Mambo Muzungu ;)
"Fitting in allows you to blend in with everyone else, but being different allows you to be yourself, to be unique and to be more creative." - Sonya Parker
Howdy again! Wow, this past week really flew by. Probably because I was out and about during the week for a work conference. Now here it is Sunday already and wow what an exciting week it has been! I'm really looking forward to sleeping good tonight--it has been nonstop go, go, go!
Well lets see what happened this week? Hmm as I previously mentioned last week I was invited to church. This wasn't the church I was used to either 1 hour of sitting, standing, kneeling catholic style. Oh no, this was Tanzanian Church, the kind that lasts ALL day. I arrived at 8 am and left at 1 pm during a break--as church usually goes until 4 pm here--it's an all day affair :) I was honored to be invited by my new friend Simon, he is Gill and I's regular bajaje driver and a really nice guy. This all came about while on a regular trip to work and I commented that I liked his music selection, he said "oh you should come join me at church!" Well as I'm still fairly new to the country I thought "why not", wow they pray, and cry and scream and laugh and dance and so many things. They all wanted to give the Muzungu (white person) a hug and at the end they wanted me to come up and take a picture with the pastor and hug everyone! They gave me a really nice africa wrap and also 2 apples. I felt so welcomed! Now Simon wants to bring me to church every weekend...hmmm I don't want to make any promises there! So, lets see maybe another time but no large commitments ;)
During this past week, I went on my first bus trip in Tanzania. I am SO happy that I had previously bussed it through Central America because the experience was somewhat similar and I felt prepared. Basically it was a lot of people squished together, a bumpy road amidst a lot of beautiful scenery driving through the country on a small road. Gill and I went to represent WGNRR at a work conference in Morogoro which is about an hour's drive away but it took about 3 times as long because of the traffic, as I mentioned before traffic is crazy here, there were a few times I thought that we were going to hit the other driver in the lane head on as we narrowly tried passing all kinds of motor vehicles including motor bikes and also some cows and goats. It was fine, we arrived there and back safely! And Morogoro was really pretty with a prime view of a big mountain!
The meeting was a good opportunity for me to see what is going on within the field in Tanzania for women's health advocacy. I got to listen to different stakeholders talk about their work and also better understand the issues that Sub Saharan Africa is facing in general. There really is a lot I still have to learn. But I felt excited and still a little intimidated by the work thats being done by Dr.s and lawyers and high level development practitioners here--I'm still really just an intern so I feel shy from time to time, trying to get over my shyness is my new objective!
Fast forward to another long bus ride back to the city and a day of working on organizing a fundraising campaign with our global partners and then an evening enjoying a sunset drink and Korean food with Gill and two Embassy Interns (I had met one before at the event we held last week). It was cool to hear their stories and by the end of the dinner they had convinced me to go to Mbudya, a small island off the coast of Dar with them the following day!
I am so happy I joined them! It was a beautiful place with turquoise blue water, white sand beaches and fresh warm water lobster that was delicious and fresh caught! During the day there were a ton of people enjoying the island, playing music and dancing around under the grass huts. But I was really surprised to find out that these gals and I were the ONLY people staying the night on the island, (camping in a tent)--it was really like we had our own private island to ourselves :) Oh and thankfully the employees were also there and made a fire for us and even joined us in an evening of sitting by the fire blasting American hip hop and seeing the stars and hearing the waves! It was a beautiful day and a nice night!
The next day I woke up soaked up the sun a tad and took the ferry back to Dar all by myself! I was pretty proud of this as every day I'm trying to get myself more able to go out and get stuff done without being shy/scared. Its a delicate balance though, you gotta be on your guard being kind and considerate without getting taking advantage of...
Today on the drive home from the island, I rode with a gentleman, who the entire trip back home would not stop talking about how he "wanted to have a Muzungu (white lady) wife" and how if I just gave him the chance he would make me happy and be the best husband ever--I told him I was already married in hopes that he would stop but he just kept right along to the point where he was close to tears and begging for my number and wanting to take a picture with me... Ugh-- part of me is very annoyed by this, part of me just doesn't know how to feel about it all and how to address it. I don't know what its like to grow up here, have limited economic opportunities and see foreigners come in with the ability to travel and enjoy things at a leisurely pace without worrying about making it through the day and have this idealized image of the United States and think we are all wealthy and happy there. I just don't know how to feel about some of the interactions with people here, I've experienced...it makes me sad and I want to help, but you can't help everyone, you can't sacrifice your own personal well being for another's desperation. With this guy today, I just stopped responding at one point because his pleas were just too much--there really was no way I could respond without egging him on more. I think I need to just get used to these interactions, EVERYONE stares at me all the time, the majority of men- young and old want to stop and chat and ask me where I am from and blah blah blah, How interesting to experience compared to back home where you are lucky to make eye contact with someone on the street...so when strangers begin to follow me and speak to me in English with "hello, how are you" I quickly say hello, give them a smile and move right along, there is nothing more to do!
I chose the above quote at the beginning of this blog post due to the unavoidable issue of being different -- Mambo Muzungu is something I'm hearing quite often so I better just accept it and move forward. I'm just filled with gratitude to have the opportunity to experience Tanzania and Africa, and embrace both the good and not so good parts. To be in the shoes I am in is a lucky place to be!
Kwaheri! (Goodbye!)
Howdy again! Wow, this past week really flew by. Probably because I was out and about during the week for a work conference. Now here it is Sunday already and wow what an exciting week it has been! I'm really looking forward to sleeping good tonight--it has been nonstop go, go, go!
Well lets see what happened this week? Hmm as I previously mentioned last week I was invited to church. This wasn't the church I was used to either 1 hour of sitting, standing, kneeling catholic style. Oh no, this was Tanzanian Church, the kind that lasts ALL day. I arrived at 8 am and left at 1 pm during a break--as church usually goes until 4 pm here--it's an all day affair :) I was honored to be invited by my new friend Simon, he is Gill and I's regular bajaje driver and a really nice guy. This all came about while on a regular trip to work and I commented that I liked his music selection, he said "oh you should come join me at church!" Well as I'm still fairly new to the country I thought "why not", wow they pray, and cry and scream and laugh and dance and so many things. They all wanted to give the Muzungu (white person) a hug and at the end they wanted me to come up and take a picture with the pastor and hug everyone! They gave me a really nice africa wrap and also 2 apples. I felt so welcomed! Now Simon wants to bring me to church every weekend...hmmm I don't want to make any promises there! So, lets see maybe another time but no large commitments ;)
Some pictures of church in full swing :)
During this past week, I went on my first bus trip in Tanzania. I am SO happy that I had previously bussed it through Central America because the experience was somewhat similar and I felt prepared. Basically it was a lot of people squished together, a bumpy road amidst a lot of beautiful scenery driving through the country on a small road. Gill and I went to represent WGNRR at a work conference in Morogoro which is about an hour's drive away but it took about 3 times as long because of the traffic, as I mentioned before traffic is crazy here, there were a few times I thought that we were going to hit the other driver in the lane head on as we narrowly tried passing all kinds of motor vehicles including motor bikes and also some cows and goats. It was fine, we arrived there and back safely! And Morogoro was really pretty with a prime view of a big mountain!
Here's a picture of the mountain from the fancy hotel we stayed in!
The meeting was a good opportunity for me to see what is going on within the field in Tanzania for women's health advocacy. I got to listen to different stakeholders talk about their work and also better understand the issues that Sub Saharan Africa is facing in general. There really is a lot I still have to learn. But I felt excited and still a little intimidated by the work thats being done by Dr.s and lawyers and high level development practitioners here--I'm still really just an intern so I feel shy from time to time, trying to get over my shyness is my new objective!
Fast forward to another long bus ride back to the city and a day of working on organizing a fundraising campaign with our global partners and then an evening enjoying a sunset drink and Korean food with Gill and two Embassy Interns (I had met one before at the event we held last week). It was cool to hear their stories and by the end of the dinner they had convinced me to go to Mbudya, a small island off the coast of Dar with them the following day!
Sunset in Dar es Salaam
I am so happy I joined them! It was a beautiful place with turquoise blue water, white sand beaches and fresh warm water lobster that was delicious and fresh caught! During the day there were a ton of people enjoying the island, playing music and dancing around under the grass huts. But I was really surprised to find out that these gals and I were the ONLY people staying the night on the island, (camping in a tent)--it was really like we had our own private island to ourselves :) Oh and thankfully the employees were also there and made a fire for us and even joined us in an evening of sitting by the fire blasting American hip hop and seeing the stars and hearing the waves! It was a beautiful day and a nice night!
Trekking through the marsh to get to the ferry to the island
arriving to Mbudya island!
Beautiful!
Of course some partygoers wanted their picture with the Muzungu ;)
The crew!
Watching the sunset on the island
I just had to...
Fresh caught, warm water lobster...sooo good!
Meeting the notorious "coconut crab", the island's local inhabitant -- only found here...it looks like a lobster but its toxic to eat! It also enjoyed hanging out by the toilets...so I called it a toilet crab for most of the evening!
Did I mention the crab also climbs trees!?! Watch out squirrels!
The next day I woke up soaked up the sun a tad and took the ferry back to Dar all by myself! I was pretty proud of this as every day I'm trying to get myself more able to go out and get stuff done without being shy/scared. Its a delicate balance though, you gotta be on your guard being kind and considerate without getting taking advantage of...
Today on the drive home from the island, I rode with a gentleman, who the entire trip back home would not stop talking about how he "wanted to have a Muzungu (white lady) wife" and how if I just gave him the chance he would make me happy and be the best husband ever--I told him I was already married in hopes that he would stop but he just kept right along to the point where he was close to tears and begging for my number and wanting to take a picture with me... Ugh-- part of me is very annoyed by this, part of me just doesn't know how to feel about it all and how to address it. I don't know what its like to grow up here, have limited economic opportunities and see foreigners come in with the ability to travel and enjoy things at a leisurely pace without worrying about making it through the day and have this idealized image of the United States and think we are all wealthy and happy there. I just don't know how to feel about some of the interactions with people here, I've experienced...it makes me sad and I want to help, but you can't help everyone, you can't sacrifice your own personal well being for another's desperation. With this guy today, I just stopped responding at one point because his pleas were just too much--there really was no way I could respond without egging him on more. I think I need to just get used to these interactions, EVERYONE stares at me all the time, the majority of men- young and old want to stop and chat and ask me where I am from and blah blah blah, How interesting to experience compared to back home where you are lucky to make eye contact with someone on the street...so when strangers begin to follow me and speak to me in English with "hello, how are you" I quickly say hello, give them a smile and move right along, there is nothing more to do!
I chose the above quote at the beginning of this blog post due to the unavoidable issue of being different -- Mambo Muzungu is something I'm hearing quite often so I better just accept it and move forward. I'm just filled with gratitude to have the opportunity to experience Tanzania and Africa, and embrace both the good and not so good parts. To be in the shoes I am in is a lucky place to be!
Kwaheri! (Goodbye!)
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