Kenya, Halloween, and tons of pictures!!
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2006
1
6
14
Trip End
Jun 12, 2007
Mombasa,
Kenya
Sunday, November 5, 2006
Hi guys, sorry it's been a while since I last wrote but I did get some pictures up for each of the entries so I hope you like them!
My classes have officially started up and it's been both interesting and frustrating. It has been interesting to hear from the other students about what they think about development in Africa and how they feel about Tanzanian politics. It has been frustrating because professors often don't show up and the department is compensating for the late start of classes by scheduling exams in January during the holiday break. I'm hoping to work something out with the head of the department because both Kyle and my parents will be in Tanzania that week. It seems that all of the professors have outside businesses and jobs because their salaries are so low, so to compensate they only come to a fraction of the classes and then often reschedule them based on their availability rather then the class'
Fort Jesus
. However, I am glad that things have started and it's been great to meet and get to know all my fellow students. They're an interesting bunch and range in age from 23 to 47 but most are in their 30s, male and married with children. For each of my five classes, we have a minor and major assignment to write. The topics for these papers have included 'utopian socialism vs. scientific socialism', 'the epistemology of Marx and Engels on German Ideology, Max Weber on Bureaucracy, and Mao on Contradictions', 'regime power in international politics', and 'how to solve the problems of Africa'. I'm not sure if you can tell from my assignments but the classes are very focused on socialism and communism. I mentioned in my first entry that the department history stated a focus on socialism in the 70s and a move toward globalization and poverty reduction now, but it's still mainly focuses on socialism and the genius of Karl Marx. Tanzania is still very socialist in policy and political thought. There is also a lot of talk of how the west exploits Africa. It is not as if I can disagree with the fact that the west, especially colonialism, has exploited third world countries and during the Second World War created self-interested alliance. But, it's hard to prove that I myself did not do any of this exploiting and that there is some good that has come from international partnerships
Fort Jesus Mombasa
.Kenya: Last weekend, I went up to Mombasa, Kenya with two friends from the University for a long weekend. I t was the Muslim holiday of Eid, which ends Ramadan. It's interesting because you don't know when the holiday will be because it depends on the sighting of the moon. It could have been Sunday and Monday, Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday depending on which night the moon appeared. I hadn't been exposed to a lot of Muslim culture before I came to Tanzania so it's been great learning here. Eid ended up falling on Tuesday and Wednesday so we had a five days in Kenya.
Kenya is more developed then Tanzania and you can tell that as soon as you get into a town. It's very industrialized. Also, children in Kenya learn English in primary school so most people speak English and actually would rather not talk to you in Swahili. There is a bit of rivalry between Tanzania and Kenya mostly because Kenya is more aggressive in its policies and Tanzania is often referred to as the "sleeping giant to the south" because is is usually slow to act. However, there are talks of an East Africa Coalition which would combine Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda (and perhaps Burundi and Rwanda) but it seems that the opinions about the coalition are very mixed
Gita, the emirates air hostess
. Some people think it's a bad idea because the economies are so unstable on their own and might not be better off together and that Kenyan's large economy would take advantage of the less developed, Tanzanian economy. On the other hand, throughout the continent there is a big push for sub-regionalization to strengthen trade relations and economic relations within Africa and many believe that these African partnerships are the only way for African countries to become competitive in the global economy.In Mombasa, we spent the first day in town checking out the tourist sites. These included Fort Jesus, which was a Portuguese and then Arab fort from the 15th century. It is designed in the shape of a human body and was used not only to defend the newly conquered territory but also to house slaves before they were sent out. (Surprisingly, the Portuguese name of Fort Jesus stuck because when the Arabs came in they destroyed the church in the Fort but somehow the name stayed.) We then walked around old town admiring the Arabic architecture. The next day we went to the beach. The beach is very developed with huge hotels lining the shore, which is unlike the quiet huts on the beach in Tanzania. After two days in Mombasa, we decided to head up the coast a bit to Malindi (2 hours) which is a smaller coastal town which was actually the entry point for Portuguese ships on the east coast of Kenya before they moved to Mombasa. Malindi is a huge get away for Italians. Many of the street vendors and sales people know Italian and will shout Ciao at you as you pass. So unexpectedly, we ended up eating a lot of good pizza in Kenya. In Malindi, we visited the Vasco de Gama pillar erected in the 15th century to lay Portuguese claim to Malindi and walked along the beaches a lot. The hostel that we stayed in was right next to a mosque, which was probably not a good location given that it was Eid
Jason and Josh
. Usually on campus, you can hear the 5 a.m. call to prayer from the mosque but it's not that loud because we are a little further away but here our window was literally five feet from the mosque and for Eid there was a lot going on. That night there was a call to prayer at 1 a.m., 4 a.m., and a service that started at 4:30 a.m. and because they conduct the service over loud speaker, it was interesting but very loud! On Wednesday, we happy headed back to Dar for some much-needed sleep!Halloween: Last weekend, some friends of mine in Dar threw a Halloween party, which was really fun. Tanzanians don't celebrate Halloween and when I tried to describe it to my family they at first thought I was talking about a food and then maybe thought I was crazy. It's actually a really weird holiday to explain especially when I was trying to tell my sisters in broken Swahili! But I did give them some candy corn that was sent from home and showed them pictures of people in costume. The party was really interesting. Most people dressed in African gear because it was hard to find costumes. My friend Sarah and I dressed as Maasai, traditional east Africans who dress in red and blue plaid. The Maasai are one of the only tribes in Dar that still wear their tradition outfits in town. Another friend of ours, who is actually a visiting Fulbright law professor at the University, dressed as neocolonialism. He wore a three-piece suit with hotel brochures in his hat and pockets and made a World Bank contract complete with pictures of how your country could look. He then took pictures with people in traditional African gear and the devil. It was pretty funny but now that I writing about, I realize how dorky that sounds! Oh well! I've attached the picture for your viewing pleasure.
Other than that, my life has been pretty calm lately. I t's easy to write about trips and experience but harder to write about daily life. Just being in class, riding on the dala dala, and meeting new people is really interesting and has given me the opportunity to have a lot of great conversations and cultural experiences. I do however miss everyone from home and look forward to hearing news from home especially about Halloween, jobs, holiday plans, and just life in general! Asante sana unasoma huyu! Tafadhali utaandika karibu! (Thank you for reading this! Please write soon!)
Comments
What an interesting journal
I love to see young people with such a passion for what they want to do. The pictures are wonderful. God Bless You and stay safe. I am enjoying your adventures. Marianne Patten