There's No "Fun" in Swahili

During one of my Swahili lessons last week, I was telling my teacher about my day at the sewing shop and I wanted to tell her "It was so much fun!"  I realized I had not learned the word for fun.  She laughed and told me that there is no "fun" in Swahili.  I have a different opinion, because I have been having a ton of fun!  

I went to hang out at the sewing shop last Thursday, and they put me to work, as usual!  My task was to figure out how to sew a sidiria- AKA a bra.  I laughed when Bibi Josephine told me that is what she wanted me to do that day. (For those of you who don't get my newsletter, I have been sewing skirts, shirts, purses, pretty much anything- and I have no experience except for Mrs. Chang's sewing class my ninth grade year-which was the best, by the way!). She told me that her and another guy had attempted to make a bra out of kitenge- which is the beautiful fabric here- but they both failed.  I told her that I literally had no idea where to start.  She said, "No problem, just try. Try! Try!" So I did.  I really was clueless, but studied a very worn hand-me-down bra they had as a model, and gave it my best shot.  They all seemed super impressed and gave me a lot of "Nzuri sana"s.  They are always overly complimentary of everything I do, so I am always hesitant to believe them. Truth is, I'm just really not that good at sewing.  I finished as much of the sidiria as I could on Thursday before I had to go to class, and when I returned on Friday, Saidi had completed it for me.  That was a relief to me because I wasn't sure how I was going to finish it!  I had done the easy part, but to figure out how to fasten it and do the neat finishing, I was nervous about.  Luckily, the bra was complete (and actually kinda cute), and us women had a fashion show with it (on top of our clothes)- but super fun to laugh and joke around with them. After our fashion show, the women decided to play a trick on one of their customers.  A lady had come in with a big bag that needed to be sewn at the bottom.  They decided they wanted to put Josephine's son, Joel, inside the bag so when the lady came to pick it up, he would pop out and scare her.  The lady came, attempted to pick up the bag, but was unable.  She proceeded to unzip it, and out popped Joel!  She screamed, and the sewing mamas thought it was the funniest thing.  I love how much fun is had at that place.  They beam with joy and are so loving towards other people here.  I love that. 

How cute is this little boy!

Joel getting prepared

Another fun thing that happened last week was I got to teach my friend, Linda, how to drive my piki piki.  Linda was born and raised on the mainland, but moved here about seven months ago.  Her job is to sell seaweed soap to hotels around the Island, and back in June I got to accompany her on one of her business ventures.  It was awesome to see how deals go down here.  Linda is really good at being a saleswoman, but her real passion is fashion.  She plays the role of fashion designer on the side, designing pieces out of kitenge and then sells them through her sister in America.  Earlier this summer, we had become good friends because she was spending a lot of time at the sewing shop.  Recently, she has been MIA, but I found out she had been in Dar for the past several weeks because her brother passed away.  So when she showed up at the shop, I was happy to see my friend again!  She asked if I would teach her how to drive my piki piki, so I took a break from sewing to give her a little lesson.  It was HILARIOUS, although I almost lost my piki in a tragic accident with a concrete wall.  Luckily, she just missed it, and she and the piki made it out alive.  Remember I told you that she wants to be a fashion designer?  Well imagine a very girly girl- 4 inch heals (at least), long skirt, dressy top, lots of jewelry and make-up, flying down the extremely muddy road (it had been raining a ton here that day) splashing through puddles.  We attracted quite the crowd.  Neighbors all came out to see what was going on.  Doesn't take much.  Haha. She now is trying to figure out how she can get her own piki piki.

Today, I took the dala dala to town with my tutor, Josephine (different than the sewing shop Josephine- confusing, right?) because I wanted to go on a "field trip".  My brain is so full of the grammar her and my other teacher have been teaching me, that I needed a break.  I had asked her to help me pick out an African dress to take to the little Island with me.  She wears beautiful ones every day and I told her I needed her fashion advice as to which one(s) to get.  We had a blast.  She, too, is full of joy and laughs about everything.  The laughing started when we couldn't catch a dala dala and had to call a friend to take us by car.  Then it continued as I tried on dresses and explained to her that I am picky when it comes to clothes and it could be a long process.  I did manage to get two really pretty dresses to take with me!  I took some selfies so you could see my new garb!  They are basically moo moos with matching head scarves, and they are super comfortable!  I'm excited to show mine off to the locals!

In other news, I am moving to the little Island on this coming Sunday, and I am so excited!  I am finishing up classes, saying goodbye to friends here, and packing up all my things this week.  I've loved how much fun language learning has been, and I'm stoked to continue not only the language learning, but the relationship building, and the FUN on the little Island!  So grateful for laughter, joy, and fun.

  

I love it.

Tonight I was driving my piki piki home from the "grocery store" with the wind blowing in my face and was thinking about how much I truly love this place.  I love the lifestyle here.  Everyone is so laid back,  incredibly hospitable and friendly, and never in a rush.  I love driving down the street and having to stop multiple times to greet people who want to know where I am going, what I've done so far that day, and what I am planning on doing the rest of the day.  I love going to town and seeing the many colorful outfits of the women, and the streets packed full of people, cars, bicycles, food, and things they are trying to sell.  I love the large amounts of fresh fruits, vegetables, and spices that are grown and found on this Island.  I even love the smell of the fish and meat market (ok, not my favorite smell, but I do love that you go to a market to buy fresh meat- heads still attached).  I love that my windows are permanently open and that fresh air constantly sweeps through my house.  I love that I can sit on my bed and eavesdrop on my neighbors (who happen to talk extremely loud) to learn Swahili.  I love that everyone wants to help me learn the language and will patiently sit with me for hours and ask me basic questions, kindly correct me (after a good laugh), and introduce me to others who are willing to help in the learning process, as well.  I love that all I have to do is walk outside my gate and I can instantly find a friend to keep me company.  At the end of each day, I love how much dirt I have to rinse off my feet.  I've always been a big fan of wearing flip flops or no shoes at all, and I love that either is totally accepted as normal here.  I love that I wake up to the sounds of bush babies, roosters who are confused and think its morning when it's only 4am, and the pots and pans of my neighbors cooking over an open fire. Not to mention, the incredible smell that comes through my window when anyone is cooking food within a 3 mile radius.  I sometimes even love when neighbors think "Teach Me How To Dougie" is a new song and play it over and over for hours at the highest volume their machine will go.  Really does make me smile.  Makes me think of America and my students, because you know they taught me how to Dougie.  I love that you never know what treasure you will find at the store- today I found Oreos!! Small packs, but I am stoked!  I love the beautiful sunsets over the Indian Ocean.  They really are breathtaking.  Our Creator really is amazing.

And I'm not exaggerating about how much I love it here.  Of course I miss family and friends. I don't love being sick every week from foreign bacteria in my body.  I don't love rice anymore.  But all these wonderful things FAR outweigh the negative.  God is so good.  I love that He has me here right now.  I love that this is where I live.  I love this culture and these people.  I love it.  I really really do.

Breaking Fast

Many of you know this past month has been Ramadan. During the last week of Ramadan, the locals throw party after party to celebrate its completion, and this week I got to attend two! The level of hospitality in this culture is unbelievable and absolutely incredible. People you don't even know treat you as royalty and invite you to their family gatherings. On Monday evening, I was invited to a dinner of a friend of a friend. He hosted this meal for family and friends at his workshop after evening prayer (It was still Ramadan, so we ate at 6:35 after the men prayed). When we arrived, we sat down on the mats with the women, while the men went to another area of the workshop to eat. They started putting platters of food down in front of us, and we huddled up around the platter closest to us. Everyone in your huddle eats off the platter using only your right hand, which I’m still getting used to! I kept wanting to go in with the left one, and ended up sitting on my hand to remember not to use it! Haha It was also the first time I had eaten rice with my hands, but I kinda liked it! There’s something fun about making a mess with your food. I managed to master the scoop, pinch, and bring to your mouth technique after a few failed attempts. Those first failed attempts left quite the stain on my shirt, though! White shirt was a bad choice. I'm learning that white is actually never a good choice here- I always end up getting dirty.

 So on Friday I attended the second “breaking fast” meal of the week. This one was a bigger celebration because it was to celebrate Eid-the ending of their holy month of fasting. Ramadan ended on our Island two days ago and you can see the excitement all around! Everyone is dressed in their nicest outfits, covered in beautiful henna, and wearing huge smiles! Friday was the first daytime meal they had enjoyed for the past 30 days. I got as dressed up as I could- which is limited because I don’t have any dresses here yet and I don’t own any make-up. (I do think I need to invest in some eyeliner in order to fit in here- but maybe next occasion.) We arrived at the house, were greeted, and led to a sitting area for a while until lunch was ready.

We were then separated again into men and women for the meal. At lunch, I attempted to speak some Swahili to the women, and was semi-successful! But I really had a good time talking to their kids today!  They are more on my vocabulary level and tend to speak slow enough for me to understand! For lunch, we were served another delicious spread- rice, meat, watermelon, oranges, and bananas.  It was so yummy!

I managed to eat my rice and meat with my right hand AND without getting any stains! Making progress. After we finished eating, we all returned to the living room to hang out for a little while longer. The owner of the house came and gave out gifts to all the children and women- yep, I got 500 shillings!! (Before you get too excited for me, 500 shillings is roughly 50 cents) BUT I’ll take it! That’s almost two dala dala rides to town!

When it was time to leave, we were putting on our shoes at the front door and I could only find one of mine. We searched and no one could find it, so I went ahead and accepted the fact that I had now lost 2 out of the 3 pair of sandals I brought with me. We started walking down the stairs to leave when I heard the little girls laughing hysterically. They had found my shoe!  Somehow my shoe ended up downstairs in the mouth of the pet parrot. Yep, very random. Not exactly sure how it got there, but I am grateful I go my shoe back- although the parrot wasn’t too happy about giving it up. It was such a fun experience and fun week with friends!

(My camera broke weeks ago, which has made blogging tough! Thankfully, I have been stealing some pics from friends to keep you guys in the loop- thanks Doro for letting me steal! I have another camera on the way, so hopefully won’t have to miss out on too many more photo ops!)