Wikiendi kwanza

I can't believe that I have only been in Tanzania for 3 full days! I have been completely melded into Tanzanian culture to an extent that I did not expect. There is not another EWH-er within walking distance, I don't really know the area, and I am not yet comfortable taking the dala dalas (vans used for public transport, a very interesting experience) by myself, so on the weekends it really is just me and my host family. I feel as if I am at the perfect distance outside of my comfort zone.

So I will tell you about my typical Tanzanian weekend {wikiendi}. On Saturday, my host brother, Jimmy (probably not the correct spelling), who is 17 years old and speaks great English, took me into downtown Arusha, a large nearby city, via dala dala. If you saw a dala dala, you would think that its max capacity is probably about 15 people, but no matter how many people are riding in a dala dala, it is never "full" and the driver will try to convince you to get in no matter what. It becomes quite comical when you see people cramped in and some hanging outside of the door, holding on for dear life. But we waited until one came that did not already have people packed in like sardines. Our first stop was a large market, which I expected to be a souvenir/craft-type market but found that it was the second-hand clothing market. Since it was my idea to go to the market, I bought a long sleeve shirt that may come in handy and a pair of comfy black flats (for church). We then headed to a restaurant for lunch, where I had a delicious veggie pizza, and then to ShopRite and a bookstore, where I bought an English-Swahili dictionary. They are very difficult to find in the US. All of the EWH-ers had planned to meet up in downtown Arusha at the clocktower at 3 and somehow everyone made it. I am not sure that I would have without Jimmy's help crossing the streets. Drivers here do not yield to pedestrians. We all walked to a huge produce market where we were quite the spectacle, as there is rarely so much white skin in one place in Tanzania. It was definitely more enjoyable when I was just walking around with Jimmy. It made it much easier to blend in, a little bit at least. By the time we got home in the evening, we were so tired from walking around all day in the sun. I slept very soundly {kulala fo fo fo = dead asleep} on Saturday night, which was my first night that I was really able to sleep well since I got here. It must be a sign that I am adjusting to my very different life!

And then, of course, Sunday morning was time for Church {kanisa}. My family is Lutheran and attends a church that Mama Haika has been going to since she was a child. Near the beginning of the service, I stood and introduced myself and said where I am from {Jina langu ni Jill. Ninatoka Marekani}. By the way, my name is pronounced Jilly by most people here because it is very strange for a word to end with a consonant. It was slightly nerve-wracking speaking in Kiswahili in front of so many people (maybe about 100 ppl at the service), but I am getting much better! The first half of the service consisted of a lot of standing, kneeling, and singing {kuimba} along with the choir. The pastor then read a passage from the bible and then talked about it for about 30 minutes. Mama Haika whispered the translation of much of it to me, so I was able to get the gist. There was a lot of talk against witch doctors and how they go against God and do not help people; they only cause more suffering. I really enjoyed listening to him talk and trying to pick out words that I know, guessing what he was talking about. I discovered that this church has a 2-round offertory. I was very confused when it was time to walk up again to put money in the basket. I just followed along. At the end of the service (less than 2 hours), a man in an old wheelchair spoke to the congregation, asking for help so that he can buy new wheels for his wheelchair. I spoke to my Mama about this later, and she said that disability is a huge problem here because handicapped people are not able to work and will probably not get married, so they have no access to money. There are no social services as there are in the US. The most interesting part of my Church experience was at the end after everyone walked outside. They started auctioning off items such as a container of milk, five avocados, a few stalks of sugar cane, or a cooking pot. Members of the church who don't have money to contribute to the offertory bring items such as these instead. They then hold this auction after the service in order to turn the items into money for the church. It was really great to watch.

On Sunday afternoon, I went for a walk with Mama and my brother, Christian, who is 3 years old. The area in which we are living is very scenic, with Mount Meru close by and Kilimanjaro off in the distance, though it is only visible on clear days. There is lots of greenery, much of which is banana {ndizi} trees and coffee {kahawa} plants. We walked up a steep hill to a friend's house, where running water is not available because of its location. Every day {kila siku}, they carry 5 pails of water up the hill (it was not an easy climb). Though their house was in a beautiful location with a nice patio outside and passion fruit growing in the yard, I would not want to combat that hill every day. We sat inside for awhile talking to 3 other adults (and drinking tea, of course). Well, they talked while I mostly attempted to listen and contributed a few words in Kiswahili every now and then. I have found that the hardest part for me of being immersed in another culture is not being able to communicate effectively with everyone. It is very easy to become frustrated when everyone around you is speaking a language that you can't understand. It definitely makes me feel quite incompetent. However, the amount that I have learned in just 2 days is astounding.

Sorry, no time for Kiswahili words of the day. More later!