Zanzibar Update

It’s been just one month that I’ve been in Tanzania and May feels like many moons away. I cannot wait to come home, but at the same time I don’t know how I’m going to leave this place. We’re in Zanzibar now and I’ve gotten used to walking the streets and putting itch cream on the 37 bites below my knees (I counted) from sand fleas or mosquitoes. I’m also used to living in my own sweat and am grateful for another house with running water. I prefer cold showers over warm now and even though there is a shower head, I kind of like the bucket showers as sometimes the trickling faucet takes a while to rinse my hair out completely. But, I get clean and it’s wonderful. Let me tell you more about my home

As I said, again I am blessed to be in a home with running water and power, though power outages are a constant occurrence here. We live on the second story in one of many large soviet built apartment complexes that are about six or seven stories high and seem almost a quarter mile long. They aren’t the most beautiful things on the outside, grey and cracking, but are cozy on the inside. My roommate and I have a well-furnished room with two full-size beds, a coffee table, double-door armoire and wood vanity-type-thing, we also have a ceiling fan (praise the Lord) and a light that charges for when the power goes out. Some of the other students are in one-story homes; all are in walking distance of SUZA (State University of Zanzibar Africa). We have just a few minute walk through the homes and shops along the rocky dirt road, saying “hello” to all who greet us. Then bravely cross two main roads to the college.

This month I am living with a Muslim family from India. According to our house dad their family has been in Zanzibar for three generations, about 200 years, so for both him and his wife, Africa is home. Khairat (HI-RHAT), their little girl, is almost six and her little brother, Mohammad, is almost three. They are trilingual in Swahili, English and Indian and sometimes they mix all three into their sentences; it’s quite amazing. The two children warmed up to us quickly and love to make conversation. Mohammad and I will go back and forth repeating random words in Swahili. “Hodi,” “Karibu,” “Jambo,” “Shika,” Marahaba,” “Nzuri,” “Asante”.  The boy loves to talk and has a little “sh” lisp with his S’s. I think his favorite word right now is cheetah, though. And we are called Auntie- “Auntie, Auntie, Auntie!” They have many western TV channels, so we’ve been able to watch a little CNN or BBC and even the Karate Kid. There are many little stores and an internet café close by and even the beach is walking distance,

I am well provided for by our family and the housemaid, Estella, who is African and who cleans our room and washes our clothes. Our family has also been so kind as to get us toilet paper because, you see, you will never see anyone greet you with or eat with their left hand. Also, I’ve been eating so very well. Food is pretty big here so there is always a lot of it. Part of me wonders if it’s the American stereotype, but still, they really like to feed us. And it is great food. In Arusha our family warmed us up to traditional African meals, feeding us more American type stuff like chips (French fries) and eggs, and throwing in more African food as we went along. Here, since we are living on an island and with an Indian family, things like coconut curry are common and seafood- though I can’t bring myself to eat the little fish with faces still… wimp? Eeeeh, maybe. I did try baby shark the other night though. It was good but as I was eating it I wondered why it had to be baby shark…? Then things like rice, cooked bananas, fruit and doughnut like pastries called mandazi can be found in most households. But I’ve noticed some of my favorites, mandazi, chapatti, kachori, are all cooked in oil or deep-fried and I’m thinking dang, I better watch what I eat and how much of it! Wasn’t expecting to worry about that here. None the less, I will hopefully be able to recreate these great foods at home.

First Arusha, now Zanz.

I mentioned in my last blog that I have been noticing how similar the differences are. Just like the culture shifts across America, Zanzibar culture is quite different from Arusha. Religion is important in Arusha but it is more visible here. The Muslim population is 99%. In Stonetown alone there are 15 mosques and only two churches, Anglican and Catholic. (The Anglican is actually built on top of an old slave market). Ally, our father, leaves a few times every day to pray at the mosques and we can hear the prayers ring out over the town from our window. There is no difficulty in the fact that we have different beliefs and are living with them. In fact, if we wanted to have a conversation about it, they would be very open. Ally asked me why I was here learning Swahili and I told him my faith had a large part to play in it. He nodded and understood. The prophet Mohammed’s birthday was last week and the city had a huge party and a parade. I asked Ally why everyone in the parade wore the colors green and white; he said it was the colors of Paradise. “You know Paradise?” he said. I said that I did, that I had learned about it, and that was that. We’ll see, maybe a great conversation is in store.

In Arusha bare shoulders were okay. Here, it is rare to see any woman without her headscarf or “buibui” (long black dress) and about a third have them cover their faces when outside. Khairat wears her headdress and uniform to school, but has not yet started wearing it everywhere outside the house like her mother, Sophie. But don’t be fooled, the fashion is booming here, just in its own way. In America I have certain accessories I like and favorite colors, it is no different here. The women accessorize with colors under their buibui and colorful, jeweled or sequenced head scarves. I’ve seen a variety of pins used to hold their scarves like small simple needles to large jeweled pins, even headbands over their scarves. Their colorful dresses sometimes show under the buibui, giving a pretty splash of color. It is fashion, just like we have fashion, and they are beautiful. To respect the culture and our families we cover our shoulders and knees at all times besides our rooms and the beach, and Zanzibar is hot, very hot. I think we’re in the 80’s before noon every day. But when we asked our housemother’s sister if her buibui was ever too hot, she just shrugged and said, “It can be.”

Another major difference here is exercise. To start, they are already very fit people- their jobs and lives in general require a lot from them. But, our first morning here Sophie took us swimming at 5:45 am. As we were walking to the beach a woman, maybe in her early 50’s, shuffled past us in her long buibui, head scarf and running shoes. What!? I left my shoes in Arusha because I hadn’t actually needed them yet and no one, especially women, was seen running in Arusha. A while later another woman passed us. Up and down the streets ran men and women just before the sun came up. As we neared the beach a small group of elderly men were running sets on an inclined road. Some bare-footed women joined them. Up and down the beach people were running distances and short sprints, swimming, doing push-ups, stretches and abs. What fit people! These unexpected events surprised us and made me regret not bringing my shoes, but the swimming, walking and straight up heat make us sweat quite a bit.

The buildings in Zanzibar definitely have more of an Indian taste to them also. It is clear that the trade and such from the north had a large affect on the development here. We learned that bricks were made illegal because they wanted all of the new buildings to look like the old ones, keeping the stone look, thus Stonetown. The tourist population is much higher here also, leading to a number of very nice hotels and tourist beaches.

The driving here is much calmer than in Arusha, too. Though still pretty crazy, there is not as much passing on narrow roads and more of the roads are paved. Motorbikes still do their thing, weaving in and out without regulation. I’ve seen more road signs here also and for the first time, on the way out to a village we visited, there were yellow shoulder lines on the road.

Rather than dogs all over there are cats. Tons of cats. Very tame, but probably not the cleanest. As much as I want to hold them, I was reminded that they probably haven’t been treated for fleas…uuwww, good point…

My health.

Like I said, I am still eating well, trying new foods and enjoying mostly all of them. Even learning how to make some and will be bringing back recipes. And besides being tired often, I am staying healthy. Only twice has my stomach given me problems. But, I’m definitely counting my blessings, as some in the group haven’t faired so well. Emotionally and mental I am doing well, also. There are times when I wish to be back home and it’s hard to realize how much time we still have here. But, I am getting what I wished for: I hoped that this trip would go by slowly. I didn’t want to be at the end of it thinking about how quickly it came and went. And, indeed, it has felt very, VERY slow. I keep reminding myself that this is a good thing and, though some days are harder than others, I am also wondering, “How am I ever going to leave this place?” Before I left America it was made clear to me that God was going to use this trip to solidify his plans for me; that what I learned or who I met here would lead to the next steps for my life; that he would expose guidance through this trip. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I know that someday, for some reason, I will be back to this place. The Lord is also walking me some deep spiritual thinking that makes me weary sometimes, but only good will come from this trip. I know it, because God is good and it is by his grace that I am even here.

Relationships are solid too. At times I get stressed out when my house mom insists that we go out, but I am tired and don’t want to. She loves to insist. And our group is successfully living together, I would say.

Prayer requests:

>That I will be aware of whatever God wants to reveal to me while I’m here and grow closer to him, learning how to hear his voice.

>That my health continues to stay steady.

>That my mind soaks up Swahili well. I want to pass this class!

>That I would have grace for my housemother when I’m tired and she wants to take us out everywhere (granted, we have seen some cool things with her)

>And that our group dynamic stays steady (we’ve been pretty clear of drama, for the most part)

This is just a quick update, really. An internet café is close to my home so I hope to have more posts this month.

To my friends and family at home, I miss you dearly and have been praying for you. I have so many more stories to tell already! Thank you again for all the support. I’ll probably end up saying this after every blog post.

Ashley