I love living in my community with Tanzanian neighbors who are friendly and very helpful. It's nice not to feel unnoticed or isolated in this community orientated culture. However there are days like today when I wouldn't mind being a little less noticeable in the community.
I was sitting in my living room this room writing emails and letters, trying to catch up on everything, when suddenly I heard "hodi hodi mzungu!" and the sound of a bunch of kids laughing outside of my gate. They were basically saying "knock, knock white person" and asking to come in. Since there is an elementary school nearby I wasn't entirely shocked to hear kids but usually they only yell at me when they see me outside. Seeing as how I hadn't left my house yet I was a bit surprised that they were yelling. I ignored them and figured they would leave but I was wrong.
A couple minutes later I heard a loud commotion, a mix of kids yelling and laughing and the gate clanging. Suddenly I could hear them running right outside my window down the side of the house, which means they were inside the gate. Now I was frustrated. I'm trying to have a quiet morning and get some work done but I can't concentrate. Fortunately I have great neighbours and they chased the kids off. It doesn't help for me to try to do anything because seeing me only encourages them.
Unfortunately this isn't an isolated incident. Another day a while ago I was in my bathroom washing my hands when a neighbour girl heard me. There is maybe 3 feet between the wall of our bathroom and the wall of the neighbour's house. On top of that, the water from the sink runs outside instead of into a sewer system. This girl was standing outside and she heard the water so she started yelling "I love you mzungu!". She couldn't see me because I was quite a bit higher and the curtains were closed. But she knew that white people lived in that house and that someone was in the bathroom so she started yelling. It was slightly disconcerting to realize that I didn't even have complete privacy in my own bathroom.
So although there are days when I do wish for a bit more privacy, I like my house and my neighbours and am thankful God brought me here.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
What Is Going On????
Every once in a while I find myself in the middle of a unique cultural situation where I wonder what in the world is going on. This last Saturday I landed in one of those.
I had gone over the Bible school where I taught a class last semester. I wanted to say hi to some friends who I hadn't seen since before Christmas. When I got out of the car I heard drums and wondered what was happening. Normally it is pretty quiet around the school and drums signaled something unusual. I had arrived with Hazel and Johnny (friends and colleagues) who also wanted to do some visiting so the three of us headed over to find out what was going on.
As we got closer we saw a group of students standing in front of their dorm and behind the dorm was a long line of people dancing and playing the drums. They were coming up the road through the Bible school. I asked someone what was going on and they said there was going to be a circumcision so the crowd was chasing the boy as part of the ritual. I could see now that the man leading the crowd had something tied around his head and the whole upper half of his body was painted in various colours. The group was moving fairly quickly although they were still a distance away.
I turned to talk to a friend and before I knew it, the group was heading in our direction. They had seen the white people which was an immediate attraction. I began to feel a bit uneasy, wondering what they were going do. I had never seen anything like this before and had no idea what would happen.
Suddenly I was surrounding by the crowd, my friends who I was talking to being forced into the background. The drums were loud, the crowd, mostly men around me, were dancing and the guy who was painted was directly in my face. I stood there, taking it all in, waiting for some cue to let me know what they expected from me. Sure enough it wasn't long in coming, "One thousand shillings will be good" they told me (about $1 CAD). Then I saw the money attached to the forehead of the painted man so I pulled out my wallet and handed over the money which they promptly added to the collection on his forehead. He was wearing some type of headband which they pinned the money to.
Having gotten what they wanted, the crowd took off in another direction. A bit dazed I turned to ask my friends (Tanzanian friends) what had just happened. They said this is a normal part of the circumcision ceremony. The crowd will go around collecting money from friends and neighbours in the morning and then will perform the circumcision in the afternoon. They said it is a bit different in each tribe and that this one is more aggressive than some of theirs that allow people to contribute as they want instead of demanding it.
We had an interesting discussion on circumcision after that and I enjoyed having another glimpse into the Tanzanian culture and seeing one of their traditions.
I had gone over the Bible school where I taught a class last semester. I wanted to say hi to some friends who I hadn't seen since before Christmas. When I got out of the car I heard drums and wondered what was happening. Normally it is pretty quiet around the school and drums signaled something unusual. I had arrived with Hazel and Johnny (friends and colleagues) who also wanted to do some visiting so the three of us headed over to find out what was going on.
As we got closer we saw a group of students standing in front of their dorm and behind the dorm was a long line of people dancing and playing the drums. They were coming up the road through the Bible school. I asked someone what was going on and they said there was going to be a circumcision so the crowd was chasing the boy as part of the ritual. I could see now that the man leading the crowd had something tied around his head and the whole upper half of his body was painted in various colours. The group was moving fairly quickly although they were still a distance away.
I turned to talk to a friend and before I knew it, the group was heading in our direction. They had seen the white people which was an immediate attraction. I began to feel a bit uneasy, wondering what they were going do. I had never seen anything like this before and had no idea what would happen.
Suddenly I was surrounding by the crowd, my friends who I was talking to being forced into the background. The drums were loud, the crowd, mostly men around me, were dancing and the guy who was painted was directly in my face. I stood there, taking it all in, waiting for some cue to let me know what they expected from me. Sure enough it wasn't long in coming, "One thousand shillings will be good" they told me (about $1 CAD). Then I saw the money attached to the forehead of the painted man so I pulled out my wallet and handed over the money which they promptly added to the collection on his forehead. He was wearing some type of headband which they pinned the money to.
Having gotten what they wanted, the crowd took off in another direction. A bit dazed I turned to ask my friends (Tanzanian friends) what had just happened. They said this is a normal part of the circumcision ceremony. The crowd will go around collecting money from friends and neighbours in the morning and then will perform the circumcision in the afternoon. They said it is a bit different in each tribe and that this one is more aggressive than some of theirs that allow people to contribute as they want instead of demanding it.
We had an interesting discussion on circumcision after that and I enjoyed having another glimpse into the Tanzanian culture and seeing one of their traditions.
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