This week has been somewhat quiet. Work is trudging along and I am making progress on the manual. I am a little disappointed as Grace and Albert left to go visit some of the girls in Tarime and Mara region and I was not invited to come along. In fact, I was not even informed about it until right before they left and it was somewhat offhand. Since I couldn't go with them and I desperately want some feedback from the girls on what they do and do not like about the training that they have had so far (in the girls club programs), I asked Grace and Albert to please discuss this with them and bring me back some notes on what they said. Keep your fingers crossed that they actually do this as it will be infinitely helpful and I fear that the promise that I would get to do some fieldwork is now just a pipedream. Oh well. I guess it can't all be glitz and glam.
I think I am finally settling into a nice routine. I can't believe I have already been here a month. It has truly flown by and I realize now that three months is nowhere near enough time to see all I want to see and do all I want to do. I do feel that I am getting to know my way around a little more and am certainly far more comfortable with my surroundings. I did have a brief moment this week that I was desperate for brunch and pedis with the girls and do miss having good female friends (or family) here to just relax and hang out with. But as quickly as the feeling crept up, it also went away. Sharing a good old fashioned bowl of hummus and pita bread with new friends will do that :)
This weekend I’m sorry to say, there will be no exotic journeys as I will be staying in town and my hope is to become a little more familiar with my new hometown. I also hope to have some opportunities to practice my Kiswahili. True to his word, Emmanuel has been teaching me a new word each day. My neno la leo (word of the day) is taught to me during lunch and I am usually tested at some point on previous words. I’m doing reasonably well, however, my memory is terrible, and this often trips me up. So this weekend, I think I may devote some time to practicing my words, even if it’s just to myself in the mirror!
At some point this weekend I hope to take the daladala to Posta, the central post office in downtown Dar, and to venture out from there through the city. It appears to be a very walkable city center that is very friendly and safe for tourists (which I will pretend to be although I live here : ) That actually reminds me of an observation I have recently made. Although the Tanzanians pride themselves on their politeness, which is often expressed in comparisons between Tanzanian Kiswahili and the Kenyan use of the language (which Tanzanians claim is much less polite) and are generally indeed very polite and friendly, the one situation in which they are completely without manners is on a daladala. Imagine a daladala packed to full capacity, similar I would suppose to a NY subway car packed to full capacity in the middle of a heat-wave. Anyway, imagine this and then imagine that everyone wants to get out at the same time. There is no order, no ‘please, you go ahead’, just utter chaos. Even when it’s not full, people are pushing and squeezing out in front of you. It’s actually quite inexplicable. It does not mean they get anywhere any faster since I usually pass the person who shoved me aside a few paces past the daladala (I seem to walk quite fast by comparison to a lot of Tanzanians). I can understand racing to get on the bus so you can get one of the prime spots next to a window, however, the racing to get off the bus seems to cause more chaos and discomfort than any other part of the ride. It’s very strange. I’m going to have to ask someone what that’s all about. It’s a good thing I’m not usually in a rush but if I’ve blocked someone into a window seat, they’re usually not too thrilled with me and are probably politely wishing the Mzungu didn’t sit next to them J
There are a few items I want to get so I may also venture at some point this weekend to Slipway which has a lot of nice crafts and other locally made products for sale. Although Mwenge Market, near my office is much larger, I find it much busier and a little overwhelming at times so I think Slipway might be a nice alternative and am looking forward to scoping it out. If I am feeling courageous, I will drive myself (ha! wish me luck) and since the alternative is the bicycle, which given my past experience would require even more courage, I think the car is the safer and more probable bet. Taking the car will also allow me to stay out past dark and so if I manage to time everything right, I may even catch the sunset over the water. Perhaps one of the things I never really missed but so appreciate and will never grow weary of is the fact that the sunsets here are gorgeous every single day. No matter where you are, the sky turns a beautiful red orange color as the sun fades away. When I get home from work, I usually sit outside reading my book and can see the sky changing color and it amazes me every single time.
Speaking of reading, I have already managed to read three books since I arrived. So far I have read Zanzibar’s Chest, The Ice-cream War and Solomon’s Mines. All great books, all very different, however, I am sticking to an African theme. I am now starting to read Shake Hands with the Devil, written by Lieutenant-General Dallaire about the failure of the UN Peacekeeping operation in Rwanda and a first-hand account of the genocide. This was given to me to read by Sunday following a discussion about Rwanda that was spurred by my reading Zanzibar’s Chest. I have just started reading it but am already well aware of the emotions this evokes in me having almost crumbled while reading the preface. The complete loss of humanity seems so unimaginable to me which is why I want to know more about it. You cannot defend against an evil that you do not know. When asked how he could still believe in God given all that he had witnessed Dallaire’s response was that he knew there was a God because he had seen the Devil and if there is a Devil, there must be a God. Although I by no means want to open a discussion on religion, I think his logic makes sense and it heartens me to think that for every evil person out there, there is someone equally good.
So far the book is well-written and I hope to get through it quite fast so I may end up devoting much of this weekend to this mental excursion instead of cultural excursions. This is partly because I already have my next book ready to be read. It is called Do They Hear You When You Cry and it was recommended to me by Laura (thanks!!). It is about a young woman who is forced to escape her homeland to avoid undergoing FGM and being married to a man more than twice her age and her struggles as a result of this. Clearly, this is right up my alley and I am very much looking forward to reading this.
It may seem somewhat odd that given that I am working on a program for victimized children that I would want to come home and read even more about it. I too am wondering why I do this. I suppose it’s because I want to learn more about why it happens so that maybe I can start to figure out how to stop it. This probably gives me a little too much credit and more likely the reason is that I have no television and I love to read and now finally have time to actually do it. If I can read and learn something at the same time, that is just a bonus.
My weekend trips so far have allowed me to keep some balance and so even though I will probably still devote a substantial time to reading about Rwanda, I think it is important for my sanity that I also get out and experience the beauty of this country. I may just end up combining the two and hit up the beach with my book in hand J The opportunities are endless as there is much to do and always too little time to do it in.
To end on a cultural note, here’s a little language/culture glitch that occurred this morning. Florence had asked me to pick up a goodbye card on the way into work. I went to two different stationary shops before I found what I thought was a nice little going away card. It said Send-Off in big letters and inside spoke of wonderful times had together and sad to say goodbye. Perfect. Or so I thought. Turns out Send-Off is actually used solely for the purpose of sending one off to get married! Go figure. It led to some giggles at the office as we debated who the card would eventually get used on. I think we decided Emmanuel J
Have a great weekend!
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