Hamna "Cheetah"

So, my plans for this latest blog were to write a great entry about how I just climbed a volcano named Mt. Lengai, but instead, the night before I was supposed to leave for the trip, I woke up after midnight and proceeded to make several trips to the ladies' room. No, I didn't catch malaria or anything (although, one of our volunteers did! yikes!) but my friend Meghan and I managed to get food poisoning at dinner (that's what we get for splitting a meal) and were unable to get ourselves prepared for the 6 hour drive along bumpy roads, and then psych ourselves up for a hike up a mountain beginning at 12 am.

I'm bummed that I didn't get to do it; it's a night hike up the mountain and you summit just at sunrise...the hike's more challenging (but shorter) than Kilimanjaro, but the view is supposed to be incredible. Instead, I'll be grateful for the fact that I'm already back on my feet and eating again, and as far as sicknesses go, I've been extremely fortunate to only have had something as benign as food poisoning. Enough about that now...

One of my favorite parts of being here is the friendliness of the people. I've learned that "hakuna matata" is really only said to white people because we get such a kick out of it, (although I don't think I've come across even 5 africans who've ever seen The Lion King) but that the locals actually prefer a similar phrase: "hamna shida" (pronounce ham-nah shee-dah). Hamna shida means "it's no problem" or "don't worry about it"...and is said by everyone on almost any occasion. I however, have adopted a similar version that stemmed from my safari..."hamna 'cheetah'"...literally meaning "there is/are no cheetah". I personally think it makes a lot of sense...for instance, if you're feeling down and out or having a bad day, if someone says "hamna cheetah" it's sure to put a smile on your face, because, more than likely, there are no cheetahs around, so at least you have that to be thankful for! I'm working on integrating it into Tanzanian culture. It's been relatively well-received with my fellow program members, eliciting either a giggle, a groan or a roll of the eyes, but I've also noticed that although subtle at first, they've started picking up on the glory of hamna cheetah as well. ahhh...so when I ended up sick in bed unable to garner enough strength to climb a mountain, I just thought to myself, "hamna cheetah" and life was that much better.

I'm a little sad that my program is already more than half-way over. We have one week left in this village before we move on to our next village, which is said to be vastly different from the one we live in now. Just as we got comfortable and started to really feel at home here, we had to up and pack out...kinda sad. I did, however, have a great photo-op with my family: they were so excited that they were even posing and rearranging their furniture to capture a good shot. Adorable. I'll post those when I get a chance.

The teaching has been great, although limited; this past week was the Muslim celebration of Eid, a two-day celebration ending their fast. Because there is a great deal of Muslims in Tanzania, it is celebrated everywhere...the only catch is that it is still dependent on the moon somehow (i still can't figure out what exactly they're looking for) so as of last Sunday night, we didn't know if we were going to have a holiday on Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday, and didn't end up finding out until Monday morning, that YES, we had to teach that day. So we taught on Monday, had our two day holiday, and then went back to school to teach on Thursday before our travel break on Friday. But when we arrived at the school, none of the students were in their classes...in fact they were out gardening and tending to the school grounds. We talked to the second-master to find out what was going on, and he told us that graduation was the next day, and the students were preparing the school. Well, that wouldn't have been an issue if we had at least KNOWN that we weren't going to be able to teach that day. One of my frustrations here has been how difficult it is to schedule things in the first place, but even once things have been scheduled, it doesn't necessarily mean that your event will take place. But in the end, I guess all we could do was sigh and say, "hamna cheetah."

It's also hit me how crazy it is that Western society has made such a large impact on a place like Tanzania, even up in my village. My family doesn't even have access to clean water (they'd have to boil it to drink it or use it for anything) but you can walk about 50 feet to a duka (little stores found all over the villages, run by local families) and buy a cold coke. Even our drinking water is a product of the coca-cola company. There are still many distinctly African things about the people, but there is definitely a trend toward Westernism in so many aspects. I just hope they don't ever lose sight of themselves or the culture here because it is so unique and beautiful in so many ways.

My swahili is getting better, slowly...but the more that I practice using it, the better it gets, so I have to just keep forging ahead. I usually end up giggling at myself more than I actually communicate well-worded sentences, but even then, I'm still learning and improving.

There's so much more to say, but time is short, once again. I'll write more next time I get a chance and post some pictures of my family and this village.

Hamna cheetah, for now!

Mwalimu Kristin

I've now been in my village for about two weeks, and I've really started to enjoy village life. It's comforting and very friendly...you can't possibly walk even 10 feet without having to greet someone and say hello. The little kids are the cutest with their few token phrases of English, and I am still dumbfounded by the amount of stuff these people can carry on their heads!!

There's a rhythm to life in the village, and I've started to look for certain people at certain times, and expect to see one thing or the other, and get a little thrown off if anything's out of place. It's strange being a "mzungu" (white person) in the village, because not only do people point you out in the first place, but both children and adults alike have no qualms about coming up to you and asking you for money or things, even if you're just passing them on the road. You can't really explain to them that, "no, I don't have money to give you, I'm just a student" when it's possible that the stuff I have in my backpack is worth more money than some of them would make in a year. In that sense, life in the village is a bit disheartening. But I still can't help but laugh when an old masai woman looks at me and then says "GIVE YOU MY MONEY!!"...clearly she needed a little more guidance on her english translation.

Teaching has been my favorite part so far. I'm fortunate enough to be in the only village that is teaching secondary school (high school) aged kids. These kids are probably anywhere from 14-22 years old, depending on how old they were when they started school, and how long it's taken them to complete each year. The school itself isn't in the best shape...they do have a computer lab, equipped with probably about 20 or so computers, but they don't have the electricity to power them. The classrooms have concrete floors that are so worn that they're practically dirt now. Some of the classrooms have windows that shut, while others are basically holes in the wall. There aren't enough desks for all the kids, and each classroom has about 50 or so students in it. It's a bit overwhelming. There are four forms in the school (grades, essentially) and two streams for each form, so we get to teach forms 1-3, streams A and B in each form.

Each form has a different colored uniform: Form 1 is green, 2 is brown, 3 is purple and 4 is gray. Because my school is a public government school, tuition is free, but the kids have to supply their uniform to come to school. I have this picture in my mind of one of the Form 1 students who was trying so hard to look distinguished and dignified while sporting this green sweater that has so many holes in it that it would barely stay on him. I will say though, that despite the resources offered at their school, these kids are sharp. We are only scheduled for 40 minute class periods at a time, and half the time, we get held in the class for another 40 minutes while the kids grill us with questions about HIV and AIDS.

They already know a lot, and are so interested in knowing more...The first day of class, their teacher announced why we were there and mentioned that we would be teaching about HIV, and they didn't groan or roll their eyes-they actually clapped and cheered. I don't think anything like that would ever take place in the states. Most of the questions they ask are sincere and intended to clear up misinformation about what they've heard or believe about HIV, but then there are also the kids who like to prod and ask questions about condoms or masterbation, etc., just to try and embarrass us or get a rise out of their classmates. Either way though, they learn a little something, and I think we're really hitting home with these kids. Two of my homestay kids are in secondary school, and I get to teach both of them. I like coming home and hearing what else that have to say about class, and continue to answer their questions. I can't wait to get some more community teaching started in our village, and teach some of the older members.

A few of us taught the village leaders last Tuesday, and did an overview of our whole curriculum...some of these men are quite old, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone laugh as much as these men did when we did the condom demonstration...it was hilarious. The village leaders are great...they definitely work on a different time table than we do, but they've got a great sense of humor. One of the older members is a Masai tribe leader, who has the traditional stretched-out earlobes, stubs for fingers on his right hand, and apparently the hots for me. He keeps asking if I'd be his wife, and if I would take him back to America with me. Too bad he's got about 5 other wives and a bunch of cows to attend to here...I didn't take him up on his offer.

I probably going to stay in my village next weekend, and won't make it into town to use the internet, so I'll post some pictures now and write more in about two weeks. Thanks for all the notes and emails from everyone...it really makes me happy to hear from all of you!

Here are some pics:














This is a lake nearby where we had orientation...Beautiful!!















A typical layout of food in my homestay.















Look!! I'm on Safari!! It's a Tembo!!!!


The view from outside of my homestay: the now-dormant Mt. Meru


Zebra!!! So awesome!



Me with my mama and one of my dadas (sister), and some of the other volunteers.

I'll post more pics next time I'm online!!

Crocs go on Safari

Soooo much to say!!!

First things first.

I moved into my village last Sunday, to meet my family and find out where I will be staying for the first half of the program. My Baba and Mama are super-cool (and pretty well off, it turns out) and they have 6 kids. I'm still having trouble figuring out which 6 kids are theirs because there are a gazillion and one kids everywhere, all fascinated with the new "wazungu" (white people) who have moved to their village. Some of the kids started to call me simba (which means lion) because of my hair...i kinda like the nickname.

There are three of us from SIC who all live together (Chloe, from UCLA, and Farida, from Tanzania) in one room of my house. The house is nice, we have electricity, and we even own a TV. There's no running water however, so we still have to take trips outside to the choo and to the shower. But watching my Mama cook is pretty awesome...they have a "kitchen" in the back, which is essentially a large covered room with a place for wood burning (her stove). She cooks over an open flame, uses no potholders or anything, and cuts the vegetables right into the pot. I tried to help the first couple of meals, but the family pretty much just laughed at our silly american way of doing things. Food's been interesting...anything from ugali to bananas and meat (yes, together in a stew...still not sure how i feel about that) to fish (we're talking, WHOLE fish) to rice and beans. We get a good selection and wide variety but it's still just plain different from what i'm used to eating.

The family owns about 6 cows (ng'ombe...yeah, i still can't say it right) and have a little farm area where they grow most of their own produce. Our Mama milks the cows and immediately heats it up to make us chai each morning and night. There's no refridgeration, so everything is either used immediately or it's got a pretty long shelf-life.

Turns out both my mama and baba speak english pretty well (although they refuse to use it, forcing us to learn our Swahili) and they're wonderful and very happy people. Our Baba is one of the head haunchos of our village, so he's usually pretty busy running around taking care of stuff, while Mama giggles at our lack of ability to speak Kiswahili all day long. I don't think I've ever been so dirty before in my life, with all the vumbi (dust) in our village, so it's always fun to compare dirty feet with my roommates at the end of the day. I think I'm usually the winner.

Because our choo isn't attached to our house, you have to walk out into the yard to get to it. I always end up cracking a smile because there's this little girl who lives across the lawn who will, without fail, call out "Kreeessteeen" (kristin) from accross the way just to say hello. It doesn't matter how many times she's already seen me that day, she just gets such a kick out of having a mzungu neighbor that she will never fail to say hello...I love it.

I'll write more about my village and teaching a little later.

This weekend I got to go on Safari. It was pretty much everything I expected it to be and more. We took a two-day Safari out of Arusha, and went first to Tarangire National Park and then Ngorogoro National Park the next day. It was beautiful, breathtaking and gorgeous. I took a bunch of pictures on the trip and will post them next time I get a chance (I forgot my camera, so I can't post right now) I only hope they do it some justice. The safari was one of the most incredible things I've ever done in my life. We saw zebras, elephants, lions, cheetah, wildebeasts, hyenas, giraffes, water buffalo, tons of birds, baboons, hippos, and my new favorite african animal: warthogs. Warthogs are some of the goofiest-looking things i've ever seen...they're bulky little things with eightites-style rockstar hair and pretty gnarly horns to boot. They're pretty much hilarious.

We saw some cheetah both days (which i found out doesn't happen very often), had an elephant practically jump into our safari truck, and even got to see a pride of lions (simba...teehee) having three zebras for lunch.

Despite the fact that i was in such a beautiful and amazing setting, I couldn't help but compare it to the lion king, and had those disney songs running through my head the entire trip. Luckily though, Meghan, one of the other girls on the trip, got just as big a kick out of Lion King references as I did, which made it even that much more exciting to see Mufasa, simba, pumba, rafiki and the circle of life in action.

The whole trip was amazing, and so fun. Next time I get a chance, I'll post some pictures and update more about life down here.

Kwa heri for now!