Cultural Adjustment

In our World Missions training back in July, we attended an excellent seminar presented by Ben and Bev Becksvoot on adjusting culturally.

They came up with 4 easy-to-remember stages in the adjustment to a new culture:

1.  Initial euphoria:  It's just swell!
2.  Irritability/Hostility:  It's just hell!
3.  Gradual adjustment:  It's beginning to gel.
4.  Adaptation to the situation:  Now it is well.

A lot of literature mentions that entry into this second stage may happen at about the 3 month mark. They were right; these days I'm solidly into feeling like things here are more hell than swell.  I'm just sick of the traffic, the heat, the complete indifference to time and the fact that nothing works the first time (or the second time).  I'm tired of standing out in a crowd and being called "mzungu" (foreigner).

While this is a normal stage to go through, the danger is when one starts to find the culture wrong, not merely different or difficult.  I find myself wishing to apply my American efficiency to many situations to "fix" Tanzania.  However, Tanzania isn't necessarily broken...it's just different.

Thankfully, the seminar provided a lot of ways to start adjusting culturally:
* Steer clear of an over-focus on your own perspective and way of thinking.
* Be committed to joy.
* Work to increase your tolerance of shades of gray.
* Pay more attention to managing yourself rather than to managing the situation or other people.
* Cultivate 3 skills that make a difference:  the ability to fail, the ability to laugh; flexibility/adaptability

This one is hard for me:  "...you will always be a 'newcomer.'  Learn to accept this fact and appreciate it.  Don't deny your background and cultural heritage; it makes you who you are.  You should neither suppress nor enshrine those memories of home."

The end goal in adjusting cross-culturally is to love and appreciate both cultures and to experience things from others' point of view without judgment.  I Corinthians 9:22-23 expresses this beautifully in a translation from The Message:

"Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people...I didn't take on their way of life.  I kept my bearings in Christ-- but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view." 

Please pray with me as I work through this cultural adjustment!

 

Searching for my Christmas spirit

It's December 5 today.  Less than 3 weeks until the Big Day and I have yet to feel even a flicker of the Christmas spirit.  It could be because it's over 90 degrees here (and with the humidity, it feels like over 100 degrees).   I'm not doing any of my "usual" Christmas events:  going to the Messiah, seeing the Nutcracker, attending cookie exchanges and Christmas teas, using up ridiculous amounts of butter in baking, or even shopping (either online or in a mall).  I'm not going to make a fire in the fireplace this year.  There are no poinsettias or Christmas wreaths. There is no smell of pine.  There isn't even an Advent wreath at church.

So what generates the Christmas spirit?  And how can I get it in the tropics?

Due to our suitcase restrictions, we brought only one paltry, though well-loved Christmas decoration: our Advent calendar.  Each day one of the kids (in pre-determined order) hangs an ornament on the tree.  My mom made this for us a number of years ago and the kids always enjoy it.  It's one of the first things they do every morning, even before breakfast!

I did purchase a hand-made African nativity at the market this weekend (and got some practice bartering in Swahili!)  I love the differences between the Western, traditional barn scene and this one.  There are camels and goats at this manger!

Friends are letting us use their artificial Christmas tree, which is about 3 feet tall and a bit on the scraggly side.  Nonetheless, we're grateful to the Sanchezes for letting us use it:  normal sized fake trees are ridiculously expensive, and frankly, ridiculous looking.  Picture Charlie Brown's tree.  We've got to work on the whole ornament thing.

We are looking forward to a visit from my mom in just over a week and there will be some community events such as a carol service, school Christmas program, and Christmas party.  Those things should certainly help.  And there is a gorgeous tree here in Tanzania that blooms in December and is like a natural version of a Christmas tree/poinsettia hybrid.

I'll keep trying to capture that elusive spirit.  However, feelings or no, the fact remains that Jesus, Son of God, came to earth as a tiny, helpless baby born into poverty....for ME (and you)!  O come let us adore Him - in many different ways and in many different places.

Visitors and Ethics (Part 2)

After a day of shopping and sight seeing, the two Steen clans went out for dinner. There are many options on the Oyster Bay peninsula, and we found a nice Lebanese restaurant called Epid'or. Here, Bob and Sharri got to experience another Tanzanian tradition: incredibly slow service! After ordering food, it is customary to wait quite a long time. Plus, our motto in Africa is always "It Won't Work the First Time." This applies to everything, so that includes food orders. The grown ups got their food and it was really good! Except that once it came after the 20 min - 1/2 hour wait, the waitress admitted that she forgot to place the order for the kid's food. You know, the order that was right there on the same piece of paper.

Another fun Tanzanian thing we've found is that when a restaurant realized they've made a mistake like this, it does NOT mean they are going to rush to fix the problem. One might think that 3 orders of pasta would rush right out in a few minutes, but no. I think they started heating the water a few minutes after they got back to the kitchen. But ok, it was good food, and we were in no real rush. I think the visitors were really starting to fade, though, so I wanted to get them back to their hotel.

I did some Google mapping. The fastest way to get them to the hotel would be weaving through some city streets I wasn't familiar with. But I noticed that if I just went further down the street that went along the ocean, I could just make a single right turn and could get to the hotel easily! It looked rather easy. I'd never driven in that area, but it didn't look like a big deal.

The sun was setting after dinner, which meant that the dark would be quickly approaching. Man, it gets dark here quickly.

The name of the road that goes along the ocean used to be called "Ocean Road" but was recently renamed Barack Obama Road. It was pretty cool, as it was literally right on the beach. Ocean, 20 feet of beach, and then tarmac. Except with no street lights, it was a bit narrow and hard to drive on. We passed a right turn that Steph thought we should take. Nah, that was the left if we wanted to weave through downtown. I had a better plan!

200 feet later, some military men were on the side of the road, and they waved to me to pull me over. Police normally wear all-white uniforms. These were military-khaki, and of course a few of the men were armed with automatic guns. (None of this is abnormal, but can be pretty striking). They have us pull over onto the sand and turn off our headlights. Then a guy comes over and explains to me that this road is closed, and that no traffic is allowed on it. Apparently, the president lives a little further down, and it's a matter of national security to keep people off it. And he said there was a sign that said the road was closed.

(Talking to fellow missionaries later, this road does have the Preisident's house, and it is often closed after 6pm (this was maybe 6:30). But only "kind of". There is no sign, I know that for sure. It's just something one is supposed to know.)

I pretty much knew right away what was happening...I was going to have to "bribe" my way out of this. I wasn't sure if I did something officially wrong or not, but I felt that my options were going to be to follow the guy's instructions, or to pay a bribe. One thing to do when you are pulled over is to demand a receipt. I did that a few times. The guy (actually, this was now a second guy) knew that I knew what was going on. He would laugh and say "we have no receipts here!"

The problem was, he told me that since I was in the wrong place, I needed to go to the President's office and  they would open a case against me, and then I would have to go to court. Again, I knew this was a pretty ludicrous idea, but I really didn't know for sure if there was some kernel of truth. Maybe I did miss a sign and maybe I should be in trouble for where I was. If I knew for certain, I could have pressed harder more confidently. But he had me doubting myself just enough. Of course, there was no sign. I suggested a few times that they show me sign, or show me the law that says I can't be there. They just laughed.

I kept suggesting that he let me go, and that I sure would go ahead and show up at court later. He had yet to ask my name, ask for ID, ask for car registration...nothing. (That was the explanation I didn't want to have...why I had only my American ID on me and that the school van was not registered to me. So I was overly nervous about that!)

I talked a lot about living here in Dar, and how I just simply needed to get my visiting family to the hotel so that they could sleep for the night. He kept saying things like "how are we going to resolve this situation?" and I was supposed to offer him money. Instead I kept suggesting that he let me go, bring the family to the hotel, and then I could take care of any problems.

I did a few things wrong. One, I kept meaning to say this (I learned the trick on Uganda mission trips) to emphasize that we were missionaries working hard to help the country. I implied it but didn't say it outright. Of course, that helped us in the past get out of tickets that were legitimate offenses. This was different.

The main thing to do (I realized later when I was less intimidated) was to insist more on the receipt, and to call the big bluff. Yes, let's go to the President's office right now, and you can write me the receipt. To insist that my mission organization needs receipts because they track my spending. That will often finally shut them up, when they think you cannot actually spend the money without tracking it. The other thing is, you need to have some patience. I had enough for about 20 minutes, but then I was done. I wanted out.

We ended up talking about America, and he was proud that we were on Barack Obama road. I told him I knew that, and that we were glad Africans like Barack Obama. The Obama conversation really got him laughing and in a good mood. So he finally said that 50000tsh (about $30USD) would take care of the situation. He made a lot of grand statements about how I really should be paying a huge amount, and having national security look after me, and so on, but he decided I was a good man, that Obama was cool, and I could just pay him.

Well, bribing police officers is another moral line I really wanted to refuse to cross. I want to stand against corruption. I want things to be clearly right or wrong, and then I can clearly do the right thing. The thing is, I didn't realize that "bribe" really meant "extortion." I wasn't bribing a police officer so that I wouldn't get a ticket. I was basically being held up by the military so that they could get some of my mzungu money. And it worked. I was more concerned with getting the family out of there. I was worried about the possible other actions that would happen if I refused to pay. I was calm and not too scared, but I also didn't see another way out.

So I am disappointed in myself, but also angry that this kind of thing can happen, and there isn't anything that can be done about it. We spent $30 on an interesting experience and a story, but it's a sad story. The world isn't right. It's broken a lot worse than this in many other places within just a few kilometers of us, but this is an example of the systems that are just not right yet in Tanzania. It's a shame.

Visitors and Ethics (Part 1)

We are very excited to have our first visitors! My brother Bob, sister-in-law Sharri, nephew Sam and niece Anneke made the LONG trek out here to see us, and you know, lions.

We remember well the braindead feeling of jet lag when we first arrived in Tanzania, so we let them rest after I picked them up from the airport. Well, for a few minutes. Because we were excited and wanted to show them places and do things! So hopefully, they are OK after spending the afternoon with us driving them all over. In our bit-of-a-rush to do something, we kept forgetting things like phones in the car, etc. One of the things I kept forgetting was to get my International Drivers License and copy of my Resident Visa. I usually keep them in our car, but we borrowed the school van for the day, to make it easier to carry all 9 of us together, and for luggage. So I was paranoid all day that I'd get one of the infamous random pullovers from a cop and not enough of my documents. [hint: foreshadowing]

But speaking of luggage, wow wow wow. It was like Christmas! Bags of luggage just filled with nice things for us (oh, and enough stuff hopefully for Bob & Sharri!) Since we came with 15 bags of personal items from the States, getting just a few bags is like adding 25% to our material goods. That is sweet. Now, many items were shuffled around to make everything fit, so we haven't even discovered everything yet. But thank you to any and everybody who might have sent something. Our larder is full with rare treats. Steph will probably be baking for a month straight!

So the visiting Steens' itinerary was to fly in Sunday morning, and then fly out again Monday morning for a 3 day safari. We're still in school for a few days, so this worked out nicely. To make things easier, they stayed in a hotel Sunday night closer to the airport. So our plan was to bring them to our house, let them rest briefly, and then spend the afternoon "on the penisula" which has some shopping and sightseeing opportunities. After dinner, we'd bring them to their hotel.

One stop we wanted to make was a trip to the Tinga Tinga market. We've probably mentioned it before, but we love Tinga Tinga art! It's a Tanzanian original art style started in the 1950s of cartoony African animals. If you have small children and Netflix, you need to get them watching Tinga Tinga Tales! We discovered this art district alleyway just last week after looking for it many times. It is so cool...just storefront after storefront of original, cheap artwork. Once I figure out how to hang things on our concrete walls, I am going to town at this place.

When we arrived in this area, some ... enthusiastic...young men attempt to sell you bootleg DVDs. They literally have stacks and stacks of them. They'll randomly pick one out to sell you. When you say "no thanks," they just pull out another one and try that. They'll basically stick 5-10 in your face until you can get away. Well, last week I said no to them many times, but then I caught a glimpse of one particular movie: 12 Years a Slave. I spend much less time than I used to, but still some, reading about movies, and I am very intrigued to see this movie. I liked the idea that I could see a probable Oscar winner that many in the States didn't see. But last week, I passed on it.

Buying pirated movies is one of the ethical lines that I didn't expect to cross as a missionary in Africa. I certainly try to uphold copyright law in the States, and I try to teach my students as best I can why copyright law is important. I spend time in class and in personal conversations with them trying to convince them that stealing isn't right. It often feels fruitless. I want to teach students who are going to go into Hollywood and make important, ethical movies, or to go to Silicon Valley and create video games that allow users to face moral dilemmas. I don't want them to steal the very things they should be valuing.

Well, my standards have lessened, and I'm not exactly proud of it. Mostly, it is because pirated movies are the only way I've seen to buy a DVD here. They sell them at official looking kiosks, in storefronts, etc. Now, I don't for a minute think that I have some right, or any "need" to see a movie. But entertainment here is a bit lacking. There is no prime time. I love a good book, and I love a good board game, but sometimes some video is tempting. I especially feel bad for the kids, so we've purchased a few illegal kid movies. (The good news: we've also received LEGAL versions of these movies later.)

Everybody has to make this ethical decision for themselves. I don't think I should buy pirated movies, but I have. And so I think I'm in the wrong. I don't see a justification for it other than "I want them and they are available."

So yesterday, I did give in to temptation and I bought 12 Years a Slave. I was pretty excited...a good meaty, meaningful movie. I hoped it would move me, teach me, and get me to think. But tonight we went to watch it...it seems to start in the middle, is a very low quality (not filmed in the theater shaky, but low-res). And there is no sound. So, there was $2.50 of illegal activity wasted. Hopefully, I've learned my lesson!

This is getting pretty long, so more from yesterday's adventures coming soon!

Top 10 ways I know I'm adjusting to life in Africa....

With a nod to David Letterman, here are the top 10 ways I know I'm settling in:

10.  I've accepted the fact that my feet are always dirty and have perpetual sandal tan-lines

9.  When I smell body odor or a stinky car, I no longer check to see if it's me
8. I ignore the sounds of horns on the road...it's nothing personal.

7. I know that 180 Celsius is about 350 Fahrenheit and that 30 grams of butter is about 2 tablespoons.

6. When there's a breeze at night and it drops to the high 70s, I sometimes get a little shiver of chill.

5. I don't freak out when I see lizards in my house

4. I know that asking for a dozen eggs means I'll get 30.

3. I understand that, more often than not, a bigger size item is NOT cheaper on a per-unit basis than a smaller one (yes, I am a geek).

2.  I refer to soccer as “football, ” games as “matches,” and the field as “the pitch.”

And the number one way...

1.  When I smell smoke, I don't automatically think, “Danger!” I think, “Someone's burning trash again.”

Photos of the new house, part 2

Hallway between kitchen and dining room (where kids are diligently doing homework!), which leads to Josh's room.  This gives you some idea of size - this house is big with super high ceilings.

Girls' room, complete with mosquito net.

Side gate, and the path that leads to school!

Back porch

Indian Ocean in the distance

Photos of the new house, part 1

Many of you have been asking to see photos of the new house, so here are a few!  The pictures don't do it justice....this house is amazing!  We've got tons of room for any visitors so come on over to Dar...

Front door (though we usually use the side door, this is more picturesque)

Kitchen!  Complete with gas stove....though we haven't totally figured it out yet.

Living room

Our gate

The maximum photos I can show is 4!  So stay tuned for photos, part 2...

Immeasurably More

"But to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in Christ Jesus and in the church throughout all generations, forever and ever!  Amen."  (Ephesians 3: 20-21).

This has been Josh's Bible verse the last few weeks.  Since we've been practicing it several times a day, you'd think I could apply the lesson to my own life?  Nope.

Was I praying that God would lead us to a bigger, safer home?  Yes.  Did I think it would be answered beyond my expectations?  If I'm being honest, no.  Although I really wanted to live near school, my earthly mind didn't think it was possible and so I dismissed it outright.  My prayers were small and I forgot that the God I was praying them to was big.  Thankfully, He does not give us what we deserve...he desires to give good gifts to His children (Luke 11) and he not only gives us spiritual blessings, but He lavishes us with His grace (Ephesians 1).  

This house is so much more than I could have asked for or imagined.  The move went so much more smoothly than I could have asked for or imagined.  I am humbled before our gracious Heavenly Father and pray that I can be a good steward of all the blessings He has given me.

Some moments in the life...

Now that Steph's done with the photo extravaganza, maybe some people are going through withdrawal on Steen updates. Well, I doubt that. But still, here are some snippets of life recently.

1. Looks like our first official African sickness has hit us. There has been a 24 hour bug going around, and it looks like Steph got it. Now, Emily, Charlotte and Stephanie are all laying in bed feeling not too good. Can the boys survive without them. (prediction: no.)

2. We went to the local waterpark on Saturday morning. What an hilarious adventure! The waterpark is a pool, six fairly nice big waterslides, and a few kid-sized slides. When we arrived right around opening time, they were still deciding when to turn the waterslides on. About every 10 minutes or so, another would start working. two of the big slides never did work, and we've heard that no one has ever seen them work. One of the others did finally work a few hours into the day, so there were four working big slides.

There were no rules. Climb up the slides? Sure, why not? Stand right in front of the exits? Of course! Form a line at the top and go down in an orderly fashion? Nah. In the whole waterpark, there were maybe 10 tubes and a few mats. Find a tube or not, run (not walk) up the path and stairs (be sure to push!) and jump onto the launchpad whenever it suits you! If you didn't get a tube, good luck...the water flow isn't really heavy enough to push down a person. On the way down, you may enter a few discarded mats, you may run into some people stuck. You may have one of those tubes coming down Mach-speed behind you, so look out! It really is quite a bit of fun, and dangerous enough to get some bumps and scrapes. It sure makes the American-system of "one person at a time" and lifeguards at the top and bottom look safe, if a bit stuffy.
Even better, we picked a day to go when many other HOPAC families were there, so we had a great time. We're also a little scared to go back, but for about $3/person, it's a great Saturday activity!

3. When we got home from the waterpark, we got ready to have some company over for dinner. These friends have probably been the most power and water outtages (not to mention a burglary...) so it was no surprise that 45 minutes before they came, we had a whole troop of power company workers come into our yard and work on fixing a leaning electrical pole. This pole has been leaning at a bad angle for at least 2 1/2 years. Also, it is right next to the dining room, where we have two big windows. They took apart four power lines, and placed them (still live with power) in our yard. Of course, we were baking dinner when the power went off. They dug out the pole, straightened it out, and reburied it. It was hot out, so they often took breaks napping in the yard. Still, the whole process took maybe 3 hours. It was just getting dark when they strung up the wires again and restored power. We don't know why Saturday was the day to fix the pole, but hey, it all worked out.

4. We're still in house limbo. We've been living in our current house without signing the lease that ran out on October 31...we are delaying just a bit because we are still looking at another place. We *think* this new place may be just the place for us, but we are working on making sure we can afford it. It is "on the hill" right behind the school, meaning we could walk to/from school! It's a very nice community, and a homely house with an amazing view. We need to make a decision soon, though! (That is, right now.)

The end of the October photo assignment: Sunrise in Dar

Well, friends - it's been a fun month of photos.  I've enjoyed posting these "photos of the day" and hope you have more of a taste of what life is like for us in this strange and wonderful place God has placed us!

October 30 photo assignment: pretty flowers

With winter approaching in the U.S., most flowers are on their way out for the season.  Here in Africa, we're enjoying "spring," and there are a lot of gorgeous flowers.  Because it never gets cold, there is reportedly something blooming all year round here!

October 29 photo assignment: Charlotte's Grade 2 assembly

Last Friday, Charlotte's class took a turn to lead the HOPAC primary assembly (akin to the ECES chapel).   Charlotte had been reporting that they were telling about the stories of Noah, Zechariah, healthy eating raps, and several songs in Swahili.  Going into the assembly, I wondered how it would all come together, but it was a great presentation!

First up was the National Anthem of Tanzania.  Charlotte and one of her classmates, Zanab, were chosen to help lead the student body.  Our kids love singing this song about 1,000 times a day and so I'm becoming very familiar with it.  The lyrics are in Swahili, but I found an English translation (beautiful words!)
Verse 1:  God Bless Africa. Bless its leaders.  Let Wisdom Unity and Peace be the shield of Africa and its people.  
Verse 2: God Bless Tanzania.  Grant eternal Freedom and Unity to its sons and daughters.  God Bless Tanzania and its People.  
Chorus:  Bless Africa, Bless Africa, bless the children of Africa.



"Mungu ibariki Africa!"

Next up were the healthy eating raps, written and performed by the students (and hilarious!)  Charlotte and company's verse was about the benefits of eating vegetables and fruits versus junk food.  

"Word!  Peace out!"  Note the rap hat costume change.

The final part for Charlotte was playing the role of Elizabeth in finding out she would be mother to John the Baptist.  Here she is with "Zechariah."

Another costume change!

The class ended with several songs, including "I have decided to follow Jesus," sung in both English and Swahili, and "Standing on the Promises."  Both songs had a lot of motions and Charlotte was very energetic.  I got some video clips but apparently our internet connection isn't good enough to upload them.

After the assembly with BFF Zawadi:

October 28 photo assignment: the inside of our (current) house

It's October 28 now and we're still not sure what's going on with our living situation.  Several weeks ago, our landlord told us that our rent would be increasing by 50% as of November 1.  We told her we couldn't do that!  Since then, we have gotten a 2 month extension at current rates.  Last Thursday, we decided to have another shot at negotiating with the landlord (agreeing to a longer term lease, agreeing to give her the enhancements such as air conditioners once we leave).  We think it went well and they promised to send us the lease via email, but nothing yet.  We've also got a couple of other leads we're following.  So we wait and see.

Before we move, we thought we'd give a glimpse of life inside this house.  The house is a lot smaller than 231 Hawthorne Ave., but we've put a lot of time and effort into making it our own.  I really would love it if we didn't have to move.

My favorite room - the kitchen!  Nice and modern, with an electric stove in Celsius.

The dining room.  We're currently getting some more dining room chairs made but in the interim we picked up some folding chairs at Game (the Tanzanian equivalent of Wal-Mart).  You can see the security bars on the windows; the curtains were custom-made here.

We all sleep under mosquito nets.  Here is the girls' bunk bed (can you see Charlotte and me in it? photo courtesy Josh)

Our living room - safari theme inherited from past owners (photo courtesy Emily)

October 27 photo assignment: Moshi the German Shepherd

(all photos courtesy Josh)
In addition to our monkey friend, we also inherited a German shepherd along with our house.  His name is Moshi, which means "grey" in Swahili.

This is what Moshi does most of the time:

(snoozing on the front porch).

Although his official "role" is guard dog, I honestly wonder what he'd do if thieves made their way inside the property.  Trot up to them, wagging his tail and asking to be petted?  I think I've heard him bark maybe 2 times in our 10 weeks here.

He does look a lot more ferocious than he acts and many people are afraid of him.  He's also quite the Alpha Male...frequently when we come home he'll go up to our car tire and pee on it (thanks, Moshi!)  He also feels the need to mix it up with Alias by peeing in his territory or trying to eat his food (seriously, do German shepherds even like bananas?)  This generally results in a dog/monkey brawl.

Unfortunately, he's a bit of a sickly dog....we've had the vet out here twice already (on the plus side, the vet makes house calls.  on the negative side, the vet feels the need to explain all the science behind the parasites for a long time).

Nothing makes Moshi happier than when we're all outside playing football.  He romps around with joy!

Overall, Moshi is a good dog and we're happy to have him!

October 26 photo assignment: after-school scrapbooking

On Tuesdays, I volunteer at HOPAC by helping to lead an after-school activity in the library. Scrapbooking is something I liked to do in the U.S., although it's considerably more difficult here without an A.C. Moore or a 1-hour CVS photo.  However, enough people make trips to and from the U.S. that we do have quite a few supplies to work with.  Most of the kids don't have photos but use the time to decorate pages and bookmarks.  Creativity is a good thing however it appears!

Hard at work!

We have 5 girls and 1 boy grades 3-6.

This was a cute idea to make candy corn!  This girl eventually made it into a door hanger.  I think this is about as much as we'll be celebrating Halloween here...

October 25 photo assignment: scenes from the computer lab

Here's a little glimpse of life in the computer lab at HOPAC.  Tim is teaching computers to all grades K-12 with the exception of grade 10.  There is a huge range of abilities in that age range due to the fine motor skills required!  The formerly "high school only" teacher has had a pretty steep learning curve as he prepares a large number of lesson plans.

Grade 3 hamming it up for Mr. Steen.  He's definitely acquiring some groupies here (in addition to his own three children, who he teaches!)

Kindergarten gets to play fun math and typing games!

Looks just like a normal lab, right?  What this picture can't show is the frequent power and internet outages or all the issues related to the new thin client system.  

October 24 photo assignment: Alias the Monkey

To satisfy the request of a certain 7-year-old special someone, today's pictures are devoted to Alias the monkey.

I have to say that going into Africa, I was definitely the least thrilled in the family about the monkey. And even less so once we got here and he bit Emily.  But he has definitely grown on me.  Considering I feed him pretty often, he's nice to me.  We've gotten better at reading his "cues" - he is a wild animal and so he has to be approached with caution.  When he's in a good mood, it's just like having a dog.

He doesn't stop moving so it's tough to get a good shot.  All photos courtesy Josh.

Alias has been living here for quite a few years.  The original owner bought him and a female monkey off a "traveling monkey salesman" (only in Africa...I have a mental image of a long coat opened up to reveal monkeys like NYC street vendors).  The female escaped, and Alias is tethered to a post so he can't escape.  Apparently male monkeys cannot re-enter the wild, so it's actually kinder to keep him in captivity.

He has two poles with perches to hang out on, and a little bucket shelter to sleep in.

This is his "submissive" pose, that means "pet my belly."  If you don't act fast enough, he'll start rubbing his own belly to give you the hint.  We feed him mostly bananas - 3 a day.  He also likes bread and other veggies/fruits.  I've been getting some half-rotted stuff for free at the green grocer.  I learned how to say "Do you have any food for the monkey today?" in Swahili (Una chakula cha nyani?)

October 23 photo assignment: traffic

One of the things we feared in moving to Dar was the traffic.  We had heard horror stories of gridlock and commutes to school that were truly epic.  Thankfully, a lot of that has been abated as work gets completed on New Bagamoyo Road, the thoroughfare that takes us to HOPAC.

However, there have certainly been some problems!  There isn't great signage here, so often when a road is closed, all of the sudden there are concrete barriers in the way, with no instructions on what to do. Tanzanians are very resourceful, so when one way is blocked, traffic streams on to the other side of the road (in oncoming traffic) or by creating additional lanes on the dirt shoulder.  For the more formal road closures, there are signs indicating "diversion"!

When sitting in traffic this morning, I snapped this picture:

Many bjajis and buses have little slogans painted on either the front or back of their vehicles, often having to do with God, Jesus, or Allah.  This one roughly translates to something like, "Jesus, please lift the driver above Satan."  (a good request!)

Some of these sayings are pretty funny.  My favorite daladala (bus), which I see often, has the slogan "Life is Password" on the front.  What does that mean?  It's either a deep thought or completely nonsensical.  I've also almost gotten run over by "Holy Spirit wind fire."  Hey, when the Spirit moves...

October 22 photo assignment: some foods here in Tanzania

Our household worker makes a few main dishes for the workers' lunches everyday:  beans and rice, a stew made with meat and ugali (fried balls of maize flour and oil).  While these foods are certainly edible, my impression of Tanzanian food is that it's fairly bland and oily.  It's a bit disturbing to see how quickly we go through a 5-liter jug of oil.

Luckily, Dar es Salaam has a significant Indian population, and so many places carry fresh spices. I've learned to make a few curry dishes, which are delicious.  Another good street food which I've had a couple of times is chipsi mishkaki, which is basically a beef kebab with fries.  Tasty and super cheap (less than $2).

One of our favorite ways to cool off is to freeze a triangle-shaped juice box and eat it like a slushie.  My favorite flavor is mapera (guava), pictured below.  The kids are big fans of the mango.

We are also big consumers of peanuts.  They are way cheaper here than at home - about 2500 Tsh per kilogram, which translates into something like 70 cents per pound!  Unlike back home, this is a do-it-yourself process:  the peanuts are purchased raw and must be roasted before eating.

One funny thing here is that in the Western-style grocery stores there is a brand called "American Garden" to give us expats a taste of home.  Two things which are pretty different here are Tanzanian ketchup (it's more pink than red, and runnier) and peanut butter (the African version has a different texture and is not sweetened).  The "American" versions of these products still don't get it exactly right, but are much closer:

I love how the ketchup is "born in the U.S.A."  I couldn't tell if these products are actually produced in the U.S. or not.  They are certainly much more expensive than their Tanzanian equivalents!

October 21 photo assignment: electricity

Anyone who has been following this blog has seen quite a few posts where I'm whining about power outages (they have been happening on average 1-2 times per week for several hours at a time, definitely worse for others).  But today I wanted to talk about the electrical system when it works!

Tanzanian electricity runs on 220 volts (vs 110 U.S.), which means that most U.S. appliances would be fried here.  One of the few exceptions is laptop computers, which are designed to handle a wide spectrum of voltage.

There seem to be three main types of plugs here: a 2-pronged, a 3-pronged wide, and a 3-pronged standard.  Below is a picture of the 2-pronged and 3-pronged wide version.

The 3-pronged wide plug doesn't fit into the wall socket, so you need to buy an adapter, pictured at left.

The 2-pronged version fits into the wall socket, but in order to make it work, you need to push down the top "gate" with something around the size of a pencil to release the bottom 2 openings.  I'm finally getting the hang of this, although it's tricky.

The 3-pronged standard version can simply be plugged into the wall socket.

Another difference from U.S. plugs is that the socket itself can be turned "off" when not in use.  This is actually a great idea that the U.S. should adapt - it cuts down on wasted electric use, or "vampire power."

One of our first purchases in Tanzania was a power regulator.  Electronic devices don't like fluctuations in current.  When the voltage is higher or lower than 220 volts, this box regulates it to maintain a constant stream of power.  We can usually tell when a power outage is coming, because this device starts going crazy with clicking noises.  It's also the first sign when the power is back on, since it comes back with an ear-splitting tone.

October 20 photo assignment: mountain hike

On the last day of our vacation, we hiked up the mountain a little ways to play in the streams and waterfalls.  Some friends did this hike on the first day and reported that it was pretty dry; however we had a heavy rainfall one night, and so the water was really flowing when we went!

The setting was gorgeous with bubbling water and fun rocks to climb on.  It felt so good to be back in nature - I've really missed hiking since living in the city.

Everyone's clothes were soaked by the end - those pools were just too tempting to play in!

The kids discovered that the rocks were slick enough to slide down...homemade water slide!!

A rare picture of the whole family!