A Brotha from Anotha Motha (no, really) and other Tanzanian things...

So there are a few things that happen around Moshi that are almost indescribable but I will try, just to give you an idea about how things work around here.

First, the other day my friend Isaac introduced his friend Ali as his 'brother from another mother'. I instantly laughed and thought that it was remarkable that Isaac knew this phrase that we use in the states for someone who is really close to you (its pair being 'sista from anotha mista'). But, really, Isaac was being literal. Here in Tanzania, many men have multiple wives. So Ali was his brother from another wife of Isaac's father.

Secondly, there are Masai that wander in and out of Moshi town. They wear the traditional Masai clothing, but sometime spruce it up for their city adventures with a little bling, like a big gold chain. So you see Masai men wearing their traditional purple and red, with a giant gold necklace, sometimes equipped with a big dollar sign. Because their livestock is their livelyhood, they often have a herd of goats or cows in tow. Often, they wear tires for shoes too. It is almost impossible to stop the urge to take a picture of them. It is not unusual to be walking in town and see men walking with a herd of goats, or having a goat or cow on a rope.

Third, Tanzanians are never taught that it is rude to stare. So beyond the constant shouting of "mzungu" (meaning white person in swahili), everyone turns to stare at you as you walk down the street. Especially the men and the kids. You get used to it after a while but sometimes it gets a bit over the top. For example, when we were at the football game last weekend, we had two boys who were about 18 stare at us for what was probably five minutes straight. It is unnerving after a while.

Fourth, Tanzanias are the most welcoming and warm people. This means on the street everybody says "jambo" (hello) and "Karibu" (welcome) and will just approach you and ask about your life and your family. If you were to say to every body you passed in the states "hello sister, how are you? how is your family?", you would get hauled away real fast. The other day when we went for coffee at our favorite Aroma Coffee House, a man just came down and sat with us like it was totally normal.

Fifth, each business has one commodity. For example, below our balcony there is the shoe guy and the bicycle guy. The shoe man sells and repairs shoes, about five pairs at a time. Everyday he is under the same tree and people know where to find him. Next to him (about five feet away) is the bike guy. In the tree, he has hung tubes for bikes and he also invested in a wrench. He sits all day waiting to fix bikes. And that is what he does, day in and day out. In town you see people walking around with whatever they are selling, for example the underwear guy. He has a hanger with about 10 pairs of underwear (all used, mind you) that he sells. Everything is bought and sold repeatedly here. The underwear guy goes to the clothes market in a different part of town and then comes into the town center to sell them at a profit.

The stereotype of the women here is that they carry everything on their heads. And it is true. I have seen women with 50 pound buckets on their head like it was nothing. They will carry a tray of bananas down from the mountain every day on their heads. The tray is about three feet long and has about 400 bananas on it. Girls are brought up to be able to balance enormous amounts of weight on their heads. It is remarkable.

Finally, the people here pick up the randomest english phrases and plaster them everywhere. One of my favorite things is to read the things on the dala dalas (the busses). They can range from one word ('bling', 'happy', '50 cent') to a series of words ('happy nation express', 'god is possible' 'whats up god') to football players and teams (arsenal and chelsea seem to be the most popular). This has also translated to naming their kids random english phrases. We have met a few kids named George Bush. Our friend Isaac is adopting a little boy named God Bless, and we met another at Upendo named Godlizzen (as in God Listens). My personal favorite is a little girl named "dollabill".

Regardless of all these oddities, I am absolutely in love with this town.