Haha ok not really VERSES the children.. ;) I finished typing my last note and Musa is there to meet me. It's nice, he didn't want me walking home alone. Haha. We head back as the sun is setting. I like the way the pink looks through the dust. Musa tells me about the war with Uganda. He says that it was a good cause, but the Tanzanian government became corrupt. He knows everything about everything. I ask him about witch doctors. He looks at me funny, asking if I believe in voodoo. I can't explain to him that I am just interested in how it works, but I try. He tells me that they can turn people into zombies. He doesn't believe in voodoo, but I get the feeling that he doesn't want to mess with it either. I ask him if the guy really goes "ooga ooga ooga" and blows smoke all over you. Musa bursts out laughing and slaps me on the back. We joke the rest of the way. We run into Lilian and Pepe, the other teachers and Musa goes off with them. I am at the hostel gates.
Just then, these small children come out of nowhere. About 7 or 8 of them. Ages about 4-9. I say Mambo. They answer Poa. I snap a photo of them and I am mobbed. Completely mobbed. They jump on me, they want to strike poses for the camera, they touch me all over. The girls are fascinated by my hair. They are all talking at once. I kind of fall over in the dirt and I am dogpiled. I am laughing so hard that I can't get up. We kind of roll around in the dirt together. I have never had so much fun in my life. They are naming body parts, counting, reciting the alphabet. They say "english, english" and "photo photo." I got a few of us all making peace signs and thumbs up. They love it. They are camera starved. They all want to hold my hand and pull me in different directions. A little girl keeps kissing my cheek. I have never felt so much like a little kid, as I did on that road.
I pull my homework out from my bag. They all push each other to get a look at it. Musa asked us to do some Tofali (research) and start a conversation with a stranger on the street to find out about them. This would seem weird anywhere else, but in Tanzania, you can't go more than 50ft without a huge conversation with someone. Especially being a Mzungu (white person). I start asking these kids my questions. "Jina Lake ni nani?" They laugh and laugh. They mock my accent and giggle. They all tell me their names. "Ninatoka Kanada, na wewe?" They all jump up and down when I say Canada. Apparently we are well received here. I ask them what city they are from (Unatoka Mji gani?) and after this, one small girl is so frustrated with my spelling that she grabs my book, bends one of the other kids over and starts filling in my answers on her back! I laugh hysterically at this. I've never seen children with such personality. They have been playing soccer with a bunch of rolled up plastic bags, bound with rope. It's heartbreaking and amusing at the same time. Apparently earlier Ben and Charlie were playing with them. I think I will buy them a soccer ball from the market and still take the one from home to Mvae, which is even more remote. The children are absolutely filthy, most barefoot with ripped clothing. They smile like I have never seen people smile. Missing teeth, grinning from ear to ear. A military truck pulls up and they all start backing away. They tell me "tomorrow tomorrow" and I tell them "Ndiyo, Kesho!" One girl runs back and gives me a kiss on the cheek and a hug and then they are gone. Just like that. I am smiling so hard it hurts when I walk through the hostel gates. What paradise.
We go out for dinner and meet 4 VERY good looking young men who just finished a 10 week stint in Mgumbhu. They have amazing tans. They are all smiles. They tell us that they are coming back. They all want to live here now. They tell us story after story from the camp. Killing chickens, building an oven, making bricks. When they arrived, they were the first white people any of the villagers had ever seen. The tale they recounted was much like that of mine with the children, but adults that touched them all over and talked a mile a minute. They said it was the experience of a lifetime. I asked them about Mvae and they told me that the work is hard and there is a real problem with water. Good to know, I think, but not much I can do. An old man, missing teeth, Mr.Mwiko, gives a speech. He has limited English and talks very slowly. He just reeks of wisdom. When he speaks, everyone listens. He thanks us for coming, telling us how important it is for the world to learn about itself. For all people to mingle and treat each other well and be together as one, because we are all the same inside. He is so full of emotion, it takes up the entire room. When he finishes, we clap and he is smiling at us all. When we get back to the hostel, the med students are showing us photos of a man whose face was bitten off by a wild dog. The moral of that story is don't pat wild dogs. Got it.
Meghan comes into the room in her towel and asks me if I'm afraid of toads. I say "no......why do you ask?" and she tells me that while she was showering, one popped up from the drain and scared the crap out of her. She threw a bucket over it and ran away. Haha Kelly to the rescue! I go out there and Steph sees me. I tell her I'm going to rescue a toad and she follows at a distance. I flip the bucket over and there, amid the soap suds on the cement floor, is the cutest frog I have ever seen. He looks terrified. We name him Eduardo. No one wants me to touch him, but I put my sleeves over my hands and scoop him up. He just sits there, terrified out of his mind. I have a photo of he and I, chillin in the hostel. I let him go in the garden.
I'm in the same internet place now, we went for lunch after class and walked the market. I met a nice man and his wife in a shop. He shook my hand and then held onto it. We stood there, talking, holding hands and everyone smiling. There is a lot of hand holding here. I've seen a lot of men holding hands with each other, same with women. I like it. This is not a place that knows loneliness. Everyone hugging, smiling. It's a crazy, asexual vibe that is so contagious that you can't help but smile. All the time. I'm used to people touching me now and I just feel like such a part of the group. Embraced into a community doesn't even begin to describe it. Everyone wants to help us learn Swahili. They all ask us names of things and where we are from and how we like it here. "Ninapenda Tanzania!!!" "Ninajifunza Kiswahili....pole pole." People laugh at that one.
Even the volunteer group is amazing. We are Canadian, American, Irish, English, Scottish. All hanging out like we've known each other forever. The other night we were all playing cards (me, Meghan, Ben, Charlie, Chris, Jeff and John) and Charlie looks up and says "Not only can I not believe I'm in Africa right now, but I'm sitting here playing cards with 2 Canadians and an American." It's true. This is the experience of a lifetime.
I am heading out now, going to cruise the market. I can now wander alone, I am not afraid here, I know my way around, my Swahili is good enough to communicate with locals on a basic level and I am comfortable with the culture. I am going to go for a walk (Ninafanya Kitembae) and pick up some things at the market. There really isn't much to buy, I haven't seen any bracelets yet, just fabric and sandals. It doesn't matter. I have barely anything. I'm wearing the same clothes every day and just showering in them to clean them. I can't think of anything that I need or want. If that isn't heaven, I don't know what is.
Even the volunteer group is amazing. We are Canadian, American, Irish, English, Scottish. All hanging out like we've known each other forever. The other night we were all playing cards (me, Meghan, Ben, Charlie, Chris, Jeff and John) and Charlie looks up and says "Not only can I not believe I'm in Africa right now, but I'm sitting here playing cards with 2 Canadians and an American." It's true. This is the experience of a lifetime.
I am heading out now, going to cruise the market. I can now wander alone, I am not afraid here, I know my way around, my Swahili is good enough to communicate with locals on a basic level and I am comfortable with the culture. I am going to go for a walk (Ninafanya Kitembae) and pick up some things at the market. There really isn't much to buy, I haven't seen any bracelets yet, just fabric and sandals. It doesn't matter. I have barely anything. I'm wearing the same clothes every day and just showering in them to clean them. I can't think of anything that I need or want. If that isn't heaven, I don't know what is.
