Long but Interesting Day

Today we had a lesson on illness in Africa. CCS invited a well known and distinguished doctor to have a discussion on Cholera, Malaria, and HIV/AIDS. There were many things I didn’t know about Cholera or Malaria. Malaria is very common here; a lot like the common cold or the flu in the US. It can be a fatal parasite(s) if not treated and can be acquired very easily, even if someone is taking the antibiotics for prevention. What the antibiotics do is prevent someone from getting a high level of it. Many CCS volunteers, past and present, have had it. The worst case was a woman while on safari (trip) to Zanzibar hurled everywhere and had flu-like symptoms. She had level 5, which means 5 parasites. If someone gets 21 or more attention is heightened. In order for Malaria to be fatal, over 100 parasites need to invade the body. Luckily, I haven’t gotten it yet, though it would be a fun story to tell if I did.
Cholera is another illness I had no knowledge of. It is an acute intestinal disease that is characterized by profuse watery stool. Many people get Cholera because of the substandard sanitation facilities that exist in and around communities where food and crops are produced. Symptoms include abdominal cramps and vomiting due to loss of salt and water. Prevention includes improved water supply, improved sanitation facilities, and prophylaxes.
The doctor was unpretentious and very warm and willing to get to know the very large group that was in front of him. He asked, Jina lako nani? (What is your name?) in which we replied with Jina langu…(My name is…). It was wonderful to have this lecture except that I learned after this lecture, that I need to take a half-hour nap before lectures and language classes. I caught myself dozing off during some of them more than a few times. I know, I know… tsk, tsk, tsk!!!
After the lecture, the staff had planned an outing that included both the volunteers and the staff. The optional activity was to go to the Paradise Hotel and Resort not very far from the home-base and go swimming in the pool. Although it sounded like a lot of fun, I decided to meet up with my co-worker Nasa and hang out with him and go to the Bagamoyo Sculpture School that he attended.
Earlier that day I had the privilege of meeting Tausi (Tah-oo-see), Nasa’s girlfriend. She had come from Dar Es Salaam to visit him and does so every Thursday, I learned. Tausi (which means peacock in Swahili) was still hanging around when I came back to pick Nasa up after lunch, so she came along for the walking trip. (BTW, on my walk to pick Nasa up, and on many occasions, I’ve run into herds of cattle, including cows, goats, and sheep being herded through the roads. It is really funny and cute!)

Nasa & Tausi. On the left of them is Nasa's painting of a fisherman on a sailboat casting a net. 

Cows and goats being herded through town.

On our trip to the Bagamoyo Sculpture School Nasa took me to meet many of his artist friends that live very close to the Baobab Studio. This entire neighborhood, from the road I walk every morning, to every corner you can turn from the Baobab Studio, is full of art studios and artists. What’s really wonderful about the community is that they truly support each other in their work. One way in which they do so is by selling each others’ art in the different studios in the neighborhood. What I noticed Nasa doing was that he was showing me around to places that he had his art up for sale. Sea View, Peeley’s, and Ras. T, other than Baobab, were the few that he invited me to see his work.
With my very limited Swahili, that hasn’t progressed much from the greetings stage, I met some of Nasa’s friends and tried to carry a short conversation with them. Luckily, Tausi was with us; she is currently studying English at an institute in Dar Es Salaam. The first place we hit up was very interesting to say the least. We walked into someone’s abode without knocking or asking for permission to enter. The door and doorway was one that is very typical in Zanzibar. The place looked like an abandoned building with an odor to support it. In a darkness that was penetrated only by the sunlight peaking through the closed shutters, we walked up a flight of stairs to come to a landing where 4 men were painting. The room was dreary with light blue walls and very little light piercing through the windows. One of the men was a 17 years old who was working on a Tinga Tinga style piece, a style native to Tanzania. Tinga Tinga style is characterized by broad lines and dots and very cartoon-ish looking animals. They are very colorful and absolutely beautiful. The other three men were working on Zuguno style pieces that were a lot like the Tinga Tinga, except that there weren’t any animals. All plants were depicted in these painting with broad lines and very colorful paint.
As the men worked on the paintings, a woman sat in the corner on the floor nursing her baby boy. Tausi a-lined her way to her and started to chat.
After meeting everyone, Nasa showed me through a doorway, through another room that lead to a balcony. On the balcony older men and women were cooking food and chit-chatting away. One of the women was a French woman who came to Bagamoyo to do volunteer work with another organization. She was hanging out with the locals eating ugali (corn meal) and bull-shitting, as though she were one of them. That’s one of the things that gets me about Tanzanians… they always do try to make you feel like you are apart of them. The balcony also had a magical view of the beach and the Indian Ocean. I asked in my tattered Swahili Naomba kupiga picha? (Could I take some pictures?)
After visiting and meeting Nasa’s artsy friends we headed south down a path for about 15 to 20 minutes to the sculpture school. At this point Tausi and I were pretty tired, so I stopped and bought us bottles of water. Nasa didn’t want one. Along the way I learned that Nasa and Tausi have been dating for 6 years. I poked fun at them by asking when they were going to get married. Tausi answered, when she was finished with school and when they were both stable enough to do so.
We finally made it to a road in which statues and sculptures were lining the edge. Some were Nasa’s pieces. We walked a little further to arrive at a giant hut covering a bunch of statues and sculptures. This was the sculpture school. It was pretty much aisles among aisles of statues and sculptures. Outside on the “lawn” in front of the hut were some very political pieces. One main and one of the larger pieces were of an old-time Arab beating a hunched over slave with what looked like a leather strap. It was a very intense piece. Amazing piece, under the hut, was a huge drum that was about 4 or 5 feet in diameter, that had been carved by Nasa and some of his classmates.
After the sculpture school visit, Tausi was rushing us because she needed to get home. It was getting close to dark (about 6pm) and she had to catch a dala dala (bus) and take it about 2 hours back to Dar Es Salaam. She was already running late, but here in Tanzania there’s a saying: TFT (Tanzania Flexible Time). No one is very on-time to anything. Funny, I think Tanzanians are speaking my language.

Family Structure and Manners

Every night, a few minutes before bed I would choreograph a few counts of eight to teach my new students Sidaz, Manduly, and RH. They really loved the material I showed them earlier in the day, which makes me really excited and inspired to choreograph and teach them more Hip-Hop. I had my lesson plan ready with warm-up, stretch and technique to teach the guys the next morning.
It was day 5, Wednesday in Tanzania. Habari za asubuhi? (How is your morning?) is said amongst staff and volunteers to which Nzuri! (Nice!) is responded. At breakfast we ask each other Umelalaje? (How did you sleep?) to which the response is usually Safi (Clean), Nzuri, Salama (Peaceful), or Shwari (Fine). The day before, while waiting for the CCS van to pick me up, I had noticed that one of the primary schools that some of the volunteers teach in, Wambao Primary School, is right next door to The Baobab Studio. So I decided to walk with a group of the past volunteers who knew their way afoot to Wambao and take the detour to Baobab. It is about a 20 minute walk and was very easy.
On the walk over I noticed a bunch of school children heading to school in their brightly colored uniforms. One group of kids that were clad in green and white yelled at the mzungus to get our attention. They were all so energetic and asking us to nipe tano! (give me five!) I also noticed many women balancing giant baskets and buckets on their heads. Many times I’d initiate a Mambo? (What’s up?) or a Habari za asabuhi? to them. Other times they’d initiate.
The walk over was quite nice, but off to work I went starting at 8:30am and ending at 12:30pm. At about 10:30, I started the dance class. This time I came prepared with a change of clothes that were better suited for movement. When I changed, I noticed that the guys wanted to change also. Two of them had nylon basketball shorts underneath their pants, but one of them just stripped down to his undies. I couldn’t help notice that he had a beach pattern or theme printed on them. It was cute and funny.
After placement and lunch, we had a lesson on family structure in Tanzania. We were also taught proper manners and etiquette. The Tanzanian family is very non-nuclear. Anyone who is around your mother’s age is considered Mama (Mother). The same idea goes for Baba (Father), Kaka (Brother), Dada (Sister), Bibi (Grandmother), and Babu (Grandfather). Many times, I’ve been referred to as Kaka or Kaka Cabbie by many of my peers. In Tanzania the community helps raise a child. Many times a neighbor will punish (physically or otherwise) a child if his/her parents are not available. Also, many times, grandmothers are seen raising very young children. This might happen because the mother is too young to take care of her own child, is off working, has left the child orphaned, has died of complication during birth, or of HIV/AIDS.
Our lectures are usually followed by Swahili lessons and then dinner.

After The Placement

After teaching the guys a short bit of Hip-hop choreography, I went outside to wait for the CCS van to pick me up and head back to the main house. Sidaz was hanging out with me for a bit, shooting-the-shit, filling each other in on our home lives. An older woman came towards Sidaz and I, carrying about a 2 year old baby. I greeted her with “Shikamoo!” (A greeting given to elders (refer back to Swahili Lesson Blog) meaning, “I respect you!”) Her response was “Marahaba!” (I accept your greeting!) Sidaz, in his broken English, introduced me. She was his mother. The baby she was carrying is his son. This was interesting for a couple of reasons: 1) I didn’t figure Sidaz to be a father yet. He’s a pretty young guy seemingly unbothered by major responsibilities: 2)His son (whose name is escaping me now) was hanging with Sidaz’s mother as though he were her own child. Also, Sidaz didn’t really treat the child as his son, but more as his younger brother. The funny thing about the whole interaction was that Sidaz’s son is terrified of mzungus. I tried to make him comfortable with me and gain his trust, but it wasn’t working.
Forty-five minutes passed and I was still waiting for the CCS van. I decided to wait a few more minutes and if the van didn’t show, Sidaz offered to walk me back to CCS for I didn’t know where it was from where I was. Fifteen minutes later I was walking back to CCS. Later on Didase, Mama Clementine, and Zik apologies for forgetting to pick me up.
I met an older man on our walk. He had to be in his eighties. He just noticed that tall mzungu and stopped me to greet me. I said Shikamoo! He replied Marahaba! He was the sweetest old man asking me about my stay in Bagamoyo and my home life in America. He told me that I was very welcome by saying Karibu Sana! (You are very welcomed!) He also assured me that I was in good hands with Sidaz. He asked where he could find me. I told him at the Baobab Studio or at Cross-Cultural Solutions. Immediately, he knew what I was talking about. Apparently, CCS is very well known in Bagamoyo.
Just before getting back to CCS, I bought Sidaz and me a soda. Kind of like a thank you for going out of your way gesture. We both got orange Fanta. (Yes, that’s right, there’s Fanta here!) The soda’s were only 800 shillings each (about 75 cents) for a big bottle. We sat and drank up for a bit. After about a half-an-hour walk back to CCS, it was already lunch time. I thanked Sidaz for walking me back.
After lunch we had our second Swahili lesson with Mwalimu Mwalubawa (Teacher Mwalubawa). Our first lesson was on Sunday, the day before. Bwana (Mr.) Mwalubawa is the sweetest old man. A retired teacher. He taught for over 35 years. Now he teaches English for extra cash, although he doesn’t seem to be hurting for money. The lesson was on basics such as family members, pronouns, greetings, and days of the week. I really do enjoy learning Swahili.
After the language lesson we had a lecture on the school system. Many of the volunteers here are assistant teaching at pre-, primary, and secondary schools. Tanzania has 3 kinds of schools. Parents can pick between a Non-Formal education with no certificate; an Informal education which is somewhat structured and ending with a certificate; or a Formal education that is the most structured. The Formal education starts with nursery or pre-school (ages 3 to 5 and sometimes 6 if the student isn’t ready to proceed) where the students learn Kiswahili, community sharing, numbers, and the vowels a, e, i, o, and u. Primary school is standard (grades) 1 – 7 and culminates with a test at the end of standard 7 that determines if you can make it into secondary school. For those who don’t get selected go to either vocational school or a private secondary school. The mwalimu was a woman teacher. At the end of the lecture, she got into gender and the school system. She seemed to be very passionate about this subject. She is currently working towards women’s empowerment through education. It was super interesting to listen to he speak about the issues that she relates to the most. I was so happy that CCS chose her to lecture us.

First Day of Placements

Tuesday was the first day of our placements. We all had to wake-up bright and early, eat breakfast, and hop on the CCS van to our placements. My placement started at 8:30am. I got onto the van packed with some of the other volunteers and we were off. I was the first to be dropped off. I was pretty nervous considering I wasn’t at all prepped for what I would be doing for the Baobab Studio. Most of the other volunteers were going to be teaching, so many of them had lesson plans set and materials with them to share. I was literally left in front of my placement to go off and do what I can. So I went.
I met Nasa the day before when I went to Baobab Studio with Mama C and Ahmani. Nasa is a soft spoken, meek kind of guy. His English is not too good and my Swahili sucks, so you can imagine the interaction we’re going to have. You would think it wouldn’t be so great. Nasa and I got a long just fine. We figured out that with the help of my Swahili Phrasebook (Thanks Sandy!) and his limited English, we would communicate just fine.
The first thing that Nasa did was show me around the studio. The walls were just filled with art from floor to ceiling and even some hung on a make shift half-wall off to the side of the space. We went to the back area, outside, to go up some rickety and very narrow stairs to the area where the paintings are done. It is a small space with a slanted roof. There was paint everywhere. Nasa had been working on a sign for a local store. Many times he or the director of the studio, Kingston, would be commissioned to write and paint signs for local businesses.
Our next stop was to go to another nearby art studio that is connected to the Baobab Studio. The resident artist here is named Manduly. Not only does he paint, but he also crochets handbags, bracelets, and clothes. The place was very dark and not really Art Studio-esque. It looked like an abandoned 2-floor apartment building. I was invited to come upstairs to where Manduly, and apparently some other guys, hang out and sleep. This was when I was introduced to the Swahili Hip-Hop group Serious Manizzle. Manduly was also a rapper along with Sidaz, RH, and a few other guys I hadn’t met yet. A gentleman broke out a drum and the guys started to freestyle rhyme. It was great!
After hanging for a few minutes, Sidaz, Nasa, and I went back to Baobab Studio. Sidaz brought me to the back where the music studio is. They had a computer set up where their beats and instrumentations are created. Sidaz, who is also another visual artist, wanted to show me their music video and another song Serious Manizzle had done. They are both great! The one that they are very proud of, I assume because they play it repeatedly throughout the day, is Hip-Hop Bila Madawa Ilawezekana (Hip-Hop without Drugs is possible). I was surprised and thoroughly impressed with this song. They are trying to get the word out about the harm drugs can do through their music. I thought it was very cool.
While I was listening to the music, I couldn’t help but dance to it. The guys had noticed and started to mimic me without me noticing. After I finally did notice, I choreographed a short bit on them. They loved it. There they are, Sidaz, Manduly, and RH dancing my choreography to their song. I was very excited as were they. They asked me if I would show them how to dance hip-hop and of course I said yes. So for one hour of the placement time, I have been teaching them hip-hop in a very small room in the back of the Baobab Art Studio.

Meeting our Placement Partners

On the Monday of the orientation period, aka Day 3, we were to meet our placement partners via a luncheon. However, the day before, during the Swahili language lesson, I was pulled out of class to be told that my placement was going to be changed. The Chivane Cultural Group I was supposed to be working with was contracted to perform in Zanzibar for a few weeks. Great for them, but really disappointing for me. I was really set on working with this group. But shit happens for a reason, right?!

So instead of meeting with my placement partner, Mama Clementina aka Mama C and one of the drivers, Ahmani, took me to the Baobab Studio. The Baobab Studio is a community art studio where local artist can make and sell their work. Additionally, there is a music studio in the back where beats and “instrumentation” can be made and vocal tracks can be added later to make Swahili Hip-Hop. SWAHILI HIP-HOP!!! I was pretty excited to work with this group and see what I can do with and for them.

Orientation of the CCS Program

The next few days will be the orientation period of the CCS program. We’re on a pretty strict schedule from breakfast to dinner. Breakfast is from saa moja (7am. Weird considering that moja is one in Kiswahili. “Swahili time runs on an hour system reckoned from dawn to dawn and not midnight to midnight.”*) to saa mbili (8am), but will sometime be put out by saa kumi na mbili nusu (6:30am). And BTW, roosters are definitely around. After breakfast we had an hour break to get things together and do whatever we had to do before we had our first activity. I took this opportunity to get lost for a bit on my own.

I left the main house and walked west on the road right in front of the main and Annex houses. At first I thought the neighborhood looked a lot like Cevillar in Barranquilla, Colombia, the town my mom is from and that I have visited many times before. It is very poor with unpaved roads and locals walking around with giant baskets or buckets balanced on their heads. The difference though, was the houses weren’t really houses, but tin roofs with long strong sticks as columns holding the tin roof up. What I saw were women cooking on a fire made of burnt wood pieces and/or garbage on the floor with children surrounding them and/or running about, sometimes naked. The women were wrapped in fabrics called kangas, making breakfast for their familia and themselves. Their adults’ and sometimes the children’s faces were stoic, but once I said mambo? (What’s up?) to the children, their response being poa (cool), or Habari or Shikamoo to the older and elder people, their faces lit up with a warm and welcoming smile. I wasn’t afraid to say Mambo, Habari, or Shikamoo after the first few times. Everyone responded with a welcome and warmth that let me know I was safe. I felt an immediate connection once those introductory words were exchanged. Everyone stared at the mzungu (white person or foreigner). Sometimes the children would callout “MZUNGU! MZUNGU!” and run towards me asking nipe tano (give me five). And sometimes they’d crowd around me and grab my hand and walk with me for a few paces, their eyes just glowing, full of wonder of the tall mzungu. I walked a bit passing two junctions, turning north on the second. I said hello to a few people and high fived a number of children. Tanzanian people are beautiful, inside and out. There were seamstresses going at the sewing machine and mothers washing clothes by hand in a bucket. Men were riding on a piki (motor bike) or walking to work, I assume. I asked “Habari?” to one woman and she stopped me to tell me something I didn’t understand in Swahili. I told her Sifahamu (I don’t understand). Meanwhile an adolescent boy who spoke English was passing by at the same time and asked me “what did I need?” I told him I didn’t understand the woman and he just said, “Then just keep walking!” I laughed to myself. I looked at the time and noticed it was getting close to the time of the next activity. So I headed back to the Main House.

Fido, one of the guards greeted me at the front door and told me I was being sought. Of course, even in Bagamoyo, I was late to the next activity. The rest of the crowd, staff and volunteers (old and new) were in a big circle in the front of the complex. There was a ball being tossed around. The exercise was to state your name, where you were from, and what your CCS placement was once the ball was tossed to you. After we all went, Paulina and Edna, two of the housekeepers, were asked to teach us a song. After a little apprehension, they sang the following with the help of the previous volunteers and other staff.

Jambo, Jambo Bwana ( Hello, Hello Mister)

Habari Gani (What’s the new? or How are you?)

Nzuri Sana! (Very Fine!)

Wageni (Visitors),

Mwakaribishwa (You are all welcome!)

Tanzania Yetu (Our Tanzania)

Hakuna Matata! (No Worries!)

The song is fun and simple and I just can’t help but sing it all the time.

After the song, we all congregated to the back of the main house where all our meals are served. This is also the space used for meetings, lectures, and language lessons. The next activity/meeting was to discuss our expectations in Tanzania and our programs and to write them down on paper. Mine are to understand the differences between my and Tanzania’s cultures, learn the beautiful language of Kiswahili, and to make as many Tanzanian friends as possible.

We were also to discuss our worries or fears of being in Tanzania. Of course I was the first to jump up and say BUIBUI (SPIDERS). Some others from the volunteers were not being able to appropriately communicate with the locals, and not being successful or being overwhelmed at our placements. The papers we wrote on were posted on a board so that we can refer to them as our program progresses. Our facilitator for many of the meetings and group discussions is Zik Alula. Zik is a great, smart, and very funny man. His spoken English is wonderful. He even uses some of the cliché phrases we use in the US.

One of the activities during our orientation period was to go out into the community, follow specific instructions on a slip of paper, and return with the item or information that was asked for. Our mission was to turn left from the CCS exit, go down the road and pass two junctions, make a right and find a market area. In the market area we were to find an English language newspaper called “The Guardian”, purchase it, and bring it back to the CCS community. Then, we had to come back to the main road, find the Bagamoyo View Hotel, ask how much was a room per night, then look at the menu and take note of what was on it, and report all the information back to the group. There were only two rules: we couldn’t take a piki piki or a taxi, and we couldn’t ask anyone in CCS for help. We only had an hour and a half to do both task with a group of 4 people. My team members were Hollie from Seattle, Alli whom I mentioned before from Santa Barbara California, Peter with the pretty eyes from New Jersey, and me. We figured we had more than enough time to do both tasks and get back in time.

So, we set off to find the newpaper first. Holli whipped out her Swahili phrasebook and figured out how to say Ico wapi gazeti kingereza? (Where is the English Newpaper?) Funny thing is we are all a bunch of characters in our group. We were just laughing and greeting our neighbors and having a good time. We finally got to a right turn that Peter swore was the turn we had to make. I told him that it wasn’t a junction and that a junction is usually a 4-way intersection. All of a sudden Alli laughs and, like a 12 year old boy says, “You said 4-way!” Mind you, she’s a 30 year old woman. We were all just cackling. Of course our neighbors were staring at the laughing mzungus. They were enjoying the sight of us trying to figure this out.

So, after discussing what a junction was we decided to make the right turn anyway. We walked for a good 5 minutes and noticed a couple of shops. We went up to a few of them and asked about the newspaper. None of them sold the paper, but pointed us toward a place that might have it. Every time we stop at a shop and asked about the newspaper, they’d point us in a different direction than the last shop keeper. We made it to a bus depot. At this point we were getting a bit frustrated that we couldn’t find this English newspaper. We finally asked inside the bus depot if anyone new about this newspaper and the guy pointed us to the outside of bus depot a man sold it. We made sure to ask him a second time if it was “The Guardian” that he sold. The gentleman assured us that he sold that specific newspaper.

Low and behold we made it to the man that sold the English newspaper and of course he was fresh out of them. Forty-five minutes of searching for this paper and nothing! We were all frustrated, but took it in stride. We only had a few minutes left to find our second destination and get back to the Main House. My other team members were giving up on trying to look for the second items. I wanted to keep going and told them that I don’t want to fail our mission. Allison assured me that it wasn’t failed, we just couldn’t buy a sold out newspaper. Still, I wanted to go to the hotel and see what the deal was. We made a compromise and only walked passed a few junctions, but to no avail. We had 5 minutes left on the clock. Just enough time to walk back to the main house. Suffice to say, I was disappointed. We had no items to report on, however, the experience was invaluable. Still, I went back later on in the day, during my free time, and found the Bagamoyo View Hotel and asked for the price of the rooms and looked at the menu, all in my very broken Swahili. I was proud of myself.

Another activity during orientation was to break up into groups, again, and take a walking tour of the neighborhood. Abid is one of the passed volunteers. He took us on the tour. His intention was to check out all the local artist studios/stores. This was heaven for me. We hit up about 4 or 5 studios. They were all amazing. We saw pieces from paintings to wood carvings, all done by the studio owners/resident artists. It was just amazing. Some of the pieces were absolutely breathtaking! I started to realize what a huge artist community Bagamoyo was and is. Moreover, not only were some of these artists just visual; some were also drummers and dancers. On this walking tour, I was invited, twice, to come back alone and dance with them. I was elated!

After visiting all the art studios, we ended the tour on the beach. It was so wonderful to see the Indian Ocean up close and personal like this. It is just beautiful! We hung out at the beach for a few minutes, took some pictures, and then headed back to the home-base to talk about the policies and procedures of the program.

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*Swahili: Dictionary & Phrasebook, Nicholas Awde. Hippocrene Books Inc. New York, 2002

Getting to CCS

Arriving at CCS – Saturday, 26/7/08 (That’s right…Tanzanian format!!!)

After finally arriving to CCS, we were all greeted with a warm Karibu and a hot meal. The staff members here are incredibly welcoming. We were also greeted by some of the older volunteers who were staying longer than 3 weeks.
After dinner we were broken up into two groups. The groups were defined by what house we were staying in. In Bagamoyo there are three houses. The main house is compiled of two buildings: the main house and the Annex. One is right across the road from the other. The summer house (which will close in Mid-August) is a five minute walk from the main house. Those of us who were staying in the main house had been separated from those staying in the summer house when we boarded the different buses at the airport. Anyway, so we were split up into the Annex group and the Main House group.
I’m staying in the Annex, in a room with two bunk beds. (BTW, I haven’t slept in a bunk bed since I was a kid!) My roommates are Robbie from Connecticut, Brandon from North Carolina, and Abid (a left over volunteer) from somewhere in Canada. They’re all very cool guys, however, significantly younger than me.
After finally settling in, the volunteers and the staff did a little more “getting to know you” stuff. We were all asking questions about each other and so on. Funny thing is that, usually in the US, the questions asked are “What’s your name?”, “How old are you?”, and “What do you do?” However, the Tanzanians ask, “Habari za jioni?” (“How are you this evening?”), “Umeoa?” (”Are you married?”), and “Una watoto wangapi?” (“How many children do you have?”). If you’re local you may also be asked “Una wake wangapi?” (“How many wives do you have?”). It was definitely fun meeting everyone.

Seeing the Indian Ocean

Lots of stuff has happened since I left London. Leaving London Bridge was an excursion in itself. Because of the police activity the main entrance to the LB Tube Station was closed off. So, I had to finagle another way to get in. After dodging some po-po and ducking the yellow tape, I got into the station, got back on to the Tube, and went off to the airport to get my “checked” luggage, check-in, and get on my plain to Nairobi, Kenya.

I started my Heathrow experience on a low note having problems checking-in with Kenya Airways. They had given my seat to someone else, so I didn’t have the aisle seat I reserved; they gave me a window seat instead. I was burnt, but too tired to bitch and moan about it.

My saving grace was meeting a really wonderful woman from Cameroon, West Africa. Her name is Bernadette Fonge. While on the plane, Bernadette and I joked and laughed, watched “Vantage Point”, talked politics and social development, and bullshitted the whole way. It was an over-night flight, but unfortunately she and I couldn’t sleep. We got some wine (South African Chardonnay) and talk more about her life as well as mine. She’s a brilliant woman with some real need and want for social change in her country and is acting on and for it. She is a real inspiration.

After a crazy long flight, we finally touched down in Nairobi at 6:45am Saturday (11:45pm EST, Friday). Bernadette was sweet enough to walk me to my terminal and gate for my next flight to Dar Es Salaam. She had a 6 hour layover in Nairobi, before going to Cameroon. While in Nairobi, I noticed that there was a shower and a place to sleep (for purchase of course) right by my gate. After checking-in AGAIN, I went back and took a shower. I was a little freaked out, though. The place looked like a bath house. Well, it had been almost 2 days since I had taken a shower and I was feeling really grimy, so I went in and took one.

After my shower and changing into a new outfit, I waited for my flight to Dar. While waiting I realized I was finally in Africa. I couldn’t believe it; I WAS IN AFRICA!!! All I could think was I’ve waited my whole life for this. It smelled different. It looked different. It even felt different. I was excited to know that I was in the Motherland; the center of human existence. WOW!!!

While in the cabin, waiting for my flight to taxi and take-off, I met 2 of the volunteers from CCS: Melanie and Allison. Melanie is from Canada and is very down to earth and cool. Allison is from California and is super funny, loves to have a good time and full of personality. We hit if off right away. Melanie is more laid back and Allison is very exuberant. I also met a really nice guy from London. Well, he was actually from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, but had moved to London. He was on his way back to Dar on business. He is a tech geek, and is super cool, smart, and charismatic. He is a consultant for a computer networking firm. We shot the shit on our flight. We talked about ourselves, he filled me in on Tanzania, and just chilled. It was great!

An hour had passed as did Mt. Kilimanjaro (I missed it because I fell asleep) we landed in Dar Es Salaam. FINALLY, I HAD MADE IT TO TANZANIA!!! After a day and a half of traveling I made it to my final destination. However, the fact that I was in Dar Es Salaam Tanzania still didn’t hit me! It wasn’t until much later that it would.

I hooked up with Allison and Melanie at the place where you show your visa, just before baggage claim. (I want to say Customs, but the word is escaping me) CCS was due to pick us up at 3:30pm and it was 10am. We had a lot of time to kill. After much lollygagging and checking our emails, we decided to take a tour of Dar Es Salaam. We hooked up with a tour guide named Saidi (Sah-ee-dee). He was incredibly chill. As a matter of fact I realized that everyone we came in contact with was incredibly chill. The pace in Tanzania was much slower than that of NYC. And the people actually greet you with a warm and welcoming “Mambo?!” (What’s up?!). Hence the name of the city Dar Es Salaam; it means “City of Peace”.

In a small and beaten up Honda Camry with the driver side on the right (like London), Saidi took us around town for a couple of hours. We passed the City Center (kind of like a downtown, market place area), passed a couple of big hotels, and passed the local towns people, all whom were staring at the mzungus (white people). Funny thing is in America, I am not white. But here, I am considered to be one. I’m assuming that word also means foreigner. Anyway, we told Saidi that sisi tu njaa (we were hungry). He took us over to the fish market. This was my first experience of culture shock. The fish market looked like a giant flea market where the mwuzaji (sellers) were under a huge concrete shed. It smelled pretty horrible, but the sights were super interesting. It finally hit me: This was Tanzania! Everyone was trying to sell us something. From raw fish to cooked; from hand-made jewelry to beautiful seashells. I made my first purchase here. I was too afraid to eat anything here, so I opted to buy the seashells. I couldn’t help it, the mwuzaji ran after me to greet me and show me these absolutely gorgeous seashells. They were also a bargain at 10,000 shillings (equivalent to $8.70 USD). BTW, the exchange rate is 1150 shillings to $1. So freaking ridiculous!!! The fish market was just off the beach so we got to see the men fishing in the boats and even swimming with snorkel goggles trying to fish with their bare hands. The beach was beautiful; the water crystal blue and green. This was my first time seeing the Indian Ocean.

Mel, Alli, Saidi, and I decided we’d go get a bia baridi (cold beer) at another beach. So we drove passed a bunch of Embassies and the President’s house to Coco Beach. I asked for Tatu Bia Baridi, (3 cold beers. Yes they drink warm beer hear!) and a Coke for Allison. She doesn’t drink bia. Saidi order grilled goat. It was a little gamy, but satisfying for the moment. While sitting on the beach, we witnessed a birthday Sherehe (party). They sang a happy birthday song with a completely different tune than that of the one we sing. It was joyous and so wonderful to watch. We headed back to the airport after our bia baridi. We had an hour left before CCS was to show up. We engaged in conversation with Saidi in our broken Swahili and his broken English on the ride back. We talked about his family and how he likes to go clubbing once in a while. He even asked me if I’d join him for a weekend. He gave me his phone number. LOL

When we made it to the airport, a group of mzungus were grouped together. I saw some with the CCS t-shirts, so we made our way over to them. We also ran into some volunteers who were on their way out. There were about 15 of them waiting. Alli, Mel, and I were greeted by Didase, one of the driver for CCS. With a giant smile and a warm Karibuni sana (Welcome All!) we greeted by this wonderful man.

I seemed to be the life of the party in our party. I greeted the whole group with a HAMJAMBO CCS which seemed to get everyone cheering!!! We were all huddled together introducing ourselves to each other. I escape the little mzungu crowd and went over to talk to Didase. We waited for some other flights from Dubai and Nairobi to arrive with some more volunteers.

At about 4:30, all the CCS volunteers were all accounted for and ready to head to Bagamoyo. We all packed into 3 small buses (2 for volunteers, 1 for our luggage). We were finally on our way. This is where we met Tuma. Tuma is one of the guards at CCS. He is a beautiful man with a Taye Diggs smile that just lights up his face. (Sorry baby!) He seems to be the popular one with the girls here. It's funny to see him surrounded by the girls here. Tuma is poa sana (very cool) and just safi (great)! Anyway, our ride was a long ass ride on a long unlit, paved road.

After almost 2 hours and a very sore ass, we made it to the home-base in Bagamoyo. We were greeted with a Habari za jioni (Good evening! Literally translated: What's the new this evening?) and chakula za jioni (dinner). Of course I was famished being that I didn't really eat anything because we were urged not to eat anything uncooked or peeled. At this point I had only put a bia and grilled goat in my stomach.

My time is up at the internet cafe. More to come soon!