I was standing outside the church at Songea because Elliot had been making noise. I watched the other kids who were there, all peacefully reclining on their mothers’ backs or sitting still on their haunches. Meanwhile, Elliot tore around the yard, covering himself in dirt. Is this sort of curiosity […]
1. Double however long Google maps says it will take. That’s if nothing goes wrong. 2. Read the road, not the signs. If there is a sign for the (massive!) speed bumps, it may appear only a metre before the speed bump. 3. Forget everything I said about a 4WD […]
Our tutor left last week to return to Dar es Salaam but learning Swahili is still our main focus. So, is not having ‘class’ every day an excuse to slack off? Hardly! Even before Nicholas left we were brimming with ideas about how to continue our language learning in a […]
Here are 5 things about living in Dodoma that are different from how I thought it would be:
“You can’t use compost on such small trees,” our gardener said. “It’s too strong for anything but the bananas.” “Nonsense,” we thought, “you can use compost on anything!” This little interaction is laden with cultural baggage.
Last week the daughter of Alice Walker wrote an article about how radical feminism has failed women. It was reposted on my Facebook timeline several times with comments like, ‘Feminism has had some very damaging effects’ and ‘Right on’. I’ve written before about how I’m frustrated when people (especially Christians) fail […]
In our language classes, we have been discussing reverse racism: while Tanzanians readily view their country people with suspicion, we wageni are given the benefit of the doubt. That’s not to say there aren’t negative stereotypes of foreigners: we’re rich, unused to hard work, impatient, and not well dressed. But […]
Meet Jesus at uni 