I didn't really go through culture shock after arriving in Zanzibar, but I have already started to feel a little bit here in the village. The city of Arusha is about 20 minute daladala ride away. I’m staying in a suburb of Arusha called Sakina and within Sakina I am staying in a small village called Maziwa (which means milk in Kiswahili). There is a dirt road from the main road that winds through Maziwa.
Today Emanueli took me into town. Arusha is very different from both Dar and Zanzibar. It has kind of a rustic feel with mountains surrounding it. The streets are fairly wide and there are lots of little shops. It is less crowded than Dar. Emanueli said that there aren’t many people that live in the city, but that a lot of the Indians live right in the city (above the shops). We went to the UN Tribunal for Genocide in Rwanda (which occurred in 1994) and sat in on a court proceeding. There was a gallery for people to watch and the whole time they were there they were debating whether there was a phone in this guy’s house and shop and how they got there (whether they were legal lines or not). I don’t know what the overarching case was about. I wonder what it takes to be one of the judges\jury there. Apparently the tribunal will close this year after it completes all of the court proceedings.
CHINA ALERT: We saw a building being constructed by a Chinese construction company. I asked Emanueli about the Chinese and he said there are some here, but they are mostly in Dar. Apparently, a lot of Chinese run little shops, etc. and the TZ government is starting to get mad because they are taking jobs and money away from the TZ economy. Overall, he said that most of the Chinese investment is through building infrastructure. His view was that the Chinese with little shops were taking jobs that Tanzanians could do, so what they should really do is start employing Tanzanians. Makes sense to me.
Then we went to the Museum of Natural History, which is located in the old German Boma from when Germany colonized TZ. Behind the museum is Mt. Meru, which takes about 3-5 days to climb. It was colonized in 1885 and then peacefully taken over by the British in 1918 after Germany lost the First World War. Some good things: Germany built lots of infrastructure that still stands today, which many Tanzanians agree still benefits TZ. They also encouraged the use of Kiswahili in government. Some bad things: They mistreated the Tanzanians, especially women and used corporal punishment. They would severely beat people for small misdemeanors.
During dinner, we watched a little TV. They have infomercials about everything – what to look for when you get your eyebrows done professionally and how to use Facebook. So funny! There was also a commercial from a construction company which looked like a news wire. The title was: buildings collapse in dar and many injured. I got really sad and they all said it wasn’t true – these were just commercials alerting people of the dangers of construction. They said they sometimes get fooled too when it comes on around news time. I think they should just alert about dangers rather than posting something that looks like a catastrophic news item. There was also a soap opera with a HIV\AIDS theme that was meant for HIV\AIDS awareness.
We also talked about what a wedding is like. The son has to ask permission from the parents before two people can get engaged. Then, a week before the wedding there is a kitchen party (sounds like a wedding shower \bachelorette party). All the women get together and give the bride gifts for the kitchen and the mom and friends talk about marriage and give advice – make good food, treat your husband well, etc. The women wear kanga dresses to this party. A kanga is a piece of patterned cloth that women tie around their waist and wear around the house. Two days before the wedding, there is a send-off party for everyone (sounds sort of like a rehearsal dinner except without a rehearsal). There isn’t really a bachelorette and bachelor party. Then there is a day of rest before the wedding. Then at the wedding, the bride wears a white dress. The bride is supposed to pay for the send off party and the groom pays for the wedding. Usually friends all come together and each person contributes something towards the wedding, maybe a night at a hotel, the cake, the food, etc. It sounds like a great plan!
Vocab word of the day:
Ndizi – banana
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