My heart is breaking- I'm leaving beautiful Tanzania. This is my last day and tomorrow I go to Nairobi. That will also be a wonderful experience I'm sure but at the moment I want to stay here forever!
There are so many things that I don't want to forget from here and its impossible to mention them all but heres just a few....
Insects. Being a girl and a wuss I'm terrified of them and had prepped myself for many creepy crawlies. Actually there has only been 2 incidents. The first was when a kind of earwig thing crawled into my inhaler and I used it. Fortunately I was able to cough the thing up but not too nice! Then there was the spider who decided that my trainer was a cosy place to sleep but didn't tell me till I had put it on and it crawled out of the hole in the top- I think the locals thought I was doing the Highland Fling!
Collecting water with the kids- everybody here thinks I'm nuts but I think that the kids have to work far too hard. So when they go for water I go with them to help. Its actually great fun cos thats when you see everybody as they walk past. I developed the habit of walking to the drinking water tap every day just so that I can speak to the kids as they are coming out of school and say hi to all the villagers.
The family- all heart broken as I left them. I've promised to try and visit. They called me last night to tell me that they missed me- I'd been gone for 4 hours.
Elinamay- a subject in the email so wont go on for too long. But one of my best friends, who also fancies himself in love with me. He's 17!! In Africa it would be perfectly acceptable for us to be a couple, but I think I would feel like a cradle snatcher! Anyway one of my everlasting images of Oldonyosambu is him sitting on the step of his house, watching me leave and nearly crying. Its nice to think that you'll be missed, but I hate when people are so upset!
Things to remember about Tanzania:
The continual fascination with the white person. I'm curious to know how long I would have to live here before it wore off.
The friendliness of the people. Everybody says hello and greets you- not just to be polite but because they want to know how you are.
The Masai- it occurs to me that I've not really mentioned them. Thats probably because they are just one of many tribes here and are not considered anything out of the ordinary. The Masai here are slightly scorned as they are not "true"- they are not nomadic and have settled with crops and so on. There are hundreds of tribes in Africa but here are mainly Masai, Chagga and Pada- all with their own languages and customs.
The colours and sounds- in Old its beautifully peaceful and you can see the stars at night with no pollution from electricity- breathtaking. And the women wear bright colours cos the dirt doesn't show so much but they look beautiful.
The way everybody helps everybody else. In Tanzania children can travel hundreds of miles by dala dala and no one will hurt them. The conductors will make sure that they are going in the right direction and they can usually sit on someones knee if its crowded- as it invariably is. The dala dala conductors act tough but they are kind hearted and will also help you if you have a lot of baggage to carry on market day. Can you see LRT drivers doing the same?! Other passengers will also help you if you are overloaded.
The beautiful beautiful country side. I will carry it in my memory wherever I go.
Well, my computer time is running out so I have to finish. Everything else will have to be committed to memory.
Farewell Tanzania!!
Wednesday 30 April 2008
Friday 18 April 2008
Second bloody attempt- grrr!
Well, I spent 40 mins last week updating the blog for all of my adoring readers- ok 2!- then at the last possible minute the internet crashed and all was lost. I was devastated! So I will try to recreate.....
Zanzibar. Loved it. Fab. Recommend it to anyone. Hot and exotic. Did much shopping and went on the Spice Tour which was a fascinating look at the spice plantations which provide many exports. Fresh growing cardomom, vanilla pods, chilli, and many more. Then went for dinner with some folks that I met to the world famous Fodorhani Gardens. Fab street food, lobster, shark and felafel plus so much more- yum!!
The rest of Tanzania. Still loving it although getting tired of being called mzungu constantly. I explained to the family last week that I don't object to being described as mzungu- cos I am!!!- but object to it as a permanent name. I'm fairly sure that if they came to the UK and I called them mafrika all the time (black) it would be offensive and a massive human rights issue to boot!
Teaching. Its hard and tiring but its all worthwhile when they finally get it! The secondary school is easier as the kids have more English and are more willing to learn. There is a definite resistance to learning English and Swahili here as the kids want only to speak their tribal language which is all they speak till they come to school at 5 years. So they don't want to speak anything else till they get older and realise how much of an advantage it can be to speak English!
Quick word on Swahili. It continues to be difficult for me although I am starting to pick up a lot more since I am living in a constantly Swahili speaking household. There is about 100 different ways to say hello- and thats not an exaggeration! If you are greeting someone older than you you must say "Shikamoo" and the elder responds "Marahaba". I have to respond to this as school as all the kids use it but I must use it to the Director of Education or to a grandmother on the street. its also common to say "Shikamoo bibi" (greetings grandmother) whether its your grandmother or not- same goes for father (baba) Mother (mama) sister (dada) or brother (kaka). Then if you are greeting someone your own age you say "Mambo" and the response is "Poa". A generic greeting is "Habari?"- hows things- but you can also say" Habari gani'- whats the news, "Habari za leo"- how is it today- "Habira za suburi"- good morning and so on. You can reply with nzuri- good, saffee-clean, poa- cool and so on. Confused? Yeah try living here for a while!
No idea whats next for me. It was supposed to be Nairobi but the company has collapsed, I'm assuming due to the riots etc. And they have 700 quid of my cash and I've booked my flight- grrr! I'm off to do a walking safari then who knows. Maybe Egypt for a bit and kill time till South Africa.
Still rainy season here. Must recount a quick story. A few weekends ago we decided that we were going out drinking and dancing. Started out to get the dala dala to Arusha when the rain came on. Torrential and I kid you not! The street rapidly turned into a river and we had to turn back. We had left the key to the house at Mama Gladness' house (thats Brightsons mother, she cooks all our meals and is a sweetheart) so we went to collect it. The tiny path to her house was quickly knee deep in water and Emma and I rapidly lost our shoes to the mud and the swift current. We had to walk 2k in barefeet, up to our knees in water and who knows what else! Thankfully theres not too much broken glass around here! Only in Africa!!!!
I'm sure that theres a million other things I should be recording but I forget them all. Oh my 17 year old suitor Emme, who fancies himself madly in love with the mzungu and wants to marry her! Its tough being irresistable! And the 5th form boy who said to me "I live in (some village or other!) and there is a mzungu living there. Her name is Sharon. You must know her right?!" Yeah cos all the mzungu know each other personally......!
Caroline tell Robert that I've not seen any lions yet and the only crocs have been at the game sanctuary. Still you never know...!
Thats all for now. Chins up, chists oot, give em hell!!!
Zanzibar. Loved it. Fab. Recommend it to anyone. Hot and exotic. Did much shopping and went on the Spice Tour which was a fascinating look at the spice plantations which provide many exports. Fresh growing cardomom, vanilla pods, chilli, and many more. Then went for dinner with some folks that I met to the world famous Fodorhani Gardens. Fab street food, lobster, shark and felafel plus so much more- yum!!
The rest of Tanzania. Still loving it although getting tired of being called mzungu constantly. I explained to the family last week that I don't object to being described as mzungu- cos I am!!!- but object to it as a permanent name. I'm fairly sure that if they came to the UK and I called them mafrika all the time (black) it would be offensive and a massive human rights issue to boot!
Teaching. Its hard and tiring but its all worthwhile when they finally get it! The secondary school is easier as the kids have more English and are more willing to learn. There is a definite resistance to learning English and Swahili here as the kids want only to speak their tribal language which is all they speak till they come to school at 5 years. So they don't want to speak anything else till they get older and realise how much of an advantage it can be to speak English!
Quick word on Swahili. It continues to be difficult for me although I am starting to pick up a lot more since I am living in a constantly Swahili speaking household. There is about 100 different ways to say hello- and thats not an exaggeration! If you are greeting someone older than you you must say "Shikamoo" and the elder responds "Marahaba". I have to respond to this as school as all the kids use it but I must use it to the Director of Education or to a grandmother on the street. its also common to say "Shikamoo bibi" (greetings grandmother) whether its your grandmother or not- same goes for father (baba) Mother (mama) sister (dada) or brother (kaka). Then if you are greeting someone your own age you say "Mambo" and the response is "Poa". A generic greeting is "Habari?"- hows things- but you can also say" Habari gani'- whats the news, "Habari za leo"- how is it today- "Habira za suburi"- good morning and so on. You can reply with nzuri- good, saffee-clean, poa- cool and so on. Confused? Yeah try living here for a while!
No idea whats next for me. It was supposed to be Nairobi but the company has collapsed, I'm assuming due to the riots etc. And they have 700 quid of my cash and I've booked my flight- grrr! I'm off to do a walking safari then who knows. Maybe Egypt for a bit and kill time till South Africa.
Still rainy season here. Must recount a quick story. A few weekends ago we decided that we were going out drinking and dancing. Started out to get the dala dala to Arusha when the rain came on. Torrential and I kid you not! The street rapidly turned into a river and we had to turn back. We had left the key to the house at Mama Gladness' house (thats Brightsons mother, she cooks all our meals and is a sweetheart) so we went to collect it. The tiny path to her house was quickly knee deep in water and Emma and I rapidly lost our shoes to the mud and the swift current. We had to walk 2k in barefeet, up to our knees in water and who knows what else! Thankfully theres not too much broken glass around here! Only in Africa!!!!
I'm sure that theres a million other things I should be recording but I forget them all. Oh my 17 year old suitor Emme, who fancies himself madly in love with the mzungu and wants to marry her! Its tough being irresistable! And the 5th form boy who said to me "I live in (some village or other!) and there is a mzungu living there. Her name is Sharon. You must know her right?!" Yeah cos all the mzungu know each other personally......!
Caroline tell Robert that I've not seen any lions yet and the only crocs have been at the game sanctuary. Still you never know...!
Thats all for now. Chins up, chists oot, give em hell!!!
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