Sunday, February 12, 2012

What's that place called America?

I've been living in Singida since December and have had an interesting experience to say in the least!  I absolutely love my village and it is absolutely beautiful.  I look out in the morning and see nothing but plains, greenery, farmland and the most extraordinary stones/rocks.  If I stand about 10 feet from my house I can see Mt. Hunang, which is the second largest mountain in Tanzania.  I’ve made great friends with all the teachers at my primary school, since that is my new home, and I’ve made a best friend in the one.  She has a three year old son that apparently I will be bringing back to America to study (which is what I find I’ll be doing with many children!)
I’m currently working on a village needs assessment to figure out what my work will be for the next two years.  Right now I’m thinking I’ll be teaching health at the Secondary School, which is like high school, and starting a health club there.  Those two are definite.  As for projects, I’m highly considering a water project because after rain season ends in March I’m not sure where I’ll be getting water from.  We all currently use buckets to catch rain water, and my primary school has two large rainwater harvesting tanks.  My village also really wants a soko, which is a market; the only things you can buy in my village are mangoes and tomatoes.  Of course you can also eat what you grow, which is why I planted a garden about 3 weeks ago.  Unfortunately the chickens ate almost every seed I planted but I have a few promising tomatoes and squash to transplant.  I feel like I’ve also planted at the end of the rain season because it hasn’t been raining much.  Maybe next year I’ll have my own food.  (I also need seeds, so Karibu (welcome) sending me seeds J)  Most people in my village plant various types of greens, beans, and the harvest crops are corn and sunflower.  They bring the sunflower to town to produce sunflower oil. (Speaking of, that’s something else they want; a sunflower mill).  The sunflowers are now starting to sprout, and seeing fields full of them every day is breathtaking. 

Things I’ve found interesting to convey to people in the village/discussing life in America:

1.      Every person does not have a farm, and there are job opportunities outside of being a farmer or having a business.  I conducted a survey in my village, and when asked how people generate income it was either biashara, which is business, or a farm, and that was it.  It was hard to convey the concept of factories and how we get the food we eat (here you eat what you grow or what someone else grew, but nothing processed and nothing from a “grocery store”, what is that?)

2.      We do not use corporal punishment in schools, and rarely in homes.  Then the question of “well how do you discipline?” always follows.  The concept of “time-out” and punishment by taking away things/adding extra work (or assigning papers/reports like my Mom used to do) were foreign and funny J

3.      If you cannot find a seat on public transportation (unless on a metro which I have yet to try to explain) you cannot simply stand and ride.  Here, where a car/van/bus seats 10, they will cram in 50.  That thing called personal space DOES NOT exist in Tanzania.

4.      I still have to explain to many people that yes, I am American.  It always helps when I also explain that my grandparents too, are also from America, so that they understand where my descent still remains.

5.      I have never seen a bat in my life because we have/use electricity in America.  At night there are still light posts, porch lights, and lights inside one’s home to deter them.  We also have ceiling boards and our houses are made from various materials, preventing holes in the wall that allow bats to burrow.  (I had HORRIBLE bats in my house that have since been fixed, but everyone thought it was funny I was afraid.  Bats to a Tanzanian are like Frogs to an American; they can’t harm you and the children actually play with them (when they catch them). 

6.      The average family size in America is 2 children, maybe 3.  10 are unheard of.  Here, 10 children in a family just may be the average family size.  Therefore making class sizes in primary school (elementary school) EXTREMELY large.  By extremely, I mean 100 children in "first grade," with one teacher.

7.      In America we have this thing called freedom of religion and there are more than 2 religions.  Here, you are Muslim or Christian and you MUST be one.  There is nothing else and there definitely are not individuals who do not believe, question or do not attend church.  Asking what religion you are is like asking someone what their name is.  It comes up in introductory conversation like where do you live? J

8.      There is not a bride price in America, and our parents don’t have to pay for us to get married.  Well, why not? Here, daughters live with their families until married, and then leave to live with their husband.  It’s more like a transfer of expense, and also a part of their culture.  In America, most females are independent prior to marriage and are already paying their own expenses.  (We also do that weird thing called date, and marry whoever we fall in love with.)

 My cultural exchange continues every day and thus far has proved to be the most rewarding.  Not only can I share my experience of Tanzania with friends in America via this blog, but through my improving Swahili, I can convey life in America to them.  I never say one or the other is better, they are just very different.  Tanzania is the MOST peaceful country I’ve ever been in, and I feel so safe every day.  I have nothing but loving, caring people surrounding me/in my presence in my village, who would give me the shirt off their back, and always welcome me to the food on their table (or floor J).  I feel absolutely loved and welcome and thus far am enjoying every bit of the ups and downs of the village life!