2 weeks in Nyangao

2 weeks at nyangao and the joy of Shikamoo

Wow, that has gone quickly!  I’m settling in now.. to be honest it was a culture shock at first.  The village is small, with just the hospital, a church a small market and a mosque – so not much to do in the evenings unless I want to become religious!  I am the only mzungu in the village so it seems everyone knows my name and everything I do… “Ahh, Mr James, I saw you in the market yesterday”, “Mr Jamesi, habari za tembea?”  (how was your walk?) …but that does make me something of a local celebrity, and everyone will say hello. 

The language barrier has been a bit of a problem. I speak very very basic Kiswahili and only Some people here speak basic broken English, so I am having to learn quickly!  I’ve already improved in the short time I’ve been here, and  I am meeting with a teacher from the local primary school to arrange lessons.

Having said that, everyone has been very friendly, welcoming and accommodating.  Tanzanians are generally friendly people, as demonstrated by their greetings.  Greetings are an important part of Tanzanian culture, when greeting an elder one must use “Shikamoo” to which the elder will reply “Marahaba”… then there are various levels of formality from “Hujambo” (formal)  to “mambo”- slang <what’s up/any issues?>  to which can be replied “poa” – <cool>.  Once you have said hello as above, then you MUST ask “habari” which means what is the news/how is……  ?.... and not just one “habari”.. oh no. that would be rude…. You should ask habari za asabuhi (news of the morning), habari za familia (news of the family), habari za mama (news of your mother), habari za kazi (news of work), habari za kaka (news of your brother) habari za kuku (news of your chickens), habari za weekend (news of the weekend)

So greetings take a while.. and it is quite rude to skip them and get straight down to business, even at the market or in a shop when all you want is two onions!  What is quite nice is being “Shikamoo’d”.. makes you feel respected.  And I’m actually starting to get offended if kids don’t shikamoo me !

The staff in the laboratory are very friendly, and are used to having volunteers so are very welcoming.  They are grateful that I have come to Tanzania and we all hope we will learn a lot from each other.  They are all helping me with my Kiswahili, and I am helping them with their English.  (For those geeky enough to want to know about the lab, I’ll post some pics and stats soon!).  It is nice living 2 minutes walk from work, although as I entered the hospital gates on Wednesday last week there was a cobra lying in the grass.  I only avoided it as the security guard was telling people to!.. I’m just not used to looking out for lethal animals on my way to work!

A not-so-lethal gecko on my lounge wall !