"This is Tanzania"

You’ve probably heard the acronym TIA before. People usually say it when something ridiculous happens that can’t be explained, so it’s just explained with a shrug and three letters: TIA (this is Africa). Some volunteers at RVCV have modified it a bit to reflect our specific location on the continent: TIT. This is Tanzania.

Starting with the basics – cell phones. It seems like everyone here has a cell phone, and what’s more, there is cell service all over the place. For a country with so little infrastructure (my lack of elaboration should indicate how little there really is), the cell phone phenomenon is incredible. How can ‘everyone’ afford to have a cell phone, when practically everyone is suffering from poverty, lack of education, etc., etc? Oh well, I guess TIT.

In some respects, I’m glad cell phones and service are so widely available – my phone has certainly helped combat homesickness before it even arises. At the same time, it’s making me feel like I’m not really where I am, which is something I’ve really been struggling with here, both on safari and at the RVCV. I have a cell phone, internet, food that pretty much tastes like it does at home, a warm shower that works relatively well, 2 dogs on the property (they threw me for a joyous loop), volunteers who are exclusively native English speakers…Really, if I didn’t know better I’d think I was on American soil. The philosophy behind all of this is that if you’re well fed, sleeping soundly and having people cook and clean for you, you’ll be a happier, more effective volunteer.

Travel is what you make it. So I’ve been trying to seek out some more unique experiences to spice up the daily routine. This past weekend, I walked with Bonnie and Sue (two other volunteers – wonderful buddies and Canadians in their mid-60s), to one of the Mama’s homes, a typical house in this area constructed of clay-like mud on a wood frame, topped by a thatch roof. For structural reasons the Mama’s house has no windows, and the interior is relatively open and cool, and very dark. The two-room home was probably 20’ x 12’ total size, divided in half – one half for sleeping and the other for cooking and eating. There was a small dog that looked oddly similar to the dogs I’d frequently see in Ecuador (the ‘third world breed’?) and chickens that ran in and out of the door, clucking at each other. No electricity, just the basics. The home was one of three, perched upon a hill among endless rows of coffee plants—this area of the country is jammed with coffee estates begun when Tanzania was a German colony. 

                 

 

I’m enjoying the kids, while trying to learn as much as I can about this country, this continent and the larger issues that they both face.