Bits of Life

Hamjambo friends and family,

I know this is a lot. I was going to post them as separate sections, but our internet is off and on (just like our water, and electricity, and schedule, and so on) and sometimes I am not able to be on line, so you can pace yourself and read one or two at a time!

General life and Culture:

             I was talking with a friend today about what it is like when people ask us,  “how are you?” or “How is it in Tanzania?” and I feel like standing open mouthed in front of them not knowing what to say. I told another friend today “there is nothing I have to say about my time here that is in any way mundane.” I think  that just about sums up my feeling lately and yet slowly day by day I am starting to feel more and more at home (perhaps it is just that home doesn’t have to mean mundane!). Today and yesterday we visited two bomas, one of the Maasai tradition and one of the Iraki tradition (note- Maasai is pronounced MA-sigh not ma-SIGH as most people pronounce it). A boma is a place where tourists (mostly European but also Tanzanian) can come and see certain tribes cultural heritage. Both of these experiences were very interesting and very different from one another. At the Maasai Boma people live in huts made of sticks and mud and have a pen for their goats and cows. When we arrived they greeted us by singing and dancing in their traditional cloth and jewelry. We were then led around by one of the young men who spoke English and showed us their way of life. It was interesting to see how they portrayed their culture as a primitive way of living, as if it and they were stuck in a historical moment. Although many Maasai live in similar ways there are distinct advances in basic technologies in their villages today.

            The Iraki Boma (Iraki is the main tribe in this area of Tanzania and many of our staff come from the Iraki tribe) was very different. The people who showed us around living in a modern cement house next to the recreated examples of historical houses they had made of sticks and mud. They showed us how the people used to live and showed us an example of the beaded wedding skirts they used to make and the way the made clay pots. It was clear that they were not living like this anymore, but that this was a part of their ancestry. It was very interesting to think about how each tribe chooses to portray their culture and how it appeals to tourists looking at the cultures.

Safari!

            Last Saturday, while most of you who are reading this were fast asleep, I was on Safari in the middle of the day. We left early in the morning to catch the animals at their prime active time, but stayed all day and continued to see animals throughout. I will give a list of some of the animals we saw and then I will tell you about my favorite things! We saw many baboons, impala, wildebeest, zebras, hippos, an African fish eagle, giraffes, elephants, dik diks, bush bucks, hyraxes, African buffalo, yellow billed storks, pink backed pelicans, Little bee-eaters, superb starlings, a malachite kingfisher, both helmeted and crested guineafowl, vervet monkeys (which have sky/bright blue balls), a black-backed jackal, a mongoose (not sure what kind), warthogs, ostriches, an African harrier hawk, and probably a few that I am forgetting. I was blown away. I had no idea we were going to see that much in one day and at one of the smaller National Parks. I remember being in our land cruisers (yes we get to stand up on our seats so that we poke out of the skylights in the top of the cruiser) and we rounded a corner to come upon a plain full of zebras, wildebeest, impala, and African buffalo grazing. After being speechless for a few moments, a friend who was standing next to me said “Seeing this plain full of animals makes me realize that I didn’t really believe this still existed.”

After hearing that I realized that I didn’t truly believe that most of the animals I saw that day still existed. I cannot describe to you what it is like to see a baby elephant, not more than waist high, nestle partially underneath its mother, as its mother pulls browse from a tree with her trunk and feeds herself. I think my heart fell out of my chest as I was watching the elephants, but I am sure they will take good care of it. Another wonderful moment was when we were driving back thought the park we were passing a territory of hyraxes that we had seen on the way, but this time they were making a complete racket. Then, out of the brush, came a black-backed Jackal loping along. The hyraxes were sounding their predator alarm for the Jackal. I must admit I have not been all that into animal behavior, but watching interactions like these is enough to sway anyone!

Daily Life

Classes have also been wonderful, but we have a lot of them. It is hard to fit everything into one day. We go on nature hikes at 6:30 am, have breakfast at 7:30, classes till lunch at noon, then classes from 2-5. Sometimes we have other activities like visiting the Bomas, but many days we just have lots and lots of class. It is super interesting because we are beginning to understand the whole picture of the environment and conservation efforts here (including the wildlife, the people and their culture, the language, the political and historical background, the different ecosystems…), but also exhausting. Our professors are wonderful, but sometimes it is challenging to understand them in terms of their pronunciation and accent.

Swahili

            One of the hardest things about being here is that Swahili is the national language of Tanzania, which means that very few people speak English outside the cities. This is super interesting, but also challenging because we have no way to communicate… yet. We are struggling to learn Swahili, which is much harder than learning any language I have ever tried. When learning Spanish, French, German, Latin, Italian, Portugeas… we understand where many words are coming from. We understand relationships between words and their roots, sentence structure, and their derivation. Swahili isn’t like any language I have ever come into contact with. Without those associations, learning Swahili is like memorizing sounds. Since I am not an auditory learner this is even harder for me! Oh goodness, if you have any good language learning wishes to send my way, I sure could use them!

Much Love

            I have been missing all of you and homely things a lot, but I am so full of learning that it is hard to even have time to communicate how much I think about you. I hope you are enjoying all of this and I am sending my love and hugs all around the world to whatever wonderful place you might be in (New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Canada, France, Peru, California, Maryland, Italy, India, Missouri, Indiana, Puerto Rico, Kenya, Austraila and many more I am sure I am forgetting)!

Lovelovelove,

Sara