their super-efficient way of starting a fire (which both Matt and dad attempted and for the most part succeeded at) and then showed us the different types of arrows that they used for hunting. We then followed them up a small mountain trying not to get our clothing stuck on the thorns known as Wait A Bits (because once you get caught on one you have to wait a bit to unhook them). Unfortunately, the hunters only shot a small bird. Although, when you think about it that’s almost more impressive because they hit it with an arrow. The find of the day by any account was the honey that they discovered in a tree. There wasn’t a hive, instead there was just a tree limb that they started chucking huge rocks at and once it broke there were gobs of honey inside. Being nice young boys they offered it around, but the bugs and dirt stuck in it weren’t very appealing so after a small taste we let them have the rest. And they gladly accepted. When we got back to camp but Matt and dad tried their luck at the bow and arrow. The arrow flew but no luck on hitting the target. I’m pretty sure with more practice, though, that they could definitely shoot a dik dik.

From Lake Eyasi we then traveled to Tarangire National Park, which was pretty cool. We saw so many elephants that they started to feel like squirrels running around (except slightly larger). The definite highlight for me was seeing a mother and baby leopard wandering through the savannah grasses. So cool. We saw pretty much every animal (including the Big 5) between Ngorogoro and Tarangire. Safari success. I went back a day early because unfortunately I have things to do here, but the whole family is now back in Arusha and planning a couple of interesting things for the next couple of days. We’ll see how all of that pans out and update later.

As for everything else… it’s good. We’re nearing the end of classes, with only three weeks left before finals and then a trip to Zanzibar. The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty crazy with papers to write, but fortunately for me they’re all about topics that I find really interesting. I will be writing a health paper about the effects of civil conflict on the transmission and treatment of HIV/AIDS, a research paper about the Lord Resistance Army and its spillover into Sudan and the DRC, and a paper about water projects and access to water in Arusha for my environmental class. They should be very interesting papers, albeit a lot of work.

I miss a lot of things from home, but I can list a couple of things that I don’t miss. One is snow in the middle of October. Another is partisan bickering and ridiculously unnecessary news coverage of that partisan bickering. Yet another is the pace. Nothing moves quickly here. Except tourists. It will be a strange adjustment returning to all of those things, but I like the perspective I think I’ve gained.

Delayed Culture Shock

Forgive me in advance for the lack of posts in the coming weeks. Monday night while the eight of us were at dinner, someone broke into our locked apartments and stole our laptops, cameras and ipods. We had the keys with us at dinner and when we came back thirty minutes later everything was gone. We've filed a police report and they do have a lead on the guy, but none of us are really holding out hope for getting the laptops back, and if we do we're not expecting them to have any of the information left on them. Did you back up anything, you ask? Why yes I did, on the two ipods that were stolen! We're all feeling a little bit betrayed by Arusha and are having kind of a crisis of trust at the moment. Anyway, it's a bad situation but it's being handled the best that it can and we're all thankful that we're safe and have families that love us and will help us figure all of this out from thousands of miles away :)

Paradise Found

I never thought a vacation from Arusha would be necessary until I took one. I figured since my goal was to return to Arusha through whatever means possible that I would not have a desire to leave. But, stepping back from it I realize that life can be hectic and overwhelming even in here. And also, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect getaway

We began in Kigamboni, a suburb of Dar es Salaam. We were under the impression hat we would be staying in the city center and when we all of a sudden started driving onto a ferry there was definitely an air of disappointment on our trusty mini-bus. After hours of traffic on both ends of the ferry we were ready to settle into somewhere comfortable and not as sketchy as the surrounding bush. And we found it. We stayed at Kipepo Villas or something to that effect and it was absolutely wonderful. We had cute little stilted bungalows and the most perfect beach I have ever seen. The sand was white and the water was the most amazing arrays of blues and greens you can imagine.

Our only full day there was devoted to the water. We took a dhow (a rickety little boat) from our beach to an island that had an even more picturesque beach. Seeing the boat was a little nerve-wracking but we’ve conceded to just saying “TIT” (“This is Tanzania”) and accepting it. The water was absolutely clear, there was not a cloud in the sky, and we got to just explore and lounge around all day on this perfect tropical island. And get fried by the equatorial sun, surprise surprise. Actually, in my defense, I was one of the least burned of everyone, despite being without a doubt the fairest. We started calling ourselves “nyama choma” which is the Swahili name basically for BBQ or roasted meat.

Basically, our excursion to “Dar” was not at all representative of the city but it could not have been more perfect. We were expecting a crappy hotel in the middle of a city of three million people but instead we got quaint villas on a private beach. I’m okay with the fact that I still haven’t really seen Dar.

After two nights at Kipepeo we traveled to Bagamoyo, a small city about an hour north along the Indian Ocean coast. We went essentially from bustle to absolutely nothing – there wasn’t even power in the city when we were there. But it is a very nice small town on the coast that is full of history – basically ideal. We stayed at a hostel at the Catholic Mission in town – the first Catholic Church in German East Africa. More on that in a bit.

Apart from its historical legacy of its role in the slave trade, Bagamoyo is known across Tanzania for its College of Arts that was holding a festival while we were there. It is the only college of its kind in the region and produces a lot of artists that sell their work in Bagamoyo. There were performances all day during the festival and artists selling their crafts outside. It reminded me of a very mini Minnesota State Fair – performances inside a bandstand, vendors, and a lot of greasy food that you wouldn’t otherwise eat. I didn’t think it would be possible to draw a parallel between the state fair and Bagamoyo but there you have it.

Wednesday was devoted to seeing historical sites – awesome. And for those of you who don’t know, that ‘awesome’ was not at all sarcastic – I love historical sites so so much. We began with ruins from about the 8^th century. The settlement began in the 4^th century and Islam arrived around 400 years later with the Persians. There most obvious structures remaining are the mosque and its cemetery. There was a combination of Persian and Chinese influence during the settlement’s life span, but its citizens remained African throughout. There are three theories as to why the city was deserted and its citizens moved up the coast to present-day Bagamoyo: one is war with the Portuguese; two is a typhoon that blocked their port; and three is cannibalism (I dunno that one seems to me like some Western ‘historian’ from the 19^th century trying to work barbarianism into the fabric of Africa’s history).

The remainder of Bagamoyo’s history revolves around the slave trade from the 16^th-20^th centuries. Our tour guide freely acknowledged that Europeans, Indians, Arabs and Africans all played integral roles in the slave trade in East Africa and that none of them can escape blame. He also talked about the long-term effects of slavery on the culture on the coast. He pointed out that almost every home has a veranda. Why? People sit under their verandas during the day because if you work too much you look like a slave. Agriculture in the area is almost non-existent; the economy consists of fishing because that was not as much of a slave job. Also, there is a heavy stigma about descendants of slaves (even though most of the slaves in the East African trade were castrated before they were shipped).

The mission where we stayed had a “Freedom Village” for ransomed slaves during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Some of the other sites that we saw were German colonial sites because Bagamoyo was the capital of the German East Africa colony. We visited a German fort, administrative building, cemetery and hanging place that were all pretty interesting. The final day that we were in Bagamoyo we also visited a salt farm that has been in use since the 4^th century – talk about a long history in that town. For such a tiny town Bagamoyo is packed with historical information and sites, on top of cool cultural things and great, cheap souvenirs.

Arusha is not a bad or stressful city but in comparison to Kipepeo and Bagamoyo it definitely seems that way. I realized when I was gone just how much I have nested in Arusha because I feel very at home here and feel like I have found a good pattern to life. Vacation was great and I cannot complain about a single thing, but it does feel good to be ‘home’ again.

Kate the Fire-Eating Mzungu

I almost feel like words are not necessary to tell this story. Video will suffice. However, I will give you a little background: Via Via, the club/restaurant where we usually hang out has a two-day cultural diversity festival this weekend. All day on Friday and Saturday they had all sorts of traditional dancing, reggae and rap groups, and some more contemporary dance groups. One of the groups was called Jambo Mambo Acrobats. They did all sorts of acrobatics... and ate fire. So when they came around with a plate of balls of fire to eat I naturally ate one. I'll preserve some of the mystery and not tell you how exactly that worked, but needless to say - I ate fire. I think because I chose to eat fire, they felt like I would be game for coming up on stage later and making a fool of myself. I was the only mzungu (white person) up there and it showed :) I danced like a fool, did the limbo under a bar that was on fire and did some, umm, stunning acrobatics (as evidenced above). I hope that story alone is enough to get everyone through the next week until I get back from Dar/Bagamoyo!

Lay Down Your Heart

Fair warning: this post will probably be fairly disjointed.

Let’s start with the coolest thing I did this week. One of our professors mentioned sort of off-hand on Monday that he was going to be having a dinner with the grad students and a judge from the African Union Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights and if any of us wanted to join we were welcome. Well, needless to say all eight of us told him we would like to come. The judge, Fatsah Ouguergouz, is from Algeria and is one of eleven justices on the Court and is the former Secretary of the International Court of Justice. I cannot remember a time in my life when my attention was so fully captivated for two straight hours. I do not think I looked away from him once during his two-hour long, very casual discussion about the court. He gave us a background of human rights history internationally, the history of the court and the challenges it faces. He was very willing to take questions from us and I don’t want to brag, but I think more well articulated and pointed questions came from the eight of us than from the grad students in attendance.

You may be thinking to yourself that you’ve never heard of the ACHPR. This is entirely possible, considering it has never actually heard a case. He explained the reason for this as being the issue of jurisdiction. Countries have to opt-in to allow individuals and NGOs to bring cases to court. To date, only Malawi and Burkina Faso have done this. Without this opt-in clause ratified, the most common way for a case to be brought it by another state. Very rarely will a state bring a human rights case against another, especially when that state could easily turn around and hurl accusations back. Thus, the Court, which has been functioning in this capacity since 2006, has not yet heard a case. Interestingly, it’s possible that this particular court may never hear a case because it is in the process of being merged with the African Court of Justice to create the African Court of Justice and Human Rights. Also, the ACHPR is conveniently located right here in Arusha, which makes things like this seem pretty normal. You know, sitting around with a judge from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights while he sips some whiskey at our local hang-out is normal here.

Sidenote: we returned from this dinner and there was a hedgehog in our hotel lobby. Cutest little bundle of sharpness I’ve ever seen. We wondered why they didn’t pick it up (somehow) and bring it outside, but later learned that a hedgehog in your house is a sign of good luck. Makes sense not to kick it to the curb, then.

I’m still in an ongoing inner battle about my place here. I am a student. I am not a volunteer and I am not a tourist. I am not living at a colonial hotel totally removed from reality, nor am I living in a place where the average Tanzanian could afford to stay. Although it is hardly ‘gaudy’ I cannot help but think of the lyrics to a song by The Postal Service: You seem so out of context in this gaudy apartment complex.

I feel like I’m being pulled in a hundred different directions. I am here to study, to learn everything that I possibly can so that hopefully I can somehow apply it to my studies and eventually my career. I am here to get the most out of the ridiculous tuition that GW demands from its students that are abroad. What exactly does that mean? Getting the most out of the experience? Does it mean going to class, studying, talking with locals to gain perspective and just generally enjoying life? Or does it mean doing things that leave my soul satisfied, like volunteering at the orphanage and desperately trying to figure out what everything I’m learning here will add up to me doing with me life?

And as much as I want to deny that side of my experience, I go to the market and buy souvenirs for people that I love. There is nothing wrong with this, but somehow it feels like a betrayal of the image I am trying to project.

I’ll let you know if I ever resolve this.

I don’t know if I can say that I am homesick. I long for the people that I love, some familiarity, and fall. Fall is my favorite time of year for a hundred different reasons, and I essentially just skipped fall and headed right back to spring. It’s not even really the weather, though, because the weather we are experiencing right now is pretty comparable to autumn in DC or Minnesota. What I miss is the atmosphere. I miss leaves that change colors with time and then crunch under your feet, I miss watching football (although the Packers/Bears game was on TV here, go figure!), I miss picking apples (or at least eating them), and I miss the emotions that I associate with fall. Do not get me wrong, I miss home and I miss so many people, but I just cannot get over my longing for fall.

We have now been in Tanzania for a little over six weeks. That means midterms are next week, which either hasn’t sunk in or I’m just officially not stressed out about. I’m hoping for the latter, although the unnatural feeling of a stress-free exam week might stress me out in itself.

The week after midterms (Sunday the 27^th) we are going to be traveling to Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo. Arcadia organized the whole trip and everything from accommodations to meals was included in our program fee, which is so great. I think we will be staying in Dar for two days/one night and while we’re there we’re going to be exploring and “sailing in Dar”, which doesn’t sound geographically possible to me, but we’ll see how that works out. Then we go to Bagamoyo for three nights. Bagamoyo is a small city (30,000 people) about an hour and a half north of Dar. The history is intriguing: there are ruins here dating back to the 13^th century, but beginning in the early 19^th century it became a slave trading port and it also where David Livingstone’s body was briefly laid before it was shipped out of Africa. A note on the name: Bagamoyo (or “Bwaga moyo”), means, “lay down your heart” in Kiswahili. It is suspected that this is in reference to the slaves who were shipped out of Bagamoyo and were forced to give up all hope and ‘lay down their hearts’ in Bagamoyo.

I think it will prove to be a fascinating trip. I am really looking forward to a change in scenery and can’t wait to see a part of Tanzania that I have never seen before.

The Poisonwood Bible

I finished another book yesterday. This one was lent to me after I finished all of the books that I brought with me and it's called "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. The book is set it the Democratic Republic of the Congo/Zaire from 1959 until the 1980s. It follows the four daughters and the wife of a Baptist missionary who drags his teenage daughters on his quest to 'save' the Congo. The book is written from each of the females' perspectives, each with a very distinct voice and view of their situation. It also touches on some important events in Congo's history, such as independence, the murder of the first democratically elected prime minister, and the coup by the CIA to replace him.

Although I did not recommend the last book that I read, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a relatively quick, yet thoughtful read. It's a little heavy, but it definitely has redeeming aspects. I'm not very good at determining a 'chick flick' equivalent of a novel, but since this book is part of "Oprah's Book Club", I think that might be a good indicator. But it definitely has something for everything.

The most interesting part of it for me was the way the characters analyzed their own faith, and how that differed from their religion and the religion that had been imposed upon them by their overbearing minister father. Basically it comes down to the fact that every culture has to demonstrate their faith differently, and certain aspects of religions can look downright preposterous to outsiders. There is a conversation that occurs between the father, Nathan Price, and his predecessor at the mission, Brother Fowles, that I think illustrates this very well:

[Brother Fowles] said, "I'm a plain fool for the nature images in the Bible, Brother Price. That fond of it. I find it all so handy here, among these people who have such an intelligence and the great feeling for the living world around them. They're very humble in their debts to nature. Do you know the hymn of the rain for the seed yams, Brother Price?"

"Hymns to their pagan gods and false idols? I'm afraid I haven't got the time for dabbling in that kind of thing."

"Well you're that busy I'm sure. But it's interesting, just the same. In keeping with what you were quoting there in your Romans, chapter twelve. You remember the third verse, do you not?"

Father answered with his teeth showing: "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought..."

"...For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ..."

"In Christ!" Father shouted, as if to say "Bingo!"

"And every one, members of of the other," Brother Fowles went on to quote. "Having then gifts that differ according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, or ministry, or he that teacheth. He that giveth, let him to it with simplicity... He that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Be kindly affectioned to one another with brotherly love."

I like books that challenge you to think about your beliefs - whether they are actually your beliefs or if you have just accepted them out of convenience, and whether they are so right that you should be imposing them upon other people.

Really, what this post comes down to though is totally selfish: I want ideas for books. I have an ongoing list of books that has been accumulating for about the past year, but if anybody has ideas for books that are pertinent to where I am right now that would be great. I have read three books so far since I've been here, one from Tanzania, one from Rwanda and one from DRC, and I would like to stay within the region since I'm here. It's so much easier to picture what you're reading when you can look outside your window and get a better idea. So, if anyone has any recommendation for books that take place in East Africa, please leave a comment and let me know what they are and then I will try to get my hands on them. Thanks!

Found it!

I feel like I may have rediscovered the "real" Tanzania already... look for yourselves. These kids are from Living Water Orphanage, where we went last weekend and where we returned today. As you can see, they are absolutely adorable. We spent the afternoon hanging out and watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which they seemed to enjoy (except the dialogue, which they just talked over). They were the most well-behaved children I have ever seen. There was a little technological problem with the DVD player and they sat on the couches for at least half an hour patiently waiting for the movie to start. They didn't complain or squirm or even really talk for that matter - they were just content to sit on our laps and practice high fives and counting (all the way to 100 in English!) This felt like one of the most productive days I've had since I've been here. I've churned out powerpoints and read thousands of pages, but spending three hours there was the most satisfied I have been in a long time.

I'm Searching for Tanzania

Each day I feel less and less like I’m in Tanzania. You may say I’m adapting or that I’m becoming a local, but in reality it comes down to the fact that I have yet to pee in a hole in the ground.

When I was here before it was literally the highlight of my day if I didn’t have to pee in a hole once. Now, we have these porcelain thrones everywhere we go! I would like to believe that the trip we took here in 2007 showed us the real Arusha. We spent time primarily with locals and we went where tourists simply do not go. We went to some schools, homes and health facilities that I felt were fairly representative of the lives the average Arushan. Now I’ve returned as a student. We make it very clearly to people selling us things on the street that we are neither tourists nor volunteers, we’re simply students (and thus don’t have money to spare for giraffe tail bracelets). But that student status has exempted us from seeing the Tanzania that I remember. I think that is part of the reason why I loved the orphanage so much on Saturday… I felt like I had finally returned to Arusha. From now on I think I will measure my experience outside of the classroom by the number of times I have no other option but a hole in the ground.

An intriguing fact: about 50% of Tanzania’s population is under the age of 18. With that in mind, I can think of no better investment for the country than education. Every country must look out for its future, but when half of your population is under 18 it is purely a survival mechanism for the nation to have accessible education.

There is a lot of talk with the East African Community (Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi) about opening up borders and creating a common market with free trade among the partner states. The debate surrounding the issue is endless, but one of our professors pointed out that Kenyans are more educated and qualified and so many Tanzanians are afraid that the common market would allow for Kenyans to come across the border, take their jobs, and then send the money back to Kenya. The issues we are studying in every class that I am taking come back to education. Transmission of HIV/AIDS can be prevented through education, gender equality can be achieved through education, poverty can be alleviated through education and human rights can be ensured through education. When I put the benefits of education and the number of youth in Tanzania together everything seems so simple to me. Obviously I know it’s not that easy, but it is undeniably the most important investment that could be made at this point in Tanzania’s history.

High-fives All Around!

Saturday was one of the most fun days I’ve had since I’ve been here because of one single event: an orphanage. One of the girls in my group had made contact with this Tanzanian man who runs an orphanage that was started by his parents in 2003. He picked up four of us yesterday and took us to the outskirts of Arusha where one of the locations was. There was a nice, spacious volunteer house that could hold about 12 volunteers at the bottom of the hill and then after about a three minute hike and a climb over a wooden barricade-like structure, we arrived at the orphanage.

David had warned us that sometimes the kids don’t warm up to volunteers until the second time they come to visit and that they might be shy. This was hardly the case. As soon as we opened the gate a couple of them ran towards us wanting to say hi and give high-fives. Even the kid with only hands and no arms did not hold back from giving high-fives. We finally got inside and the whole group of about twenty children was gathered around us saying, “HI! My name is so-and-so! What’s your name?” David introduced us as “his friends that he made in town” and said “look, these kids did not know each other before they came here but now they are friends!” And then immediately the kids wanted to take us on a tour of their house. With one kid on each hand, multiple kids holding on to the remaining fingers and a couple just holding on to my skirt, we slowly made our way through the house, stopping in the bedrooms first. The bedrooms were large rooms with bunkbeds and not much else but that did not stop each kid from saying “this is my bed!” Behind the house they have built about four classrooms for the children and have hired local teachers so that they can keep class size down and also, surprisingly, costs, as well.

We only got to stay with those kids for about half an hour before David took us to their other location. Their orphanage expanded so much that they desperately needed to expand a couple of years ago. They purchased about five acres of land on the other side of the city, and there they have built dormitories, seven classrooms and offices. It is a much more open space than the first location, with a field to play on conveniently separating the boys’ and girls’ dorms. This location houses students all the way from Standard 1 to Standard 7, whereas the first location only has Standards 1 & 2 (1^st and 2^nd grade). They have also hired local teachers for this location, but have also opened up the school to families from the community to send their children. This does two things: one, is that these families pay school fees, which is the only thing that allows the school to keep running with such small classes and quality teachers; and two, it allows the orphans to interact with other children that do not live there and to see examples of loving families.

All of the children at both locations were incredibly well-behaved children and David said that all of the volunteers and employees have allowed the children to feel what it is like to be loved. They were such joyful kids even though all they had to their name was the bed they so proudly showed off to us and the tattered clothes and mismatched shoes they wore. They did not have a care in the world and they love to learn more than anything else. David said that their primary school scored 4^th in Arusha on the government test – quite a feat. It made me so happy to get to interact with these kids and it was one of those experiences that remind you that if these orphaned kids are this happy and joyful, what reason do we have not to be?

(And no, I didn’t take any pictures… but if/when we go back I will)

"A Transfusion of Humanity"

The internet is on my side tonight! Because of that, I am finally uploading a picture of our beloved Salama, the ‘edgy’ judge on Bongo Star Search (also known as simply BSS). Also, the other picture is of Mt. Meru, the mountain that looms over Arusha. I see this monstrosity every time I walk out my apartment door and every time we walk to class. It’s quite impressive. Also, for those of you who want to be in on the fun of Bongo, you can check out http://dar411.com/bss/ and watch some of their themed songs, such as the Albino Week group song. Also a fun fact that I learned the other day: Bongo is a nickname for Dar es Salaam, but it is also the Swahili word for “brain”. This is no coincidence – it is because Dar is where most educated Tanzanians flock to in search of better jobs and a better standard of living.

I just conquered a book today. I brought it along with little intention of actually reading it because it is incredibly heavy and quite long, but I ended up plowing through it. The book is called Shake Hands with the Devil by Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire. Dallaire was the Force Commander of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) during the 1994 genocide. The back of the book describes the story as “his gift to those he could not save: a searing book that is both an eyewitness account of the failure of humanity to stop the genocide, and General Dallaire’s own struggle to find a measure of peace, reconciliation, and hope.” Interestingly, Dallaire is also “the highest-ranking military officer ever to suffer openly with post-traumatic stress disorder.”

I cannot say that I would recommend this book to anyone except those who have a very intense interest in every aspect of the Rwandan genocide. It is neither light, nor uplifting, but I suppose you could guess that from the title. Dallaire provides a unique perspective – the perspective of a man who witnessed all 100 days of genocide that killed 800,000 people, along with the build up to the slaughter and the backroom dealings. He has no political agenda and has nothing to prove, except his belief that the international community failed a country desperately in need.

Like I said, this is definitely not a beach read, and you should not take this as a recommendation (the last thing I want is to be held responsible for a disappointing read). But I will offer a couple of passages that I found interesting and leave the rest to you.

“I answered that I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists, and therefore I know there is a God.”

“Each mission was judged as to whether it was ‘worth’ risking soldiers’ lives and nation’s resources. As Michael Ignatieff has warned us, ‘riskless warfare in pursuit of human rights is a moral contradiction. The concept of human rights assumes that all life is of equal value. Risk-free warfare presumes that our lives matter more than those we are intervening to save.’”

“Are we all human, or are some more human than others?”

“The only conclusion I can reach is that we are in desperate need of a transfusion of humanity. If we believe that all humans are human, then how are we going to prove it? It can only be proven through our actions. Through the dollars we are prepared to expend to improve conditions in the Third World, through the time and energy we devote to solving devastating problems like AIDS, through the lives of our soldiers, which we are prepared to sacrifice for the sake of humanity.”

Dallaire acknowledges that blame is useless – what we need is accountability. If he blames anybody he blames everybody. He begins with the perpetrators of the genocide but ultimately calls the genocide the result of the failure of humanity. You can blame the UN, governments, NGOs, or the media, but it comes down to the fact that “the international community, of which the UN is only a symbol, failed to move beyond self-interest for the sake of Rwanda.”

I’m not trying to preach, just trying to stimulate your minds and your hearts a bit.

Constitutions, Guns and Cranberry Juice

It is amazing how much comfort you can find in food even if it’s not the brand or kind of food you normally eat. We found a little supermarket in the Indian shopping complex that has all the food we’ve been craving. I got some yoghurt, some cranberry juice (surprisingly rare around here), some normally priced cereal and chocolate chip cookie mix (we couldn’t find any chocolate chips or brown sugar to make them from scratch). All in all a successful shopping trip.

On the way to that expedition we took the dala dala yet again (we’re becoming experts) and I think there were more people in the car than we’ve seen yet. Keep in mind, in the United States these vans may be 12 passenger vans, but I think they’re even smaller. Yesterday on our way back from Njiro there were 27 people in the van at one point. Just try to wrap your head around that and I’ll try to post a picture at some point.

And now for a funny story and an observation:

So the other day during international law class somehow the topic of dating came up. Our professor, Sipho, always the professional, then told us about when his wife was pregnant and the nurse asked if they wanted to know the sex of the child. He responded, “No. Because if it’s a boy I’m going to have to go buy drinks for everyone and if it’s a girl I’m going to have to go buy a gun for all those men that are going to try to date her!” Hahaha!

On a more serious note…

In our human rights class yesterday we read the Universal Declaration for Human Rights along with all of the constitutions of East African countries. Most of the constitutions contained the exact same rights written in varying levels of legal jargon, but the Rwandan Constitution, written in 2003, stuck out. Article 13 of the Fundamental Human Rights and the Rights and Duties of the Citizen states, “Revisionism, negationism and trivialisation of genocide are punishable by the law.” I thought this was incredibly interesting and is probably part of the reason that Rwanda is recovering so well from the genocide. As long as everything is acknowledged and out in the open then everyone can move forward.

Settling In

Sorry that it’s been a while… sensory overload has cooled off so I have less to say. Classes continue to be great – I would say that more than anything I am learning perspective. Not only is it interesting to hear the perspective of my professors on certain issues, but it is also notable which topics they choose to cover. For example, my international law class spent Monday talking about corporal punishment in East Africa, specifically for children. This is not a topic I would normally study, or even think of studying, but it was a very interesting discussion. My law professor is a practicing lawyer and my health professor works in the public health sector, but used to be a practicing physician, so they definitely know their stuff. Also, I’m hoping to get some NGO contacts from my law professor since he is a human rights lawyer.

Today marks three weeks since we’ve been in Tanzania and I think all of us are beginning to feel like we know the area. It was a landmark the other day when I walked back from the restaurant where we ate lunch to the hotel alone and did not get stopped by anyone on the street trying to sell me things. Apparently I walked with a purpose and most of them recognized me as being one of the mwanafunzi mzungu (white student) that never buys anything from them. A couple of nights ago some of us went to Njiro Complex, which is basically a shopping mall complete with movie theater right on the outskirts of Arusha. For the first time since we got here we were the minority, not amongst Tanzanians, but amongst Indians. There is a fairly large population of Indians in Arusha, most of whom are quite wealthy and apparently own this complex. There are about three Indian restaurants and half of the movies playing are straight from Bollywood. Also, half of the cable TV channels that we have are from India, which makes for some interesting commercials that we can't understand. We now have some favorite Indian commercial stars.

The short rains are starting, which apparently has made my allergies flair up. I wonder what I’m allergic to in Tanzania?

Oh yes, and for the entertainment of all, I tried my hardest to post a picture that I took of the TV during Bongo Star Search on Sunday, but failed miserably with this internet. I sat in front of the TV waiting to take a picture of the text message that we sent into Bongo, but it never came. It was quite the disappointment. But we got some good pictures and videos nonetheless. The picture was of Salama, the judge who we all assumed was a lesbian, but in Tanzania she is definitely not a lesbian, just 'edgy'. I'll try again tomorrow to post the picture.

Colonialism and Chapati

The most stressful part of my day today occurred at one of the most relaxing places in all of Arusha.

Today Christina and I stepped into colonial Tanzania. We took the dala dala to the Coffee Lodge right outside of town for lunch and cappuccinos. It was like heaven on earth, a virtual paradise in the middle of Arusha. But as we sat there under the umbrellas, on platforms in the perfectly groomed lawn, we saw exclusively foreign guests being served by Tanzanians. We were fully convinced that the people walking through it to their bungalows with luggage brought more with them for five days than the eight of us brought for four months. It is also probably safe to assume that their stay at the Coffee Lodge and the time they will then spend in safari lodges will be their “Tanzanian adventure.” Yes, coming to a place like this is in itself an adventure and an experience, but it was strange for us to sit amongst them, knowing that they will see none of the Arusha that we know. It was hardly relaxing for us.

But on to much better things…

Yesterday, Christina, Jan and I had Lucy, who works for Arcadia, teach us to make chapati. Chapati is a traditional Tanzanian dish – kind of a cross between naan and a tortilla. Lucy came to our apartment yesterday afternoon, we provided the ingredients and we toiled away for about two hours. The result was sixteen beautiful pieces of chapati (see pictures) and plenty of interesting conversations with Lucy. One such example is when we asked her if everyone knew how to prepare chapatti, to which she replied that not everyone did, but “if your husband likes it and you don’t know how to make it he will beat you until you do.” We all kind of awkwardly laughed until we realized that this was simply a statement of fact and that she didn’t think twice about it. She also provided some interesting insight into the touristy clubs, haunted by “businesswomen” waiting for men to buy them drinks and take them home. If they were not infected by HIV beforehand, they certainly would be eventually. It was a very sobering conversation for us, but to her it was just sort of an everyday introduction to that culture and ‘business’. Not all of the conversation was this dark, but it was definitely an eye-opening afternoon.

The past two days have stood in sharp contrast: learning traditional cooking from a local and eating overpriced food in a bubble created for tourists.

All is well

I didn’t have class at all today, so my day was spent studying Swahili, trying and failing to cash traveler’s cheques and baking brownies. All in all a good day, but not one that provides much to ponder.

As I was studying Swahili, though, I realized how much I like the optimism of the language. “Habari?”, the greeting that means essentially, “How are you?”, has only one of two responses “nzuri” (“good/well”), or “nzuri sana” (“very good/well”). One responds “nzuri” no matter what. Granted, “nzuri” can be followed by “lakini”, meaning “but…”, but for the most part, everyone just responds that they are well.

This reminds me of a conversation that I had with Asheri, the man who works for Arcadia here in Tanzania. He said that he liked that I always smiled because, in his words, “Why would we not smile? We are not slaves, we are not prisoners, we are free and we should be happy! When you have all of that, there should be no reason not to smile!” It’s hard to argue with that.

This picture is from the Maasai boma that we visited last Sunday. The internet is in pretty good shape today so I figured I would satisfy everyone who has been looking for pictures, even though is unrelated to today's post. Enjoy!

Dala dala bill, yo

Today was the biggest adventure yet. This morning Christina, Jan and I woke up early, had breakfast, and then set out for Moshi, a city nearby. To begin, we walked a couple of blocks to the dala dala stop. Dala dalas are the public transportation system in Arusha and are basically vans that hold as many people as can physically fit inside. We took the dala dala to the bus station in Arusha where we got on a minibus to Moshi. The dala dala cost a whopping 250 tSh (about $.20) and the minibus cost 2500 tSh (about $2.00). No one sat on top of us on the minibus, which was relieving since it was about a two-hour drive and we were all but expecting to be sat on.

When we got to Moshi we met up with Ibrah, Christina’s friend from when she volunteered here last year. We went to a tailor to get skirts/dresses made out of kangas, went to coffee with him, and then had lunch at his house. Ibrah was great. He has worked for years with volunteers in the area and is an expert at teaching about Tanzanian culture. It takes a lot of skill to be able to step back and actually analyze your own culture and teach it to others, but he offered some very interesting insights. We hung out in Moshi until about four when we re-boarded the minibus. It was smooth sailing until we got a flat tire about an hour into the trip. Luckily it was still light and we were in a small town when we pulled over. After about four people examined it, it appears that someone patched it, and we were on our way again.

Now we are safely back in our hotel after a delicious dinner. I can’t believe we’ve only been here for a little more than a week. Everyday I become more comfortable here and with every new adventure I feel like I’m getting more out of my time here. It feels like I’ve been here months already, so I can’t imagine what it will feel like when four months are actually over.

Tomorrow will be devoted to studying Swahili and probably some grocery shopping.

Sorry to those of you who don't understand the title...

GOP in Tanzania

More exploring today. I’m feeling less and less like a tourist as I walk down the street and street vendors don’t flock to us like they did a week ago. Most of the people around here know that we’re students who will be here for long enough that it’s not worth pursuing us to buy cheap souvenirs. Even when we’re exploring the city, we walk with a purpose and the locals assume we know where we’re going.

Classes have been great the last couple of days – we are all so glad to be learning more and more Swahili. The waiter who works in the hotel restaurant almost every night has taken to challenging us more and more and asking for our orders in Swahili and teaching us the words for the food. I’m so grateful that as long as you make an effort, the people are more than willing to help you. If you’re not willing to make an effort, they will simply assume you are a tourist and treat you as such, no harm done.

I had two interesting experiences yesterday:

First, Christina, Jan (a guy, pronounced Yan), and I were wandering the city and ran into someone we knew! Martha, the program director, was at the corner store where we were picking up a few things and when we told her we were searching for coffee she told us to hop in her car and she would take us to Kibo Palace, where “the best coffee in the world” was. So we piled in for the two-minute drive and ended up at one of the nicest hotels I have seen. This hotel would have been gorgeous in the United States, but in the middle of Arusha it was downright out of place. We enjoyed the coffee and the company (Martha is always up for a great conversation), but at the end I felt like I had left the country for an hour to grab coffee and then returned. It left a bad taste.

Second, we finished dinner last night and were sitting in the lobby checking our email, etc. when a Tanzanian man asked about where we were from and when someone responded that they were from Pennsylvania his response was, “Ahh, when are the Republicans going to reclaim Pennsylvania?” We all did sort of a double-take and assumed we had misheard him. “What was that?” “When are the Republicans going to win Pennsylvania back?” He then started listing all of Pennsylvania’s former Republicans senators. Well this is interesting… He proceeded to tell us that he is a Republican through and through, a huge supporter of “Richard Milhouse Nixon, Ronald Wilson Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush. George Walker Bush is the most peaceful president the US has ever had. He teaches morals and values.” Wow. I think it may have been one of the strangest sensations I have ever experienced: a foreigner defending your country’s policies while you criticize them. He really thought that W. was a godsend to the world and that the Republican Party was infallible. He would have made a great American, also, because when we asked him how he felt about Obama his response was simply, “I am a Republican, I cannot support him.” What he thought about Sarah Palin? “She is great because she speaks the truth and has good morals.”

Obviously this goes both ways and most liberals have no reason to dislike a candidate other than that he is a Republican, but we all commented afterwards on how perfectly he fell into the party propaganda that both parties spew at anyone who will listen. The oddest part about this conversation for us, though, was that this guy knew just as much about American history and politics as we did. He knew every president and their middle name, so many policies, and every Supreme Court justice’s name. It’s situations like this that make me feel so ignorant – I just recently learned that the president of Tanzania’s name is Kikwete. I can safely say I never imagined that I would have a conversation like this one in the four months I am here. But I guess I’m happy to experience things that are out of the ordinary.