Tanzanian Homestay 101

After our three-week homestay in Bangata, I have compiled a list of 26 interesting, random, half-serious and likely useless observations, facts, and tidbits of advice. Perhaps they will come in handy in your future endeavors.

1. Doors and alarm clocks are overrated. Sheets of fabric and chickens do just fine.

2. Beware of potholes when playing soccer. Stuff shoes in the biggest one.

3. Family structure can be extremely confusing. The children running around the house, fetching water, and eating dinner with you, may or may not be your siblings.

4. Cooking chapati is an art. It's probably better not to get in Mama's way.

5. It's hard to beat waking up to a warm bucket-shower. Just be careful, the water may still be boiling.

6. Avoid offending people. It's very hard to apologize in a new language.

7. Walking is not an option when going down hills after a big rain. You will either run or slide.

8. Music must be listened to loud enough so that conversations are not possible. The day has not yet begun until the nyumba (house) is bumping with Gospel music.

9. On a similar note, gospel music videos are ridiculously catchy. For all you TV-R Parkies— Despite what we are told in class, there is (at least) one entire country that loves iMovie transitions. The more frequent and corny the better. 

10. Freshly milked cow milk in my cup of tea is not my cup of tea.

11. Two men holding hands is commonplace in Tanzanian. Homosexuality, however, is illegal. 

12. To make an an object a toy just put it on a stick. This includes but is certainly not limited to leaves, water bottles, Blue Band butter lids, etc.

13. Transcans are non-existent. Got wrappers? Boxes? Paper? Just throw it out the window into the yard.

14. There are 30 different types of bananas and they are extremely versatile. They can/will be eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as main courses, desserts, or with tea. Bananas as we know them (called 'ndizi sukari') are miniature and ridiculously delicious. Also, banana tree is a main staple in cows diets.

15. Justin Bieber is everywhere. As are Chris Brown and Usher. 

16. If you spend an hour trying to hang a mosquito net, be certain it is hung the correct way or getting into an out of bed will require contortion.

17. Bangatans are amazing at remembering names. I am terrible.

18. Befriend a four year-old. Especially if you are going into a homestay not knowing the local language.

19. Nike got it right. Sometimes you've got to "Just Do It", even if you don't understand why you're being asked to eat a seventh chapati, wash your feet before school when you walk through a river, or taken an umbrella when it's hardly drizzling. (Just sure not to forget the umbrella at school...)

20. Bangatans are always "sorry" for each other— Working in the field, walking home from school, visiting a friend's house, and playing soccer are all valid reasons for people told "Pole" (Sorry).

21. A heaping bowl of 'chips' (aka greasy french fries) is a well-balanced meal.

22. Tanzanian/Kenyan mangoes are perhaps the most delicious fruit I have ever eaten. Just beware of the occasional one with bugs living inside.

23. If you give a kid a pack of gum, the whole neighborhood will have a piece in a matter of minutes. If you give a kid a piece of chocolate, the whole neighborhood will gather around you in a matter of minutes.

24. HAND-WASHING CLOTHES FOR DUMMIES: 1. Wash with soap. Technique is key 2. Wash with clean water 3. Rinse again 4. Hang to dry INSIDE OUT

25. REVISED #24: Attempt to replicate what siblings are doing while Mama watches, mumbles something to under Mama, and laughs. Watch as she re-washes your clothes.

26. Be prepared for a four-hour church service. Even if there are empty benches you will sit shoulders touching, eight to a bench.

Here are some more photos to paint a better picture of the last three weeks in Bangata!

My home is the white one! Another student, Jake, stayed in the orange one next door. Our Babas (fathers) are brothers and Bibi (their mother) lives on the other side of our house. This is one of the rare moments when there aren't kids running around the 'complex'.

From right to left: Our house, Bibi's house, an unfinished home (another one of Baba's brother's) that serves as an optimal playground. The choo (bathroom) that we share is behind the unfinished home.

View of Mt. Meru from the choo.

The kitchen where Mama works her magic over a wood-burning stove, usually with a cell-phone in her mouth as a light.

My room!

The front yard.

Kayla and Jake on our walk to school.

River crossing on the way to school. 

If you look very closely you can see my home on Kivesi Hill in a small village called Ngiresi.  The photo was taken close to our school in Bangata. (To clarify, Ngiresi is part of Bangata)

My 3 year-old sister Glory, more commonly called 'Baby'.


My 10 year-old brother Erick, nicknamed 'Mba'.

Me, Baby, and Doli. Doli lives next door (she is one of Jake's homestay sisters) and had always got my back. She's awesome.



Doli, Baby, and Lilli, who also lives next door.


For class on Wednesday, we took a trip to Arusha (the closest city) to practice our Swahili at the Sokoni (market). We were given money to barter for the ingredients to make fruit salad, chai masala, and guacamole. The next day we cooked up a feast!

Emma and Addie showing off our fruit salad display, complete with fresh bananas, oranges, mangoes, pineapple and watermelon.

One of several waterfalls in Bangata.


The boys soakin' in Matt's 21st birthday.


Our new friend Emmanuel who led us to the waterfall (and insisted on picking me up).


I don't think I'll ever get used to how casually little kids carry around machetes here.


Safari beer's new advertising campaign.


Billboard coming soon.


Jumping through the waterfall.

Climbing a cliff to get back to school.

All the girls at our end-of-homestay party. We were all given beautiful, custom-made Tanzanian dresses from our Mamas.

The boys in an array of 'African attire.' (Photo courtesy of Sam Lovering)

FAMILIA! 

Top row from left to right: Mama Kabda (Jake's Mama), Festo (Jake's brother), Jake, Me, Mama Levis (my Mama!)

Bottom row: Levis (my 15 year-old brother), Babu (Jake's brother), Baby

** Jake's two sisters and brother, my younger brother, and both of our Baba's who work in Nairobi are missing from this picture**

Our amazing Swahili teachers with Tara.

Mia and I in our dresses! The cleanest we've been all trip.

Ithaca is Gorges. Bangata is Beautiful.

Although it would take multiple blogs to sufficiently talk about everything that has happened since we arrived in Bangata on Sunday, I have not written a word in my journal. All of my spare time has been spent studying Swahili in hopes of having a decent conversation with my Mama by the time we leave Bangata. (Hey, a girl can dream)
 

Rather than trying to detail the ups and downs, miscommunications and misunderstandings, awkward and remarkable moments that have occurred in our first three days of homestay, I am just going to highlight a few things.

1.  It is only befitting that I start off by thanking Ajeet for the English to Swahili pocket dictionary that he gave me. It has saved my life this week! Incase you haven’t picked up, the language barrier has proven to make simple tasks extremely complex. Although we have 4 hours of Swahili lessons every morning and I feel like I am improving substantially every day, I am constantly frustrated by my inability to express myself and understand others. My go-to word is “Sielewi” (I don’t understand) and I’ve realized that the only thing one can do is to laugh along with those laughing at/with me.

2.  My immediate family is made up of my Mama, Levis who is 15, Erick (nicknamed Mba) who is 10, and Glory (nicknamed Baby) who is 4. Our Baba works at a hotel in Nairobi but is coming home this weekend. Levis speaks some English (and Mama seems to have picked up some words) which is extremely helpful, although he is gone most the day. We live next door to one of my classmates, Jake, one one side, and Bibi (grandmother) on the other. There are constantly kids running between yards, fetching water and going from one house to another. It is a very communal way of living and Jake and I still aren’t 100% sure who belongs to what family.

3.  Our house is in a village called Ngiresi located right next to Bangata. The views of Mt. Meru and the sunset from the village are absolutely astounding. In the mornings, I walk to school with several classmates who live nearby. Our walk is down a steep hill, through banana and maize fields, across a river (which I fell into yesterday), and up another steep climb. Even though Mama makes me bathe every morning before school, by the time we arrive I have broken a sweat and my feet are covered in dirt.

4.  Our house consists of 4 bedrooms and a living room/kitchen. The living room has several couches and chairs, a TV and DVD player, a stereo, a coffee table, a fridge (at least that’s what I think it is), and religious and motivational posters dotting the walls. My favorite is a poster with the 35 “World’s Worst Dictators”— including Hitler, Gaddafi, Hussein, and Margaret Thatcher— which I was told that Baba got in Nairobi. My bedroom is spacious and simple with a full-size bed, a small table, and a chair. I am awaken every morning, at nearly 6 on the dot, to the sound chickens coo-ing outside.

5.  My days consists of going to Swahili lessons, doing homework and running around with my classmates at the Center (where class is held), and returning home before dark I am welcomed home to tea, and then attempt to help Mama cook dinner (She is an amazing cook and I am probably just cramping her style), playing with the children, and standing idly by. When dinner is served, around 8PM, the TV is switched on and our evenings so far have been spent with eyes glued to the screen watching a movie called Brothers which I'm pretty they all have memorized. (Levis' other favorite DVD consists of probably a dozen Eddie Murphy movies and a menu that is in Chinese)

6. The first night in Bangata, I was woken abruptly in the middle of the night by Mama yelling outside my door. Since I had no idea what she was saying and didn't know the Swahili for "hold on", I jumped out of bed and rushed to cover up my legs with my kanga. She came into the room shining a flashlight around, still yelling, as I stood in confusion saying "Sielewi!". I was then pulled into another bedroom where she shined the light on a bunch of ants crawling around the concrete floor and then threw salt at them. I was then escorted back into my room where the light was shone again light a spotlight once more before she left. Unsure what had just happened or what to do next, I crawled back into bed. Around 3 AM I was woken again my what sounded like a violent chicken fight in living room. It's funny how chickens (and 4-day-old chicks!) parading through the house, jumping on couches, and being chased out, has become a norm.

 A few other afterthoughts that I do not have time to elaborate on:

- My family does not have a kitchen table and eats on the couch, often with our hands, with I thoroughly enjoy. (See Dad, table manners are overrated) 

- People here have the cleanest clothes I've ever seen. And let me tell you, hand washing is NOT an easy task.

Photo Time!

The view of Mt. Meru from our first campsite at Nderokowoi ranch. Our tents were just to the right.

Sunset at Nderokowoi.

After our first Sunday morning church service.

Zebras and giraffes hanging out by the watering hole.

Babu Likki- the grandfather of our group and one of the wisest people I've ever met. His knowledge of Tanzanian wildlife (and life in general) is endless.

Onesmo- a Massai senior warrior who joins us on safari. This picture was taken inside of a Massai women's home, called a boma.

Matt with Mike, a modern Massai (as you can see by his jeans compared with Onesmo's red robe). Massai warriors hunt lions that attack their livestock. When a lion is killed, the warrior who threw the first spear gets the lions tail and the warrior who thew the second spear gets the paw. Mike has two tails and a paw.

Alex, our resident bird expert. He can identify thousands of species of birds before I can even spot them.

Our campsite at a Swiss chalet  just outside of Muzumbai rainforest.

Delicious mangoes.

Most of the gang at Tarangire.

 

 A superb starling. They would literally land inches from you. 

Our all-girl ruminants group (minus Eliza who took the picture) with Samuel Sr.our driver.

Baboon piggy back ride.

Afternoon showers abrewin'.

Sunset on a game drive :)

Our tents under the Baobab tree at Tarangire.

Jenny being "healed" (slash having her fortune told) by a traditional Massai healer.  I was told that I will live a long life, take after a family member in being a leader, and have a first-born son...

The Massai healer's boma. He has 25 wives and over a hundred children that all live there. It's basically it's own city.