August 28, MZUNGU PRICES ARE HIGH!

So, today ended up being quite eventful. I wouldn’t have predicted it, but it did make me feel a lot better about being here.

First, some students came by my house again. One asked me for help writing a “Curriculum Vitae”, but I ended up going out so I didn’t actually help him like I said I would. I’m a little nervous about showing him what to do, because I bet that the way they write resumes here is very different from how we do it in America, and I have no information about how professionals want things to be presented here.

Some of the university student teachers also stopped by today to say hello. They invited me to go to town with them, so I accepted the invitation. They taught me a couple words in Kisambaa, the local language here, but talked primarily in Kiswahili to me. It was good to actually get some practice in since I’ve been worried that my language skills have been suffering lately. One of the guys was a bit pushy with the handholding (which they say is culturally inappropriate to do here, but at one point two male teachers grabbed my hands, so I wasn’t really sure what to do) and at one point I think he tried to kiss me. He also told me he loved me and asked if I could find him an American wife, while insinuating he wanted to marry me. I showed him my engagement ring, but that didn’t seem to really register with him. Tanzanian men are fixated on marriage, but polygamy is okay here, and that makes it harder to shut people down.

Anyway, I went to the house of a fellow staff member once we got to town. He is the one in charge of all of the students’ resources/academic materials, but his name isn’t coming to me. I talked with him and watched his wife Serafina cook. She gave me a lesson on cooking cabbage and dagaa, and then I was invited to my second lunch of the day. I actually ate four meals today (fortunately I only had a little food at each one!) because Emmanuel’s wife fed me at dinner, and my mkuu’s nieces gave me both breakfast and lunch.  Lunch was different from one house to the other, but dinner was literally the same in both houses: rice, beans, and bananas. I have decided never to eat until I’m full because whenever I do, more food seems to come my way. I’m really glad I didn’t stuff myself at lunch today, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to be gracious the second time around. I definitely don’t want to seem rude when people offer to feed me, and it’s really hard to outright refuse someone’s food here. They get offended enough when I refuse to have seconds on things! The one thing that is hardly ever offered, however, is drinking water. It is only served post-meals, but in Mlola chai seems to be the big thing. I am used to dehydration by now, though, and soon I will have the capability of boiling my own water, so I’m not worried.

After eating my second lunch at the staff member’s house, I was shown the living room, which is in a different building altogether.  Lot’s of red items and fruit posters….I had a short conversation about religion (all the teachers seem to be Christian even though it’s a very Muslim community) and then was escorted back to their kitchen/dining building. I terrified their young daughter Eva, who kept crying whenever she saw me. I guess I’m the first white girl she has seen, and the experience was too much for her. I felt bad that I was scaring her, but I did find out that they have the same kind of potty-training piss pots that we do in America from sitting there. (The plastic kind with the removal pee-catching dish.)

 Emmanuel showed up eventually and then we went to talk to a fundi.  Describing the American-style kitchen cupboards I want was very interesting. The fundi came to my house to take measurements. We took a “shortcut”, which means we took a longer but more scenic route to the school. I had to awkwardly show them my computer because that was the only place I had a picture of the style of cabinets I was talking about. I have a picture of my kitchen back home from when I was a child, and the design is similar to what I’d like to have here. They were very curious about how much my laptop cost, which was relatively uncomfortable since my Macbook is pretty expensive even in terms of American standards. I think seeing it made the fundi assume I was rich, because he gave an outrageous price for the bed frame, couch, and cabinets that I want to have made. Emmanuel is going to talk to a different fundi tomorrow or Thursday in order to reduce the price. I did find out today, however, that he is being transferred to Tanga in September. Guess he won’t be my counterpart! His degree is in Special Education so he is going to a school that needs his expertise. I’m kind of sad because I was looking forward to getting to know his family/now I only have two full-time teachers to work with…. Plus, it looks like I’m never going to be giving Papa that puzzle that I wanted to make him, unless I do it this week. Emmanuel is kindly giving me a charcoal jiko, though, for free. I’m pretty excited about that. We also had a nice cup of tea together, so that was nice.

My mkuu is supposed to return tomorrow, so that’s good. I have a lot to discuss with her. I’m hoping that my kindle will unfreeze itself in the meantime. It is stuck right now, and since I’m killing my computer battery at the moment, I will be stuck without Internet if it doesn’t wake up. And without any reading material. That would be a very big disappointment, especially if I stay here for two weeks before going back to Lushoto. (Guess I may have to go back to town if I start craving technology too badly…)

I am feeling better, though, in general. It was good to meet people in the village and say hello to some of the elders. It was also nice to have the help of Emmanuel and the other student teachers regarding my furniture requests. I think I needed the socialization.  I did find out it’s not safe to leave out my solar-charging items when I’m not around, though, which is going to be a big problem in the future. I am also  bummed that people in my region are having a lot of medical issues right now. People seem to be dropping like flies from the Tanga crew. I just hope that everyone is okay and that I can see them all again soon!  Especially one individual in particular, but for now I just have to wait and wish. And hope I start getting better cell signal--it's been real spotty today, which sucks.