Today was our homestay! I was paired with Mel Cornell and we were placed with a family within walking distance of camp. The family seemed fairly wealthy in comparison to the surrounding area. The property was fairly large (aprox 1.5 acres) with a small garden and a large collection of buildlings. There was the main building with a living room, two bedrooms and a separate kitchen. Then there was a separate building with another bedroom and a refrigerator. I could especially tell the family was on the wealthier end when I walked into their living room and saw the TV and DVD player equipped with cable. They were by no means wealthy by our standards but certainly by the community’s standards. They still lived in mud and stick houses but they were especially sturdy and well made and they were fitted out with all the amenities. They even had their own personal well so they didn’t have to walk several miles to get water every day.

            One Mel and I arrived; we were greeted by the dada (older sister) and mama. The dada immediately got out some nice cushions with these beautiful handmade covers and some of their best looking linens to lie out on the coffee tables and chairs. Mel and I were quickly greeted by the youngest sister, Shakira, who was very shy at first but quickly discovered that we were very entertaining toys and fun to laugh at. I broke out my crayons and she was happy for hours. I was actually sort of disappointed that we were paired with a more wealthy family because they kept insisting that we didn’t help with the chores. I kept insisting however and finally convinced the older sister to let me help with cleaning dishes and cutting up some vegetables for lunch. I watched her make the ugali (a mixture of maize flower and water – it forms a very heavy and thick mashed potato type food that is a staple for Tanzanians) and the kale, carrot and onion mixture and then sat down with the family to eat. They didn’t have any silver ware so everything was eaten with our fingers. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever eaten a whole meal with my fingers. I learned that the proper way to eat the ugali was by rolling it into a small bowl and then scooping the vegetable mixture right onto the ball and into your mouth! It definitely required a bit of finesse. The family had a total of 6 children ranging in age from 25 to 4. The dada was 18 and Shakira was 4. There was also another older brother there (19) who was going to school for metalworking and also spoke English. The father spoke some English but needed his son to do a lot of translating. He was extremely curious about how life is different in America. We talked about politics, religion, education and even family structure and customs. He was really fun to talk to. The older son was equally curious and asked a lot of question about life as a 20 year old in America. One of the younger sisters (14) also came home from school for lunch and brought her friend along. We sat around the table together while eating and after, with Spanish and Chinese soap operas in the background. They were very interesting to watch and were all dubbed over or subtitled in English. I think that’s why the family knew English so well. I was pretty exhausted after eating because my body was busy digesting the ugali so I didn’t mind relaxing for an hour. After lunch we played with the kids some more and then helped dada with the laundry. Mel and I were laughed at a lot because we couldn’t perfect their “knuckle technique” that could seriously remove any stain in any piece of clothing. They made it look very easy but it certainly wasn’t. We took a break at one point and let the kids play with our cameras. We walked around the whole house and the kids, including dada, loved to pose for the camera and then see the picture immediately after. It was really fun to see them so amused. The father finally came back from his business in Karatu and brought with him two older cousins (28 and 37). They were both very excited to meet us and spoke pretty good English. The one 28 year old, Andrew, was particularly excited and made marriage proposals to me several times saying that if I can learn to make ugali I would make a great wife for him. Mel and I just played along… He and the father insisted on walking us around the whole property pointing out every plant asking if we had it in America. They would tell us what it was and got awfully offended when we couldn’t remember all the names they told us! It was very intimidating and we tried very hard…They took us to their back garden and showed us the maize and beans they were growing. We practiced using a hoe with the grandfather but Mel accidentally dug up one of the maize plants so they led us away pretty fast. We eventually left the father and Andrew and his cousin took us around the rest of the plantation pointing out every tree and insisting we try all of their non-ripe oranges, lemons and zambarau (“purple” in Swahili – some horribly bitter fruit that grew on a tree and looked like a very miniature eggplant). We helped his older sister wash beans and rice and put the pot on their “stove” (three rocks surrounding a fire) and then continued to walk all around the property. When it was finally time to leave Andrew made sure to give me all of his contact information and his high school picture. I think I made a new friend J

            We were pretty exhausted afterwards so we spent the rest of the evening talking about our individual experiences and finishing our Environmental Policies about the strengths and weaknesses of micro lending operations in Tanzania.

            Today was just as fun. We spent the morning in travelling lectures where we visited 3 different locations and had lectures on environmental policy, wildlife ecology and wildlife management. Although all the topics were covered, they all addressed the common issue of sustainability and proper utilization of resources, just from different perspectives. We ultimately ended at a curio (souvenir) shop where we had some time to browse and also talked about the relationship between tourism and the environment and how people benefit off tourism and therefore have a vested interest in preserving wildlife.

            After lunch was definitely my favorite part of the day. We visited the orphanage again and built the kids a tetherball court! It was really simple actually. We brought a bag of cement, a very large, sturdy tree branch, an old, deflated soccer ball and some twine. After we arrived and played with the kids for a while, we dug a hole in their playground area, used rocks and cement to secure the branch in the ground and then attached the ball with the twine. It took a little while to explain exactly how to play but I think they’re really going to like it! We sang a few songs with them before finally heading home. Tonight is a movie night and tomorrow is a non-program day!! I’m going with a couple students to a church service tomorrow. It should be really interesting. We’re spending the rest of the afternoon at an art gallery established by an American woman. She serves a lot of American food and has two yellow labs, which we are all extremely excited to play with. I can’t wait to write about the church service.

Until Tomorrow!

Location: Rhotia, Tanzania