Brian

In such age of “inter-digitation,” I wonder how appropriate it is for this entry. But mostly because of the Tomzanian’s low-key status, it shall exist as it is.

Brian is a young cook who works in a small restaurant in front of our hostel building. He was, in fact, one of the first stranger to greet us, and we’ve exchanged a number of small talk. Easy going and talkative, he looks like he’s in the early 20s, but acts a lot like a teenager.

Yet, three moments of suspicion:

In the first two encounters, he repeated said “I like you.” Nice, indeed, but too nice too early?

Last Saturday we ate at the restaurant he works in. He gave our group Tsh 2000 less in change. Definitely easy math. Simple mistake, or rightful suspicion?

Yesterday, he said he was going home because he was diagnosed with malaria. He also said that he was going home to his family, and won’t be back until next week. Would our sympathy turn into material gains for him? Oh, he was around Msimbazi today.

It is indeed an interesting encounter. My suspicion remains. I’ve had my personal skepticism damage friendships before, so I know it could be problematic, and be entirely my fault. Guilt definitely tags along with suspicion. I do have an innate desire to believe in people, but another to be doubtful. This is a story to be continued.

December 24, 2009

Current Location: Msimbazi Center

Msimbazi Center is my home for the next eight weeks, minus the middle two that I will be spending in Mtwara. Lonely Planet Tanzania, under the “Sleeping – Budget,” says the following about Msimbazi:

Msimbazi Centre Hostel (022-28 3508, 022-286 3204; Kawawa Rd; s/d/tw Tsh 10,000/20,000/50,000)
Tiny, stuffy rooms with fan and mosquito net, breezier twins with two rooms sharing bathroom facilities, and an inexpensive canteen. It’s noisy, especially on weekends, but otherwise reasonable value. Take the Buguruni dalla-dalla from the Old Posta transport stand (Tsh 4000 by taxi) and ask to be dropped off here.

Lonely Planet is indeed correct in noting that it’s stuffy and noisy. The noise comes from both the late night parties and passionate church services that somehow coexist in the same compound. It’s extremely stuffy, making me wonder how much a dehumidifier would cost, rather than an A/C.

In Msimbazi, we undergo Kiswahili lesson as well as miscellaneous sessions on TZ culture, KOICA rules, etc. It’s mostly uneventful, much like this entry. Lets just call this a status update.

Anxiety

Anxiety is the word of the day.

It started (perhaps it started in my mind weeks ago) with the slight shortness of breadth in the ride out of Julius Nyerere Airport.  The fatigue from two flights and the dusty road made concerned over an appointment at the ENT I had a couple of days ago.  Was this going to be a problem for the next two years?  I had a sudden urge to grab my medicine that was inside my bag.  But the medicine isn’t an instant cure, nor provides the temporary relief like a painkiller.  So I put some thought to this whole issue, and tried to relax myself from the anxiety.

Another moment of anxiety.  I was taking a crap, and the new roll of toilet paper is of course a problem.  I began to peel off the first layer of a new roll, which is a moderate challenge in the developed world.  But here, I ended up ripping four layers.  Crap, what kind of toilet paper is this?  Slight anxiety.  Then I flush the toilet.  It won’t flush.  My brown crap is still at the bottom of the toilet.  What do I do?  I try to fix it.  It won’t work.  I call for help from a friend.  Doesn’t work.  I try a different method of flushing.  It won’t work.  I was too tired to be persistent with the matter, so I’m in my bed right now, 11.22 pm, with my crap still in my toilet.  I’ll probably feel a bit embarrassed getting help from one of the staff tomorrow morning.  A first impression would be fixing the toilet, with the crap still in it.  A bit of anxiety, but like any other ones, manageable.

My Microsoft Word spell check using the right click on the red underlines won’t work. What the crap have I done to my computer? Anxiety, again. Pressing F7 runs the spell check just fine, but the added inconvenience is a source of anxie…. I'll stop here.

 written on Dec. 18, first day of arrival.

In front of Msimbazi Center, our home for the next 2 months.

My more exciting half of the room.

Interesting Facts about Using a Colonial Era Dictionary No. 1

I use a colonial era Swahili-English dictionary that was published in 1903. That's when none of my living relatives were alive. And perhaps more interestingly, my dictionary is older than all 72 things younger than John Mccain, which include FM radio, minimum wage, polyester, and the ZIP code.

It's age has given it so much value that it's actually available in seven different covers, but with the same 1903 print.

Cover version #4

Last month, a dear friend from the good ol' MN visited Korea, and I asked her to buy a Swahili-English dictionary for me, as such object does not exist in Korea. I trusted her sound judgment to buy me a decent dictionary that would work just fine. Buying a dictionary didn't seem to require too much professional expertise.

And now I have a 107 year old dictionary, probably made by an author who thought colored people were stupid and Queen Victoria was pretty damn hot for her work with the British Empire.

At first sight of the dictionary, I was quite shocked by its age, and briefly browsed the book until on page 2, I read the entry for the verb acha.

Whoa! "Let alone Europeans for strong government" appears in page 3! I wonder how many more politically incorrect examples would be used in the next 400+ pages!

It definately feels a bit odd to use a colonial era dictionary, potentially filled with examples as above, and I wish I had an English-Swahili dictionary too. But to be honest, this one already cost me $35, and it'll suit me well for the first couple of months (I have a Swahili-English dictionary software in my laptop to help as well). I promise I won't get brainwashed by the colonial writing.

For those of you eager to share my experience, the dictionary is available online.

Myths about Tanzania No. 1

Due to the public's lack of knowledge on Tanzania, there are several myths about the country and its culture. This is the first of the series: Myths about Tanzania.

I was talking to my volunteer friend who was recently sent to Vietnam, the following is my conversation with her:


Ji Young: Jung Yul~ There's still a lot of time left before you leave right? kk
Ji Young: Preparing to leave for Tanzania?


Tommy Kim: I have lots of time.
Tommy Kim: I'm not doing any preparations now.
Tommy Kim: Just about to... buy some pants

Ji Young: You don't need to buy pants. Kk. People in Tanzania go around bottomless.

Tommy Kim: ....



People in Tanzania wear pants!!!


Here's the dialogue in its original language:

 김지영: 정열~ 넌 아직도 출국하려면 많이 남았지?ㅋㅋ
 김지영: 출국 준비는 잘 하고 있는거야?

 Tommy Kim: 열라 많이 남았어
 Tommy Kim: 준비.. 안하고 있어
 Tommy Kim: 이제 막.... 바지좀 살라고

 김지영: 바지는 안사도 돼.ㅋㅋ 탄자니아는 벗고 다닐거야.
 Tommy Kim: ....

Where and When

Whenever someone asked me

"so, when are you going to Tanzania?"or "where in Tanzania will you be?"

I felt a bit odd saying "I don't know." The conversation then approached a slight moment of awkwardness.

The person who asked me the question would then have a puzzled look with "what the hell" all over his face,which I would reply with a sigh and the expression "tell me about it."

Finally, I was given the answers to both questions. On the second to last day of domestic training, I was chilling in the lobby sofa with some folks, when the front door burst open with a gusto of wind, sweeping the fall leaves indoor. Then a shining gleam of light from where else, the sky! And slowly, but gently, a scroll made of lamb sheep came down, and landed by my foot. And it read:


Where:


크게 보기

Go to Mtwara, a small coastal town in the Southeastern corner of Tazania. There, you will find Sabasaba Day Secondary School, with a KOICA dude already teaching math and biology. You will take his place.

When:

You will leave this holy land Korea at December 17th 2009. It's a bloody long time away from now, so occupy yourself by doing a lot of nothing.



And then with Pachabel's Canon in D playing softly in the radio, the scroll began to disintegrate into gold dust, and vanished as the song's volume faded away. I have been blessed by the grace of the government! Now I can finally answer the questions of where and when without any awkwardness. THANK YOU!

Domestic Training

I was browsing through some shared photos of domestic training, and I realized how little it was mentioned in Tomzanian. There are only two days left of training, and I do feel a bit regretful for clumping such an eventul month in one post. Please forgive the Tomzanian.

A large portion of training consists of dull lectures.  Topics include Korea's Vision to be an Advanced First Rate Country, the Proper Understanding of Korean Wave, and the Appropriate Volunteer Attitude. Eighty percent of the lectures are junk, which make the trainees respond as above during breaks.

And the Tanzanian group again! As government volunteers, we travel with diplomatic passports, so we had to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to retrieve them. This is what we do when we are on standby.

Here are the dumbshit dudes who are going to Ethiopia. Okay just kiddin. They're notorious for being big clowns, but also real good people. The guy on the far right is my roommate, who wants to be the agricultural minister of Korea. Notice their short hair? They also went to boot camp back in August.

One of the key aspects of training is being vaccinated. KOICA provides four vaccines for all volunteers: Hep A, seasonal flu, tetanus, and typhoid fever. Those who go to Africa will get the yellow fever vaccine as well. All for free. Thanks for the free stuff government!

This is the library volunteer group at the National Fire Service Academy. We went there for a day long lesson on various safety measures, including CPR. The library volunteer group is famous for being a clique.

The most important lecture of the program was conducted by Doctor Yoon, who himself was a volunteer in Papa New Guinea and Peru. He gave us some very useful information on diseases as well as general health guidelines. This was one of his last words of the lecture:

"Marrying a local would be the completion of your assimilation to your host country. That's of course a good thing. But, keep in mind that they may love your citizenship more than you."

For most of the time the trainees are stuck at the training center, banned from leaving the premises. One of the exception was a day long hiking trip to Worak Mountain. It was a well timed relief from the boring ass lectures.

So how are them Korean girls? Well, you can find them in Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Egypt.

Or how about the boys?

Jinho and our Swahili teacher Samson in class.

The Tanzania group with Samson. Swahili 3 hours a day, 5 days a week.

One of the final events was the visit from former US Peace Corps volunteers who were in Korea in the 60s and 70s. (more about them to follow)