Ari in Tanzania Archives - Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship

Appreciation Birthed Abroad

July 2, 2015

It is hard to judge just exactly how I have grown from my time in Tanzania, though I can feel something different inside me. Perhaps when I return to the States, the ways in which I have changed will become evident. I know my perspectives have been altered, my mind widened, and my tolerance for stuffy uncomfortable bus rides has grown more than I ever would have hoped. I know that I have learned more in Tanzania about life, the world, and the environment than any traditional classroom could have taught me. This experience both led me to have a greater understanding of Tanzanian life and culture, and yet also humble me in realizing how very little I really know in the world. I have witnessed beauty and suffering. I have experienced joy as well as pain.

I don’t really know what could prepare a person for cultural immersion coming from the States to the heart of a developing country. I’m actually quite good at adapting and acclimating to new cultures and situations, so that aspect wasn’t too hard for me. What was hard though, was comprehending how differently people on this side of the world lived. It was easy for me to deal with living in a mud and stick hut with the Maasai for a week because I knew it wasn’t permanent. It wasn’t an overly big hassle for me to cook over a fire or wash my laundry by hand for three months, because I knew soon enough I would have access to a gas stove and a washing machine. But what of them? Tanzanians live what many Americans would consider to be “rough lives.” Very few people have homes that include appliances (or even electricity for that matter), a large majority of people cook over fires in outdoor kitchens, and showers are done with buckets of cold water. Yet, most Tanzanians live these lives humbly and with grace. Our program director for study abroad said something that really struck me: “There is a difference between simply being involved, and being committed.” During my time in Tanzania, I only had a chance to be involved. Even though I didn’t have the time to commit to any one issue, that did not detract from my incredible learning experience about both the people and the environment of Tanzania.

What these people have taught me by allowing me to enter their lives and experience their culture not as a tourist, but as a student eager to learn, is that the United States really is just one small part of the world. Despite our tremendous influence, it is important to remember that not everyone has the privilege of living the way we do. I learned the importance of getting out of our western bubble and seeing the rawness of life in a developing country and I am so thankful for this opportunity. Looking beyond the fancy tourist safari lodges, Tanzania is made up of a lot of good people just trying to live their lives and provide for their families. It can be hard, but it is
also beautiful. I have been filled with a greater appreciation for my home in America and the endless opportunities I have the ability to access as a student. These are things I will never take for granted again.

I hope to return to Tanzania, or anywhere in Africa one day in the hopes of spending more time experiencing and understanding culture, providing outreach in the realm of education and conservation, and most importantly, moving away from simply being “involved” to instead becoming “committed”.

Tanzanian Bonds of Friendship

June 24, 2015

Has it been easy making friends in Tanzania? Well it’s certainly been a wild ride.
Tanzanian culture is by nature, very friendly. It is up to one’s self to decide which friendliness is genuine and what is simply good marketing to convince you to purchase souvenirs.

Overall however, I found it was incredibly easy to make local friends if you were willing to give it a chance. Simply by practicing Swahili with locals they would think twice about selling their merchandise to me and instead strike up a conversation. By the end of the day, I knew that if I ever came back to that part of town a week later, that person would recognize me and greet me as a friend.

These occurrences of course are surface friendships, though this doesn’t mean that things never got deeper. Most notably during my month on the coast of Tanzania, in the small fishing village of Ushongo, making connections with locals was one of the highlights of my stay.

Between my remedial Swahili and a local with decent English, a wonderful conversation could be had. I made acquaintances with the local bartenders, fisherman, fellow travelers, and NGO managers, exchanging with each stories of our lives thus far. After befriending the owner of a local beach lodge called Drifters, I realized how important making these connections were. Tuma first came off as a stern woman, but after she warmed up to us, she became one of our dearest friends, saving my butt with arranging a new computer charger to be sent from a bigger town via motorcycle, providing us with a home cooked meal, and sharing her experience and wisdom of Tanzanian and coastal culture. Her son was our age and he became a pal of ours as well, driving all the way up from Dar es Salaam to visit us during our second time at Ushongo. This family is one I won’t soon forget and I know if I ever return to Tanzania I have friends to visit.

In terms of friendships within my SIT program, well that’s a story in itself. This program was made up of 21 students — 21 students who essentially spent 24/7 in shared close quarters with each other. We became a family. We had our ups and downs, like any big family, but at the end of the day, I couldn’t imagine a better group to spend these past 3 months with. It was impossible not to fall in love with each and every persons’ quirks, admire their drive and intelligence, or laugh and cry as I experienced the Tanzanian environment by their sides. Perhaps it helped that we were in a specialized program: wildlife conservation and political ecology–meaning we were bound to share some common interests. Yet, these students came from all walks of life: east coast, west coast, the south… private schools, public schools… majors in education, engineering, sociology, film, biology, and environmental studies. The diversity in our group only brought us together because despite our differences, we were all experiencing the triumphs and struggles of Tanzania… together. Without this group, without these specific, wonderful people, my time in Tanzania would never have been as amazing as it was. I will look back years from now and not simply remember the elephants and baboons breaking into our camp, the challenge of my Maasai homestay, or the difficulty of using a squat toilet — but I will remember these friends that I bonded so strongly with. The friends that challenged me to think deeper, sing and laugh louder, and cry harder than I ever have while saying goodbye. But with these friends, I know that that “goodbye” is really only a “see you later”.

Living with the Maasai

June 3, 2015

The Maasai are an incredibly fascinating people, living off the land as pastoralists. They have managed to tightly hold on to their culture, despite the western influence constantly pushed upon them. It wasn’t until the last 15 years that the Maasai have begun to feel the changes that development brings. Clothing that was once goat and cow skin has now transitioned into the brightly-colored cloth shukas that Maasai clad themselves in. Where once Maasai spent their entire lives living as pastoralists in bomas, now many move to cities and are employed as guards or in the tourism industry. And for many years Maasai people went uneducated, until the local government imposed a law requiring all children to attend primary school. However, in spite of all this, they each still maintain many of the cultural customs that make them Maasai. From their clothing and facial piercings to their rituals and ceremonies, Maasai culture is very much thriving.

After spending several days living in a Maasai village near the edge of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, I was able to get a glimpse into the culture and lifestyles of this fascinating tribe. Over the course of 4 days I lived side by side with the Maasai, sleeping in dung/stick huts known as bomas or outside under the stars atop a cowhide, all while being taught the Maasai way of life by my home-stay family. I learned to bathe in the river and collect firewood in the forest while carrying the load back on my head. I battled bedbugs, an endless swarm of flies, and the equatorial sun. I felt like a child as my mama and sister would have to dress me each day, as I was too incompetent to tie the Maasai cloth robes onto myself. I spent my nights sandwiched on a single cowhide bed by my sister, mama, and a 4 year old child. I was also welcomed by the kindest hearts and biggest helpings of food I could ever imagine. All of this I would never trade for the world.

My little Maasai brother Naayo

The lessons I learned about the Maasai way of life during my short stay were far greater than any book or documentary could ever show me. And I still don’t even know the half of it! But from what I did learn and witness, it is worth sharing to those who may never get a chance to meet a Maasai.

Cows are the world to the Maasai, and some even believe that all the worlds cattle were gifts of god to the Maasai people. They are usually only slaughtered for large celebratory events, such as weddings. Otherwise, cows are used for their milk and their blood, both forms of sustenance which can be taken without needing to have the cow killed. Cows are also a form of currency, used for settling disagreements or as dowry for wives. It is possible to judge a Maasai man’s richness by the amount of cattle he possesses.

A Maasai boma

The boma (the name for both the individual mud huts and the overall fenced in cluster of huts belonging to the patriarch) is constructed of cow dung and sticks, and is a surprisingly sturdy structure. The Maasai women are responsible for building their own boma after they are married. A single Maasai man may have upwards of 10 wives, meaning there will be 10 of these bomas in a single area. The lifestyle here is incredibly community oriented, with all the women looking after one another’s children. It feels like one big family, which extends to the idea of personal property. I discovered that if I wasn’t using my shoes or my flashlight, or really any of my belongings at any given moment, they then became fair game to anyone in the area. I would wake up one morning with my shoes missing, only to find my Maasai sister wearing them while she fetched water. I would see my headlamp being worn by little children and my Maasai mama alike. I soon came to realize that there really is no such thing as personal property, and much like everything else in the community, most things are shared.

A young boy at the entrance of the boma I stayed in during my time in Maasai land

Circumcisions and child births are the most celebrated events in Maasai culture, with elaborate ceremonies taking place for each. A boy can not transition into warrior-hood until he has undergone the circumcision process with his age class. Female circumcision is also a continuing custom, and most girls undergo this process shortly after puberty.

My pictured with Jackson, a warrior in my boma

Me pictured with Jackson, a warrior in my boma

Women spend their days cooking, beading and jewelry crafting, or gathering firewood and water. Maasai warriors, the Morani, spend their days hiking long miles herding cattle or goats, often napping in the shade of trees during the heat of the day.

Marriage occurs at a very young age, and children are revered, so having as many babies as possible is both desired and respected. Courting occurs between young women and warriors during night gatherings called asothos. Here, warriors dance and make a display of jumping as high as they can, shaking their hair at women that catch their eye. Women respond with a shoulder-shaking dance move, shimmying at the men. Both parties are chanting and singing all the while–females with their occasional high pitched additions to the men’s guttural growls and barking sounds. These gatherings last far into the night, with ours starting around 10 pm and lasting past midnight. The Maasai were very excited to have a few of us students attempt their dance moves!

Me and another student, Dan, with our Maasai families

Overall, the Maasai way of life is hard, monotonous, and sweaty. It would certainly be an incredible struggle for me to take to this way of life permanently. The Maasai however, flourish in maintaining the old ways of life. The only obvious modernized aspects of Maasai life include their use of cellphones and their going to the local town store to buy rice or a treat of soda. Time will only tell how development and modernization will affect the Maasai in the coming years, but for now, life remains simple. Beautiful, fierce, soft and kind, the Maasai are a people to be reckoned with.

Me with my Maasai mama and little brother Naayo

My Maasai father, Matthew, and me

My Maasai sister and her friend

Tanzanian Food Culture

May 8, 2015

pilau with spinach and banana

Food in Tanzania is simple, yet tasty. Dishes consist mainly of carbohydrates and lots of starches (think rice, spaghetti, potatoes, savory bananas, and breads), with the occasional meats and veggies on the side. Spices aren’t as prominent as I had imagined in East Africa, and almost no food is prepared to be spicy–though pili-pili sauce (chili) is readily available as a condiment. Fresh fruits and veggies abound on every street corner, with large outdoor markets remaining very much a part of the culture. Best of all, local dishes are incredibly affordable, with many meals costing only $1-$2 USD for a heaping portion.

Typical lunch in Tanzania

The national dish of Tanzania is a corn flour mush known as ugali. It resembles mashed potatoes, though has the consistency of day-old play dough. Alone, it is nearly tasteless so it is often paired with sauce along with veggies, beans, or meat. Though most food in Tanzania is eaten with utensils, ugali is almost ALWAYS eaten with the hands, where mushing the corn flour into balls before dipping them in a gravy-like stew is common. Another local favorite is kuku (chicken) served with sautéed spinach, a thin tomato based sauce, and accompanied by fries, rice, ugali, or chapati (an Indian-like tortilla bread).

chips mayai

Wali maharage (rice with beans) is a popular staple among locals, usually served again with a side of sautéed spinach or cabbage. My personal favorite local dish is chips mayai, which is essentially a french fry omelette. Doused with ketchup and garlic chili sauce, chips mayai is good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a late night snack.

For drinks, I’ve come to be prepared to drink chai (tea) several times a day. This may take the form of plain spiced chai, or chai maziwa (milky chai). Sugar is used liberally, and if the chai has been prepared for you, expect a full cup of sugar to have been added to the batch (I personally, have no issue with this!). Soda is the other common drink to have with meals, with Coca Cola, Sprite, and Fanta dominating the market. In smaller villages, sometimes people will sell homemade breads and juices directly out of their homes. I can’t attest to the sanitation of homemade juice, but from this method I have found the best ice-cold avocado/mango/passion juice mixture on the planet. Not to mention, the mama who I buy juice from reuses returned bottles–yay sustainability!

Food culture in Tanzania is also something worthy of mention. When eating with a local family, as I did during my 3 week Home-stay in the rural village of Bangata, I learned to expect to be served portions of overwhelming size. Being large is respected, as it shows you have wealth, so the locals did their best to fatten us up with a plethora of hearty foods. Although breakfast would simply consist of a several slices of bread and butter, lunch and dinner could be a mountain of rice with beans, banana stew, goat meat, and spinach. Even after you have managed to finish as much as you possibly think you can stomach, local mamas with make sure to refill your plate, just as high–if not higher–as before.

In contrast to western etiquette, it is polite to leave a small amount of food on your plate instead of licking it clean to show you are satisfied. An empty plate signifies that you are still hungry, and you can expect to be served another dollop of rice if you make this mistake. “Nimeshiba,” or “I am full” became a popular phrase I used, often needing to argue that I indeed really was!

I truly believe that food is one of the great doors open to you for experiencing a new culture. By trying new things and dining as the locals do, it has allowed me the opportunity to not only taste exotic ethnic cuisine, but also to make friends. After eating several times at the same local lunch spot, the cooks and servers came to recognize me. And, simply by eating at the non-touristy food spots, I often found myself in conversation with other locals–they get a chance to practice English, and I get to work on my Swahili. There is no rush in the Tanzanian food industry, and fast service is non-existent, but if you learn to embrace the slow pace and take your time to enjoy your meals and interact with others, you may realize that finding a meal can be an incredibly rewarding part of each day.

an outdoor market

Week One: Tanzania

February 23, 2015

During this first week, it was hard to have first impressions or preconceived notions because we had not yet interacted with anyone outside of our staff at the refuge camp area, but now I have had an extra week in Tanzania exploring cities and national parks and have developed a few thoughts.

I am not entirely sure what I expected in Tanzania, but I know that everything I have experienced thus far would not have been imagined even in my wildest dreams. I think I expected to struggle adjusting to new foods, a fear that was almost completely diminished when I had my first taste of our amazing camp food. I also didn’t expect the stark contrasts between the westernized tourist areas and the rural mud-stick hut areas almost next door to each other. Though some of the main differences I have encountered between Tanzania and the United States lie in the customs and common attitudes of how people interact with each other. Here are just a few examples of these differences:

1) In Tanzania, it is always customary to say hello and engage in a brief greeting to any and every stranger you pass on the street (I have found this is only true in certain areas back home for me).
2) When asked how your day is going, never respond “bad”, things are always good. Unless of course, there has been a death.
3) There is no rush when it comes to service. You may wait over an hour for your meal order. Things just seem to run at a slower pace and people often spend a tremendous time eating and talking before paying the bill to leave.
4) Clapping is the appropriate way to get someone’s attention, whereas yelling is considered rude.
5) Locals will often approach you on the street hoping to practice their English and then become essentially your personal tour guide taking you around the city for hours to find whatever you are looking for. The only compensation they ask for (if any) is usually just that you will visit their relatives’ store, in hopes that you may make a small purchase.
6) You must bargain if you want a good price as you are almost always quoted double the value of an item and expected to haggle your way down to something reasonable.
7) Public displays of affection are basically non-existent. Although behind closed doors affection is allowed to be expressed fully, once in public even hugs are considered inappropriate.
8) Depending on the area you are in (rural, city, campground) the appropriate attire changes dramatically, especially for women. While on safari it may be appropriate to wear shorts and a tank top, in many towns and rural areas you must cover either your knees, shoulders, or both with a traditional fabric cloth known as a kanga.
9) It is easy to find a good full meal for about 2,000 Tanzanian shillings, the equivalent of just over $1 USD.
10) There are distinctly different greetings and methods of addressing people depending upon if they are younger, older, or your peers. It is rude to mix up these greetings with the wrong age group.

Each day my mind continues to expand as my brain is shaken by new ideas and the complex issues in wildlife conservation and political ecology. I am thoroughly excited for my next few weeks where I will be living in a remote village with a local family, taking Swahili classes each day and being fully immersed in this unique culture.

Hujambo! A first glance at preparing for, and living in Tanzania

February 5, 2015

The two weeks leading up to my study abroad program were a complete whirl of excitement and anxiety. Preparing to leave the country for four months was one thing, but preparing to spend a significant amount of time in the wilderness of was a completely different challenge. Thirty-three nights of camping in the African bush is a part of my upcoming program, and that’s not exactly something I could slack on preparing for. However, between balancing time with friends and family, and taking care of numerous pre-departure tasks (vaccines, banking business, and the like), I had almost no time leftover for all the other things I needed to prepare for. My last days in California were spent racing around town buying tents, compact sleeping bags and sleeping pads, water purification tablets, and malaria medication. I was up until 3:30 in the morning the day before my flight, as I struggled to cram all of my gear into one 55 Liter pack (I ended up being unsuccessful at fitting everything in one pack and was forced to check that bag and add a second backpack…not the most ideal setup). I spent the rest of my night being nervous about adjusting to a new culture – at this point the excitement had yet to sink in.

Two full days of travel later, I stepped off my plane and into the warm night air at the Kilimanjaro airport. I finally met my fellow wildlife conservation program students. After our group went through customs, we are all shuffled into Safari trucks for a two hour drive to our campsite at the Ndarikwai ranch. We scramble to set up our tents in the midnight darkness, but soon found ourselves drifting off to a chorus of frogs and the low snort-grumbles of impala.

I awoke at sunrise filled with excitement (which was surprising considering the terrible jet lag I was feeling), and was amazed as the real beauty of this area came into full view. The silhouette of Kilimanjaro loomed over us in the distance to one side, and mount Meru towered on the other. A troop of baboons played in the trees as fiesty infants jumped on their mothers to alert them of morning, and the birds provided a soundtrack to the start of the day, with hundreds of species announcing their presence.

We were introduced to our program director Baba Jack and the rest of our Tanzanian staff before going on a long hike through the Ndarikwai area–a ranch turned conservation reserve, where Maasai herders live side by side with zebra, wildebeest, and many other wild animals. It is one of the few wildlife areas in the country where you are permitted to walk the area, instead of being forced to remain inside of your safari car. This made for a unique experience walking in the savannah under acacia trees and next to herds of grazing mammals.

Camping in a secluded natural environment for one week was one of the best ways to welcome our group into beautiful Tanzania. We had a chance to connect with fellow students, get to know our director and staff members, and even chat a little Swahili with our camp cooks. It was certainly a great way to ease into being orientated to a new country and culture.

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