Things I Love and Find-hard-to-love in Tanzania
A couple of my volunteer-colleagues have written love/hate
lists. I ‘borrowed’ some of their ideas
to get me reflecting on my own list. So
here’s what I came up with after being here 8 months:
Learned to Love
1.
The basic
nature of the Tanzanian people really is what they say... cheery, friendly and welcoming. Unfortunately this gets covered by
hunger/greed/want in the bigger cities and touristy areas (as in most developing
and even developed countries). I have
found that the more rural I go, especially on my beautiful walks around Sega, the
friendlier and warmer the greeting often including ‘Shikamoo’ which is a
greeting of respect. Sometimes the
friendliness can be annoying, like when I was on my way to work (on Zanzibar
for example) and they, young men hanging around idle, want me to stop and talk. It feels rude not to stop...but really? It’s
such a culture clash as we ‘Mzungus’ are always in a hurry to get somewhere and
do something. Most of the people I have met through work are
helpful and friendly, if not very curious about me and my ways. It is absolutely standard to be offered food
or at least a drink, anytime you are at someone’s house. I am trying to take a
page out of their book on slowing down and savouring the connection with
others. As for customer service...well
that’s on my other list.
2.
The birds are wonderful! Many are different from home with brilliant
colours or unusual calls or strange living situations (the group hanging nests
of the Weaver Bird). Many are familiar like
the Heron (blue with white), Raven (black with white), sparrows, finch,
vultures, eagles, doves, and Secretary Birds (do we have them in Canada?). Of course there were many water birds on
Zanzibar. I have heard two kinds of owls
at night which are very different from each other. Barn owls (long streams of a chattering
sound) and Verreaux eagle owl (typical haunting hoo-hoo). My eye often catches a turquoise blue on the
ground, only to find little flocks of Cordon Bleu or Superb Starlings (blue or
yellow). I have been loving this rainy
season as it’s also the ‘mating’ season so the birds are in full feather. I have been quite bemused by these two small
birds which grow long tail feathers (Whydah and Shrike). They can barely fly with such long drag
behind. One looks more like a fish as
it weaves through the air, up and down, to keep their rear-end aloft; the other
looks like a flying lizard. The Bishop
Birds are gorgeous with a red hood and cloak over the black body. They hang out in the wet areas reminding me
of Red Wing Blackbirds but with much more splendour. I also hear beautiful calls (early morning or
even mid-day) but not been able to take the time to spot the singer.
3.
The air during this rainy season is unexpectedly
gentle. The breezes at dawn and sunset
are delicious. Of course it’s a reprieve
from the heat of the dry season too.
4.
The red soil of eastern Africa is especially
brilliant around Tanzania. Although my
running shoes are permanently stained red, and the dust in the house is
interminable getting in/on everything.
But when the sun is rising or setting, the earth appears brilliant and
alive. There are some beautiful small
mountains around my region to hike and enjoy the vistas across the plain.
5.
Lucky me as there has been an abundance of
Mangos since December, with a seemingly endless season, and they happen to be
my favourite fruit. There are plenty of papaya, passion fruit,
bread fruit (not my cup of tea) and other tropical options just hanging around
on the trees or on the ground.
6.
The rainy season has brought crops all around
where I am living. There are fields of
corn, which I had no trouble identifying, and is now much taller than me (‘higher
than elephants eye’ I guess). But
interspersed with the corn, or in a neighbouring field, there’s another crop
which took me several weeks to identify.
But once I did, my heart leapt as I realized the fields are coming alive
at this time with Sunflowers...makes me think of Van Gogh! Other crops include something they call
pumpkin (squash family) and zucchini, rice, tomatoes, avocado, eggplant, green
peppers and greens (about 3 kinds which they call spinach), cabbage, potatoes, carrots
and onions. Remember this list as it’s a
clue about something on the other next list. (Pics by Naomi Loeb, Sega volunteer)
7.
Although I have heard very little of the
traditional music (Bonga Flava is really popular which is basically African Hip
Hop), that which I have heard is amazing.
The place one mostly hears the traditional a capella 4-part harmonies is
in the churches. It is still on my list
to visit more churches while I am here.
There is an ‘unfinished’ building nearby where there is a ‘squatter’
church at times. I love to hear their
singing if I’m out for a walk at the right time of day. Other times I hear the ‘casting out of
demons’ which would be on my second list (below).
8.
Traditional dress for the women (still worn) is
simply having 1 or 2 large pieces of cloth (some batikked) to wrap around the
waist as a skirt, to carry the baby on back, and wrapped over the head. The increase in economic status brings
‘tailored’ dresses and skirts and tops from these beautiful brightly coloured
fabrics. Unfortunately this is changing
due to ‘western’ influence. There is a
basic simplicity in terms of belongings except amongst the growing upper and
middle classes (see more in my second list).
Speaking of which:
Things I find hard-to-love
1.
Public
transportation...the local small buses (vans or open backed vehicles depending
on the town/place) are always packed to double capacity. While one is cheek by jowl with their
neighbours, you will see that if there are seats, then the men are in them with
their legs spread wide, the women being in the aisles or sharing a seat with at
least 2 other women, or sitting on upside-down buckets in the aisles or even crouching. As for the ‘big’ buses that run between towns
and cities...same story unless passing an
‘inspection station’ during which the ‘extras’ are expected to duck down below
the vision of the road-side inspectors.
The seats are typically broken down,
with almost no padding, ripped upholstery (if any exists) and very
uncomfortable springs or just plywood.
The windows on all vehicles allow entry to a steady stream of exhaust
(and rain or hot air depending on the season).
The bjaaje (tuc tuc or rickshaw in other countries) found mostly in Dar
and bigger centres, are quicker and cheaper but unsafe do to the open access
for theft or even personal injury as ones bumps along the shoulder of the road
while in ‘stop and crawl traffic’.
2.
Nothing runs according to schedule or
expectation (buses, trains, hotel bookings, banking services, Postal Services,
ATMs, conference bookings and pre-paid catering services, or pre-scheduled
meetings to name a few examples. This
includes people not showing up for scheduled job-interviews but still expecting
to be hired or not showing up with the key for the conference rooms!! I was told that my VSO manager flew to a far
afield hospital on two occasions for a meeting with someone who didn’t show
either time. Admittedly, the Tanzanians
are much more able to go with this flow than us Mzungus.
3.
Every season brings a challenge in weather...the
heat during the dry season (Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar) was relentless...I would be
soaked within 5 min of being out, showered 3x a day and rarely found
relief...sharing the house with mosquitoes, flies, armies of biting ants in the
dry season. The rains brought housemates of cockroaches and tiny beetles, roads
turned into deep mud paths with little lakes every so often (deep enough to
drown the battery on our Rav 4) and flooded floors in the house (where the
couches with no legs wicked up the water and soaked the cushions.
4.
The Tanzanian food is bland (only over-use of
salt or sugar), high in starch, low in nutrition and without variety. The list I made above are what I can get at
the market but I am unsure who actually cooks with those items. The basic Tanzanian main meal is Ugali
(white-corn meal mush), ¼ ounce of meat or scrawny chicken or brown beans, a
tablespoon of greens cooked to much (occasionally enhanced with onion or bits
of tomatoe and baking soda/salt) or a tablespoon of a coleslaw type salad. Tanzanians admittedly dislike
vegetables. Each to his own. The struggle for me is coming up with
interesting things to cook with the same limited ingredients. If you know me, you know I’m a foody and am
creative in the kitchen. To my credit, I
have made soybean patties, curried soybeans, lentils soups and stew, lentil
breakfast porridge, pancakes with millet and rice flour etc.. Stir-fry, ratatouille, spaghetti , salads
with canned fish are weekly staples. Thank
goodness there are a few shops run my people of Indian-decent (hence the spices,
lentils, more variety in beans, brown rice, rice noodles) and Soya sauce and
vinegar!! I do realize the ‘privileged
life’ which has created my desire for variety and nutritional meals. There are a handful of ‘Safi’ restaurants
(which translates to clean or cool and is used to describe clean drinking water
and also a response when someone asks a young adult how they are). These eateries are aimed at those with money,
Mzungus and Indians (run by East Indians)...every restaurant has the same fair
to offer and they all take over an hour to bring your order (shades of
India...at least it’s freshly made).
There is a Pho restaurant in Dar right near where I stay and so I frequent
it too...same ingredients but with a twist.
5.
As in
most developing countries there has been a profusion of ‘garbage’ and nowhere
to dispose of it. Stone Town and Iringa
have figured out a system (which must include government money) to clean the
streets and pick up garbage daily. But
as for the rest, there’s no such thing as recycling and everything is burned
just outside the house. The use of
plastic bottles is atrocious but at least some get re-used to sell Sunflower
oil, honey, petrol, juices (avocado or passion fruit).
6.
Women’s status is typical for the developing
world, appearing to do most of the work including domestic duties (except for
hard physical labour such as digging and building), they are abused, raped and
get little respect from men. The younger
pretty girls will get flirted with and catered to until the men get what they
want. There is a higher number of female
school drop-outs due to poverty, attitudes about education, pregnancy (cannot
return to school during or after baby), family responsibilities, and orphan
status.
7.
Vendors and shop keepers have the attitude of a
‘bird in the hand’ therefore will over-charge and not care if they lose the
sale now or for the future. One guy said
to me “today I win, next time you win”...when I went back another day he tried
really hard to ignore me and pretend he didn’t know me. There is no such thing as customer/vendor
relationship or loyalty. After 6 months
of repeat business my volunteer-colleague ‘lost it’ when the woman who sold her
water tried to rip her off and didn’t seem to recognize her. We tried to give some local cooks business
for our conference (a large order) and one of them didn’t even provide what we
asked for (even knowing there would be repeat order the following week) after we
pre-paid. Live and learn!!
8.
Travelling by road is extremely dangerous...some
say we are taking our lives in our hands every time. There is a different hierarchy on the
road...trucks, then buses, then cars, then piki pikis (motorcycles), then
bikes, then pedestrians. Basically,
might is right. Although this is hard
for me to love, I do see it simply as a difference in cultural bias (lack of
value for human life). The worst is when
we are driving in a car on a highway and the bus or truck coming toward us in
our lane (typically passing on a solid line and hill) does not even try to move
so we are forced onto the side of the road (at high speed) or even pushed to
the side when the truck or bus is passing from behind and needs to get back
into the lane quickly.
9.
The influence of western culture is changing the
traditional dress and hence the fabric industry (basically being put out of
business). African countries receive
large containers with huge shrink-wrapped blocks of discarded clothing (from faith-based
groups, stores that rely on donations like Value Village or Sally Ann, which
either can’t sell or don’t need, sporting tags and all. The children and men wear worn-out clothing
which was probably bought that way at the Saba Saba (used item market). One
home I visited (a couple of retired professors) had 4 large over-stuffed
couches and wide-screen TV and huge sound system (neither of which were used
apparently) all crammed into the living/eating space. At the home of young professional couple I
found the same media equipment but the couch and chairs were leather. Both of these homes had the fridge in the
living room (as they mostly keep drinks in it) and microwaves and spin-washers
(neither of which were used by their maids/cooks). One friend told me her ‘maid’ has a maid so
money is nicely spread out. Unfortunately the rise in materialism has seen a
rise in robberies and break-ins and muggings...both at home and person on the
street...both Mzungus and wealthier Africans.
The increased divide between have and have-nots brings the increase in
crime.
Well I see the second is longer than the first but that’s
not to say that either one is complete...just a sample. I will be leaving Tanzania in August after spending
a year in Tanzania. It will be
interesting to see if I have moved anything from the second list up to the
first by then. (-:
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