While we are here doing research, SFS wants us to become integrated into the local culture. In order to accomplish this, they decided we would each spend a day with a local family. Ok so confession. I am an awkward person.  In English. How awkward was I going to be in Swahili, where I can only say a few words? (not that this isn’t my typical strategy anyway). The good news was when I saw the list, I found out I was going to be with a woman called Mama Happy. This had to be a good sign. I was paired up with another girl Laura, and we set of on a backwoods excursion in one of the land rovers to get to Mama Happy’s house. When we got there I was surprised by how nice the inside of Mama’s house was. There was a large (relatively) living room with two couches, and the walls were covered in calendars and pictures.  We immediately proceeded to make chai in the cooking hut, which was across the yard and almost as big as the house was. We were able to make conversation (with the help of two phrase books) and help heat up the milk for the chai over a small charcoal stove. And by that I mean three pieces of charcoal in a pot with a grate over it. After chai, we helped Mama sweep her yard with handheld brooms made of some kind of plant fiber. This was kind of fun, because it felt like we were just playing in the dirt! We were also introduced to the two dogs running around, named Peggy and Mack. Peggy even knew how to come and shake, which we found really surprising as we were told that dogs were not pets here.  They were also trained to guard, because whenever Mama Happy said something which I could only guess meant look, the dogs would bolt to the front of the house, jumping over plants and dirt piles on the way. After that we started to make lunch, which was cabbage and ugali. I got a crash course in cooking when I was told to stir the ugali, which when heated becomes the consistency of quicksand. An added challenge was that the pot containing the ugali was as big as the stove itself, and there were several moments when our lunch almost ended up on the dirt floor. Mama Happy had a few good cooking secrets though, because the cabbage was surprisingly delicious. We then ate some sugar cane in the backyard while her son Calvin ran around playing with sticks. He also loved to take pictures, and I somehow ended up with about 50 pictures from that day, ranging from me and the family to a banana peel. Mama Happy then decided that she wanted to braid my hair in cornrows. I don’t think the poor woman knew what she was getting into. I have A LOT of hair, and she insisted on braiding every last inch of it. When the two hour process was done, I stood up and said “Now I look like a Tanzanian!” which made her laugh. It was defiantly nice to get to spend a day living like the locals do!

Location: Rhotia, Tanzania