I just got back from my vacation to the Tanga region, in the northeast part of Tanzania. On the coast, the Tanga region couldn't be more different from my area down in the Southern Highlands. It's stiflingly hot and humid, the Muslim population is huge, and, well, that's most of it really. Tanga was a lovely town, and it was great being in a place where cold showers felt good anytime of day or night. The whole area seemed relatively laid-back, which was perfect for a vacation, and swimming in the Indian Ocean was a lot of fun. I also managed to get up to Lushoto, a town up in the nearby mountains, where the weather was cool like at my site, but still more humid creating a jungle environment with lots of monkeys.
The Tanga area is supposed to be more superstitious than most. Out in the villages it's common for kids to hear stories about white demons or people who drink the blood of children, so one volunteer, Neal, has fun with the slightly older children by saying "Ehee, watoto watamu," (Ah, delicious children). He's pretty good at making them laugh with it, but a couple times he says he's tried it on kids just a little too young to find it funny, which causes them to run away screaming.
More superstitious evidence is that another volunteer, Krista, had 2 kids possessed by demons at here school in the week prior to our visit. The kids start thrashing around, and maybe babbling (perhaps it's just a seizure? perhaps they're just bored?). When possessed, a kid is brought into the staff room and put on the floor while the teachers argue over who should pray over her (both of Krista's cases were girls). They say that they need someone of great faith and pure of heart to pray over them to cast out the demon, so if a teacher prays and the demon remains, then clearly the teacher's faith is not strong enough. The second possession was spasming violently and hitting her head against the concrete floor, so the teachers brought in a couple students to hold her down.
Krista says that the first possession was successfully exercised by a Church official who was luckily visiting the school, and the second sort of went away by itself during the half hour while the teachers were arguing.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Anecdotes
These are some little stories from Peace Corps Tanzania volunteers that may or may not be entirely true, but I've found interesting of funny and would like to save.
Masai
There are tribes all over Tanzania. Lots and lots of different tribes. They all (I think) have their own tribal languages, customs, etc. For example, in the area between Njombe and Ludewa, the tribe is Upangwa (then, in Kiswahili, one person is an Mpangwa, the people are the Wapangwa, and the language is Kipangwa). In Njombe, you find some Wapangwa, but mostly Wabenna. Travelling towards Iringa you get Wahehe and then Wakinga. Now Kibenna and Kihehe are quite similar, many words are shared but pronounced a bit differently, and most of the tribal languages are Bantu languages so the grammar is quite similar to Kiswahili. There are a few exceptions, Kimasai and Kirek, for example, are not Bantu languages.
Lots of tribes. Some are bigger than others, some are more powerful or generally more wealthy than others. In African countries, problems are often caused when there are only 2 or 3 tribes, like the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, or (not exactly tribes, but) the current situation in Iraq. In Tanzania for many many years, the different tribes have lived pretty well in harmony, and many attribute the success to the great diversity that is present. I don't think any single tribe makes up even 10% of the population.
It is also not very easy to know someone's tribe by their appearance, with the exception of the Masai. The Masai are definitely one of the larger tribes and have historically, been primarily warriors and cattle ranchers, whereas most every other tribe were historically subsistence farmers. Even today, many Masai have a diet that consists almost solely of beef, milk, and cow's blood, whereas most of the rest of the country eats spinach, rice, beans, and ugali (cornflour and water). Cattle are very valuable, and the Masai are generally quite wealthy, but it is only recently (and still more an exception than a rule) that they send their children to secondary school and university.
The Masai also perform many body modifications, such as ear-stretching, decorative burning and scarring, and removal of the two front teeth. They also have traditional robes that they wear and often are carrying a spear or a sort of truncheon. So they stand out a bit.
I recently did a bit of traveling with a volunteer, Peter, from the Arusha region, near the Serengetti, where there are lots of Masai, and got a couple good Masai stories. On his way to Tanga, where we met, Peter was sitting next to a Masai on the bus. The Masai was dressed in traditional robes, didn't have his front teeth, had circular scars on his cheeks and forehead, and had his spear. Pretty clearly Masai. I think he was rather young, and Peter struck up a conversation with him. After a little small talk, Peter told him that he was trying to pick up a bit of Kimasai, to which the Masai guy responded with great enthusiasm "Oh really? I'm a Masai!" (in Kiswahili, of course). Peter didn't quite know how to respond, and just paused and said, "Well, yeah." He's decided if it ever happens again to come back with, "Yes, and I'm white!"
The Masai also had some tough bargaining techniques that I doubt I'll ever try. Buses are a very common place to buy things, and in every little town you stop in, people are trying to sell you things through the windows. Peter tells me that in one town the Masai guy took some interest in a pack of 4 bars of soap. He took the pack from the seller and asked how much it was. The seller said 1,000 sh (about $0.80), which the Masai said was too much. He opened the pack and took two bars of soap, gave back the rest, and asked how much for two. Predictably, the seller said 500 sh. Again, the Masai guy said it was too much, and he gave the seller 300 sh. Then they had an argument, where the seller kept asking for his 200 additional shillings, and the Masai guy insisting that it was too much. Eventually, the bus drove off leaving the seller behind, still yelling.
At another stop, the Masai guy bought something for 700 sh, took it, but didn't want to give the seller his 2000 sh bill until the seller could produce the change. He said something like "the bus is leaving soon, and if I just give you the money, you won't get the change in time." Similarly to the last story, it ended with the bus driving off and the seller not getting paid.
When the bus got close to the Masai guy's stop, he gathered his things and went up to the bus driver and told him his stop was coming up. The driver didn't know quite where the guy met, as they were in the middle of nowhere. They had a brief exchange where the driver was asking "By that tree?" "No, a little further," "How about at the top of that hill?" "No, there, by that rock!" and the Masai guy got off the bus at a very specific spot in the middle of nowhere, and stood there as the bus drove off, apparently waiting for someone to come help carry his bags.
Masai
There are tribes all over Tanzania. Lots and lots of different tribes. They all (I think) have their own tribal languages, customs, etc. For example, in the area between Njombe and Ludewa, the tribe is Upangwa (then, in Kiswahili, one person is an Mpangwa, the people are the Wapangwa, and the language is Kipangwa). In Njombe, you find some Wapangwa, but mostly Wabenna. Travelling towards Iringa you get Wahehe and then Wakinga. Now Kibenna and Kihehe are quite similar, many words are shared but pronounced a bit differently, and most of the tribal languages are Bantu languages so the grammar is quite similar to Kiswahili. There are a few exceptions, Kimasai and Kirek, for example, are not Bantu languages.
Lots of tribes. Some are bigger than others, some are more powerful or generally more wealthy than others. In African countries, problems are often caused when there are only 2 or 3 tribes, like the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, or (not exactly tribes, but) the current situation in Iraq. In Tanzania for many many years, the different tribes have lived pretty well in harmony, and many attribute the success to the great diversity that is present. I don't think any single tribe makes up even 10% of the population.
It is also not very easy to know someone's tribe by their appearance, with the exception of the Masai. The Masai are definitely one of the larger tribes and have historically, been primarily warriors and cattle ranchers, whereas most every other tribe were historically subsistence farmers. Even today, many Masai have a diet that consists almost solely of beef, milk, and cow's blood, whereas most of the rest of the country eats spinach, rice, beans, and ugali (cornflour and water). Cattle are very valuable, and the Masai are generally quite wealthy, but it is only recently (and still more an exception than a rule) that they send their children to secondary school and university.
The Masai also perform many body modifications, such as ear-stretching, decorative burning and scarring, and removal of the two front teeth. They also have traditional robes that they wear and often are carrying a spear or a sort of truncheon. So they stand out a bit.
I recently did a bit of traveling with a volunteer, Peter, from the Arusha region, near the Serengetti, where there are lots of Masai, and got a couple good Masai stories. On his way to Tanga, where we met, Peter was sitting next to a Masai on the bus. The Masai was dressed in traditional robes, didn't have his front teeth, had circular scars on his cheeks and forehead, and had his spear. Pretty clearly Masai. I think he was rather young, and Peter struck up a conversation with him. After a little small talk, Peter told him that he was trying to pick up a bit of Kimasai, to which the Masai guy responded with great enthusiasm "Oh really? I'm a Masai!" (in Kiswahili, of course). Peter didn't quite know how to respond, and just paused and said, "Well, yeah." He's decided if it ever happens again to come back with, "Yes, and I'm white!"
The Masai also had some tough bargaining techniques that I doubt I'll ever try. Buses are a very common place to buy things, and in every little town you stop in, people are trying to sell you things through the windows. Peter tells me that in one town the Masai guy took some interest in a pack of 4 bars of soap. He took the pack from the seller and asked how much it was. The seller said 1,000 sh (about $0.80), which the Masai said was too much. He opened the pack and took two bars of soap, gave back the rest, and asked how much for two. Predictably, the seller said 500 sh. Again, the Masai guy said it was too much, and he gave the seller 300 sh. Then they had an argument, where the seller kept asking for his 200 additional shillings, and the Masai guy insisting that it was too much. Eventually, the bus drove off leaving the seller behind, still yelling.
At another stop, the Masai guy bought something for 700 sh, took it, but didn't want to give the seller his 2000 sh bill until the seller could produce the change. He said something like "the bus is leaving soon, and if I just give you the money, you won't get the change in time." Similarly to the last story, it ended with the bus driving off and the seller not getting paid.
When the bus got close to the Masai guy's stop, he gathered his things and went up to the bus driver and told him his stop was coming up. The driver didn't know quite where the guy met, as they were in the middle of nowhere. They had a brief exchange where the driver was asking "By that tree?" "No, a little further," "How about at the top of that hill?" "No, there, by that rock!" and the Masai guy got off the bus at a very specific spot in the middle of nowhere, and stood there as the bus drove off, apparently waiting for someone to come help carry his bags.
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