Week 06: Cards, Coffee, and the Curve Upward

Integration, identity, and the quiet power of being seen

Our week started out with a “lie in” where we just lounged and read, treating ourselves to some peaceful relaxation after a long week at the hospital. In the afternoon we decided to finally go to Gangilonga rock after dreaming about it for weeks. One of our hostel friends, Solomon, was leaving in the coming days and we invited him to join us. Instead of walking down the usual road, we took the path less travelled, adventuring through the bush in the general direction of the rock. After a few minutes, we popped out onto the road right where we had hoped to be, saving us a 20 minute walk on the road! We paid our fare of 5,000 TSH each to enter while Solomon convinced the gate attendant that he was our “tour guide” to skip the payment. We must’ve spent close to 90 minutes up at the top of Gangilonga, watching the town settle into evening time. Overlooking the city, we saw kids walking home from school, football games being played with happy onlookers, and construction projects continuing into the dusk, replacing the sun with floodlights to guide their work. After the sun had settled behind the hills, we made our way down the rock and to Sunset hotel for some cards and food. We had enjoyed the sunset atop the rock and by the time we made it to Sunset hotel, it was pitch black out. Nonetheless, we enjoyed playing cards with Solo and a ceramic vessel of hot coals kept us toasty. The next day, we went to Mama Iringa with the study abroad group and we got to know some of them by playing card games with them. 

1) Kibuyu, Solo & Lucy 2) The dynamic duo 3) King's Corners with Solo 4) Beautiful green Land Rover at Mama Iringa 5) Awesome bajaji with a stuffed monkey 6) Lucy & I at sunset coffee with the babus 7) Edson & I in the TB clinic 8) MONKEY 9) Kibuyu & I hanging out

This week was the beginning of a better time after we had been sick and facing bouts of culture shock throughout the past few weeks. After a long conversation about the goals of our research, we pivoted and saw results in our new methodology immediately. This boosted our confidence and added to our heightened mood. This week was also the week we began to lock in on shopping and gifts to bring back. For the majority of the time we had spent in Iringa, we had actively avoided going to the Maasai market because of the chaos and tourist treatment we would receive. Lucy and I discussed this thoroughly and concluded that we avoided putting ourselves in positions to be treated based on our appearance as 2 white girls because we work so hard each and every day to become trusted members of the community. When we go to the hospital, we use all of our energy to gain trust and build relationships to hopefully improve our chances of getting quality data. When we get back from the hospital, we eat at local places, talk to people there, using Kiswahili that we have learned, and visit the fruit markets, haggling for fruit like any other Iringan. All day everyday, we listen and learn the language, exhausting all of our resources to assimilate into our carefully crafted life here. But as soon as we walk into that market, we are set back to square 1, being called “mzungu” and charged the mzungu prices. For these reasons, Lucy and I have felt uncomfortable spending any extra time there when we could be connecting to the community in other ways. 

All this being said, we had to face our discomfort and brave the market, navigating to the stalls we knew would treat us the best. We shopped at Mama Joyce’s for beads, Mama Jackie’s for brass bracelets, flags, and a kitenge backpack for a friend, and went to kaka Nelson’s stall for handcarved wooden animals. When I didn’t find what I needed, I was delighted to find that Nelson would somehow source 5 hand-carved wooden monkeys, whether that be through commission or making them. I told him I would be back at the end of next week to collect my monkeys. Little by little, we checked off items from our souvenir list by going to the market for short periods of time each day to preserve our mental health. 

The biggest lesson to come out of this week is the realization that we should be proud of the work that we’ve done to integrate into Iringan society and that the feeling of discomfort should be celebrated since we have been accepted by our friends and colleagues as part of the community, unbeknownst to the shop owners of the Maasai market. 

Another big moment of the week was being invited to sunset coffee by Erick. As I was calling my mom after a long day of work, Erick popped his head in to ask if we wanted to go to sunset coffee. Having almost mastered the ropes of invitations and hospitality in Tanzania, I  knew I couldn’t say no. We hopped into his car and made our way down the mountain and straight into the heart of the sokoni (market) where we get dropped off everyday. Lucy and I had never been to the sokoni in the evening and were elated to find it was even busier and teeming with life than when we hustle through in the early afternoon each day. As we parked, Erick said “oh by the way, drinking sunset coffee is kind of an old man thing, so we will be with the babus (grandfathers)”. Perfect! We walked over to a low set wooden table nestled between the road and the busy bus station. Lined up in a perpendicular line were folding stands of fruit, fresh cooked snacks, Wakala shops to buy talk time and data, and so much more. We each got small handleless cups filled with black coffee and took a seat on a bench, the same height as the low table. On the table were 3 plastic tubs, filled with peanuts, biscuits, and sugar for tea or coffee. We sat on the benches in silence, listening to the babus talk and watching the world go by. At one point, Lucy comments that the market is like an organ, ushering customers through on their way home from work and facilitating the exchange of goods for shillings. As I observe the scene in front of me as an organ, I see the vision, the people like cells, cruising through on their own journeys, stopping for fuel or nutrients. At times I see a vehicle pass through, parting the sea of shoppers, everyone squeezing a little bit just to make some room. Our people watching is disrupted when the man sitting next to Erick asks him who we are. He said that he sees us walking through the market every afternoon in our scrubs and wanted to know what we did. Ding ding ding! Community figure status confirmed! Erick explains who we are and we are pleased to meet him, knowing that we are successfully integrating, our hard work paying off! As we drive home, Erick mentions that we may be able to take a look at the mosque being built by Ahmed (the aforementioned milkman, see week 2) and we are excited by the opportunity for a behind the scenes look. 

We closed out our week with a tour of the mosque in the center of the sokoni on Friday afternoon. Following a successful zoom interview for an internship back in the States, Lucy and I met Ahmed, James, and Erick to drive into town. We arrived at the mosque and took a brief tour led by Ahmed, telling us all about the building process and where the materials are from. Everything except for the cement and dirt is imported from Turkey. Now this mosque is almost exclusively marble. So there’s that. In total, it is expected to cost around $6 million USD and be completed around the end of the year. As we stand on the ground gazing up at the construction, we see Erick’s head pop up from the minaret, waving down to us. After the tour, we drive around to see the sunset and end up heading back to Hidden for our usual chai time. I felt incredibly content with the friends that we had made, the opportunities we had seized, and the memories that I had already collected. The success of this week had reignited a fire in me, realizing that I would soon be leaving Tanzania to head back to my life in America. Therefore, I don’t feel bad about not checking my email and instead bonding over chai with new friends or missing a day at the hospital to go on Safari while I still have the chance.

1) Mama Jackie's shop at the Masaai market 2) Coffee cup at sunset coffee with the babus 3-7) Mosque tour at sunset with James 8) Funky tree with "Wembley Stadium" written on the building behind it 9) morning guests (goats) outside our hostel