Culture Shock

The feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes. This definition that I quickly found on Google is the perfect description of my feelings when leaving the Maasai boma we visited right outside of Ngorongoro crater. The visit started off with a traditional welcome song that was performed by the men and women of the boma. The performance consisted of the men grunting and jumping while the women sang. I really enjoyed this part of the visit because to me it seemed very genuine and traditional. Once the welcoming part of the visit was finished we were taken into the boma and to the kindergarten school where the boys and girls were separated down the middle. It was hilarious to see how clean the little girls were compared to the little boys. Once we all were in the "school" the children sang songs and counted to 50 in English for us. After that we were taken by pairs into different houses by a Maasai man. He quickly explained to Nick and me how the houses were made and the few functions the houses had. We were then quickly taken outside and strongly encouraged to buy beaded jewelry made by the Maasai women. Upon leaving the Maasai boma I began feeling more and more confused about what I had just experienced. I was very appreciative that the Maasai were willing to open their homes to us and to show us a small part of their lives, but it all seemed like a rehearsed show rather than their actual lives. I felt as if we were invading their privacy. I could only imagine how I would feel if people were paying money to come into my home just to take pictures while I danced and showed them around. After I talked to some of the other students I realized that most of us seemed to be feeling pretty confused. Later that night all of the students, our two professors, and one of the drivers, Julius (who is a Maasai warrior), sat around a fire to talk about what we had taken away from the Maasai boma visit. I came into the talk feeling very shocked with how and where the Maasai live, but Dr. Beymer-Farris made an excellent point that there are most likely many aspects of American culture that would probably be very shocking to the Maasai people. Honestly while I was in the boma I had never stopped to even think about how the Maasai would react if they came to America to see how I live. They probably wouldn't be able to comprehend our large (in comparison to their huts) houses and trivial accessories that we think of necessities. Neither way of living is better than the other; it's simply how we each grew up. Visiting the boma was difficult not only because of how different it initially seemed from the culture I'm used to, but also because the Maasai people seemed more like entertainers putting on a show for tourists so that we would buy their jewelry instead of people who wanted to teach us about their rich culture and history. I went into the visit very curious about their everyday practices and struggles, but I left instead with three bracelets and more confusion. Dr. Suresh pointed out that because the Maasai are no longer allowed to live in the Serengeti and their expenses are increasing dramatically, they must find new ways to survive and tourism is a very big part of the Tanzanian economy. The particular Maasai boma we visited had to pay $400 every two weeks to get the water they needed for the whole community. Although the visit seemed more like a rehearsed show than an educational opportunity, I now have a better understanding of why they must do that. In order to survive the Maasai must adapt to a changing environment. Just like some of us felt like intruders, some of the Maasai might not enjoy having foreigners constantly coming into their homes. This was the first time I have truly understood what culture shock feels like. From it I've learned that when going into any new culture it is imperative to keep an open mind and to also think critically about what is happening. While I learned many things during this May Experience, I know that going to the Maasai boma was the greatest learning experience I had. I know that the visit and what I took away from it will stay with me for a very long time.

A Learning Experience

Prior to coming to Africa for this trip I had no idea what to expect as far as the trips we would take, what we would learn, or the type of people we would have the opportunity to meet. I knew this trip was going to be incredibly educational but I had no idea the amount of information I would be presented with over the span of one week that seemed to fly by. 

We've been on multiple informational and also entertaining trips to a spice farm, Jozani National Park, a mangrove forest, a local village, snorkeling, and a number of other visits. Even during the time we haven't been on trips we have had lectures on the history of Tanzania and Zanzibar and on the coastal ecology of East Africa from Dr. Ian Bryceson and also a guest talk with Dr. Saidi Salhina on what it is like to be a doctor on Zanzibar. 

Dr. Saidi Salhina started off by telling us the three most common diseases within local villages, which are digestion problems (to put it kindly), malaria, and under-nutrition (different from malnutrition) mainly among children. The main reasons for these diseases are a lack of medical doctors on the island, the fact that the medical doctors are primarily concentrated in towns and not villages, and a shortage of medicines that are not the traditional medicines in villages. If someone falls ill in a village they will most likely try traditional medicine before consulting a doctor, which they usually do when the problem becomes worse. It's very unfortunate to think that the three common diseases in villages could be prevented if only there were more doctors closer to villages as well as more access to medicine in villages. It is also a big problem in Tanzania as well as on Zanzibar that many students who go to medical school and become doctors decide to move abroad to find better work and more pay. 

When asked why he decided to become a doctor Dr. Salhina laughed a bit and then paused to think about his response. His primary reason was because his father was a doctor so he grew up surrounded by medicine. He added onto that saying he really enjoyed helping the people in the villages since they are so underprivileged. I found this amazing because he could probably move abroad and find a job that would easily pay more than what he is making now traveling from village to village. 

I believe Dr. Salhina is the perfect example of the majority of people of Zanzibar-they really prize helping others and I have been lucky enough to have experienced that firsthand during the scavenger hunt. We met taxi drivers and vendors who took time out of their day to help us when they could have easily turned the other way or said no to helping us. Since we encountered so many people constantly trying to sell us gifts during the first couple of days, it was hard to see another side of them, but the scavenger hunt was definitely an eye opening experience. It taught me a lot about being more accepting of new experiences. 

Since I am a political science major it is easy for me to relate my time here observing the people of Zanzibar to participant observation. I had never heard a whole lot about Zanzibar before coming so I don't have any prior expectations to relate my observations to. Because of what I have learned through this participant observation I am so excited to have the opportunity to stay for an extra month doing research. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to meet more warm hearted and kind people in the village where I will be staying. What an amazing learning experience this has been thus far. 

Mr. Butterfly

So I'm a few days behind on my blog posts so I'll be posting a few in a row. This post is about our trip to the spice farm and meeting a very unique man named Mr. Butterfly. 

We headed out to the spice farm which was about 30 or 45 minutes away from our hotel in Stone Town. Almost right when we arrived it started pouring rain. Considering it's the rainy season here we were lucky it waited that long to rain! We had a guide who took us through the forest/jungle area and showed us vanilla, tangawizi (ginger), turmeric, cinnamon, pili pili hoho (hot peppers), curry leaves, karafu (cloves), local iodine trees, dragon fruit, lemongrass, cardamom, bananas, mlongi longi, peppercorns, anato, and many other plants and trees. We had a guide taking us around and another man carrying a knife who would run out to the plant or tree and take either some of the leaves or fruit from the tree for us to smell or taste. It was incredible that the guide knew what every plant was and the uses for each plant and what spices could be made from it. I found the local iodine tree the most fascinating because the sap could instantly make bleeding stop if you have a cut or scrape. Another favorite for me was the tangawizi which is actually ginger. I enjoyed this one so much because 1) it's made into one of my favorite drinks at home, Ale 8 One, and 2) it's made into one of my favorite drinks here, Stoney Tangawizi!

After the spice tour we were introduced to an entertaining character named Mr. Butterfly. He ended up climbing up a 40 foot talk coconut tree to get us fresh coconuts for us to try. He put a loop of rope made out of the coconut husks around his feet and just started flying up the tree. He sang and yelled down at us the whole time he was climbing. Then on the way down he started adding some dance moves in with the singing and it was interesting to say the least. When he made it back to the ground he cut the coconuts for us so we could try the water and the meat. Mr. Butterfly asked us if anyone wanted to try to climb a coconut tree and one of the guys in the group, John Michael, volunteered. Unfortunately he only made it about 3 feet off the ground. 

After meeting Mr. Butterfly we went back to an area where we could try all of the different types of fruit they grew at the spice farm. We tried little bananas, cucumber, dragon fruit, cacao fruit, oranges, grapefruit, star fruit, and pineapple. My favorite was the dragon fruit! I had never had it before, but it tasted a lot like a Sweetart and had a very strange texture. 

To finish off our time at the spice farm we drove about 10 minutes from the farm to a little village for a traditional spice lunch. We walked into one of the buildings and say down on the floor. Then rice, beans, and octopus in a brown sauce was put in front of us and it was all delicious. After lunch some of us went outside to play with the children who lived there and they were so adorable and friendly! They loved when we would take pictures and then show them the pictures on the camera. They ran after us yelling Swahili phrases as we walked back to our bus when we were leaving-so precious. Luckily I got a really adorable picture of one of the little boys giving Nick a high-five that I cannot wait to put on Facebook when I get home!

Here is a picture one of our professors took while I was showing the children a picture I had just taken of them. 

Tiny planes, Narriman, & Zanzibar pizza

Hujambo! Habari gani? (How are you)

After staying in Tanzania for a few days we took the smallest plane EVER to Zanzibar, an island right off the coast of Tanzania. I wish I had taken a picture on my phone of the size of the plane so I could show you how tiny it was. The plane ride was only about 20 minutes and it was awesome getting to see parts of Tanzania and Zanzibar from above. Once we landed in Zanzibar we went to lunch at a local restaurant called Passing Show that is supposed to have the best biriyani in Zanzibar. Biriyani is a delicious Indian dish that has some kind of meat or vegetables in a spiced sauce along with rice that has also been mixed with spices. It reminded me of Indian curry, but it wasn't quite like that. I also tried tamarind juice, which I had never had before. I had only ever heard of tamarind but never knew what it was. It looked and even kind of tested like cranberry juice, but it wasn't as tart. It was actually pretty good! 

A picture of the menu from Passing Show:

Once we were finished with lunch we checked into our hotel and headed off to listen to a guest lecture from Narriman, one of Dr. Beymer-Farris and Dr. Bryceson's good friends. They both said she is quite famous on the island and after hearing her speak, I can understand why. She talked to us about Zanzibar a bit and then told us about a project she has started that is focused on empowering women. Since Zanzibar is a predominantly Muslim society, the women don't have nearly as much freedom and independence as we do in America. Narriman realized this and wanted to help change that so she is working on a very successful project right now that encourages women to collect pearl oysters and use the shells and the pearls to make jewelry to sell. She said that before the project many of the women would barely speak, but after working in the community and becoming a little more independent, they love to talk. Some of the women were even selected a few years ago to go to America to help present the project and their work. The project is much more complicated than how I'm explaining it right now, but it really is an amazing opportunity for the women. Narriman might actually now be one of my favorite people! She was very inspirational and well-respected by the community and someone I really enjoyed listening to. 

Later that night I got to try Zanzibar pizza in an outdoor park where a lot of local vendors were set up and it was so good! It's not at all what pizza is like in America; there's no pizza crust, marinara sauce, or even cheese and they are tiny. It was more like a cross between a crêpe and frittata, if you can imagine that. I got a vegetable pizza that had chopped vegetables, one egg, and mayonnaise in it. It sounds a little weird, but I promise it was delicious! I also ordered a banana, Nutella, and chocolate pizza and it was even better than the vegetable one. You honestly cannot go wrong with Nutella. 

Like the last post there's still so much I want to say but I feel like this post is already quite long. I'm definitely loving my time in Africa so far and cannot wait for what the rest of the trip has in store. It should be very interesting and a great learning experience. 

Karibu tena!

Karibu Tanzania!

Hujambo everyone!! We safely arrived in Tanzania on Thursday night. It's been amazing so far! The jet lag was a little difficult the first night, but yesterday it didn't seem to affect me at all.

Yesterday was our first full day in Tanzania at White Sands Resort. We woke up and ate breakfast outside looking at the beautiful beach. Since the tide was out we were able to walk out pretty far. We saw sea anemones, crabs, and many other little creatures. Since the weather was cloudy and overcast we had planned on staying at White Sands and hearing a guest lecture from Professor Ian Bryceson. Luckily around noon the clouds cleared up and we were able to take Prof. Bryceson's friend's boat over to Mbudya Island. Prof. Bryceson told us how he met his friend when he was 17 years old and they are practically like brothers. It was great getting to meet his friend; he was very kind and friendly.

That afternoon we took the boat over to Mbudya Island and as we neared the island we could see men out in their boats catching us fish for lunch. I was so excited for the fresh fish!! Once we got to the island we listened to Prof. Bryceson talk about how different sand can be on different islands and also he gave us a brief history of Tanzania. It was so interesting! After his lecture it was time to eat our lunch because they insist on eating the fish right when it is finished cooking. It was the best fish I had ever had! I'm not sure what kind of fish mine was but some people got parrot fish. We didn't have utensils so we ate with our hands, which is normal here. It was a little difficult but I got used to it. They had this amazing tomato based chilli sauce that went with the fish; it was delicious too.

After lunch we went out and swam in the ocean. Some of the guys snorkeled but the water was a little foggy so there wasn't much to see. We swam for a bit and then walked over to the cliffs which were coral reefs before the island was pushed up above the sea water. We were able to see fossils from fish, coral, and seashells in the cliffs. My favorite thing on the island was the baobab tree. It was huge!! I have some pictures of it, but unfortunately I'll have to wait until I'm home to post those. After we finished up swimming and exploring the island we headed back to White Sands and relaxed for the rest of the day before dinner.

I feel like there is so much I want to say about this trip so far, but we're about to leave to head to the airport to catch our plane to Zanzibar. Hopefully I can post some more after we get settled in over there. Asante (thank you) for reading!

Below is a panoramic picture of the beach at the hotel we stayed at the first two nights in Tanzania.