1. Saidi, the little four year old who spends most of his time at our house, asks Courtney for some soap. If he isn’t clean he can’t go to school. So Courtney gives him a small piece of soap and watches him through the window as he walks home. A few feet from the house he stops, looks around, and proceeds to pee all over his hands and soap, and then proceeds to wash his hands with the soap. Then he continues home. He had the right idea, needing water, but he needs a little lesson on hygiene! 
2. At 4:30 in the afternoon, six kids come by the house. Arthur goes out to talk to them and asks them about school. An impromptu geography lesson begins and a world map is brought out. The kids listen with rapt attention as they learn where in the world Tanzania is.
3. A friend of ours who works at a local all girls’ boarding school invited us to Friday night movie night, a club he started at his school. He brought a projector and movies from America just so that he could start this club. For this, only the second time he has shown a movie, we were expecting a low-key event. We arrive at the auditorium 30 minutes before anyone is supposed to arrive, and there are already 100 girls waiting outside for the movie. By the time the movie is supposed to start, there is a loud roar outside the door from the excitement of all the girls. A large sheet is hung, speakers rigged up, and the projector is ready to go. The door is opened and music is turned on. The 200 girls are so excited that they start screaming, running, pushing, shoving, and yelling, all trying to get a seat. Even the headmistress came. She got a seat, but many of the girls had to stand while we all watched “High School Musical.” For us and the students at the Songea Girls’ Boarding School in Tanzania, it was the cultural event of the week!
4. Kids in Songea know some English words, but generally don’t know their direct translations, so their use of them often comes across in unintended ways. There are some phrases that are harmless, and some which reveal the serious cultural obstacles that we face here. I (Arthur) was walking home from town at 5:00 in the afternoon, when a group of six kids, all about 12, yelled out “good morning, sir.” This is a very common occurrence, because in primary school all of the students must great their teachers in this way. Unfortunately, the kids are not taught what the words mean, so only think of “good morning sir” as a generic greeting. I knew these particular kids, so I stopped and went over to talk to them, and to explain the different English words for times of the day, and that it certainly was not morning. After only a couple of minutes, they understood, and looked genuinely excited that they had learned some English. I was happy that they had been receptive, and felt somewhat of an accomplishment for having taught them something. Then, just when I was about to leave, one of the bigger kids, clearly showing off for his younger friends, says “Give me money.” While I was able to explain to the kids that I would not give them money, and that they shouldn’t just ask for money when they see me, correcting the mentality behind this phrase would be more difficult than distinguishing between morning and night.
5. We were lying in bed reading one night, when Arthur felt something on his shoulder. Not thinking much of it, he brushed it off, then looked and saw a scorpion scampering away. Just a small one, but a scorpion is a scorpion. We looked for it to make sure it was really gone, and couldn’t find it, so gave up. Then, just when we were about to go to sleep, Arthur picks up his pillow, and the scorpion is just sitting there. This time we smooshed it as it tried to run away.
6. More on scary insects: We’ve got lots of spiders here, but this has to be the biggest and scariest we’ve seen. Each of these legs is about 2 inches long. We spotted this one by the bank in town.
2. At 4:30 in the afternoon, six kids come by the house. Arthur goes out to talk to them and asks them about school. An impromptu geography lesson begins and a world map is brought out. The kids listen with rapt attention as they learn where in the world Tanzania is.
3. A friend of ours who works at a local all girls’ boarding school invited us to Friday night movie night, a club he started at his school. He brought a projector and movies from America just so that he could start this club. For this, only the second time he has shown a movie, we were expecting a low-key event. We arrive at the auditorium 30 minutes before anyone is supposed to arrive, and there are already 100 girls waiting outside for the movie. By the time the movie is supposed to start, there is a loud roar outside the door from the excitement of all the girls. A large sheet is hung, speakers rigged up, and the projector is ready to go. The door is opened and music is turned on. The 200 girls are so excited that they start screaming, running, pushing, shoving, and yelling, all trying to get a seat. Even the headmistress came. She got a seat, but many of the girls had to stand while we all watched “High School Musical.” For us and the students at the Songea Girls’ Boarding School in Tanzania, it was the cultural event of the week!
4. Kids in Songea know some English words, but generally don’t know their direct translations, so their use of them often comes across in unintended ways. There are some phrases that are harmless, and some which reveal the serious cultural obstacles that we face here. I (Arthur) was walking home from town at 5:00 in the afternoon, when a group of six kids, all about 12, yelled out “good morning, sir.” This is a very common occurrence, because in primary school all of the students must great their teachers in this way. Unfortunately, the kids are not taught what the words mean, so only think of “good morning sir” as a generic greeting. I knew these particular kids, so I stopped and went over to talk to them, and to explain the different English words for times of the day, and that it certainly was not morning. After only a couple of minutes, they understood, and looked genuinely excited that they had learned some English. I was happy that they had been receptive, and felt somewhat of an accomplishment for having taught them something. Then, just when I was about to leave, one of the bigger kids, clearly showing off for his younger friends, says “Give me money.” While I was able to explain to the kids that I would not give them money, and that they shouldn’t just ask for money when they see me, correcting the mentality behind this phrase would be more difficult than distinguishing between morning and night.
5. We were lying in bed reading one night, when Arthur felt something on his shoulder. Not thinking much of it, he brushed it off, then looked and saw a scorpion scampering away. Just a small one, but a scorpion is a scorpion. We looked for it to make sure it was really gone, and couldn’t find it, so gave up. Then, just when we were about to go to sleep, Arthur picks up his pillow, and the scorpion is just sitting there. This time we smooshed it as it tried to run away.
6. More on scary insects: We’ve got lots of spiders here, but this has to be the biggest and scariest we’ve seen. Each of these legs is about 2 inches long. We spotted this one by the bank in town.
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1 comment:
When we were in SA we woke up one morning and I looked down and saw a little blackish thing on the ground at the foot of our bed. I thouht, oh cute it's a little frog or toad. In my bare feet prod it with toe and then realize as tail and claws unfold that it's actually a scorpion. Ug. Anyway great bug posts.
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