Hey! So we've now finished our first work week in Babati, and gotten so much done! My group is working on two specific projects on top of as much teaching and talking to people as possible.
The first is something I hope my blog-reading audience (all 5 of you) can help out with. There is an HIV+ Support Group, UPENDO, that has worked with SIC in the past, and will be working most closely with my group. Ideally we will set up some kind of theatre-related project with them, but we are limited in time. What we're definitely doing is helping them get started on a "Kuku Project" - building a sustainable chicken coop that will be an ongoing source of nutrition and funds long after we leave. For a little more information see our facebook event - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=187077402527&index=1 - or comment here or email me and I can tell you anything you might want to know about chicken coop materials or the HIV+ group and their work here in Babati.
The second is Babati's World AIDS Day celebration. We're working together with a committee at the hospital, which means all of our decisions need to be approved by them, which makes things tricky on limited time. But there's going to be a dj and theatre performances and speakers and a big football tournament (always a huge draw, we've learned), and all sorts of other events. We're trying to make it really interactive, and playing with a "patchwork" project where we make a picture out of messages of support for HIV+ people, ideas for how to fight HIV, and reasons why people should come get tested. Hopefully we can turn the art we make that day into a present for UPENDO. We have lots of other ideas like this, and it's all happening really fast because we just started working this week and the event is on Tuesday.
One thing that helps is that Gerald, one of our teaching partners, is actually from Babati. Therefore he knows who to talk to and where to go for literally everything we might need. Joseph, our other teaching partner, has been in Arusha since break because Mama Joseph had appendicitis and malaria and was having surgery. He is on his way here now though, and thankfully I believe Mama Joseph is ok. I've really missed him, and it will be good to have him back.
I hope everyone in America had a lovely Thanksgiving. We are celebrating tomorrow, and I'm sure it won't be the same but nice nonetheless. For now, I'm thankful that you're reading this!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
My Awesome Break
So for the past week we have been on break, and it was maybe the best week ever. Let me pick up where I left off two entries ago in Jinja, Uganda.
After I got back to camp from town, our first activity was the bungee jump. I was definitely the most nervous of the 11 of us that jumped, so I decided to go last so I could watch everyone else first. Still I was shaking like a fool when I got up there, and the guy in charge told me he would teach me a "different technique for folks who are a bit nervous". So instead of putting my arms down before the jump like everyone else, the two guys up there held my arms and I leaned forward and they counted down from 5 and then basically I "bungee-fell" when gravity took over. But it was awesome and beautiful and I'm so glad I did it. Some girls in the group took advantage of an offer of a free jump if you went naked, but I'm afraid I'm not that brave.
So then we were in the mood to celebrate, and had a few drinks at the camp's bar. Most people went to bed early that night, but my friend Lissette and I made friends with a couple of raft guides who were going to a casino in Jinja that night. So of course we joined them, and it turned into a fun night - I won enough money in blackjack and roulette to pay my tab back at the camp's bar! But I probably stayed up later than I should have, because the next day we had to raft class 5 rapids bright and early in the morning.
There was no worry about me being tired, though, because the rafting definitely woke me up. The thing about the Nile is that the rapids are huge and all the rafts flip over and knock you out, but the water is deep enough that you know you're not going to hit any rocks or the bottom. Also there were 5 kayakers following the rafts and rescuing people who got knocked out. At first I didn't really know what to expect, but soon I realized that flipping in rapids is actually awesome. The two days of rafting went by really fast. Our guide the second day was this bad-ass man named Tutu who we now know as the King of the Nile because he reached into the water at one point and pulled out a large fish with his bare hand, stood up and hollered "I GOT A FISH!". It might be the most impressive thing I've ever seen.
The bus back from Uganda was an experience - our bus broke down somewhere between Nairobi and the Kenya-Tanzania border and what would have been a 17-hour bus ride turned into a 23-hour bus ride. At least I could read when the bus wasn't moving. Even people with no touch of motion sickness couldn't read for most of this trip because the bus literally bounced off the unpaved roads and you couldn't hold a book still if you tried. So we had a lot of time to think and talk and play MF or K.
Originally I was going to do the all-out $400 two-day safari to Ngorogoro Crater and Manyara, but after having all of my valuables stolen, reevaluating and talking to friends, I decided to go with a group doing a $100 one-day safari through Arusha National Park instead. I have absolutely no regrets about that decision - there were four of us, and we saw probably over 100 giraffes, plenty of zebra, baboons, colbus monkeys (these are really cool), a huge lake literally covered in flamingos, buffalo, warthogs, and much more. Plus we got to do a "walking safari" which was essentially a hike where we got to walk with a guide carrying a huge shotgun for protection and literally walk right by the animals. He only pointed the gun once, when about 15 warthogs sprinted out of a hole about 5 feet away from us. They were going the other way, but it was startling.
Also I had one more day than the 2-day safari folks to play around Arusha. I ate good food, used the internet, and went out to a legit nightclub, where I had a lot of fun.
So now I have a new home in Babati! It's actually very close to where we stayed during orientation and our Babati weekends - my family is adorable and the house is really nice and I know I'm going to love it! Plus I have an awesome group - I get to keep my teaching partners Joseph and Gerald and also have my friends Lissette and Annie, who are two of my favorite people here. The interesting part - Lissette, Annie, and I all get to sleep in one big bed. We're excited.
More can come later since I now live within walking distance of internet! Another volunteer program here this summer lived in the same homestays, and we think they were spoiled since they all have electricity and are so close to computers and such. And in a way I will miss the calm of the villages, but I'm definitely not complaining.
After I got back to camp from town, our first activity was the bungee jump. I was definitely the most nervous of the 11 of us that jumped, so I decided to go last so I could watch everyone else first. Still I was shaking like a fool when I got up there, and the guy in charge told me he would teach me a "different technique for folks who are a bit nervous". So instead of putting my arms down before the jump like everyone else, the two guys up there held my arms and I leaned forward and they counted down from 5 and then basically I "bungee-fell" when gravity took over. But it was awesome and beautiful and I'm so glad I did it. Some girls in the group took advantage of an offer of a free jump if you went naked, but I'm afraid I'm not that brave.
So then we were in the mood to celebrate, and had a few drinks at the camp's bar. Most people went to bed early that night, but my friend Lissette and I made friends with a couple of raft guides who were going to a casino in Jinja that night. So of course we joined them, and it turned into a fun night - I won enough money in blackjack and roulette to pay my tab back at the camp's bar! But I probably stayed up later than I should have, because the next day we had to raft class 5 rapids bright and early in the morning.
There was no worry about me being tired, though, because the rafting definitely woke me up. The thing about the Nile is that the rapids are huge and all the rafts flip over and knock you out, but the water is deep enough that you know you're not going to hit any rocks or the bottom. Also there were 5 kayakers following the rafts and rescuing people who got knocked out. At first I didn't really know what to expect, but soon I realized that flipping in rapids is actually awesome. The two days of rafting went by really fast. Our guide the second day was this bad-ass man named Tutu who we now know as the King of the Nile because he reached into the water at one point and pulled out a large fish with his bare hand, stood up and hollered "I GOT A FISH!". It might be the most impressive thing I've ever seen.
The bus back from Uganda was an experience - our bus broke down somewhere between Nairobi and the Kenya-Tanzania border and what would have been a 17-hour bus ride turned into a 23-hour bus ride. At least I could read when the bus wasn't moving. Even people with no touch of motion sickness couldn't read for most of this trip because the bus literally bounced off the unpaved roads and you couldn't hold a book still if you tried. So we had a lot of time to think and talk and play MF or K.
Originally I was going to do the all-out $400 two-day safari to Ngorogoro Crater and Manyara, but after having all of my valuables stolen, reevaluating and talking to friends, I decided to go with a group doing a $100 one-day safari through Arusha National Park instead. I have absolutely no regrets about that decision - there were four of us, and we saw probably over 100 giraffes, plenty of zebra, baboons, colbus monkeys (these are really cool), a huge lake literally covered in flamingos, buffalo, warthogs, and much more. Plus we got to do a "walking safari" which was essentially a hike where we got to walk with a guide carrying a huge shotgun for protection and literally walk right by the animals. He only pointed the gun once, when about 15 warthogs sprinted out of a hole about 5 feet away from us. They were going the other way, but it was startling.
Also I had one more day than the 2-day safari folks to play around Arusha. I ate good food, used the internet, and went out to a legit nightclub, where I had a lot of fun.
So now I have a new home in Babati! It's actually very close to where we stayed during orientation and our Babati weekends - my family is adorable and the house is really nice and I know I'm going to love it! Plus I have an awesome group - I get to keep my teaching partners Joseph and Gerald and also have my friends Lissette and Annie, who are two of my favorite people here. The interesting part - Lissette, Annie, and I all get to sleep in one big bed. We're excited.
More can come later since I now live within walking distance of internet! Another volunteer program here this summer lived in the same homestays, and we think they were spoiled since they all have electricity and are so close to computers and such. And in a way I will miss the calm of the villages, but I'm definitely not complaining.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
10 Things I Miss About Qash
So here goes with what I was going to write last time:
Spending six weeks in Qash village was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, and I am so glad that I got to do it. I could say 100 things I will miss, but I'll try and keep the list down to 10. In no particular order:
1. My homestay family. By the end of our time in the village we spoke enough Swahili to carry on a somewhat reasonable conversation with our family, which was awesome, because I learned things about them in the last couple weeks that probably would have been cleared up on the first day if we had spoken the same language. Like one of the girls living there was actually their cousin, and they had another daughter who came home from boarding school in our second-to-last week there. They were truly sad to say goodbye. I'm especially grateful for everything they did for us. I thought it would be a lot of work living without electricity or running water, but when our mama or dadas always boiled water for tea and baths, made our food, washed our clothes, and even brought us kerosene lamps at night, I realized I was actually a little spoiled.
2. Joseph and Gerald's homestay family. Because we lived pretty far from our schools and the boys lived pretty close, we ended up spending most of our lunches and planning time at their house. We probably got to know their family as well as our own since we always had translators available. Mama and Baba Bakali and their kids Bakali (in his early teens), Nju (probably around 10), and Hussein (2) became friends of ours. Mama Bakali bakes and sells these donut-like things called mendazi, which we grew to appreciate very much. She also likes to test our Swahili by asking us questions and seeing if we could respond, which I actually found really helpful most of the time (other times it was frustrating).
3. Our pool tables. Because young men are one of our target at-risk groups, we tried to find the best ways to reach out to them whenver we could. In a village with no electricity, young men tend to play the most pool. This was also an excuse to start a Team Qash pool tournament. When I got to Qash I was a terrible pool player, and I can't say that has really changed (I lost the tournament). But I did have a lot of fun in the process. There were two pool tables in our village, and we definitely preferred one but did a lot of on-the-fly teachings at both.
4. Chulo, Rama, and the guys at the pool tables. Chulo ran the duca where our favorite pool table sat outside. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Chulo and I would give each other lessons in Swahili and English, respectively, as we hung out at the duca. I think I should clarify that these were not so much "lessons" as they were times when we sat around and pointed to things and tried to say them in both languages. I didn't really get to say goodbye because apparently he was sick the last week, so I'm sad about that. Rama was just always around Chulo's. Rama has been through enough school where he speaks a dangerous amount of English. He liked to ask us questions in English, and it would be hard to know if he understood the answer, because no matter what he would nod. During our Community Day football tournament he walked around with me all morning convincing people to get tested, which made for some interesting Swanglish speaking. We like to joke around and say "Tuko pamoja kama samaki na maji" ("we are together like fish and water"), and when I said goodbye to him he told me he meant that from his heart. It was sweet. He also made me promise that I would tell my friends in America about him.
5. Kamjingijingi. This is the traditional African dance group that I sort of joined. We went and did some teachings with them early on in our time there, and got them to come to perform at our first testing day. These mamas are great - welcoming, funny, and talented. On that first testing day I joined their line for a little while and learned some moves. Since they said I cheza vizuri sana (dance very well), they actually brought me a uniform to dance with them on Community Day, which I did for hours in the blazing heat, and it was awesome. Then on our last day we came back to do one last teaching with them and they gave me the uniform as a gift. I told them I would tell everyone in America about them too.
6. Our Peer Educator group. When we got to the secondary school we learned there was already a peer education group in place. For about a week we thought their name was "White Wine", which we thought was a strange name, and learned later that it was actually "Y to Y", short for "Youth to Youth". We had high hopes for the group, and my number one wish for Qash is that the group is sustainable and actually does teachings about HIV after we leave. They helped us plan and advertise our last testing day, which ended up exceeding all expectations. On our last day we had a little ceremony where we gave them certificates and our SIC curriculum and posters, so they have everything they need to keep it going. They will also have the help of our SIC Field Officer, Waziri, who will come to visit them regularly and encourage them to be active.
7. Wilson. I can't talk about the PEs without bringing up Wilson. As their chairman, he is very much the driving force behind the group. He is like 18 going on 30 - he is really smart and ambitious, and has a sort of politician's charisma. We're as likely to find him in the teacher's office as the classroom, because he's always sort of taking charge of something. When we want to meet with Y to Y, Wilson organizes the other students and pulls everything in line. He's really a natural leader, and we like to joke that he's the future president of Tanzania. On an unrelated note, he's in love with me. This may sound like exaggeration, but he's actually said in front of me that he wants to marry me. Also one time when I casually said I liked the papayas from Mama Bakali's tree he went into town and bought me a 10-pound bag of fruits and veggies. Once Mama Bakali asked in front of him if I would marry Wilson if he moved to America. I told Wilson he would have to ask me again after he got to America. I'm not holding my breath since he has 3 and a half years of secondary school left. But he was really sad when we left, and said he's going to try to visit us in a few weeks in Babati.
8. Primary school kids. Teaching primary school every day was absolutely a highlight of the trip. The kids here are very well behaved, even in classrooms with 70 kids, and always excited to play review games. They have these little cheer things here called "pashas", where you rub your hands together and say "pasha pasha pasha - CHOMA", which actually means "heat heat heat - FIRE", and then you do something creative at the end. Joseph, one of my teaching partners, is known as the Pasha Master, because he's really good at coming up with pashas. A crowd favorite is the Coca-Cola pasha: After the "Choma", you open the coke (chhh), drink it (glug glug glug), and relax (aaahhhh). We managed to teach the kids a lot, and they loved us, so it was always fun.
9. Testing days. Having HIV testing in town is the most fun, because you get to walk around with megaphones and try to convince people to come and get tested. People always invite you into their houses to talk, even if they say they don't want to get tested. It's really fun, though, because we arrange little activities and since the bulk of the advertisments are done we get to generally enjoy ourselves. Also the SIC coordinators and leaders usually come hang out and help, and they are awesome too so that's always fun.
10. Greetings as we walk down the street. In all of our villages, as you walk down the street people always want to talk to you. It's not the same as in town where people yell "mzungu!" and leave it there. Instead, kids would yell "mzungu" but follow it up with other greetings: "Karibuni!" or "Shikamoo". Also, I'd say an average of 50 people would talk to us on our 45 minute walk each way every day. When I got back to Arusha, I was surprised people didn't really want to talk as much.
I could say so many more things, but my time is about up and I must finish up.
One last thing - http://sichange.org/2009/11/vp4-update-shikamooni-to-our-families-in-qash/ - Here is my team's entry in the official SIC blog - it looks like it got cut off, but has some good details in it.
Spending six weeks in Qash village was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, and I am so glad that I got to do it. I could say 100 things I will miss, but I'll try and keep the list down to 10. In no particular order:
1. My homestay family. By the end of our time in the village we spoke enough Swahili to carry on a somewhat reasonable conversation with our family, which was awesome, because I learned things about them in the last couple weeks that probably would have been cleared up on the first day if we had spoken the same language. Like one of the girls living there was actually their cousin, and they had another daughter who came home from boarding school in our second-to-last week there. They were truly sad to say goodbye. I'm especially grateful for everything they did for us. I thought it would be a lot of work living without electricity or running water, but when our mama or dadas always boiled water for tea and baths, made our food, washed our clothes, and even brought us kerosene lamps at night, I realized I was actually a little spoiled.
2. Joseph and Gerald's homestay family. Because we lived pretty far from our schools and the boys lived pretty close, we ended up spending most of our lunches and planning time at their house. We probably got to know their family as well as our own since we always had translators available. Mama and Baba Bakali and their kids Bakali (in his early teens), Nju (probably around 10), and Hussein (2) became friends of ours. Mama Bakali bakes and sells these donut-like things called mendazi, which we grew to appreciate very much. She also likes to test our Swahili by asking us questions and seeing if we could respond, which I actually found really helpful most of the time (other times it was frustrating).
3. Our pool tables. Because young men are one of our target at-risk groups, we tried to find the best ways to reach out to them whenver we could. In a village with no electricity, young men tend to play the most pool. This was also an excuse to start a Team Qash pool tournament. When I got to Qash I was a terrible pool player, and I can't say that has really changed (I lost the tournament). But I did have a lot of fun in the process. There were two pool tables in our village, and we definitely preferred one but did a lot of on-the-fly teachings at both.
4. Chulo, Rama, and the guys at the pool tables. Chulo ran the duca where our favorite pool table sat outside. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Chulo and I would give each other lessons in Swahili and English, respectively, as we hung out at the duca. I think I should clarify that these were not so much "lessons" as they were times when we sat around and pointed to things and tried to say them in both languages. I didn't really get to say goodbye because apparently he was sick the last week, so I'm sad about that. Rama was just always around Chulo's. Rama has been through enough school where he speaks a dangerous amount of English. He liked to ask us questions in English, and it would be hard to know if he understood the answer, because no matter what he would nod. During our Community Day football tournament he walked around with me all morning convincing people to get tested, which made for some interesting Swanglish speaking. We like to joke around and say "Tuko pamoja kama samaki na maji" ("we are together like fish and water"), and when I said goodbye to him he told me he meant that from his heart. It was sweet. He also made me promise that I would tell my friends in America about him.
5. Kamjingijingi. This is the traditional African dance group that I sort of joined. We went and did some teachings with them early on in our time there, and got them to come to perform at our first testing day. These mamas are great - welcoming, funny, and talented. On that first testing day I joined their line for a little while and learned some moves. Since they said I cheza vizuri sana (dance very well), they actually brought me a uniform to dance with them on Community Day, which I did for hours in the blazing heat, and it was awesome. Then on our last day we came back to do one last teaching with them and they gave me the uniform as a gift. I told them I would tell everyone in America about them too.
6. Our Peer Educator group. When we got to the secondary school we learned there was already a peer education group in place. For about a week we thought their name was "White Wine", which we thought was a strange name, and learned later that it was actually "Y to Y", short for "Youth to Youth". We had high hopes for the group, and my number one wish for Qash is that the group is sustainable and actually does teachings about HIV after we leave. They helped us plan and advertise our last testing day, which ended up exceeding all expectations. On our last day we had a little ceremony where we gave them certificates and our SIC curriculum and posters, so they have everything they need to keep it going. They will also have the help of our SIC Field Officer, Waziri, who will come to visit them regularly and encourage them to be active.
7. Wilson. I can't talk about the PEs without bringing up Wilson. As their chairman, he is very much the driving force behind the group. He is like 18 going on 30 - he is really smart and ambitious, and has a sort of politician's charisma. We're as likely to find him in the teacher's office as the classroom, because he's always sort of taking charge of something. When we want to meet with Y to Y, Wilson organizes the other students and pulls everything in line. He's really a natural leader, and we like to joke that he's the future president of Tanzania. On an unrelated note, he's in love with me. This may sound like exaggeration, but he's actually said in front of me that he wants to marry me. Also one time when I casually said I liked the papayas from Mama Bakali's tree he went into town and bought me a 10-pound bag of fruits and veggies. Once Mama Bakali asked in front of him if I would marry Wilson if he moved to America. I told Wilson he would have to ask me again after he got to America. I'm not holding my breath since he has 3 and a half years of secondary school left. But he was really sad when we left, and said he's going to try to visit us in a few weeks in Babati.
8. Primary school kids. Teaching primary school every day was absolutely a highlight of the trip. The kids here are very well behaved, even in classrooms with 70 kids, and always excited to play review games. They have these little cheer things here called "pashas", where you rub your hands together and say "pasha pasha pasha - CHOMA", which actually means "heat heat heat - FIRE", and then you do something creative at the end. Joseph, one of my teaching partners, is known as the Pasha Master, because he's really good at coming up with pashas. A crowd favorite is the Coca-Cola pasha: After the "Choma", you open the coke (chhh), drink it (glug glug glug), and relax (aaahhhh). We managed to teach the kids a lot, and they loved us, so it was always fun.
9. Testing days. Having HIV testing in town is the most fun, because you get to walk around with megaphones and try to convince people to come and get tested. People always invite you into their houses to talk, even if they say they don't want to get tested. It's really fun, though, because we arrange little activities and since the bulk of the advertisments are done we get to generally enjoy ourselves. Also the SIC coordinators and leaders usually come hang out and help, and they are awesome too so that's always fun.
10. Greetings as we walk down the street. In all of our villages, as you walk down the street people always want to talk to you. It's not the same as in town where people yell "mzungu!" and leave it there. Instead, kids would yell "mzungu" but follow it up with other greetings: "Karibuni!" or "Shikamoo". Also, I'd say an average of 50 people would talk to us on our 45 minute walk each way every day. When I got back to Arusha, I was surprised people didn't really want to talk as much.
I could say so many more things, but my time is about up and I must finish up.
One last thing - http://sichange.org/2009/11/vp4-update-shikamooni-to-our-families-in-qash/ - Here is my team's entry in the official SIC blog - it looks like it got cut off, but has some good details in it.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Since I Left Qash
Before I left the village on Saturday I wrote out what I was going to write here, since I have so many things to remember about life in Qash. But events since that time seem more urgent to blog about right now, so I'll work backwards, and maybe write a little bit later in the week about Qash.
We all left together from the villages, and with a quick stop in Babati we were on our way back to Arusha. We were all in shock at seeing multiple-story buildings and traffic and other white people, so it was an adjustment. Mostly we were excited to go to this restaurant/bar that serves things like pizza and salad and grilled cheese, because there's no such thing as cheese in Babati. So after a glorious meal, we were hanging out in this bar and playing pool and dancing, and things seemed to be going well. Three of my friends were playing a game of pool in a secluded corner, and I left my purse with their purses, letting them know of course, while I went to dance (the dance floor was super crowded and I was worried someone would reach in). While they were turned away, though, someone reached in the window, stole my purse, and ran away. So that's when the night turned bad. I spent hours talking to security guards and people near the area, and nobody seemed to know anything.
Luckily, the security staff is pretty corrupt and deals with criminals, so I was able to get back my driver's license and credit cards, but have lost my ipod, camera, and SIC cell phone. I've offered a reward for the rest (the #1 thing I want back is actually my camera's memory card, since it has pictures of everything since Amsterdam), but we'll see if that works out. Thank God my passport was back at the hotel.
I got some more rough news from home when I called my mom to tell her about the theft and she told me my grandpa passed away. He lived 87 great years and will be missed. I wish I could make it back for the funeral, but my thoughts are with my family now.
Today I am in Uganda! I am bungee jumping today off a cliff overlooking the Nile (assuming my nerves don't fail me), and the next two days I will spend white water rafting in the Nile. The place's slogan: "Better to be scared to death than bored to death". Right. We survived the 17-hour bus ride and are all excited to be here. More on this later!
We all left together from the villages, and with a quick stop in Babati we were on our way back to Arusha. We were all in shock at seeing multiple-story buildings and traffic and other white people, so it was an adjustment. Mostly we were excited to go to this restaurant/bar that serves things like pizza and salad and grilled cheese, because there's no such thing as cheese in Babati. So after a glorious meal, we were hanging out in this bar and playing pool and dancing, and things seemed to be going well. Three of my friends were playing a game of pool in a secluded corner, and I left my purse with their purses, letting them know of course, while I went to dance (the dance floor was super crowded and I was worried someone would reach in). While they were turned away, though, someone reached in the window, stole my purse, and ran away. So that's when the night turned bad. I spent hours talking to security guards and people near the area, and nobody seemed to know anything.
Luckily, the security staff is pretty corrupt and deals with criminals, so I was able to get back my driver's license and credit cards, but have lost my ipod, camera, and SIC cell phone. I've offered a reward for the rest (the #1 thing I want back is actually my camera's memory card, since it has pictures of everything since Amsterdam), but we'll see if that works out. Thank God my passport was back at the hotel.
I got some more rough news from home when I called my mom to tell her about the theft and she told me my grandpa passed away. He lived 87 great years and will be missed. I wish I could make it back for the funeral, but my thoughts are with my family now.
Today I am in Uganda! I am bungee jumping today off a cliff overlooking the Nile (assuming my nerves don't fail me), and the next two days I will spend white water rafting in the Nile. The place's slogan: "Better to be scared to death than bored to death". Right. We survived the 17-hour bus ride and are all excited to be here. More on this later!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
A Few More Little Thoughts
Since I wrote on here when I got to Babati on Friday, I've thought of a couple of anecdotes I think I need to include here.
Let me start with the mchawi. We first learned this word on the waterfall hike, when our guide seemed to leap over mountains without trying. It means "wizard", and in our Harry Potter/fantasy world we thought it was a hilarious word to know. I would sometimes tell little kids "Mimi ni mchawi," just as a joke. Then I went along on a patient visit to a 9-year old girl who has HIV, and who still thinks her mother died because wizards were jealous of her. I learned then that Tanzanians actually take wizarding seriously, but I didn't realize quite how serious until this week. Apparently in Majengo, a neighboring village to Qash, wizards were caught wizarding around someone's house, and were captured in the village office and have been sentenced to die. "Wizarding" in this case apparently consisted of flying in on a bucket, and placing cursed dead bats around the house. Therefore yesterday for Halloween I dressed up as an mchawi (basically a witch costume but instead of a broom I carried a bucket, which I tied around my back the same way they hold their babies here). I have realized, though, that saying I'm an mchawi isn't as funny as I first thought.
Also the hippos! Last Babati weekend I did probably the most dangerous thing I've ever done and went out in a canoe to look at hippos. This is particularly dangerous since hippos are very violent and known to overturn boats. It was totally worth it, though, to see the hippos poking their heads up and snorting and carrying on with their hippo antics. Most of the hippos live on the far side of Lake Babati, away from the town, but there was one baby hippo that was estranged from the family and had been hanging out closer to town. Unfortunately the baby hippo was killed last week, and Babati town had a hippo-meat feast, which frankly I'm glad I missed.
Last night's party was crazy, and while the teaching partners still don't really understand Halloween, we all had fun together. Today I'm going to have lunch with one of my teaching partner's actual family, so I'm excited about that.
Thanks for reading again!
Let me start with the mchawi. We first learned this word on the waterfall hike, when our guide seemed to leap over mountains without trying. It means "wizard", and in our Harry Potter/fantasy world we thought it was a hilarious word to know. I would sometimes tell little kids "Mimi ni mchawi," just as a joke. Then I went along on a patient visit to a 9-year old girl who has HIV, and who still thinks her mother died because wizards were jealous of her. I learned then that Tanzanians actually take wizarding seriously, but I didn't realize quite how serious until this week. Apparently in Majengo, a neighboring village to Qash, wizards were caught wizarding around someone's house, and were captured in the village office and have been sentenced to die. "Wizarding" in this case apparently consisted of flying in on a bucket, and placing cursed dead bats around the house. Therefore yesterday for Halloween I dressed up as an mchawi (basically a witch costume but instead of a broom I carried a bucket, which I tied around my back the same way they hold their babies here). I have realized, though, that saying I'm an mchawi isn't as funny as I first thought.
Also the hippos! Last Babati weekend I did probably the most dangerous thing I've ever done and went out in a canoe to look at hippos. This is particularly dangerous since hippos are very violent and known to overturn boats. It was totally worth it, though, to see the hippos poking their heads up and snorting and carrying on with their hippo antics. Most of the hippos live on the far side of Lake Babati, away from the town, but there was one baby hippo that was estranged from the family and had been hanging out closer to town. Unfortunately the baby hippo was killed last week, and Babati town had a hippo-meat feast, which frankly I'm glad I missed.
Last night's party was crazy, and while the teaching partners still don't really understand Halloween, we all had fun together. Today I'm going to have lunch with one of my teaching partner's actual family, so I'm excited about that.
Thanks for reading again!
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