Hot as HELL

Hi everyone. I am sitting here in Loyce's house trying to ignore the sweaty sticky mess that I am and its only noon here. It's been an interesting few days since I last wrote. Tuesday I spent the morning with Loyce running some of her errands and doing some of my own. I had wanted to purchase some khangas to take back to the US for my own use and for some gifts, so Loyce took me to this khanga market and I spent some time going through them. As I said earlier, each khanga has a kiswahili message writte on it - and its meant to be read and its kind of worn as a statement. So Loyce sat in the car as I perused and occasionally held up khangas for her to read and explain to me. I ended up buying 5 khangas in various blues and reds. I was happy with my purchases - but what Loyce didnt tell me was that all khangas are then cut in half - so basically I bought ten khangas . . . I took them to her tailor (she runs a draperie business) and he cut and sewed the loose ends - and now I have ten khangas. Then in the afternoon Frida - the Dar chapter Treasurer - sent a car for me and I met her at her office to discuss finances and bookkeeping, etc. We were together for about 4 hours, with her taking me to one of her businesses (she runs several canteens throughout the city at schools). Afterwards we met her son who she tried to set me up with - rather unsuccessfully. I had a nice time with Frida but there were some awkward moments - she had invited me to dinner but I knew that Loyce was expecting me - and its usually better not to get Loyce mad because she has a very strong personality. Frida was very sweet and bought me some fruit and then took me home. On Wednesday morning I had a really nice visit with Happiness. Happiness runs her own business - Happiness's House of Cakes. Its a small storefront but on a busy day she said she has 40 cake orders. I spent some time talking with her and going through her finances and am still brainstorming some ways to help her keep better track of her finances. Most of these women already keep track of their finances, but their organization is pretty poor. So there may be a record here, an order there, maybe a few records that were accidentally thrown out . . . Its amazing to me that they can be successful but in such disarray! Happiness took me out to lunch and then to a craft market where I made some purchases to take home. Afterwards we stopped back at her business and she gave me a cake to take home. Loyce and I had a piece of cake after dinner - and it was incredible. I don't know if its because I have not had the spoils of home in awhile or maybe just because her cake was so good - but it was amazing. I even had some milk with it because I had bought some milk a few days ago at the market. This was about as close as I have come to a USA dessert. This morning (Thursday) I have had a neat day so far. I went with Edina on a dala-dala to this huge market called Kariako. So, a dala-dala is a public bus, but its better compared to a VW van in the US. The entire back are seats and you can squeeze about 20-25 people into it, both sitting and standing. Its incredibly cheap, the price depends on where you are going. There is a guy who sits at the door and hangs out of it, letting the driver know where to stop by pounding on the side. These buses are typically very run down (can see the road through the floor in some places) and can be dangerous, but are overall a great easy way to travel. So we arrived at the market together and its this huge open building. Edina took my hand (so sweet) and took me downstairs. This was very interesting. So even in the stairs the air was heavy and sickening. The entire basement is this open market but they dont clean it often and food is all over the floor and so the air has this awful decomposing food smell. It took me a few minutes to adjust so it. Edina and I went around to all these stalls and about tons of food. Like seriously, pounds and pounds of food. I wish I could have understood Kiswahili so I could have heard a lot of the interactions, but my eyes and ears definitely took in a lot. We bought, literally, pounds and pounds of food. Then Edina paid someone to carry it out to the dala-dala and we headed home. Once we got off at our stop, Edina and I tried to carry it together but it was too heavy, so she put it on her head and off we walked . . .This evening we have a big TAWE chapter meeting so I am interested in how that will go. I have a number of things from Bev that I need to discuss with the individual members and some reminders for the chapter as a whole. PLUS I need to get some kind of organization plan together for Happiness before we leave for the meeting.
A few points:
Living with Loyce - It's been really nice staying with Loyce. She has a very domineering personality and I have had to learn to submit to her, but its an interesting relationship we have here. It's a house full of women - Loyce, myself, Edina and Loyce's niece. So walking around in khangas or seeing each other bare chested is not a big deal. Loyce and I have a lot of meals together and we usually talk. She can drive me crazy at times and I just have to swallow it, but other times when she is tired she is endearing and adorable. Tanzanians and especially Loyce have this way of throwing little like high pitched noises into their speech - as if they had just been surprised? It's hard to explain, but its adorable and when she does it I laugh so hard. Loyce has been very generous to house me and feed me. I have offered money for things and usually she declines. My meals always have some kind of protein, some kind of vegetable and some kind of starch. I have started to tell Edina what not to make. For breakfast she had been giving me two eggs, bread, a hot dog (as a sausage), tons of fruit, juice, tea, etc. So starting this week I have told her that I only want fruit and a piece of bread. She is starting to learn to feed me less, but last night I wasnt too surprised to find 3, yes 3, baked potatos on my plate. And Loyce is funny about eating too. She is trying to lose weight and so I'll be surrounded by all this food at dinner and she will have one small piece of chicken. But, typically, what happens is I start offering her a bit of this and a bit of that, and eventually she ends up with a majority of the food. All of these nuances of our relationship are funny and I enjoy spending time with her in this regard. I also love being with the girls, especially when Loyce is not home. We dont always understand each other, but they love when I take their picture and then show it to them, or watching me take my contacts in and out. Neither had ever seen contacts before. Sometimes in the morning they teach me a few kiswahili words that I practice and write in my book. At night we all watch television together, though I usually go off and read on my own. They have this program called Africa Magic and it is quite literally the worst program I have ever seen in my entire life. Watching it makes my head hurt because the acting is so bad, the stories are even worse, and to top it all the story lines are SO slow. As Loyce points out, its good for the girls because the show is in English, but otherwise, it makes me want to punch someone. So I usually watch for 15 minutes, start laughing and shaking my head, and then leave the room.
Men - I know I have said it before, but I really mean that it's odd to be white here. I stick out like a freaking sore thumb. Men are always just staring. I mean, I don't necessarily help it. I dress much more casually, but just as conservatively, as the Tanzanians. But I have given up doing anything with my hair and its usually a bit crazy. Plus I am relatively tall here. So whether its for those reasons or others, I always feel out of place and like Im being gawked at. So when I met another man and he asks me if I am married or if I would ever marry an African man, it definitely gets old - don't get me wrong, Im exaggerating a bit here, but its still annoying. So I met Frida's son and right away I have a knee-jerk reaction to roll my eyes. Frida asks for my phone number but asks me to give it to her son because 'her phone is broken.' And he asks where I am staying and if he can come visit - all of which I politely answer and smile. - but anywhere, it's like that everywhere. I have tried to talk to Loyce about it without possibly offending her or her culture - and she has just told me that no matter what, these people won't hurt me. In fact, she said that these people can't hurt me. As a foreigner they are just interested and fascinated. So that has helped keep me from being so annoyed.
Weather - okay, it is totally hot as hell here. I cant be sure if its more or less than Madagascar, but I think its more. I spend most of my day being sticky and hot. The heat is exhausting and I have much less energy here then I did in Madagascar. At night I try to time my bucket bath with my going to bed, otherwise I will be sweating again by the time I am asleep. I am lucky to have a fan in my room and sleep with the windows open, but all that really means is that hot air is swirling around my room. I've taken to sleeping with the least amount of clothes as possible while still being appropriate.
I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks to everyone for their comments and emails. Gus, just to let you know, Dar Es Salaam is an arabic name meaning Haven of Peace. I have seen more Muslim men and women here then anywhere else along my travels so far.
I also want to give a shout out to Jennifer Bandola for always leaving messages and encouraging me! I miss you! And to Tim who is coming to visit in about a month. I've had a number of funny conversations with him about his visit, trying to make sure he knows that the Africa here is very different from the Africa of Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is like europe c . . . and its been funny to review his packing list. So, Tim, be a minimailist . . and make sure you leave room to take back all of the stuff I have bought! If you are nice I'll give you a khanga!
Take care everyone.
Love,
Ann