Saturday, March 18, 2006
Some Reflections on the First Week
So, one full week in Tanzania! Let's see what I have to show for it... a peeling sunburn, a number of mosquito bites (tho no malaria, hooray!), a few words of Kiswahili vocab, a mountain of work-related reading, and, despite the initial difficulties of adjustment, a strong sense of excitement about my next two years here.
Work has improved, I would say, in terms of getting to feel like I know my place here. My officemates have opened up a bit to me as well (which may be the result of my opening up to them, of course). One amusing exchange: Chambi was asking me what sort of things I do for fun, if I play any sports, etc. Then he asks, "So, would you consider yourself a nerd?" I didn't understand what he was asking, given his accent, so he had to spell it out for me: "A NERD. N-E-R-D." I laughed, and had to admit that yes, I do consider myself a nerd. Not sure what the translation is in Kiswahili...
So, one rather unexpected aspect of day-to-day like at HakiElimu: the intense level of planning and bureaucracy. Each year, the board goes on a retreat to formulate the annual plan, which is subsequently divided into four quarterly plans, which are subsequently divided into weekly plans. The plans list the activities (or "outputs") that are expected during the week from each person, as well as the proposed budget. In addition, before beginning an activity, one is supposed to complete an "activity memo" outlining exactly how one expects to complete the activity, including a time frame. And then at the end of each quarter, each division is assessed on its performance in relation to its plans. My division meets every other Friday to go over how we're progressing -- in theory the meeting should run from 2 to 5, but yesterday it was more like 2 to 6:30!!! I managed to miss the first half hour because I had to run to the bank... Needless to say, it's certainly a change of management style from that which I had been used to.
But anyway, enough about work and onto some more sexy topics like alcohol and prostitution! Last night was my entree into the ex-pat social scene and I must say it is a bit bizarre. I have been hanging out quite a bit with this girl Rachel, who actually used to live in DC (and thus we have some mutual friends). She is here for two years as well, working with the Harvard School of Public Health, and has been here since August. Anyway, we went out last night, first to a traditional Tanzanian dance performance, which was really great (somehow we ended up on stage at the end... I guess those African dance classes paid off!) While watching the performance, I got my first taste of Kilimanjaro beer, which I thought was quite tasty! Then we went to Steers (the South African version of McDonald's) so Rachel's roommate Kenji could get some food, and finally we hit up one of the main ex-pat watering holes: a place called Q-Bar.
The crowd at Q-Bar was a mix of ex-pat types around our age (20s and 30s) and then a number of older white men (50s, 60s, 70s, and one who could have definitely been 80) accompanied by lovely Tanzanian young women. Anyway, it was a bit hard not to gawk. As Rachel put it about one of these men: "That guy's my grandfather's age. And my grandfather's dead!" So, yeah, it was a bit gross.
Another interesting sight was a Masai warrier getting his groove on. (Chances are, if you've seen a coffee table book on Africa, you have seen pictures of the Masai, wearing red robes, carrying spears, and walking across some deserted piece of scenery. Our friend, on the other hand, had accessorized his robe with sparkly scarf, replaced his spear with a beer, and was holding his own on the dance floor to the band's renditions of Shaggy and Bob Marley songs.)
Tonight I'm hoping to see a different side of the Dar es Salaam scene, as I'm going out with one of my (Tanzanian) officemates.
And then tomorrow I'm off to Arusha for "Swahili Summer Camp"!! I'm hoping that my Chinatown bus experiences will help me survive the 8+ hour ride that awaits.
Work has improved, I would say, in terms of getting to feel like I know my place here. My officemates have opened up a bit to me as well (which may be the result of my opening up to them, of course). One amusing exchange: Chambi was asking me what sort of things I do for fun, if I play any sports, etc. Then he asks, "So, would you consider yourself a nerd?" I didn't understand what he was asking, given his accent, so he had to spell it out for me: "A NERD. N-E-R-D." I laughed, and had to admit that yes, I do consider myself a nerd. Not sure what the translation is in Kiswahili...
So, one rather unexpected aspect of day-to-day like at HakiElimu: the intense level of planning and bureaucracy. Each year, the board goes on a retreat to formulate the annual plan, which is subsequently divided into four quarterly plans, which are subsequently divided into weekly plans. The plans list the activities (or "outputs") that are expected during the week from each person, as well as the proposed budget. In addition, before beginning an activity, one is supposed to complete an "activity memo" outlining exactly how one expects to complete the activity, including a time frame. And then at the end of each quarter, each division is assessed on its performance in relation to its plans. My division meets every other Friday to go over how we're progressing -- in theory the meeting should run from 2 to 5, but yesterday it was more like 2 to 6:30!!! I managed to miss the first half hour because I had to run to the bank... Needless to say, it's certainly a change of management style from that which I had been used to.
But anyway, enough about work and onto some more sexy topics like alcohol and prostitution! Last night was my entree into the ex-pat social scene and I must say it is a bit bizarre. I have been hanging out quite a bit with this girl Rachel, who actually used to live in DC (and thus we have some mutual friends). She is here for two years as well, working with the Harvard School of Public Health, and has been here since August. Anyway, we went out last night, first to a traditional Tanzanian dance performance, which was really great (somehow we ended up on stage at the end... I guess those African dance classes paid off!) While watching the performance, I got my first taste of Kilimanjaro beer, which I thought was quite tasty! Then we went to Steers (the South African version of McDonald's) so Rachel's roommate Kenji could get some food, and finally we hit up one of the main ex-pat watering holes: a place called Q-Bar.
The crowd at Q-Bar was a mix of ex-pat types around our age (20s and 30s) and then a number of older white men (50s, 60s, 70s, and one who could have definitely been 80) accompanied by lovely Tanzanian young women. Anyway, it was a bit hard not to gawk. As Rachel put it about one of these men: "That guy's my grandfather's age. And my grandfather's dead!" So, yeah, it was a bit gross.
Another interesting sight was a Masai warrier getting his groove on. (Chances are, if you've seen a coffee table book on Africa, you have seen pictures of the Masai, wearing red robes, carrying spears, and walking across some deserted piece of scenery. Our friend, on the other hand, had accessorized his robe with sparkly scarf, replaced his spear with a beer, and was holding his own on the dance floor to the band's renditions of Shaggy and Bob Marley songs.)
Tonight I'm hoping to see a different side of the Dar es Salaam scene, as I'm going out with one of my (Tanzanian) officemates.
And then tomorrow I'm off to Arusha for "Swahili Summer Camp"!! I'm hoping that my Chinatown bus experiences will help me survive the 8+ hour ride that awaits.
# posted by Ruth @ 11:10 AM 
