I have been in Tanzania for a little over a week now and have seen and learned a lot already. I have been hesitant to write anything yet, partly because I don't know where to start. I have met so many interesting people and learned about so many organizations working in Tanzania.
The first week I spent in Arusha, Tanzania. Arusha is a very busy town with all the traditional Tanzanian markets but also a modern grocery store and movie theatre. Most of the OHS volunteers come into town on the weekends so that they can get a hot shower and a Fanta. The site where OHS is building our center is about 20 miles outside of Arusha in a small village, next to a small town called Kisongo. I will start living out on site in next week. Until then, I am taking a hot shower every day:)
In the first week here, it was difficult to adjust to everything and I didn't know it I was going to like Africa. But with time I am learning a little Swahili and how to get around, and Tanzania is starting to grow on me. It has been an interesting experience learning how to let go of my cultural norms that I carry and adadpt to the new ones I must learn in order to survive here.
Manners are a very different communication here - greetings are always an essential beginning to a conversation, even if it is the waitress at a restaurant. It is considered rude to not take a moment and ask the gentlemen selling sodas on the corner how his day is before asking him to buy one - and in L.A. you're lucky if you can even get a smile, let alone a hello from someone on the street. On the other hand, running into someone here on the street requires no apologie and standing in line in most places doesn't mean you are next. "Shikamo" is always said as the first thing to anyone who is older than you and the response is always "marahaba". Food is always taken when offered and only eaten with the right hand.
I have also learned that - as usual - I need to learn to hold on to things better. The day before yesterday I got on a bus to come to Musoma to visit a friend and when getting off the bus in Mwanza to transfer I realized I had left my bag in the boot of the bus. I ended up spending a night in Mwanza and got my bag back the next day, but with much frustration and shame. Today, I safely - and with all bags in hand - arrived in Musoma. I am staying with a friend of a friend from L.A and he will show me around Lake Victoria and take me into the Serengeti this week.
Musoma is a little town on the lake and is quaint and peaceful. I will write more in the next few days of my travel around Musoma and then will return to Arusha next week to start with OHS. Until then, I hope to learn a few more new things - and perhaps some old lessons again.
