Lessons Learned

So, a lot has happened since I posted last week and have already learned many lessons on how things work in Tanzania.

1. Hakuna Matata. I knew before I came that 'hakuna matata' was Tanzania's motto, if you will, and I assumed that this was just a phrase and not commonly used in general conversation. Totally wrong. It's used all the time, especially by the men that sell crafts on the street, and even graffitied on walls. In case you've never seen the Lion King, hakuna matata means no worries in Swahili and really does describe Tanzanian life well. Most things happen about 10 minutes after they were scheduled too. People smile all the time and greet random strangers on the street with handshakes and usually hold your hand for up to a few minutes after you shake hands. It may sound awkward to hold hands with a complete stranger, but it doesn't bother me at all. It's actually really nice that everyone is so laid-back and comfortable.

2. Hapana Asante. Now, I normally consider myself to be a pretty savvy person and can usually get by without making a complete idiot out of myself. I have no idea why it didn't occur to me that it would be a bad idea to buy something on the first afternoon I was here. I guess, in my defense, the men that sell things on the street are very smart. They approach you and say, "hey how are you?" and talk to you for a few minutes about where you're from, why you're in Tanzania (most white people are here for safaris), how long you're staying, etc. Then they teach you some Swahili phrases and casually pull out their art, craft or other object with African animals or Masai warriors on it and say the Swahili word for the picture. They go from piece to piece saying twiga (giraffe), temba (elephant), simba (lion), etc. Then they ask you to pick your favorite. This is the point where I realize they aren't just being typical Tanzanian friendly.

So the first day I arrive, I'm walking with Sarah and another girl named Alainna and a guy approaches me and then a couple others approach the other girls. There are about 5 different guys hanging out and talking to us, 2 of them showing their art work, when all of a sudden there are, no kidding, 20 guys around us all shaking hands, saying hello, and vying for our attention. I look down at Alainna and she looks completely overwhelmed and Sarah is just calmly talking to one of the guys. One of the guys explains that if we go to his shop, he'll make everyone stay outside so we go with him. I bought a bracelet made from coffee beans (for way too much, I have now learned) and we made our way through the crowd and one of the guys that was walking along with us explained that if you simply say hapana asante (no, thank you), they will leave you alone, because not only is Tanzania a very friendly place, but a very polite place and it is considered very rude to keep hassling someone who has politely said "no, thank you".

I suppose these are the main lessons I have learned since arriving and I'm sure there will be many more to come. We've been very busy these past few days and it's quite overwhelming to think of how I'll update you in one entry without writing a novel, so I'll try to condense and you can email me for further details if you are so inclined.

As part of our orientation we visited the United African American Community Center which is in a small village outside of Arusha. The community center is owned by Pete and Charlotte O’Neal, an African American couple from Kansas City that moved to Tanzania 30 years ago. Pete was (and is still, I think) a member of the Black Panther party and he and Charlotte were forced to leave the States in the early 70s for Algeria. After a few years in Algeria, they moved to Tanzania and fell in love with the relaxed, easy-going and respectful culture.

They began building the community center about 10 years ago for the youth of their community and it now includes a children’s home, classrooms, an art studio, a recording studio(!), pavilion, visitor housing, water tank and a house for the O’Neals. It was such a cool place. There was graffiti or a mural on nearly every surface outside, large statues in the grass, a dog with dreadlocks that matched Pete and Charlotte’s (I couldn’t make this up if I tried), all in this lush, green environment. So cool.

Warning: The next part of this entry may cause you to sing songs from the Lion King or have very strong urges to watch the movie immediately.

The next morning we went on a safari to Tarangire National Park about 2 hours southeast of Arusha. Tarangire has more elephants per square kilometer than anywhere in the world (aka my mother’s dream). It was incredible. I had heard that the Texas hill country looks like parts of Africa and that actually was a pretty accurate statement. However, it’s really just the hills, the grass and the streams that look like Africa. The trees and certainly the animals are way cooler here. Tarangire is also known for its huge baobab trees which are hundreds and even said to be thousands of years old. They’re also the type of tree that Rafiki from the Lion Kings lived in, in case you were wondering. Anyway, the safari was fun, yet dusty and we saw zebras, ostriches, warthogs, lions (from very far away), lots of elephants, impala and giraffes, dikdiks (the smallest species of antelope that are about the size of my cat, Bean… not Peetie), baboons, vervet monkeys, waterbuck and a lot of overly outfitted safari goers. I'm not really sure why people think it's necessary to dress entirely in khacki with large boots and hats when on safari in a vehicle or even on a walking safari for that matter, but they do. People were even dressed like this on the plane and we arrived at 10pm.

We started class on Tuesday, which I was actually very excited about. My teachers are great and very enthusiastic, though occasionally hard to understand. I really like my international law professor. He's a lawyer from Malawi and does a lot of work for the UN. I’m excited to see the way the rest of the semester unfolds and how these courses go as it’s difficult to tell right now and I’m really excited for my first photography class tomorrow.

I’m going to try to take some pictures around Arusha soon so you can have an idea of what it’s like here. The only problem is that my camera isn’t as discreet as I’d like it to be and I’m trying to avoid looking like a stupid safari-ing tourist (and being hassled). We’ll see how it goes. Also, I have a Tanzanian phone. The number is +255 788 403 204. It’s free for me to receive texts and phone calls and costs me about 10 cents to send texts and about 35 cents/minute to call. Also, here is my address if you’d like to be my penpal!

Melendy Mathis

c/o Martha Niko

P.O. Box 2771, EAC Close

Nyerere Center for Peace Research

Arusha, Tanzania