Let the Beatings Commence

We witnessed today the corporal punishment of a group of 6-7 secondary school boys (high school equivalent age) being beaten across the street from us!

         With a group of adults, including some of their parents, watching-- their teacher had them line up on their hands and knees and was beating them with his belt, while shouting at them.

The secondary students laying down in a row while the teacher beat them with a strap one by one.

  A little shocked, I asked my house girl what was going on.  She said that they were caught skipping school and smoking weed in the woods behind our house.  The secondary school is next to our house.

A first I was appalled at these boys being beaten and publically humiliated.  However, in Swahili culture, it is appropriate for them to be beaten and especially shamed for their wrongdoings.  Their parents and teachers want the best for them, and want to "put the fear of God" into them, so to speak.

              When I was growing up, our principal was allowed to "paddle" us if the teachers couldn't control us.  Now, when my kids were in school that would never have been allowed.  Are we too soft?  Is there a place for corporal punishment for wrong behavior?
 

Shopping while you drive

Boys sell a bag of oranges (right) and roasted corn on a stick in order to reach the bus windows (left)

 

 

      We may not have drive-through restaurants in Tanzania, but that doesn't mean you can't buy food on the road.  On major roads here at cross roads or at speed bumps, there are often people there selling you oranges, roasted corn, raw corn, fish, and even live chickens!

In Dar, hawkers sell things as you sit in traffic.

  In Dar-es-Salaam, where traffic can be bad, there are hawkers at heavy traffic areas.  They come up to your window selling cashews, ice cream, shoes, toys, books, sheets, apples, you name it.  Sometimes, it's not so bad.  You can get hungry sitting in traffic for hours...

Man selling live fish in an aquarium

 

We even saw this guys selling live fish in an aquarium.  That was a new one!

Monkey business

Getting to know a monkey
 

      
             Part of why I love living here is that the unexpected is to be expected.  That can be good or bad, but sometimes it's cool.  At a rest stop on a recent road trip, there was a monkey.  He was friendly and the kids even fed him a banana. 

Pets

We have had many pets since living in Tanzania-  cats, dogs, a hedgehog, a turtle, and even snails and frogs.
     
                    Most Tanzanians don't own pets. 


At least not as we understand the word.

   They may own farm animals such as chickens, goats, or cattle that are useful for the family.  If they own a dog or cat, it is NOT for companionship.   
                   It's because they are useful to the family (catching and chasing away mice or guarding the property).

       Dogs are mutts and strays, dirty and flea bitten, half starved, maybe limping... the street dogs as well as the ones "owned" by Tanzanians.  Dogs and cats are fed scraps, and there isn't any thought of taking them to the vet for shots.

                                    Tanzanians would find it highly unusual how Americans treat their pets.

"Mouse" our newest pet, a hedgehog was found on a friend's farm.  Hedgehogs are often killed by dogs.

 

     Mostly, they see it as a waste of money (food) that could be used for the family.  They find it strange that we are affectionate to an animal.  Most Tanzanian children are scared of cats and believe that they will scratch them at any time.

Holidays in Tanzania

   The interesting thing about holidays in Tanzania, is that they celebrate both Christian and Muslim holidays, as well as their national holidays.
  The holidays for 2014 are:

Jan. 1- New Year's Day
Jan 12- Zanzibar Revolution Day (The President decided on Jan 11th that since the 12th fell on a Sunday this year that the 13th would be a national holiday.  Schools that tried to open, there were police there to tell them they HAD to close this day. ) This day commemorates the day in 1964 when Zanzibar overthrew it's Arab government (Oman).

Jan 13- Birth of the Prophet Muhammad  

April 18- Good Friday

April 21- Easter Monday

April 26- Union Day

May 1- Labor Day

July 7- Saba Saba (Literally "seven seven") International Trade Fair Day

July 28- Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan)

Aug 8- Nane Nane (Literally "eight eight") Farmer's Day- There is a week long fair in Arusha, like a county fair

Oct 4- Eid al Adha or Feast of Sacrifice (Muslims remember the day that Abraham obeyed God to sacrifice his son Ishmael but a goat was substituted instead.)

Oct 14- Nyerere Day- Honoring Tanzania's first president, and remembering the day of his death.

Dec 9-Independance Day- The day British government handed over independence to Tanzania in 1963

Dec 25- Christmas Day

Dec 26- Boxing Day

    exact dates were obtained from: http://www.worldtravelguide.net/tanzania/public-holidays 

Convenience Vs. Inconvenience

Life in Tanzania can be pretty inconvenient (from our point of view).  Most people don't own their own vehicle, and have to walk or take buses to go anywhere.  Since we've been without a vehicle for 6 months, we've been walking a lot too.  I walk a mile to the grocery store and back.

   Of course, it's also *convenient* that there are several small grocery stores and even several "Western" grocery stores all within walking distance.  We never lived within walking distance to a grocery store in America and had to drive to get everywhere.

   It's inconvenient that we don't have a dishwasher, washing machine, or microwave oven.  Most people here don't. 
  However, it is pretty *convenient* that we have a house girl who comes everyday and does our dishes, hand washes our clothes, mops the floors, and cooks our lunch for us.

   It's inconvenient that there aren't any frozen dinners, boxed dinners, or other packaged "convenience" foods.  There are no "fast food" restaurants here either.
      I do find it *convenient* that I can buy very fresh and tasty tropical fruits quite near our house, and that my house girl can make us Africans doughnuts or fries for a snack.  I also kind of like that there aren't fast food restaurants. All restaurants are sit down, and you go there to make a meal an event, and plan to spend time relaxing and talking before the food comes because it's never "fast".

   Having to drive all the way down town to the post office to check our post office box because there is no mail delivery can be quite inconvenient (especially when we don't have a car)... but I DO like the fact that we get NO junk mail in our mail box, and when we do get mail it's cards, or packages from loved ones, or magazines. We don't even get our bills in our mail box (read the previous post), so only NICE things come in the mail.  We usually only check it once a week.

   Yes, there are many inconvenient things about living in Tanzania, some that I haven't gone into.  I just don't let those overshadow the things that I love about living here.

Creepy Crawlies

                                    Ok, it had to be done.  I didn't want to write about "bugs and such",

                                  but when you think of Africa, you know you're thinking about all the

 *CREEPY CRAWLIES*

 

First, MOSQUITOS!  I've been told that the mosquitos with black and white striped legs are the ones that carry malaria.  But, I tend not to trust any mosquitos. 

 

Our house is swarming with them.  Probably because we leave our doors wide open all day. 

But, it's hot, and we want a breeze.  So, we live with the mosquitos.  We spray bug spray around the living room at night and such, but the real way to avoid malaria is to use a net when you sleep.

(This isn't really about disease prevention, but we don't take anti-malaria medication, although we do HIGHLY recommend all visitors to take it.  There are too many reason to go into here, I'll write another post about that.)

 

 

This is a silverfish.

 

Another bug I'm used to seeing is silverfish.  I usually find these in my pots or pans, or bookshelves.  They are harmless, and easy to kill.

 

 

Flying ant



Whenever it rains, there are swarms of flying ants that come out and start flying all over the place, looking for places to make a new colony, I'm told.
They somehow make their way into our house.
 (The doors and windows aren't exactly airtight, and have space all around them). 
They are just annoying and die by morning.



Nairobi eye

This little bug is a Nairobi eye or Nairobi fly.  It is tiny, about the size of an ant, but has red and black stripes.  It is very harmful though. If the bug gets squished on your skin, you will can a nasty chemical burn that looks like a bad rash that is very uncomfortable.
For this reason, we always look before we swat anything we feel on our skin. 
Our kids, even Jonathan, all know how to deal with Nairobi eye.
Take a piece of tissue paper, and carefully pick it up and flush down the toilet.

Besides these, we usually have ants in the house.  Also, our neighbor has a bee hive in their roof so we sometimes have bees in the house but that often. 

These are bugs that we deal with on a daily basis, but we just get used to it.
Since I grew up in the woods, it really doesn't bother me at all.

Ok, one more, that does kind of freak me out- weevils.
Whenever I open a can of popcorn, or bag of pasta, etc. I always have to check for weevils.

I have found weevils in a newly opened bag of pasta, and in a can of popcorn I just opened.
So, I always look for bugs before I cook.