First week in TZ

Sorry it took me awhile to update this (pole), but now I am going to try to update at least once a week. I am at a great internet café near my house, and I plan to frequent it relatively often.

Anyway, my first week in Tanzania has been stellar! Traveling here was very easy…the only stressful part was my layover in Hartford. I was supposed to have an hour, but my flight from Detroit got in late and then we sat on the runway for 45 minutes…I was sure that I was going to watch my plane to Amsterdam take off while I was still stuck on the other one. Luckily, I got off with just enough time left to sprint to the gate and was the last one to board before we took off. Other than that, though, it was really easy. When we got into Kilimanjaro, someone from Global Service Corps (the NGO I am volunteering with) was there to pick up a whole group of volunteers, and she took us to a hostel where we stayed until Wednesday.

On Wednesday, I moved in with my homestay family. They are GREAT!! My baba is a pastor, and does not speak any English, so we are limited to the tiny bit of Kiswahili that I know…we pretty much have the same convo every day, except each time I throw in one new Swahili phrase and he gets really excited, lol. My mama speaks only a bit of English, but she is super friendly and helpful. Every other word out of her mouth is “karibu” (welcome). I have 3 younger dadas and 1 younger kaka. My oldest sister, Irene, is 16, and she was pretty shy at first. Last night, though, she really opened up and started asking me a lot of questions, which was really fun. Her English is great because she has been learning it for a long time in schule. Rachel is 12, and even though she is young her English is pretty great. She is my fav so far…she always wants to be near me and helps me with my Kiswahili a lot, which I definitely appreciate. My youngest dada, Durcas, is 10, and hardly speaks any English, but she likes to hang out with Rachel and me. We play hopscotch, jumprope, and generally just have a good time together. My brother, Gamma (??) is 13 and is painfully shy…he just started saying hello to me recently :) There is also a cousin (Erick) who lives with us. He is 19 and wants to become a doctor, so we ended up talkin a lot the other night (his English is impecable). We all watch a lot of T.V. together too, which is hilarious…the Filipino soap operas are my personal fav, they are hyper-dramatic (someone starts crying in EVERY single scene, no joke). Also, yesterday, “East African Idol” (my name for it) came on…it was just like American idol, except with contestants from Tanzania, Uganada, and Kenya…lol.

Tanzanians in general are very friendly, but they also are obsessed with my whiteness. I definitely expected there to be more white people here, but I stick out so much. Everywhere I go, I am followed by shouts of “mzungu!!” (foreigner), which honestly got old after about 2 days. I also get harassed a lot to buy things. I know enough Kiswahili to get by though, so once I start talking they back off. It is just a really strange experience to be so obviously an outsider. I feel like it is not fair, because if any of these people came to the states, it would be relatively easy for them to throw on a pair of jeans and blend right in. No matter what, though, I am obviously not Tanzanian, despite my skirts and “smart” dress.

Also, boys here like white girls a lot. I have literally been told “I love you, so much” several times. Yesterday at the market in Tengeru, a guy grabbed me and told me how he wanted a girlfriend like me, which would not have been a big deal, except he was holding onto my arm so tightly that I really could not get away. I told him I was married, but he did not believe me since I did not have a ring (smart guy). Luckily I was with other GSC volunteers, so they prised him off of me. I am sure it would have been fine, but things like that are annoying. Today I walked alone to the school where I will be teaching HIV/AIDS education and life skills, and it was a lot better than when we are in a big group. I guess I look less like a tourist that way, so I get harassed less. On my way home, though, this guy named Mosses talked with me for awhile. He was really nice and honestly just wanted to talk…it is sad that since some people want to take advantage of foreigners I tend to just shut down in general.

Tomorrow I start teaching! I cannot wait to meet my students. I am working with other GSC volunteers from the U.S. and Tanzanian counterparts, who are great. I think they will be a great resource for my anthro research. I may need/want to redirect my project…definitely something I need to think a lot about. It has only been a week though, so I have time. I should start interviewing people in my third week I think.

Alright, that is all I have time for now…much more to come! If you get a chance, shoot me an email or fbook message letting me know how your summer is going. If you want a postcard or anything specific from Tanzania, let me know!