walking and talking

August 10th

Happy belated birthday Stephanie! :)

Last Saturday Lindsay and I started our walk to the market much later than we initially planned. We didn’t leave our house until after 1 o’clock. We passed by the postmaster’s house on our way down the mountain and were called in for food. When you get called to someone’s house for food you can’t say no. We had both just eaten but couldn’t turn down that extra meal. We were told that we needed to eat more to have enough energy for the trip to the market. A half an hour later we started again. When we finally reached Isoko I stopped to use the restroom before we continued on our journey. I was excited for the hike up the mountain because I had eaten so much food that morning. As we were leaving the shop an old man approached me and informed me that there was a minibus that was traveling to the market and we must run to catch it. Fortunately, we didn’t have to run too far. The ride up to the market was scary. On an unpaved road up the mountain you slip and slide to no avail. You must dodge cows, goats, and people as you drive. Our driver had obviously undertaken this feat in the past as he drove without much trouble. The market was much bigger than anticipated. We were told it was big but we were also told the Isoko market was big and that consisted of two or three stalls. There was about a half a mile of road covered with random shops. It was a bit overwhelming as we walked through with every single person staring at us. We were celebrities in this tiny village. Some people had never seen a white person before. We walked through rather quickly and bought some oranges. We didn’t really need much else and we didn’t want our ride to leave us. When we originally got off the minibus a gentleman from the hospital told us to find him in one of the bars when we were done shopping. At first we had trouble finding him. He walked out of a building to greet us and escorted us into a tiny bar. We walked in to more stares. He introduced us and then the drinks started coming our way. I informed them quite quickly that I do not drink beer so I was given soda after soda. Lindsay kept getting beer. The beer bottles are much larger than Coca-Cola’s so she had a lot to drink. We were also given kitimoto (pig) with ndizi (fried banana). The food made us thirsty so we didn’t mind getting all the drinks. We stayed in that little bar for almost two hours before we finally left to go. The ride back down the mountain was quite uneventful. Once we reached Isoko we were told to stay in the bus. The bus drove us all the way back to our house. Our house is straight up the mountain which is very challenging for a vehicle, but we made it nonetheless. We stayed in the rest of the evening.

On Sunday I woke up, read, and then went to church. I was not informed that the church service was different but boy was I surprised. The church members owe dues on the last Sunday of the month and they typically have a guest preacher. The church service lasted four and a half hours!! Thirty minutes into the service a gentleman approached me to let me know that a seat in the front was reserved for me. I told him that was okay but he didn’t understand. While a lecturer kept talking in the front I was escorted up front next to the pastor where I remained for the rest of the service. I was deeply embarrassed as the church was filled more than ever before. Most of the speaking was done in Kindali, the tribal language, and so I didn’t understand what was going on. Parts of the service were very exciting. The guest preacher preached with such enthusiasm. I have no idea what he was saying but he got the crowd going and it was a lot of fun to watch. Then there were parts of the service which were just dreadful. The music director, if that is what you call him, asked the congregation for money for an hour!! He begged and pleaded and bothered people that they could give more. I guess someone has to do it but I really didn’t like watching it. It was also announced who paid their dues and how much they paid. When the service was finally over we stood outside in a circle while an auction went on. Each Sunday some families give crops instead of money for the pastor. At the end of the service there is an auction so those crops can turn into money. Luckily, there weren’t many crops and the auction was very short. I practically ran home after. I was hungry and tired. When I arrived home Lindsay was busy making chapatti (thin pancake) and I quickly got to work writing lesson plans for the remainder of the year.

On Monday, Lindsay and I had to turn in our “scheme of work” to the academic master. Originally we were under the impression that we must complete it for the month of August. On Friday when I went to turn in my “scheme of work” I was informed that I had to turn it in for the rest of the term. I put it off throughout the weekend mostly because I had other things to do. I also didn’t expect to be at church all afternoon. Until 10 PM that night Lindsay and I wrote up the documents. Luckily the “scheme of work” is very vague and you can copy from the syllabus most of what you need to write. I don’t consider it something that I will follow much. It did help me realize how little time I have left this term with my form 4 students. They graduate at the end of September and we still have much to cover.

Last week was very relaxing at school. The form 4 students were taking a mock examination all week so I did not teach on Wednesday or Thursday. I read a lot and prepared my notes for a study group I am starting in a few weeks. Throughout the week we kept getting more and more teachers. The University of Dar es Salaam sent nine teachers to come help for the next two months. They invaded the teacher’s lounge. One gentleman took Lindsay and I’s table which we were not too thrilled about. He even sat in between us and never once apologized! How rude. The new teachers are quite scared of us and don’t say much. Slowly they are loosening up to the fact that we aren’t monsters but I think it will take a while to have a conversation with any of them beyond hello and how are you.

On Tuesday I decided to go for a walk after school. As I passed the postmasters house, one of my students walked out from the bush in front of his house. Huruma is one of my form 3 students. She, along with six or seven other girls, live in a little compound connected to the postmasters home. She invited me into the house. She showed me her room. The room was extremely dark and all I could make out was the mosquito net on the bed. When we left her room all the other girls in the compound came out to look at me and giggle. Eventually I said I wanted to leave for a walk and Huruma decided to join me. I had no idea where I wanted to go. I just wanted to go for a walk. She was very confused by this. I just kept taking trails and she would tell me the village we were walking to. I have no idea what she said half the time. At one point we approached this farm. A lady from the church owned the farm and was so excited to see me. Again, I have no idea what she was saying and Huruma had a lot of trouble translating for me so we just stood there smiling at one another. For some reason the lady thought I wanted to buy lettuce from her. We walked through the fields until we reached the lettuce patch. She picked a whole bunch of lettuce and then I did my best to communicate that I had no money with me. I would return tomorrow to pay was the consensus. As we turned to leave we were invited inside her home where we were given freshly pulled from the earth peanuts. I said peanuts and they said no they are ground nuts. After about ten minutes of sitting we got up to depart again. We were given the lettuce, more ground nuts, and two eggs to take home with us. I had to return on Wednesday with 200 Shillings for the woman (approximately 14 cents). We walked back to my house and I said goodbye to Huruma and told her we would meet tomorrow.

After school on Wednesday I walked to the postmasters’ house and told Huruma she must return with me to pay the 200 Shillings. When we arrived the woman was so excited. I paid the two hundred Shillings and then I was brought inside once again to eat more ground nuts. When we went back outside they gave me sugarcane and laughed as I attempted to eat it. Tanzanians have much stronger teeth than me. As we left, she slipped two avocados into the basket which made me very happy. Huruma was to return the basket the next day. I think the lady didn’t want me to keep returning because she would feel obligated to give me more food. I didn’t want her to feel obligated so I let Huruma take the basket. I gave Huruma half of what I received and the rest of the sugarcane once we returned back to my home. I spent the rest of the evening cleaning and reading.

After school on Thursday I went for a walk. I started collecting some wildflowers when Lindsay called to see where I was. She received a call from the postmaster and he wanted us to visit. When he calls it is very challenging to understand what he says. Even in person it is a bit challenging. He talks very fast and it always seems like ten thoughts are trying to come out of his mouth at one time. We walked over to the house and all the girls greeted us and said we were welcome. I tried to ask where Bwana Mbughi was and they directed me inside the house. (Bwana means Mr.) When we entered we found his nephew who just graduated from university and so speaks very good English. He invited us inside the living room and we asked where Bwana Mbughi was. Of course, Mr. Mbughi was at church dancing because it was a Thursday. How could we forget!? Actually, the postmaster has told us numerous times how he goes to the church to dance every Tuesday and Thursday evening. We told him he must call so we can remember to come. We told him to call because we didn’t really want to go and thought he would forget to call us. He actually remembered and we were escorted by his nephew, Willy, to the church.


For a few hours we sat and watched the performance. It was all very exciting. Tanzanians love to dance and they were just jumping around in the front of the church. Lindsay and I sat in the back and watched. After practice we were invited forward to say hello. I said my name and that I love to dance. Everyone hooted and hollered and invited me to join them dancing any time. After the practice we were brought back to the postmasters’ house for dinner. Dinner is served pretty late in Tanzanian households so we were there late until the night. At 9:30 we walked into our house to hear the water in the back running. We walked out back to see the stop cock in the faucet broke and our back yard was flooded. We ran to stop the water with no avail. I went outside to turn off the water and that failed to work as well. We weren’t sure what to do and knew we couldn’t leave the water running all night. I called the headmaster. He didn’t pick up so I called the academic master. The academic master was flustered and not sure what was going on. I hung up with him and called the postmaster who sent his nephew to help. If we put pressure on the top of the faucet it would slow to a trickle. Willy called for Noel, his cousin, to bring some elastic. With the elastic band he tied up our faucet so that only a trickle of water came out. Moments later, our headmaster and academic master arrived and we showed them what happened. Our headmaster informed us that it was happening at many houses in the area. The water pressure is too strong for the stop cocks and he must buy us a new one. We were satisfied with the answer, said our goodbyes, and went to bed for the night.

On Friday we started our plans for the weekend away. Monday was a holiday and our first three day weekend was quickly approaching. I will fill you in on our weekend in Tunduma in part two!

Love,

Gretchen