Friday, September 02, 2005

in the city...

hey guys. so all is going well here on the tanzanian front. i have come to the big city of iringa (this one you might actually find on a tanzanian map). it is the regional capitol of the region i live in. lets see...that break down is.. i live in the village of kihanga, in the district of mufindi in the region of iringa. if you have detailed map, there might be mafinga on it. i live just south east of mafinga. i cant remember what all i wrote about in the last update, and even here in the big city, i am scared to open up too many screens to look back, but i live at about 2000m (1.25 miles) up in the mountains. it is more of a rolling mountain in the highlainds than of jagged mountains of that of the north (or the rockies). the people i live with are from the tribe of wahehe (pronounced wah-hey-hey...which CRACKS me up every time i say because it sounds like duane off of whats happening?) the wahehe speak kihehe and i have been learning kihehe. while it is not necessary for me to be fluent in kihehe because they speck excellent kiswahili, it is VERY respectful to speak in the tribal language and every little bit i learn and the more i am able to converse the morethey are willing to work with the me...in other words, the more they see me trying to understand thier ways and culutre, the more they are likely to like me and there for want to help me in projects and the like.

so being here in the city is completely different than that of the village life. we are not talking about the normal differences that occur between urban and rural but extremities of each. my village has absolutely no electricity. none. there are powerlines the go through the village, but they do not touchdown anywhere...they just passthrough. there is no transportation in or out of my village. well expect that of your feet, or bike (if you are lucky). there is one lorry (cargo truck)that passes through in the morning and returns each evning. most people live in mud walled houses with mud floors and thatched roofs. they are farmers, store owners or teachers (well 13 of them) and some work in the surrounding tea feilds. there is no resaurant and there is no dispensary. they eat almost solely corn flour and beans. there are some vegitables and there is some rice and even quite a large number of animals for a small village, but these are expensive. here in the city life is completely different. i am sitting at an internet cafe drinking a cappuccino and watching all the kids playing on the internet. at this moment back i the village the kids are probably carring in water for the evening meals and helping take care of all thier siblings. life is just different. i should actually log off for a bit now... i will add to this tomorrow after going SHOPPING! i am about to go eat some indian food and ice cream! i will be leaving town sunday....so email me!!!! oh and dont havenew address as of yet....still working on it...

love
jane

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

you paint such a remarkable portrait of the lifestyles you encounter, and the differences from region to region... you are quite a talented anthropologist, sociologist, observer, peace worker... love your word pictures! And hope you are still taking photos, shoot a few pics for me to tickle a visually obsessed shutterbug.... we love ya and miss ya tons!! xoxoxox
~wendy

3:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jane,
Nice account for what surrounds you!
Why is there such a difference in the society between close villages and cities? i guess they are not really close enough?
love you, miss you.
Komal

5:54 PM  

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