I thought I'd write a bit today about the food here in Tanzania. There are no big supermarkets in Moshi, where I live -- just small local "mom & pop" grocery stores. A couple of them are known for carrying "mzungu" (white person) products, such as yogurt, cheddar cheese, Cadbury milk chocolate, bran flakes, cornflakes, granola (and other cereals), Marmite, Pringles and the like. Things like olive oil are extremely expensive, so, after finishing the two miniature bottles I brought with me from Spain (from the takeaway cafe near work), I've now resorted to regular vegetable oil (not the same, but without a salary for 4 1/2 months, I need to be a bit more careful!). So far, after one month here (yes, already!), my staples at Aleem's grocery seem to be red wine (usually from South Africa), taro chips (like potato chips but made out of the taro root and with less oil), crackers, bran flakes, butter (most Tanzanians use something between margarine and vegetable fat), and cheddar cheese. We get our milk from the local shack (see the photo of Lusajo wearing sunglasses -- he standing in front of the shack) right outside our house. Every couple of mornings I go there with my plastic pitcher and the woman who owns the shack fills it for me. Since it's straight from the cow, we have to boil it for 5 minutes (we also boil our water before drinking it). I haven't seen any pasteurized/homogenized milk in the stores here. You can get UHT milk in the "mzungu" grocery stores, but it's quite expensive -- and why get zapped milk if you can get it fresh??!! At the shack I can also buy white bread, all different kinds of soap (for bodies or clothing), toilet paper, eggs, donuts, and other various items. Behind the shack is another shack but this one is called a container. There one can buy sugar, rice, and other stuff. Everyone buys veggies and fruits either from local stands or from the outdoor market. Of course, if you're a mzungu like me, your bound to get ripped off. I guess you really can't blame the locals -- they're so poor, it's one of the only ways they can make a bit more money. Still, I've asked Monika and Lusajo for "acceptable" prices to pay so that I'm not completely taken advantage of. I have yet to venture into the market on my own--yes, still, after 1 month--hence I just pay the prices that Monika pays, which is still more than a local would pay but less than a tourist). Every day I feel closer to taking that step into the "lion's den" (i.e. the market) by myself. I will get there, I know it. My usual market purchases are tomatoes (you can only buy the "plum" variety), cucumbers (like the kind in the U.S.--i.e., smooth skinned--and not the kind in Spain which have bumpy skin), carrots (huge), and bananas (the miniature variety). However, every once and a while I get a little more adventurous and I buy, for instance, lentils, green pepper, mandarin oranges or regular oranges (which both have tons of pits). At the market one can also by white rice, split peas, a whole range of beans--most of which I don't know the names for--various grains (I think the locals make flour out of them) and stuff I have no idea what it is. I only have to prepare breakfast and lunch for myself -- dinner is "on the house". Which brings me to our evening meals...Until this past week, Monika had been the sole dinner cook, but that changed as of last Monday. It is now a former Give A Heart To Africa School student--I'll call her "M" to keep her anonymous--who prepares our meals since Monika will be going home to Canada for two months in a week's time. "M" has cooked for the house before, but there were some issues -- like not arriving on time, not coming with sufficient ingredients to cook for the number of people living in the house, and making meals that were not very appetizing (sounds promising?). The thing is, "M" has been repeatedly beaten by her husband. Not that long ago, he broke her leg, though I don't know how it happened. She finally moved out of the house (a big deal here, since people are very religious Christians and believe "until death do us part") and moved in with her brother who's a pastor at a local church, sending her only son (12-13 years old) to live with his grandmother in the south of the country, since she was afraid for him. Now, however, some big-wig white priest/pastor (her brother's superior, I believe) told her she couldn't stay with her brother in the church and had to move back home to be with her husband (until death do them part...). So, now she's back with him. She said that things were bad and she's afraid. Monika decided to give her another chance to cook for us to help her make some money and get out of her situation. She will will give her the bus money in September to go visit her son, whom she hasn't seen for more than a year and who is refusing to go to school. I'm glad to report that, so far, "M" is coming on time and the cooking is pretty good. Last night's meal was delicious -- ugali (like a thick polenta, made from corn flour and water), cabbage, and spinach. Tanzanians eat ugali with their hands and use it to scoop up whatever is accompanying it. Since "when in Rome do as the Romans" I followed Lusajo's example (Monika continues to eat with her fork). You have to make a ball with the ugali in your hand, then flatten it a bit (all the time using only the one hand) and use it to scoop up the other stuff -- a bit messy, but fun (in my opinion). The night before last, we had rice with orange-colored split peas (not very interesting). Usually, we have either rice, potatoes, or ugali along with any variety of veggies and or beans or other "legumes" (lentils, split peas, etc.). The standard veggies seem to be any mix including one or more of the following: zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, carrots, peas (fresh), cabbage, and string beans. I'm trying to introduce the idea of something similar to pumpkin, which they have in the market. Last week we had cabbage pasta! If you haven't yet guessed, much to Lusajo's regret, Monika is a vegetarian and does not cook with meat (looking at the meat hanging up in the market, I don't blame her!). Lusajo and I tried to convince Monika to put french fries on the menu (very popular here and known as "chips" like in England) with choice of either eggs or chicken (a traditional dish here), but we were voted down. Once a week we eat dinner at one of the little shacks on the university campus (our house is on campus) -- Monika, Lusajo, Petro (our Maasai nightwatchman), and me. The guys always get the same (with their fill of meat) and the gals always get the same (rice, spinach, and beans -- like baked beans, but not sweet). I think the 4 of us eat for under 3 or 4 euros in total!
Thanks to all of you who post comments! I love hearing from you and will eventually get around to writing you individual emails.
Kumbatia (hugs),
Victoria
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Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Home Visit
Last Friday we had a home visit of another of our female students. When I say "we" I mean Monika, Ima, Herman (also known as "Rasta"), and I. Ima and Herman are translators at our school and Herman is one of my Swahili teachers. We always go with translators because, despite the classes, most of the students still have trouble speaking English!! This student is 43 years old and has 8 children; the oldest is 23 and the youngest is 3! The 3-year old, Glory, had a broken arm, but that didn't stop her from dancing to the music that was playing on the TV and running around outside. (By the way, it seems that everyone here who has a TV always has it turned on, especially when visitors come! Sometimes, it's so loud we can hardly hear ourselves talk!). Glory was truly beautiful. The eldest child, John, stayed with us during the visit. He goes to university, where he studies human resources. He spoke very good English and you could tell from his behavior and from that of all of the children that the family was a happy one and very united. Our student never had the chance to go to secondary school but heard about our school and is now a student. We met at least 5 of the kids when we were at the house, as well as the husband, who is a policeman (many of our students are married to policemen since there is police housing in the area and former students spread the word to their neighbors about the Give A Heart To Africa school). The husband said he was so happy that his wife now had the opportunity to go to school. It was great to hear him say that. John also told his mom how proud he was of her. His mom started to cry when we asked her if she likes school. She was so grateful to have the opportunity to go to school, finally. I almost started crying myself! Whenever we do a home visit we bring something with us. This time we brought clothing for the youngest child (from the donations from my office in Madrid -- gracias!), plus some sugar and rice. The student always considers the visit as a big honor and, consequently, there is always a lot of food on the table. This time was no exception, and I was able to eat fish for the first time since I arrived. We also had freshly roasted peanuts, rice, veggies (not sure what type), and watermelon and bananas for dessert.
Friday, June 11, 2010
A little bit of this...a little bit of that
It's Friday, my day off, and I managed to "sleep in" this morning until 7:15am. Last night I counted how many times the roosters thought it was time to wake me up -- three times, starting at about 1:15am. Will I ever get used to them? This morning we did a house visit of one of the female students. She's 40 years old, married to a policeman, and has 4 daughters (the eldest is 16 and the youngest, whom we met, is 2). Apparently, she comes from a tribe in southern Tanzania where it is accepted (and expected) for men to beat their wives. When we asked Herman, one of the school's translators who was with us, if he thought that her husband beat her, he told us yes, since that's the norm for them. Monika asked me try to find out by using the topic of "marriage" in one of our conversation sessions (every Thursday). The student's three eldest children go to school, but she never had the chance as a child. She told us that coming to school has changed her way of thinking. She is so happy to be a student at our school now. She hopes to start a cement business once she leaves school (end-September; the course is just for 6 months), since that's what her family used to do. She is working on the business plan in class (the students take English, computer, and business classes at the school).
Everyday I tell myself "I must remember 'this' to talk about in my blog," and then I end up forgetting to do it. Here are a couple of things I've neglected to tell you...
Taking the daladala
Daladalas are minivans (like the old Volkswagen type) that act as group taxis. It costs 250 Tanzanian shillings (15 euro cents) to go from Moshi town to Ushirika where I live. The idea is to stuff as many people in as you can -- you'd be amazed\; I am. Just when you think they couldn't possibly let anyone else in, they do! And the person always fits. Well, "fits" is relative. I haven't done an actual count, but there must be at least 20 of us sardines squeezed together during "rush hour", and not only on the seats. At least four people are always standing. But standing where? There is no standing room! Somehow they manage, however. Monika and I usually try for a seat on the bench right behind the driver -- that way we're sure to be able to get off (which isn't a given if you're sitting in the back). Sitting down is like a puzzle. You have to try to fit your legs in between those of the person in front of you. I haven't yet braved a daladala by myself. I think I'll know that I've really acclimated myself to life here when I can brave it on my own!
Petro, our Maasai nightwatchman
He arrives at 6:30pm every evening and leaves the next morning at 6:30am. He speaks no English and only a little Swahili. Ever since I greeted him with " Supai!" (the typical greeting in, Maa, the Maasai language) and paraded in front of him with my Maasai outfit, we are friends, though we never understand each other. I have an entire list of Maa vocabulary with the English translations, which I saved from my last trip to Tanzania when I spent a week in a Maasai village (including phrases such as "How are your cows" and "The goats are fine"). When I showed this to Petro, he wanted a copy. Now I'll have to see if he starts asking me in English how my cows are doing! Petro's favorite activity is to try to ride Monika's bike. He had just started learning when I arrived and is doing really well. He rides round and round the little square in front of the school (which is attached to the house) all night long. I think I can hear the wheels from my bedroom. The bike has become his best friend. One afternoon, I was in the house on my own and didn't think to lock the front gate. Monika came home and noticed the gate open and told me it would be safer to lock it when I'm alone at home. Then she noticed that the bike was gone! It's always kept in the little square in front of the school. Horror of horrors, it was not there! How could I have been so stupid! I felt horrible. I didn't remember seeing it when I came home, and then thought that perhaps Lusajo had taken it to go into town, since he had come home while I was there and then left again. But Monika said that was unlikely. She was really calm about it all, but I felt like crying. A little voice in my head had told me when I came home that I should lock the gate, but I didn't listen to it. Now look what I caused! Monika went back to Lusajo's store and I sat on the couch and stewed, feeling more and more dejected and wondering where I was going to be able to find another bike like hers! Then Petro arrived!! How was I going to break the news to him that his best friend was gone? What would he do all night long now? When he arrived, I took out the English-Swahili dictionary and tried to explain -- not an easy task! I think he was just as devastated as I was. The two of us just sulked. Later on, Lusajo arrived and opened the door saying "Pole sana" (I'm so sorry). I thought he was referring to the bike and was just about to tell him how horrible I felt when he said that he was sorry that I was left all alone in the house!!!! Then I asked him if he had taken the bike into town and he said YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!! Hallelujah! Petro and I were the happiest beings on Earth!
Asante sana (thank you very much) for your comments!
Kumbatia (hugs),
Victoria
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Everyday I tell myself "I must remember 'this' to talk about in my blog," and then I end up forgetting to do it. Here are a couple of things I've neglected to tell you...
Taking the daladala
Daladalas are minivans (like the old Volkswagen type) that act as group taxis. It costs 250 Tanzanian shillings (15 euro cents) to go from Moshi town to Ushirika where I live. The idea is to stuff as many people in as you can -- you'd be amazed\; I am. Just when you think they couldn't possibly let anyone else in, they do! And the person always fits. Well, "fits" is relative. I haven't done an actual count, but there must be at least 20 of us sardines squeezed together during "rush hour", and not only on the seats. At least four people are always standing. But standing where? There is no standing room! Somehow they manage, however. Monika and I usually try for a seat on the bench right behind the driver -- that way we're sure to be able to get off (which isn't a given if you're sitting in the back). Sitting down is like a puzzle. You have to try to fit your legs in between those of the person in front of you. I haven't yet braved a daladala by myself. I think I'll know that I've really acclimated myself to life here when I can brave it on my own!
Petro, our Maasai nightwatchman
He arrives at 6:30pm every evening and leaves the next morning at 6:30am. He speaks no English and only a little Swahili. Ever since I greeted him with " Supai!" (the typical greeting in, Maa, the Maasai language) and paraded in front of him with my Maasai outfit, we are friends, though we never understand each other. I have an entire list of Maa vocabulary with the English translations, which I saved from my last trip to Tanzania when I spent a week in a Maasai village (including phrases such as "How are your cows" and "The goats are fine"). When I showed this to Petro, he wanted a copy. Now I'll have to see if he starts asking me in English how my cows are doing! Petro's favorite activity is to try to ride Monika's bike. He had just started learning when I arrived and is doing really well. He rides round and round the little square in front of the school (which is attached to the house) all night long. I think I can hear the wheels from my bedroom. The bike has become his best friend. One afternoon, I was in the house on my own and didn't think to lock the front gate. Monika came home and noticed the gate open and told me it would be safer to lock it when I'm alone at home. Then she noticed that the bike was gone! It's always kept in the little square in front of the school. Horror of horrors, it was not there! How could I have been so stupid! I felt horrible. I didn't remember seeing it when I came home, and then thought that perhaps Lusajo had taken it to go into town, since he had come home while I was there and then left again. But Monika said that was unlikely. She was really calm about it all, but I felt like crying. A little voice in my head had told me when I came home that I should lock the gate, but I didn't listen to it. Now look what I caused! Monika went back to Lusajo's store and I sat on the couch and stewed, feeling more and more dejected and wondering where I was going to be able to find another bike like hers! Then Petro arrived!! How was I going to break the news to him that his best friend was gone? What would he do all night long now? When he arrived, I took out the English-Swahili dictionary and tried to explain -- not an easy task! I think he was just as devastated as I was. The two of us just sulked. Later on, Lusajo arrived and opened the door saying "Pole sana" (I'm so sorry). I thought he was referring to the bike and was just about to tell him how horrible I felt when he said that he was sorry that I was left all alone in the house!!!! Then I asked him if he had taken the bike into town and he said YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!! Hallelujah! Petro and I were the happiest beings on Earth!
Asante sana (thank you very much) for your comments!
Kumbatia (hugs),
Victoria
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Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Maasai mama
I've now started my second week of teaching and am proud to say that I know nearly all of the students' names by heart (there are more than 30 of them, so I thing that's something to write home about!). We have FINALLY finished prepositions with the more advanced group and have moved onto the verb "can". I'm hoping that this will mean that the students won't look so bored in class! One of the students, Jackeline, regularly puts her head down on the table--though she's far from being the best student--so today I asked her in front of the class if she was tired. I don't think she appreciated it! The slower group is struggling with the simple present (I study) and the present continuous/progressive (I am studying)--in the affirmative, negative, and interrogative--and we had an extra "help" session after school today. We take so much for granted when we learn to speak as a child! I also had to teach them about the imperative form -- for commands, requests, and giving directions. There again, I find that acting things out works the best when explaining things, and gets the best reaction out of the students!
On Monday, I accepted Monika's dare and wore my Maasai outfit to school. Hopefully I can send a photo soon. Just to see the students' faces and their reaction was worth my own embarrassment! I think Monika was just as surprised that I actually did it! She must be asking herself what I will look like by the end of my 4 1/2 months here if that's what I looked like only after 1 week. The Maasai students told me that the outfit was very expensive, given all of the beads and the little mirrors. They called me "Maasai Mama."
Regarding our kitchen rat, you'll be relieved to know--at least I was!--that Lusajo (Monika's boyfriend) chased it out of the house from its hiding spot behind the fridge. Now we have several plastic bags stuck in the space underneath the door so that the rat can't get back in, but I don't think they will hold for very long. I've suggested a rock or bricks, but so far, it's just the bags. The next challenge I will give myself will be to go to the outdoor market on my own and buy my fruits and veggies. I thought I would have the courage to do it today, but I didn't!
Please send me your comments -- I really enjoy them.
xox
Victoria
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On Monday, I accepted Monika's dare and wore my Maasai outfit to school. Hopefully I can send a photo soon. Just to see the students' faces and their reaction was worth my own embarrassment! I think Monika was just as surprised that I actually did it! She must be asking herself what I will look like by the end of my 4 1/2 months here if that's what I looked like only after 1 week. The Maasai students told me that the outfit was very expensive, given all of the beads and the little mirrors. They called me "Maasai Mama."
Regarding our kitchen rat, you'll be relieved to know--at least I was!--that Lusajo (Monika's boyfriend) chased it out of the house from its hiding spot behind the fridge. Now we have several plastic bags stuck in the space underneath the door so that the rat can't get back in, but I don't think they will hold for very long. I've suggested a rock or bricks, but so far, it's just the bags. The next challenge I will give myself will be to go to the outdoor market on my own and buy my fruits and veggies. I thought I would have the courage to do it today, but I didn't!
Please send me your comments -- I really enjoy them.
xox
Victoria
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Sunday, June 6, 2010
Surprises around every corner
I have 4 1/2 minutes left here at the Internet cafe. The connection is extremely slow. I finished my first week of teaching and am still alive! The students are so nice. I started Swahili lessons today, so I hope that I will soon be able to communicate better. Yesterday I spent the day in the town of Arusha (where most safaris leave from) with my Maasai friend Menga. We hadn't seen each other for three years. He gave me a great Maasai outfit -- skirt, top and more, with beads that spell my first and last names on the very front of the top!!! Monika wants me to wear it to class tomorrow because some of the students are Maasai. This morning, when I went into the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea, I found a rat waiting to greet me! I quickly closed the door and left the rat to it's business. My tea would have to wait. Stay tuned for more!
Victoria
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Victoria
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Learning the lay of the land
Day 4 and I've just taken what I consider to be a big step by going on my own to an Internet cafe so that I can fill you in on my discoveries since I arrived on Saturday night May 29th. No, I haven't yet seen any of the beautiful animals that you see on my main blog photo, but that will come in due time! I'm currently volunteering as a teacher with an NGO called Give A Heart To Africa (www.giveahearttoafrica.org) in Moshi, Tanzania, right in the foothills of Kilimanjaro mountain. I caught my first glimpse of Africa's tallest mountain by surprise, on Sunday, when Monika, the head of the NGO, was taking me on a walk through the poorest part of town to meet some of her students. At one point, I looked up, and there it was, in all its snow-capped glory -- truly amazing! I live in a very nice house with Monika and her lovely Tanzanian boyfriend Lusoja. Since I'm currently the only volunteer living there, I have a room and bathroom to myself, which I consider luxury! Every night (or rather morning), I'm woken up between 3-4am by the roosters and/or the call to prayer. As the sun rises, the noises get progressively louder, more and more roosters joint the chorus, as well as other birds (crows I think). Between 6 and 6:30am, Pedro, our Maasai night watchman (no Spanish blood, as far as I can tell, despite his name), starts clanking the pots and pans (well, they sound like pots and pans), taking his shower etc. So, my morning starts quite early and by around 7am I'm starting to prepare for my first class. I started teaching on Monday (nothing like taking the bulls by the horns and jumping right in!). I was VERY nervous. I have two classes, the first from 9-10:30am and the second from 10:30-12pm. On Tuesday's and Wednesday's we offer extra help if the students want to stay--these sessions go from 12:30 until 13:30/14:00. The students are all adults who haven't had the chance to go to secondary school. Priority is given to women, which make up about 80% of the current group. The school is free. I'm just starting to learn all of the students' names. They call me "teacher" -- easy for them! The classes are quite basic. With the slower group, we just finished learning about the present continuous tense (I am learning; He is walking; Are they cooking? etc.) in the affirmative, negative, and interrogative, and have moved on to the imperative. With the other class, we are struggling through prepositions. It was so boring my first day that I couldn't blame the students for yawning and putting their heads on the table (yes, at least one student actually did that!). Since then, however (it's taking us several days to get through all of the prepositions on the list), I am finding more imaginative ways of explaining what the prepositions mean and usually get them laughing. Ima is the translator for my classes and he makes sure that the students understand what I'm saying. Sometimes my charades do not suffice! The past few days, I've been spending most of my afternoons either preparing for my next class or walking to and from town with Monika (it's about a 20-minute walk) so that I can learn where things are and spend time at the immigration office, where they seem to enjoy seeing me because they always ask me to come back with additional information (this is why I'm currently in town at the Internet cafe and why I will have to return tomorrow as well)! Going to the outdoor market is still a bit daunting for me, but I look forward to the time when I will be able to brave it on my own, and maybe even ask for my fruits and veggies in Swahili. It's very frustrating not being able to speak the local language. I'm hoping to start lessons tomorrow with Ndiko, Lusajo's brother. Ndiko is studying and teaching Spanish, and it's incredible how well he speaks for someone who has only been learning the language for the past 5 months, from a fellow Tanzanian! Last night, we celebrated Lusoja's 31st birthday. There were 8 of us for dinner. Ndiko decided to cook us all a special meal: Rice pilau (rice with some special spices), mixed vegetables, a plantain dish with tomatoes and green peppers, and red meat for the men (Monika is also a vegetarian). Monika and I went with Ndiko to the outdoor market to get all of the food. I won't go into the details now of how the meat looked hanging up at the market... Let me just say that when I offered to help Ndiko, he of course told me that I could cut the meat (nice!). I accepted. We had a lot of fun. Herman, the rasta man, helped as well. He's the Tanzanian translator for the business class that Monika teaches. They are all so nice! Stay tuned for the next installment (my time is up, after one power-outage and having to switch computers three times.)
Kwaheri (goodbye),
Victoria
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Kwaheri (goodbye),
Victoria
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