The past few weeks I have had a lot going on! It's been really fun being in Stone Town and starting to feel like a local. Walking down the street, people recognize me and I recognize them. I've been able to practice my Kiswahili a lot, and people really appreciate that we are trying to learn their language.
Last weekend was my 21st birthday! We went snorkeling and then all had dinner at a homestay house - then off to celebrate! Exciting to have a birthday in Africa - but I didn't get to show my ID anywhere because there really are no rules.
Sauti za Busara is a huge 4 day music festival here in Zanzibar which occured this past week. It was amazing - probably the most fun I've had since I've been here! Four days of dancing, listening to music, and letting go after stressful weeks of classes. The artists were all so much fun, and it was great to have the opportunity to see everyone let loose and just enjoy life!
Today was the last day of my homestay. It ended up being a great experience - uncomfortable at times (okay, most of the time...) but I learned a lot and my family really took me in as one of their own. We had a homestay farewell party and my family dressed me up in Zanzibari fashion and my sister gave me henna! It's cool to have a family to be able to go back to in Stonetown - both this semester and beyond.
Finally, today marks the end of Kiswahili class! After 60 hours of intensive language learning, we had our written and oral exams today. I think I aced them! Now we just have to get out there and practice since we won't have the classroom setting to learn in!
As I learn about the culture here, I can't help but share some of it. Alas, here's my rant of the week:
I've been learning a lot about education in Zanzibar - formally and just through interacting with my homestay and local people. Many times, I find myself astounded by the things that aren't issues here that seem so obvious to me. For example, after two weeks in my homestay family, I have yet to find a trashcan/somewhere to put trash in my house. They simply throw their wrappers or whatever on the ground when their done and then sweep it out into the street. This is just one example of the great conflict between humans and the environment. The sewage pipes run straight into the ocean, and no one (at least from what I've seen) is even concerned! When I tell locals that I'm studying the environment, I get blank stares that seem to say "why?". I keep thinking how sad it is that they just don't know about environmental issues, but then I think about how much I also don't know regarding culture here. The concern here lies more in surviving day to day life than trying to save the whales, for example, but it is all connected. The fishermen here need fish in the ocean to feed their families, but one day there won't be any fish due to overfishing and pollution. Its frustrating to see people hurting their environment so freely, and therefore hurting themselves. Maybe once greater issues of human welfare (another problem alltogether) are addressed, then the environment can start to be taken care of too.
Access to education here is seriously lacking - my homestay siblings go to school for maybe 4 hours a day... but no one is regulating if they are there or not. The usual classroom ratio is 150 students to 2 teachers with no resources. School is also expensive - even public school requires a monthly fee. Since it is government regulated, one failed exam can get you kicked out of school permanently. If you do make it the whole way through to university, the government has the right to tell you what to major in and what job to get based on the needs of the country. Kind of ridiculous!
ANYWAY, fun fact: they don't use toilet paper here (rule number 1 - don't eat with your left hand!). But hey, TIA. This is Africa.
Last weekend was my 21st birthday! We went snorkeling and then all had dinner at a homestay house - then off to celebrate! Exciting to have a birthday in Africa - but I didn't get to show my ID anywhere because there really are no rules.
Sauti za Busara is a huge 4 day music festival here in Zanzibar which occured this past week. It was amazing - probably the most fun I've had since I've been here! Four days of dancing, listening to music, and letting go after stressful weeks of classes. The artists were all so much fun, and it was great to have the opportunity to see everyone let loose and just enjoy life!
Today was the last day of my homestay. It ended up being a great experience - uncomfortable at times (okay, most of the time...) but I learned a lot and my family really took me in as one of their own. We had a homestay farewell party and my family dressed me up in Zanzibari fashion and my sister gave me henna! It's cool to have a family to be able to go back to in Stonetown - both this semester and beyond.
Finally, today marks the end of Kiswahili class! After 60 hours of intensive language learning, we had our written and oral exams today. I think I aced them! Now we just have to get out there and practice since we won't have the classroom setting to learn in!
As I learn about the culture here, I can't help but share some of it. Alas, here's my rant of the week:
I've been learning a lot about education in Zanzibar - formally and just through interacting with my homestay and local people. Many times, I find myself astounded by the things that aren't issues here that seem so obvious to me. For example, after two weeks in my homestay family, I have yet to find a trashcan/somewhere to put trash in my house. They simply throw their wrappers or whatever on the ground when their done and then sweep it out into the street. This is just one example of the great conflict between humans and the environment. The sewage pipes run straight into the ocean, and no one (at least from what I've seen) is even concerned! When I tell locals that I'm studying the environment, I get blank stares that seem to say "why?". I keep thinking how sad it is that they just don't know about environmental issues, but then I think about how much I also don't know regarding culture here. The concern here lies more in surviving day to day life than trying to save the whales, for example, but it is all connected. The fishermen here need fish in the ocean to feed their families, but one day there won't be any fish due to overfishing and pollution. Its frustrating to see people hurting their environment so freely, and therefore hurting themselves. Maybe once greater issues of human welfare (another problem alltogether) are addressed, then the environment can start to be taken care of too.
Access to education here is seriously lacking - my homestay siblings go to school for maybe 4 hours a day... but no one is regulating if they are there or not. The usual classroom ratio is 150 students to 2 teachers with no resources. School is also expensive - even public school requires a monthly fee. Since it is government regulated, one failed exam can get you kicked out of school permanently. If you do make it the whole way through to university, the government has the right to tell you what to major in and what job to get based on the needs of the country. Kind of ridiculous!
ANYWAY, fun fact: they don't use toilet paper here (rule number 1 - don't eat with your left hand!). But hey, TIA. This is Africa.
Greetings, Erica~
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for creating this blog so that we can share in your unfolding adventures in Zanzibar. It sounds like an incredibly rich learning experience.
The Burlington PLACE projects are unfolding here in Vermont, this year's honor's college class has the started the phenology projects (alas, no snow!). Check these out when you get a chance:
http://www.uvm.edu/place/burlingtongeographic/
https://bb.uvm.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_51252_1%26url%3D
All the best,
Walt