Wrapping Up Our Time in Karagwe and Anxious for New Adventures

Caitlin and I have not blogged in quite some time and we thought we should post one more before we depart Karagwe on the 28^th.  The past several weeks have been filled with many activities and obligations.  This is partially why we haven’t blogged in so long, we just haven’t had the time. We have spent our last few weeks tying up loose ends for this semester, and preparing for our upcoming adventure and next semester. 

We were able to visit some friends who have been eager to have us over for a meal.  So we went to our Swahili teacher’s house one evening and had a wonderful dinner. We spent much of the evening playing with her children while the students helped bake a cake for dessert. Mwalimu (which means teacher in Swahili) has two children and a husband.  Her husband studied at Luther Seminary in Minnesota for three years, graduated recently, and is an ordained Lutheran minister.  He currently visits congregations within the Kagera district to evaluate their church and programs.  Recently Mwalimu found out that she has the opportunity to go to the United States in January to teach at Wilkes University for the spring semester.  We were very happy to share a meal with her family and celebrate the great news.

Our good friend Oswald Justin who is our main contact at Kayanga Secondary School also invited us over for a meal which was also delicious!  He lives with his wife and daughter in a small home that is shared with another family.  We spent most of our time watching a video slideshow of photos and segments of his recent graduation from University.  He is always a pleasure to talk to and we are very excited about the growing relationship between the school and Amizade.  Both families couldn’t have been more welcoming to us and our students. 

These two occasions happened prior to Thanksgiving which was fitting as we have begun to realize how thankful we are to have so many friends here in Karagwe.  We gave not forgotten, however, our family and friends at home who we have been thinking of lately as we begin to make plans to arrive back in the States.  This excitement and eagerness to return home is met with disappointment because many of our friends want us to stay. We reassure them that we will return in 8 weeks and not to worry.  Our current students however, will not return with us and that makes many of our friends very sad.  The relationships they have developed over their 11 weeks here in Karagwe will be cherished and never forgotten.  Hopefully a handful can be maintained despite the distance with today’s technology.

Before our final goodbye on Monday when we are scheduled to leave, we decided to have a going-away party Friday evening here at Misha Guest House.  We invited 40-50 of our friends and colleagues to thank them for welcoming us Karagwe and to say goodbye. Caitlin made a sign which said “Amizade tunawakaribisha. Asante sana kwa urafiki yenu!” We had lots of food and drinks.  The meal was prepared by Mama Roja who has prepared all of our meals here in Karagwe and of course it was delicious!  Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and company of one another.  Caitlin wrote a speech in Kiswahili on a napkin, and thanked everyone for their friendship and hospitality. Our student, Sarah, had the great idea to play musical chairs, and we had a great time teaching the game and playing.  We had approximately 40 chairs crammed into a 25x12 foot room that in itself was a sight to see.  We had a small set of speakers hooked up to my i-pod and our laptop and we arranged the chairs in a large circle.  We were able to get 24 participants and the games began.  Everyone involved had soo much fun dancing to the music and scrambling for a chair.  It was a sight to see and a night to remember. 

Despite the mixed emotions regarding our departure we realize that our time here this semester is special and won’t be forgotten.  Life will go on once we leave and we will be on quite the excursion across Tanzania.  First we will take a bus from Kayanga to Bukoba which will take about two hours and will spend most of Monday in Bukoba. Then we will take an overnight ferry across Lake Victoria; Bukoba to Mwanza.  We will spend 2 days and 1 night in the Serengeti National Park in large Land Cruisers as we play tourists to the wildlife we have only seen on TV or in a Zoo.  Then we will spend a couple nights in the city of Arusha before flying to the island of Zanzibar where we will enjoy the sandy beaches and relaxing islander atmosphere.  Before we know it we will be flying home on the 9^th of December and asking ourselves where did the time go? 

We look forward to seeing our friends and family over the winter break!

-Paul

My Birthday in Tanzania

My birthday celebrations went beyond my expectations here in Karagwe. Few people here choose to remember their day of birth, nonetheless celebrate the day every year, so I wasn’t expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. 

Paul got up earlier than me to go to Kayanga Secondary school in the morning. He headed down to breakfast, and on the way taught Deo (Misha’s cook) and Egbert (the caterer who brings every meal for us) the Happy Birthday song in English. I got up a few minutes later and on my way to breakfast Egbert and Deo sang to me. It was very nice. Throughout the day they sang the song to me, trying to remember the words and tune.

Word spread fast and soon everyone at Misha was congratulating me for arriving at my 25^th year. The morning was peaceful, as I sat in a tiki hut and listened to music while I prepared for class. Class went very well (we learned about civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)). Later, I was hanging out with Deo down by his kitchen while he worked. We were chatting and I was wondering where Paul was as he wasn’t with Deo or in our room. Just as I had decided to go look around the back of Misha, I see Paul coming out of Ruta’s (our favorite taxi driver) car with something in his hands. Ha, I said, “Niliijua!” (I knew it!). Deo had told me not to worry about Paul and that he was coming, knowing that Paul was picking up stuff for my birthday. Haha, Deo and Roda and Justina had a good time seeing my surprise and understanding the situation.

I sat back down and waited for everyone to come down for dinner. Then, Paul, Isabel, Sarah, and Carly walked out of Misha with a cake and 25 lit candles singing “Happy Birthday.” I ran to join them and found a cake with chocolate icing and ‘Happy Birthday Caitlin’ written on it with 25 candles, all a little too big for a birthday cake. After a picture, I blew the candles out and we all went down to dinner. 

After we ate, I was given cards from Deo, Paul, and the students. I was surprised to see a card from Deo and laughed to see the spelling of my name ‘Cairilin’ (my name is very difficult for Tanzanians to pronounce/understand). I was very happy to get a card from the students. They made it with a black marker and pink and green highlighters for color. The best part is the rap poem they wrote for me. They had me read it out loud with attitude. Here it is:

Celebratin’ in the district of Karagwe

Sippin on drinks in the land of Nyerere

We be hopin’ that your b-day is the best

From your 3 favorite students, sittin at Misha Guest

We know one day you’ll be reppin’ an NGO

And changing the world just like Kaka Bono

So let’s go chug a few beers in honor of you

Because it’s your birthday Caitlin

Do what you do!

I was so happy to get that card, and appreciative of the time and thought they put into it. Paul also gave me a card complete with a pink highlighter heart on the front with a hand-drawn Africa inside. The staff of Misha and one guest wrote  greetings inside, Paul drew a little runner to sign off, and Paul wrote a lot of inside jokes of ours on the back including, “How does diarrhea butt feel today?!” Paul also got me a kind of African sign decoration which says “Wote Wawe na Amani” or May they both have peace. 

We were all anxious to see how good the cake would be. I cut it, and we all enjoyed at least one piece. It was vanilla, kind of spice, cake with chocolate icing- very good. We shared slices with all of the staff from Misha.  

Afterwards, I wanted to play cards so we walked across the path to the Safari Lounge where we could drink a few beers. Deo came with us and turned a few heads as he walked in with his arm around Isabel’s shoulders. We had a good time playing Spoons until around 11pm and then decided to hit the sack. Overall, a great birthday. Thank you to everyone in the States who also sent their greetings. I appreciate that Paul and I are still in your thoughts even while we’re on a different continent. We are anxious to return home for the holidays and visit everyone!

Amani,

Caitlin

The Bad Comes with the Good

While sitting with Mwalimu Rael back in September and figuring out our schedule for semester Swahili classes, she mentioned that her younger sister would be married on October 29^th. She invited us to the ceremony and reception, and we have all been looking forward to the event since then. 

The day had arrived and Carly unfortunately could not attend the wedding due to frequent diarrhea.  So, the four of us set out for the two hour journey with our dependable driver, Pascali.  We enjoyed the spacious land cruiser up until we hit the unpaved road…  Our journey took us to the outskirts of the Karagwe district to a remote village called Kamagambo.  Once we arrived we entered the church where the ceremony had already begun.  We sat in the back on wooden benches with a group of elderly men.  During the ceremony we couldn’t help but notice a squeaking noise coming from above.   I figured some mice had made the church their home and that was the source of the noise.  But then I looked up and saw a small newborn bat crawling on the wall just an arm’s length above my head.  I elbowed Caitlin to share the news and she was not impressed. Moments later I felt an object hit me in the back.  I looked behind me and found the bat lying on the floor.  An elderly man handed me his cane to use as a weapon against the defenseless newborn creature.  I pushed the bat out from under the bench and showed the students just before another man snagged the bat and threw it outside.  I returned the cane to the man who seemed disappointed that I was unable to complete the task he had assigned.  Meanwhile Caitlin paid attention to the ceremony and concentrated on translating the Swahili.   

The ceremony came to an end and we proceeded outside.  I was determined to find the helpless bat and his elderly friend joined in.  The bat was lying on the steps of the church and how no one trampled it stumps me.  The old man allowed me to take some photos before he abruptly stomped it.  He smiled, proud of his accomplishment.

It was now time to go to the much anticipated reception.  We piled into the land cruiser along with Mwalimu and six family members.  Our vehicle was now part of a six vehicle procession that drove along the main road and honked horns for 30 minutes.  The procession ended and we gathered in a family member’s home and waited 90 minutes for food to be served.  In the meantime Mwalimu brought around a small gourd which contained traditional porridge.  We each dutifully took a sip and smiled feebly saying, “It tastes great.”  Finally we were called to wash our hands outside and then we lined up to be served.  While in line, Caitlin recalled that most sickness among wazungu is caused by consuming food not prepared specifically for them.   With each stomach in the group grumbling with hunger she tossed the thought aside.  We were served lots of great tasting food which we consumed in traditional fashion using our hands. 

It was now time to party… We made our way to the reception tent and were given assigned seats right behind the bride’s family.  Throughout the celebration there were many performances and traditional customs signifying the union of the couple.  We were able to partake in some events such as a conga line toasting the newlyweds.  Our favorite part was the comical skit put on by 3 boys dressed as old men and one as a woman.  The pretend woman was dressed in a bright red dress with complimentary headscarf with two large balls representing a well-endowed rear end.   Their show included dancing, loud farting noises, and lots of laughter.  Unfortunately we had to leave before the real dancing began because it was getting late.  After a bumpy ride home we said good night and fell into bed happy and exhausted. 

But, with the good comes the bad.  

The next morning I woke up running to the bathroom sick with explosive diarrhea.  Just as I thought I would make it through the whole semester without kukunya maji (pooping water) my hopes went down the pit latrine.  I would experience diarrhea for 24 hours before feeling any sense of relief.  Starting yesterday evening, Caitlin also began a bout of diarrhea, and is rushing to the bathroom every 20 minutes. It seems like Caitlin should have heeded her cautionary thought about the food quality at the wedding. Maybe next time we’ll pack lunch?

Until next time, watch what you eat and stay healthy.