August 25th

Alright, so this will probably be my last post for the next two or three weeks because we are going to be traveling before international student orientation on September 12th. So... enjoy!

Last week, we went to a lecture on Darfur, which was really interesting. What actually happened (no, the main conflict is not going on anymore) got really distorted. I'm really hoping someone from home will buy his book and let me borrow it when I get home. It's called Good Muslim, Bad Muslim. I don't remember the author's name unfortunately. I can't really say too much because I'm sure someone will misunderstand and think I'm really insensitive, so you'll just have to buy his other book when it comes out in January.

Alright, on a lighter note, I ate a ton of food this weekend. On Friday, our Kiswahili teacher had our class over for dinner. We had sooo much food. And it lasted 6 hours, no joke. Our teacher's daughter had been up on campus for a dinner with all of the LCCT scholars (professors from UDSM who studied at one of our 4 colleges as part of the exchange), and my teacher had introduced me as "Cheka" (say "chay-kah") which is my Kiswahili name. I had chased her around a little then, but she went around to everyone there. On Friday, though, my professor called her in to the room, and she said she always asks about "Cheka." She sat by me most of the time, and then when we were done with dinner, she went to play outside. Soon, I heard her call "Cheeeekaaaa" from outside. It was pretty amusing, but I couldn't figure out why she liked me so much.

On Saturday we went to our TA's house to help make lunch, and we stayed there to watch the Olympics too. That was pretty fun, but I still don't like cooking. I don't think that's ever going to change.

On Sunday we met a family friend of the guy on our trip. She sent her grandson and his friends to take us to a really nice white sand beach across the bay, and then we went to her house for dinner. The beach was really nice, and the water was pretty warm. It definitely had the tropical feel with the turqoise water and palm trees. The guys that came with us were named Frank, Erik, and David (those were their English names; many people have a Swahili name and an English name). They were really cool. David was most known for trying to see what ridiculous things he could make us believe. My favorite was that sharks only eat white people. He really stuck to that one all day, and people started rationalizing "well, I suppose white skin reflects more light..." But don't worry, I was never convinced. He finally admitted it wasn't true later after dinner. Erik also tried to tell us that he wouldn't go swimming because it was too hot. I was just confused by that, so he had to admit he was joking right away.

Oh, and I have to tell you about my shining moment. I absolutely love when I can actually understand random people's Kiswahili, and not just my teacher's. So, Me, Siri, and David were sitting on the beach, and this older guy walks by and starts talking to David in Kiswahili. I can tell that he is joking with him, and I heard him say the word "mmoja" which means "one" when referring to people, so I just knew the guy was saying "one girl for me, one girl for you." I immediately burst out laughing and start yelling No! Hapana! and the guy was like "Oh, you know Swahili!" and laughed and said goodbye. I was soooo proud of myself; I just wanted to yell HA! I showed YOU! haha