The End

The thing about a story is you never find out what happens after the end.  What is a happy ending anyway?  Did Harry Potter have a mid-life crisis?  Did Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy get a divorce?  Does Odysseus ever venture back to sea?  And what becomes of the ill-known, but ever vital supporting characters?  Names like Samwise Gamgee and Little John become lost to our grey matter. 

The thing about real life is that the stories never end; they blend together forming images that make up our past, present and future.  Each new experience, each daring adventure adds a new hue for you to paint with.  Sometimes you end up with colours the shade of earwax, but you may also find a hue that would be alluring to even a rainbow.  Immersing yourself in a new colour causes you to reevaluate your entire palette.  Maybe what is blue to you is green to someone else.

Its funny how once you return to your armchair by the stove things so easily fall back into routine.  Old habits reemerge and the patterns of life flow on as if you had never left.  Watching the people around you makes you wonder, where has life taken them?  What colours has life given them?  As you pass someone on the highway, do you ever wonder where are they going?  Or have you ever looked at a family photo taken at Mt. Rushmore and wondered who those people were in the background?  Our lives are surrounded by fillers, people we see everyday but don’t know.  Perhaps a prolonged absence causes you to see your world more clearly than the new world you’ve discovered. 

As I emerge from my own adventure, however less daring than Harry Potter’s or less dramatic than Ms. Bennet’s, I find myself with a palette of possibilities, each colour holding the secrets to a new adventure.  Though the past is behind me, the colours are still there, showing who I am and providing inspiration for future murals. 

I do not have any more knowledge, other than the knowledge that I know nothing.  I do not have an understanding of anything, other than the fact which I understand nothing.  But I do know that my eyes have been opened to the subtleties of life and just beyond the shore I can see a whole new ocean of colours waiting for my paintbrush.

Things Long Forgotten

Things I forgot about…

• People who cut grass with lawn mowers instead of machetes
• Pumping your own gas at gas stations
• The amazing-ness of washing machines
• Drinking water straight out of the tap
• Twilight (In Tanzania once the sun goes down it’s dark. Also, its strange going from 12 hours of daylight to 8.30 p.m. sunsets.)
• Right-side-up constellations
• Wazungu up the wazoo (Being surrounded by Caucasians)
• People who show up on-time to events
• How expensive phone plans are
• Reliable water and electricity
• Where things (especially food items) are stored around the house
• Empty sidewalks (In Tanzania everyone walks so sidewalks (and roadsides) are always populated.)
• Comfortable mattresses
• Orange oranges (In Tanzania these fruits are green so now orange ones just look sickly)
• White sugar (All Tanzanian sugar is off-white and large-crystaled.  I rather like it.)

This Is Not the End

Today is Departure Day. Today I make that plunge back in the the fast-pace, materialistic world that was once the only thing I knew.  Today marks the end of my time in Tanzania but not the end of the things I am learning nor the last time I will see this land.

Though I have had my hardships, I have enjoyed my year in Tanzania.  I have learned so many things being in a different culture.  Traveling is a great way to learn about new people and places, but to really understand others you have to be immersed in their culture.  I am by no means an expert in anything Tanzanian, but I now have a greater understanding of other people and cultures.  I think the most important things I’ve learned are not things specifically about Tanzania but the things you learn when you are in a different culture: not understanding what is happening, feeling excluded, and being uncomfortable.  Perhaps it would be good for all of us to experience these things once in our lifetimes.  Maybe then we could understand each other better and respect all of humanity. 

There are many things I love about Tanzania that I will miss: the people I’ve met, the landscapes, the sunsets, the marketplace, phone plans, the mountain and many more things.  Of course there are also things that I won’t miss (being stared at, the tendency of things to break, being charged the mzungu price) but these things are generally out weighed.  All in all, I’m grateful for this experience (even the bad parts).

Even though I’m traveling back to America today, this is not the end.  Keep coming back for tales of re-assimilation until I tell you ‘This is the End’.

MYRT 13

The traveling salesman is a ubiquitous sight in any urban area.  Some carry large boards on their backs with all kinds of odd things like hair brushes and sun glasses hooked on.  Others carry sombrero-shaped baskets with peanuts and cigarettes.  There are even traveling salesmen selling blenders and Tupperware.  I believe it would be possible to do all your shopping from your car if you were so inclined.  Whether its fruit, clothing, phone credits or movies, there is someone out there willing to bring the good to you.  I rather like this style of marketing goods and I will miss it.

MYRT 12

There are two main types of outlets here in Tanzania, both different than those in America.  The most common is the rectangular three-prong.  This is the one you find everywhere.  Interestingly, the outlet sticks out of the wall a few centimeters. 

The Classic Outlet

The second type, the double round-prong, is less common. It is interesting to note that all outlets come with an on/off switch. 

The Double Round-prong Outlet

And lastly there is this enigma outlet that I have only ever seen in our house.  Its nearly like an American outlet but upside down and the matching holes go in the wrong direction.  I’m not sure why we have these in our house because nothing plugs into them and they are found nowhere else.  Oddly enough, this one is the most common in our house which is a mystery I haven’t figured out yet. 

In addition to having different outlet shapes, Tanzania’s power is at about twice the voltage of the States.

MYRT 11

Tanzania uses the metric system, which is amazing.  Though in the beginning it took a while to know what 15km or 25°C really means, I have adapted to this system.  I have always been fond of the metric system and I am not looking forward to dealing in inches and miles again.  Honestly, why should there ever be 5280 feet in a mile? And why should anything smaller than an inch be measured in absurd fractions like ¾ or ⅞ of an inch? And someone please explain to me why the freezing point of water should be 32°F.  Who comes up with this stuff?  People intent on baffling young schoolchildren, I suppose.  Units in base-10 and no fractions are much more logical and easier to deal with.  So if you ever ask me how far it is to Timbuktu or the temperature in Dallas, Texas don’t be surprised if I give you a metric answer. 

Say What?

There are certain words or phrases that different groups of people say.  For example, in Minnesota we are known for saying “ya, you betcha”.  Here are some local Tanzanian colloquialisms that we have heard a lot this year.

• “Its kind of…”
• “Of course”
• Somewhat
• “I say!”
• The word ‘boring’ meaning ‘annoying’
• The word ‘saloon’ where ‘salon’ should be
• The repetition of words like ‘small-small’ and ‘what-what’
• “To your side”
• “How do you see it?”
• “Brilliant!”

Houses and Homes

The typical Tanzanian house is very different from that of an average American’s.  Of course, there are many different types and styles of houses here, as anywhere, but for this article I’m going to take on a tour of a stereotypical upper-middle-class Tanzanian home. 

Houses are built of cinderblocks and cement and are not insulated or heated.  Windows are often covered by steel bars and may or may not have screens.  The typical floor-layout, which shows up over and over, is of a central hallway with rooms off to either side.  A surprisingly large percentage of the rooms in Tanzania are perfectly square.  Carpet is non-existent and floors are often left bare or covered in fake plastic tiling.  When someone is home, doors are often left open.

If you are welcomed into a Tanzanian home, you will be first taken into the living room.  Every Tanzanian living room I’ve been in has a matching couch, loveseat, and one or two chairs.  These furniture sets are always matching and are usually of a pattern that reminds one of the 70s.  The cushions are always overstuffed and feel more like rocks than cushions.  Matching lace doilies are often spread over the backs of the chairs and couches.  Coffee-tables and table-ends are also common and usually very wobbly.  If the family is prospering financially, you may see televisions, DVD players and other electronics.  If there is a television, it is undoubtedly on.  Even if a family has friends over to talk, the TV will still be on in the corner and the Tanzanians will watch it from time to time during the conversation.  Another different thing is that you can usually find a refrigerator in the living room that may contain a few drinks and other things. 

Walls are often painted a pastel yellow, blue, green or off-white.  Sometimes, the bottom few feet are painted a different colour.  Tanzanians don’t decorate their walls with art the way Americans do.  Paintings are very rare, though posters are sometimes found.  If anything, there will be a picture or two of a family member.  The strangest thing is that any picture that is hung on the wall is hung at the very top near the ceiling instead of at eye level. 

Tanzanians don’t show off their houses by leading guests on tours of all the rooms like Americans do.  Once you leave the living room, any decorations or other things immediately disappear. 

The kitchen is often scarce of things.  Most Tanzanians cook outside on charcoal stoves. Dinning rooms often have a sink for washing hands before a meal, a table with chairs and a cabinet with plates and silverware. 

A Tanzanian bathroom is often small.  It probably won’t have a sit-down toilet but only a porcelain hole in the floor.  Showers are rarely separated from the rest of the bathroom and may be just a showerhead attached to one of the walls with a drain below it.  More often, there will just be a drain and a bucket of water.  Very rarely will you see a mirror.

Bedrooms are often plain and simple with just a bed and maybe a shelving-unit for clothes. 

In many ways our house here is very un-Tanzanian.  We have a shower with a tub, a sitting toilet, closets, a cooker, paintings and other things.  And it’s not just what we’ve added that’s different.  Even the lay-out of the house is and the fact that we have panel siding on the outside is different. 

MYRT 10

Not only is what people write with different here, but also what they use to write on.  When I first arrived in Tanzania I found all the paper looked strange.  The standard piece of paper here is slightly longer (11.69 inches) and skinnier (8.27 inches) than one you would find in the States.  The other day when I picked up a piece of US standard size paper, it seemed short and fat.  Notebooks are also different.  You won’t find any spiral-bound notebooks, only hardcover book-style-bound ones.  These, in addition to being long and skinny, are thicker than the average American notebook.  ‘Exercise books’ are also common here.  They are fairly thin, shorter than an American piece of paper, and bound by a staple or piece of thread through the middle. 

MYRT 9

In the States, pencils are the common writing utensil of any grade-schooler.  Here it is pens.  Tanzanians are very particular about their pens.  Many teachers require that assignments and homework be done in black or blue pen (though diagrams are often required to be in pencil). This is just the opposite from the States where some teachers (especially math teachers) will tell you to write in pencil.  Tanzanians are also very careful about writing in a straight line.  If they are given unlined paper they immediately use a ruler or other straight-edge to scribe a vertical line on the left edge and spaced horizontal lines across the entire sheet of paper.  Also, Tanzanian hand-writing is uncommonly generic.  Though there are person-to-person variations, the majority of Tanzanians’ writings are all of the same ‘font’. There also seems to be many less left-hander's in Tanzania.