12) The chickens! - I gotta say it'll be wierd to be walking everywhere, to school, around the house etc, without tripping over chickens. Chickens are everywhere here, mainland, zanzibar, school town, village whatever. A number of times I've had to kick a stray goat or chicken out of my classroom when they've wandered in while I was teaching...so I guess goats and cows get an honorable mention inthis one too. Although to be fair chickens still win out. As eaters of gardens they aren't often a favorite of local volunteers however when no more rooster crows wake me up in the morning you know I'll be feeling like somethin is missing
13) Monkeys! - all the wild monkeys here I will miss you, with bushbaby's gettin an honorable mention. Where would the night be without your hooting my funny looking friends! Monkeys are the local deer here, everyone gets annoyed cause they eat food, cause havoc with crops and carry off bits and pieces every now and then but for me the novelty never wore off. First visit to Pemba the locals tried to sell me a baby monkey in diapers and I gotta say...I was tempted. If but for the Peace Corps rule prohibiting us to own primates...who knows Shujaa you mighta had company!
14)Cheap movies and tv shows - yup the chinese have cornered the market on ripping dvds and tv shows onto video and for a scant 2-5 dollars you too can have a 24 pack of new movies- some good -My friend got "The Dark Knight" before it had left the theatre - some junk like Steven Seigal or Jean Claude van damn movies. Myself I've watched 5 seasons of prison break, 4 seasons of lost and 1 season of desperate housewives and 1 season of heroes (soon 2 as I've just bought another for when I get home). Good times
15) The peace corps floating library - This is that library that all PCVS contribute too when they come. GIven as how we're mostly in the land of few book choices whenever there is a good book it almost always gets passed along, from region to region throughout the country as different volunteers burrow it. A book may travel from Moshi to Zbar all the way down to Mbeya and then back again. Its a well known fact that the actual library in Dar at the PC office that PCVs can donate too has generally nothing good in it cause if it were good, it wouldn't be in there, it would be somewhere else being read!
16) Street food - delicious! Where else to get octopus, calamari, fries and a soda for a few dollars at most. I know it chances being dirtier than the u.s. style food, but its delicious and almost free. Here's to street food
Friday, November 28, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
What I'll miss
So I had a fabulous last few months (fasted for 10 days this year!! :-) ), saw Lake Nyasa, had a pig roast and Philipinio Karoke night, celebrated Eid, started school, and saw loads of friends, and I thought I'd tell you all about it but I think those'll be stories I'll be happy to share when I'm home. Instead right now I'm contemplating about how in 1 week I'll be leaving Zanzibar forever, and how in just over 1 week I'll be on a plane out of the country-though I'm stopping in Ethiopia and Egypt first before I arrive in America. And with that I'd just like to let you all know what I'll miss about this place, although really one never knows until one leaves the whole story, so maybe this list will be amended as time goes on.
I'll miss....
1) The sun! Yea its hot as *&$# but its also the land of eternal summer where I can never wear a coat, ALL YEAR LONG. I know that in the middle of a michigan winter I"ll be lamenting this.
2) The food. The ice cold fresh juice-tamarind, passion and mango as well as sugar cane, you know I love you, kachori, biriayani, pilau, rice and beans, coconuts etcetcetc. And everything fresh fresh fresh! Its more expensive for the processed.
3) My appreciation for the food. When you have to physically make almost everything you eat and a thing like icecream or chocolate is a real exception not a rule, its amazing how much more delicious things taste.
4)the style - lets face it, zanzibari women as a whole have impeccable taste. As a rule and not an exception their clothes flatter all body types as well as hair. And they are bold too, it looks like a field of flowers sometimes at a party, so many colors everywhere! These people shun brown, black, and blah colors. They celebrate flair in your color choice and classiness in your style. I LOVE shopping here.
5) the attention - this is an I'll miss and I'll look forward to not having as well. I know I'll really look forward to getting less attention in fact, but I also know that when every guy in the room isn't commenting on how amazing I look just a little part of me will be wondering "what's up?".
6)the friendliness - in my apartment bloc practically everyone is so TOGETHER! The kids run in packs..like dogs almost, except much cuter when they are between 2-6 yrs old, and mama's just stand on balconies shouting for so and so to do something. And people come in and out of my place, ALL THE TIME, and really I think they'd view it as if they somehow were being rude if you were alone for too long. And everyone will help you out. Just talk to older folk on the street and they'll loan you things and show you places and give you advice, all for free.
7) The guest culture - its huge here. Guests are so, welcome and its so difficult to live up to somehow when you are a host but its fabulous when you are a guest. Guests are respected and welcomed and people just knock on your door all the time to say hi. And when you are invited out you get treated to the 9's! The poorest of the poor families will make some effort to give you a soda, and biscuits. And everyone always has time to greet you. To give an example, in the states when you are a guest sometimes its appreciated when you offer to help out, because you are relieving them of some duties, like washing dishes etc. Here its almost an insult if you offer to help out because you are the guest and it insinuates that they are not taking care of you properly and can't handle a guest.
8) The packs of kids running around - I don't know what it is but little kids just seem so much freer here. They all run around together in little packs. Its great! And they are adorable when they aren't being whiny, and fairly respectful too. When I arrive with a heavy pack, they want to carry it for me. And every morning without fail they love to greet me as I walk outside (it's a game almost). And every day if I'd let them they'd come in to my house and play around with my stuff and just entertain me and themselves for 3 hrs.
9)The trust - people trust people ALOT more here than in the states. Its so nice to stop being afraid all the time of everybody and have a culture where some things are just taken on trust. For example on busses, when people are getting on they may have alot of packs to carry, so its totally understood and helpful for you to grab there baby for them and hold him till they are situated. Or if there are multiple kids perhaps it'd be very appreciated if you let one of them sit on your lap. I feel like people are searching every nook and cranny in the states for sexual predators etc. I mean you'd never pass your baby down the isle in the states, or ask it to sit on a strangers lap. Here you would absolutely. Also here definately people hitch rides all the time! Its expected, understood culture and people aren't always freaked again for the random chance they'll hitch with an ax-murdering serial rapist. When I say trust I don't mean for all things I just mean within certain limits there is definately an expectation of human decency from strangers that we just don't have in the states, and the fact is that expectation is almost always proved true.
10) Time - this is again something I'll not miss as well as miss. In the states people hate it when you waste their time. Here people don't view time as something to be wasted, its used to benefit people. So there's just alot more understanding and helpfulness when dealing with time and people. It makes you late all the time,but also your relationships with people never really suffer cause somehow you were too busy
11) Lack of fear - I will miss this sooooo much. I would have to say, comparatively to the states, people just are sooooo less afraid of everything, and especially considering the level of crime that supposedly should be here if you take into account the poverty, well its kind of remarkable. I don't know how or why but its just a feeling that permeates you after you are here for a while, that a stranger is probably a decent person. In the states all the time its "don't talk to strangers", "don't touch", "don't get in cars with people you don't know", "don't accept gifts from strangers", all these, don't's! All this fear. And within reason there's total legitimacy to it, but it still creates a culture of fear. You don't even realize how bad it is till its absent, till you feel free to hitch a ride when your gut tells you everything looks on the up and up, and till you are sitting with a random 6 yr old on your lap on a bus, etc. I don't mean to say I'd hitch a ride in the middle of the night in the city, or I'd leave my wallet wherever etc. common sense still applies, but not the fear. And when I meet fellow travelers, I AS A RULE try to hitch a taxi with them, or meet up with them for lunch or whatever. I introduce myself to people I've never met and ask a favor to spend the night in town at the house of a person I've only hung out with once. And ya know what, when this person isn't home, they call a friend to give me the keys to allow me to spend the night at their house. ITS SO NICE, and so warming.
And thats all I got for now cause I gotta run. MOre on this list later. Cheers to everyone and I'll see you all soon!
I'll miss....
1) The sun! Yea its hot as *&$# but its also the land of eternal summer where I can never wear a coat, ALL YEAR LONG. I know that in the middle of a michigan winter I"ll be lamenting this.
2) The food. The ice cold fresh juice-tamarind, passion and mango as well as sugar cane, you know I love you, kachori, biriayani, pilau, rice and beans, coconuts etcetcetc. And everything fresh fresh fresh! Its more expensive for the processed.
3) My appreciation for the food. When you have to physically make almost everything you eat and a thing like icecream or chocolate is a real exception not a rule, its amazing how much more delicious things taste.
4)the style - lets face it, zanzibari women as a whole have impeccable taste. As a rule and not an exception their clothes flatter all body types as well as hair. And they are bold too, it looks like a field of flowers sometimes at a party, so many colors everywhere! These people shun brown, black, and blah colors. They celebrate flair in your color choice and classiness in your style. I LOVE shopping here.
5) the attention - this is an I'll miss and I'll look forward to not having as well. I know I'll really look forward to getting less attention in fact, but I also know that when every guy in the room isn't commenting on how amazing I look just a little part of me will be wondering "what's up?".
6)the friendliness - in my apartment bloc practically everyone is so TOGETHER! The kids run in packs..like dogs almost, except much cuter when they are between 2-6 yrs old, and mama's just stand on balconies shouting for so and so to do something. And people come in and out of my place, ALL THE TIME, and really I think they'd view it as if they somehow were being rude if you were alone for too long. And everyone will help you out. Just talk to older folk on the street and they'll loan you things and show you places and give you advice, all for free.
7) The guest culture - its huge here. Guests are so, welcome and its so difficult to live up to somehow when you are a host but its fabulous when you are a guest. Guests are respected and welcomed and people just knock on your door all the time to say hi. And when you are invited out you get treated to the 9's! The poorest of the poor families will make some effort to give you a soda, and biscuits. And everyone always has time to greet you. To give an example, in the states when you are a guest sometimes its appreciated when you offer to help out, because you are relieving them of some duties, like washing dishes etc. Here its almost an insult if you offer to help out because you are the guest and it insinuates that they are not taking care of you properly and can't handle a guest.
8) The packs of kids running around - I don't know what it is but little kids just seem so much freer here. They all run around together in little packs. Its great! And they are adorable when they aren't being whiny, and fairly respectful too. When I arrive with a heavy pack, they want to carry it for me. And every morning without fail they love to greet me as I walk outside (it's a game almost). And every day if I'd let them they'd come in to my house and play around with my stuff and just entertain me and themselves for 3 hrs.
9)The trust - people trust people ALOT more here than in the states. Its so nice to stop being afraid all the time of everybody and have a culture where some things are just taken on trust. For example on busses, when people are getting on they may have alot of packs to carry, so its totally understood and helpful for you to grab there baby for them and hold him till they are situated. Or if there are multiple kids perhaps it'd be very appreciated if you let one of them sit on your lap. I feel like people are searching every nook and cranny in the states for sexual predators etc. I mean you'd never pass your baby down the isle in the states, or ask it to sit on a strangers lap. Here you would absolutely. Also here definately people hitch rides all the time! Its expected, understood culture and people aren't always freaked again for the random chance they'll hitch with an ax-murdering serial rapist. When I say trust I don't mean for all things I just mean within certain limits there is definately an expectation of human decency from strangers that we just don't have in the states, and the fact is that expectation is almost always proved true.
10) Time - this is again something I'll not miss as well as miss. In the states people hate it when you waste their time. Here people don't view time as something to be wasted, its used to benefit people. So there's just alot more understanding and helpfulness when dealing with time and people. It makes you late all the time,but also your relationships with people never really suffer cause somehow you were too busy
11) Lack of fear - I will miss this sooooo much. I would have to say, comparatively to the states, people just are sooooo less afraid of everything, and especially considering the level of crime that supposedly should be here if you take into account the poverty, well its kind of remarkable. I don't know how or why but its just a feeling that permeates you after you are here for a while, that a stranger is probably a decent person. In the states all the time its "don't talk to strangers", "don't touch", "don't get in cars with people you don't know", "don't accept gifts from strangers", all these, don't's! All this fear. And within reason there's total legitimacy to it, but it still creates a culture of fear. You don't even realize how bad it is till its absent, till you feel free to hitch a ride when your gut tells you everything looks on the up and up, and till you are sitting with a random 6 yr old on your lap on a bus, etc. I don't mean to say I'd hitch a ride in the middle of the night in the city, or I'd leave my wallet wherever etc. common sense still applies, but not the fear. And when I meet fellow travelers, I AS A RULE try to hitch a taxi with them, or meet up with them for lunch or whatever. I introduce myself to people I've never met and ask a favor to spend the night in town at the house of a person I've only hung out with once. And ya know what, when this person isn't home, they call a friend to give me the keys to allow me to spend the night at their house. ITS SO NICE, and so warming.
And thats all I got for now cause I gotta run. MOre on this list later. Cheers to everyone and I'll see you all soon!
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