Alright, so I've gotten a few concerned responses to my last post, and I just want to tell everyone that I'm fine. Every day campus feels lonely, but there are still fun moments, and I'm still learning a lot.
For example, today, I had an hour break in between class, so I sat at a table outside the classroom area. I was texting one of my friends when three guys came and sat down at the table. I looked up, and one said "Bonjour." I replied "Bonjour." I switched to Kiswahili, and he responded, but then continued in French, and said that they were not Tanzanian. I asked where they were from, and they said Comoros, and I was SUPER excited because not only did I know what that was, I knew where it was, and that it was a French-speaking country! It's a little island near Madagascar.
They are here to study masters in archaeology, but the first semester they are only learning English. They literally came here not knowing ANY English in September, and we were having a pretty good conversation. I was and still am amazed. We talked about studying different languages, and differences between Tanzania and Comoros, and it was really, really interesting. It was also really fun for me to hear French again, and made me miss my host family in Martinique. We talked for almost the entire hour we had until our next classes, and then they just said ok, see you around.
So, after that one little conversation, I've been trying to think of how I could possibly find myself a job which would require me to go to French-speaking and Swahili-speaking African countries... So far, I've got nothing, but I'll let you know, haha.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
November 19th
My beautiful roommate Idda, and me... I taught her the art of good picture-taking, can you tell?
My entire world here has been turned upside down and backwards. Last week on Monday, the students at the University began a strike. They were protesting because about 20% of them hadn't received their loans which are promised to all students by the government. The loan system works differently here, and basically the students get a lump sum at the beginning of the semester to use at their own discretion towards food and books. Thus, these students who hadn't received their loans were in a tight spot.
So, on Monday morning I woke up for my 7am class (yikes, I know) and I heard lots of chanting and cheering. I decided to go back to sleep. They demonstrated by marching around campus with a sign, singing and cheering, and that was about it. No classes were held.
The same went for Tuesday as well. On Tuesday night, I was in my room with my roommate and her boyfriend when we heard lots of people cheering and coming closer. We all ran up to the roof to watch. Seeing this demonstration and hearing the passion and excitement was so invigorating. I can definitely see how people get swept up in it.
On Wednesday morning I was working on an assignment with a friend when she stopped to listen to what some girls were talking about outside. She said they were saying that the University was closed. I asked if it was true, and she didn't know. She left to investigate, and came back and said it was true. The administration had given a press release saying that all undergraduate students (with the exception of foreign/temporary students) had three hours to pack their things and leave, and that there were police waiting to force students out if need be.
I couldn't believe it. I sat there on my bed silently. Honestly I was fighting tears. I had become so fond of my roommate and her boyfriend, and I loved having so many people around; it was a nice change from St. Olaf. I didn't want to go back to how things were in August.
Almost instantly, the area around the dorms was full of people hauling luggage, returning mattresses, and loading cars. I helped Ida move her things and waited with her until her ride came. I had told her that if classes were canceled, I would go to her house with her, so now I planned to go with her. She was going to stay with her sister for a couple days, and then I would go with her on Friday.
As we were waiting, a land rover passed with a huge microphone on the roof saying in Kiswahili that everyone needed to leave, and there were riot police on the back with gigantic guns. It was then that I decided to leave campus after Ida left, and I spent the majority of the next two days with a friend off campus.
So, Friday through Tuesday I spent with my roommate and her family in Mbeya, which was one of the stops on my travel period oh so long ago. It was exactly what I needed, and it was so good to be able to spend more time with her. She sent me a text while I was on the bus home saying that she was crying.
Now, it's pretty much like it was in August. We are continuing with most classes, without the Tanzanians, so we're basically doing almost an entire semester's worth of class in three weeks. Campus feels like a ghost town and I hate it. I'm still glad I'm here, which is more than I can say for a lot of other people, but I miss all my friends, and just having people everywhere.
I wish I had more time to go into detail about stuff, but I don't, so you'll just have to talk to me when I get back in less than a month
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
November 11
Ok, so to elaborate on yesterday's post....
Last week was a pretty intense week for me culturally. On Tuesday I had a lecture in African Political Thought which I absolutely loved. Usually I have no idea where the professor is going in his lectures, but that day we had a guest lecturer who was really good. The topic was "Negritude" which is a concept I studied last year in Martinique, too. It was a result of colonialism, and is basically the idea that black people should be proud of their color, their origin, their culture, and just their very being. It says they should reject foreign values and ideals because they are repressing black people. He also mentioned "Modernity" and how "modern" really means "Western."
Our professor then opened for discussion with the question "Can Africans really go back to their own culture, the culture before colonialism?" The answers ranged from "Yes, no problem, we know what our culture used to be, we are fully capable of replicating it" to "No, culture is always evolving, so how do you know which point to go back to considering the nature of culture evolution is continuous?"
At one point, a guy giving his opinion mentioned "the global culture." When he finished, the professor corrected him saying "there is no global culture. When you talk about global culture, what you really mean is American culture."
It was by far the best lecture I've had here. As I was walking out of that class thinking about all of these issues, a guy calls "Eleeza!" (That's what Tanzanians call me... Liz is just not a real name here). I turn around, and it's a guy I randomly met one day while we waited under a building overhang for the rain to stop. He asked me how I liked the lecture, and I said I loved it. He was surprised, and asked if I had been offended by anything the lecturer had said. I said no, and that I agreed with basically everything he had said.
Then he asked "Why do I always see you by yourself?" I laughed and said I don't know. He said "All of the others are always together, but not you." I figured he meant the other international students, but I asked further. "The foreigners. Everywhere they go in groups. Even at lunch, and I can't talk to them for even five minutes because it doesn't seem like they want to talk to me." I say that maybe they're just shy, and they don't like to talk to people they don't know. I also said that if he studied in the U.S. and he found another Tanzanian, he would want to hang out with that person, too.
He said "Of course yes, I would hang out with the Tanzanian, but I would want to make American friends too. I would want to talk to them a lot to learn more about their culture." At this point I was at a loss, so I said "I don't know, that's what I want to do too!" He said that it was very nice, and that I was the only foreigner he'd been able to talk to. It was so depressing. We continued talking about other things until we reached the point in our walk where we had to split ways, and that was that.
THEN, I was waiting for my Kiswahili class to start, and another American girl who's not on my program asked me what I thought of the lecture earlier that day. I told her I loved it, and she was really surprised. She said that she thought the way the professor presented the material made it seem like there was a large gap between Africa and the West. I said "well... there is." Her response was "Well, but always talking about colonialism? Is that really progressive?"
I was so mad. I said most of the following to her. The point of the lecture was not to be progressive. The point was to teach the concept of Negritude. Thus, the professor wanted everyone to understand where these political thinkers were coming from when they formulated their ideas and published their writings. We need to understand the context of these concepts in order to truly understand their impact and importance. PLUS, the class is called African Political THOUGHT. We need to know what people THINK. Basically, she was uncomfortable because the impact of the West, specifically the US, has been less than positive in many ways here, so she wanted to blame it on the professor for making it sound worse than it is.
She is also one of the foreigners who will never be seen without another white person, so that comment compounded by my earlier conversation caused me to be really frustrated. I had started to do things more on my own before this, but after this experience I was determined.
Last week was a pretty intense week for me culturally. On Tuesday I had a lecture in African Political Thought which I absolutely loved. Usually I have no idea where the professor is going in his lectures, but that day we had a guest lecturer who was really good. The topic was "Negritude" which is a concept I studied last year in Martinique, too. It was a result of colonialism, and is basically the idea that black people should be proud of their color, their origin, their culture, and just their very being. It says they should reject foreign values and ideals because they are repressing black people. He also mentioned "Modernity" and how "modern" really means "Western."
Our professor then opened for discussion with the question "Can Africans really go back to their own culture, the culture before colonialism?" The answers ranged from "Yes, no problem, we know what our culture used to be, we are fully capable of replicating it" to "No, culture is always evolving, so how do you know which point to go back to considering the nature of culture evolution is continuous?"
At one point, a guy giving his opinion mentioned "the global culture." When he finished, the professor corrected him saying "there is no global culture. When you talk about global culture, what you really mean is American culture."
It was by far the best lecture I've had here. As I was walking out of that class thinking about all of these issues, a guy calls "Eleeza!" (That's what Tanzanians call me... Liz is just not a real name here). I turn around, and it's a guy I randomly met one day while we waited under a building overhang for the rain to stop. He asked me how I liked the lecture, and I said I loved it. He was surprised, and asked if I had been offended by anything the lecturer had said. I said no, and that I agreed with basically everything he had said.
Then he asked "Why do I always see you by yourself?" I laughed and said I don't know. He said "All of the others are always together, but not you." I figured he meant the other international students, but I asked further. "The foreigners. Everywhere they go in groups. Even at lunch, and I can't talk to them for even five minutes because it doesn't seem like they want to talk to me." I say that maybe they're just shy, and they don't like to talk to people they don't know. I also said that if he studied in the U.S. and he found another Tanzanian, he would want to hang out with that person, too.
He said "Of course yes, I would hang out with the Tanzanian, but I would want to make American friends too. I would want to talk to them a lot to learn more about their culture." At this point I was at a loss, so I said "I don't know, that's what I want to do too!" He said that it was very nice, and that I was the only foreigner he'd been able to talk to. It was so depressing. We continued talking about other things until we reached the point in our walk where we had to split ways, and that was that.
THEN, I was waiting for my Kiswahili class to start, and another American girl who's not on my program asked me what I thought of the lecture earlier that day. I told her I loved it, and she was really surprised. She said that she thought the way the professor presented the material made it seem like there was a large gap between Africa and the West. I said "well... there is." Her response was "Well, but always talking about colonialism? Is that really progressive?"
I was so mad. I said most of the following to her. The point of the lecture was not to be progressive. The point was to teach the concept of Negritude. Thus, the professor wanted everyone to understand where these political thinkers were coming from when they formulated their ideas and published their writings. We need to understand the context of these concepts in order to truly understand their impact and importance. PLUS, the class is called African Political THOUGHT. We need to know what people THINK. Basically, she was uncomfortable because the impact of the West, specifically the US, has been less than positive in many ways here, so she wanted to blame it on the professor for making it sound worse than it is.
She is also one of the foreigners who will never be seen without another white person, so that comment compounded by my earlier conversation caused me to be really frustrated. I had started to do things more on my own before this, but after this experience I was determined.
Monday, November 10, 2008
November 10
AH! I'm LEAVING one month from Thursday!!! I don't mean to offend anyone, but I really don't want to go home! I only have about 3 min of internet time left, but I just thought I'd let everyone know that I'm still doing well. I'm getting to know my roommate better and I'm making friends in all of my classes. I might have to send out some reflections that I have to do for my program because I never have time to blog any more. But basically a couple weeks ago I decided that I need to be more independent and more out going, so I've been doing a lot more with my Tanzanian friends. I used to hang out with them with other people from my group, but I decided that I need to do so by myself, and I've been loving every minute of it. I hope I'll have time to say more about this later, but I thought I'd give you a heads up
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