One step at a time

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Jambo! Tomorrow we will have been here a week- unreal!!! It's amazing how FAST the time is going by and I'm starting to think four weeks isn't long enough. I never want to come home, I wish all my friends and family and my puppy could move here and then I'd be 100% satisfied. Wishful thinking...

This morning I got to sleep in.. a little bit... 7:30 as opposed to 6:45! Usually on the weekends breakfast is served from 8-10 while during the week it is served from 7-9. But this morning a big group of about 20 people were leaving Foot 2 Afrika to go on safari and then go home! They were a soccer group from Ireland who were here for two weeks teaching/coaching football (soccer) to the locals.

Much of this afternoon was spent in Moshi shopping and eating with Deb.. First we stopped at I-Curio where I spent 80,000tsh on two pairs of really soft African style pants, a shirt that says "Elephants are the only ones who should wear ivory", a shirt that is very African themed, and two more pieces of jewelry! Then we stopped at a couple of fabric stores so mom could buy fabric to make her own khonga's (skirts) and some pants. Then we stopped at a restaurant called Indoitaliano and it's exactly what it sounds like.. there is one menu with Indian food, and one menu with Italian food. I, of course, chose from the Italian menu where I ordered a mini margarita pizza. I got a kick out of the fact that I can order Italian food in Tanzania... although it's nice because I'm still a little skeptical about eating true African food. Speaking of getting a kick out of things... this morning I was taking a shower and as the Irish group was packing their stuff into the Safari trucks they were blasting DJ Pauly D (one of the horrendous and obnoxious characters from the Jersey Shore TV Show). To be honest I was enjoying the first few seconds of the beat until I hear "yo yo yo this is DJ Pauly D in the house" and I thought to myself "OH MY GOODNESS this is so wrong on so many levels I should not be hearing him all the way in Tanzania!!" Then I began to wonder how on Earth he is so popular in Ireland, or anywhere for that matter... like there are thousands of helpless people who DESERVE and NEED the kind of attention he gets and instead we put all this focus on a person who can't rap or make music to save his life. Can you tell how angry this makes me? Ugh.... For the most part the music in Africa is beautiful, I love the rhythm and it always boosts my spirit. There are a few times where I recognize some of the songs the local shops are playing, like Usher or Mariah Carey, but I just think it's funny.

So anyways, after we had lunch we continued our shopping in hopes of finding index cards so I can make flashcards to practice my swahili. I've done an OK job at remembering some words but would love to learn more. For instance I know how to start a conversation

Rebecca: Mambo (Standard greeting)
Mom: Poa (cool)
Rebecca: Habari (how are things?)
Mom: Safi (safe/peaceful) or Nzuri (good) **I've never heard someone say bad**

There are some variations such as when mom says poa, she can also say poa vipi, which would eliminate me saying habari and instead I would just say safi or nzuri. What I've discovered is that after I've gone through this whole greeting process many locals then think I know more swahili.. and I really don't. Other words I know are usiku mwema (goodnight), lala selama (sleep well), dada (sister), caca (brother), ndiyo (yes), hapana (no), tafadhali (please), samahani (excuse me), asante (thank you), asante sana (thank you very much), karibu (welcome/you're welcome), karibu sana (you're very welcome), maji (water), mbili (two), jano lako nani (what is your name), pole (I'm sorry), pole sana (I'm very sorry), pole pole (slowly), and probably more that I just can't think of at 10:30 at night...

Back to the index cards, we couldn't find any so we settled on little itty-bitty notebooks where I will just have to make my own flashcards. Oh well, this is Africa (TIA). After that adventure we stopped for some coffee (my first coffee in a week) and a crepe at the Kilimanjaro Union Coffee House. This required going to a different part of Moshi I wasn't used to but all the same, I loved it! We got to walk down Market Street where a lot of stands are selling anything from sunglasses to socks and shoes and everything in between. Then we made our way to Nakumat, a Kenyan based supermarket. Let me tell you.. this thing is MUCH fancier than any supermarket or grocery store I have ever been in. This thing was two stories with very modern check out lines- it was awesome! After spending about 20 minutes here we made our trip back to the house because it was getting dark. This time we got to take a different route which was nice because we got to see some new scenery and some different faces. I swear I see the same faces every day and have actually made acquaintances with this one guy. Of course he's only trying to get me to buy some of his artwork made out of dried up banana peels but every afternoon I run into him on Chogga Street. He calls me dada which means sister in swahili :) So, if ANYONE is interested in a banana peel piece of artwork let me know because I'm sure it would make him more than happy!!

Tonight at the volunteer house its been fairly quiet with the big group of Irish students gone. Because they were such a big group, two of our chefs went on the safari with them (Msafiri and Leemo). Msafiri is probably my favorite staff member here because he genuinely is so sweet. Everytime he sees me he asks me how I'm doing and he also calls me his dada (sister). Plus he speaks good English so he's more than happy to speak to me in English :) So anyway, we only had Sarafina and Godye (not sure on the spelling but it's pronounced Go-dee) to cook us dinner tonight but it was still delicious! Godye is also the one that offers us different beverages and I learned today his nickname is Pamella (after a bar nearby the house called Pamella Bar). After dinner we experienced our second power outage, which I hear is rare to happen two nights in a row but whatever, we brought flashlights!!

One other thing I accomplished in the dark tonight, besides this blog, is I got in contact with a friend of a friend back home. His name is Luka (short for Lukanga) and we are meeting in Uhuru Park on monday afternoon for lunch! It is kind of cool to know someone back home who knows this person, and now I have the chance to meet him! I hear he is a wonderful down to earth man and based on his text messages he seems like a sweetheart. I've never even met this man and I already feel so welcome and he tells me he can't wait to meet! I am very excited -- he is the one whose wedding I have been invited to so I hope I get some more details about that as well as a chance to see his school/orphanage he has, called The Salama Center. So asante sana (thank you very much) to Cesar for giving me Luka's phone number and telling him about me.. now I have another friend in Tanzania!

Usiku mwema for now!! xoxo