The National Museum and Independence Day

December 9 is Tanzanian Independence Day. In addition to watching the parade and some historical programs on television, I decided it was appropriate to visit the National Museum to further my understanding of this country. The building itself is quite ornate, as you can tell from the entrance here. The display on Tanzanian history featured pictures of key moments. Pictured here under the Tanzanian flag is the ceremony that Nyerere officiated when Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined to form the United Republic of Tanzania, symbolized here with pouring the soil from the two presidential estates into one container.
A section about the sad history of slavery in this region included notes about how there are still lasting impacts to this day. As someone who is working on agricultural development in this country that has embraced the motto "Agriculture First (Kilimo Kwanza)", it was a bit disheartening to read "agriculture and manual work despised by some people especially in the coastal area, because it is associated with slavery."
Tanzania is the source of quite a few fossils, and so I got to peruse a few dinosaur fossils and other interesting collections such as this australopithicus bolsei skull.
Other highlights included a memorial for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing, cars used by Nyerere, and a wooden bicycle. Most peculiar item was Tanzania's first ATM, which was right inside the beautiful entrance.
So there's your quick tour of the National Museum aka Makumbusho ya Taifa

Visit to the Village Museum

Recently I visited the Village Museum. The fact that I was an anthropology major and that I've built houses, I found it fascinating to wander around the grounds of the museum, which includes examples of homes from all over Tanzania, various household items, and lots of signs with cultural factoids. I hope to return sometime to meet with more of the artists and watch dances.

The first picture here is standing next to a Maasai house, which is partially constructed of cow dung. These pastoralists are generally quite tall, so it was interesting how short their houses are constructed. The second and third photos show examples of thatch rooftops and circular homes. The final picture is from a Swahili style house with a wooden carved door.

So the SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY is nyumbani = house

Spicin' it Up

Last weekend I bought some spices and a bunch of fresh veggies, so I had to come up with something good to bring it all together in culinary style. Found this recipe for an eggplant-chickpea-tomato curry: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/eggplant-chickpea-and-tomato-curry. In the words of my sister "I am such a good cook!" Wish you could have joined.

Here are a few of the main ingredients, with their Swahili translations:
eggplant: biringani
tomato: nyanya
coconut milk: mnazi
onion: vitunguu
garlic: vitunguu saumu
ginger: tangawizi
curry: bizari
cilantro: mgiligilani
rice: wali

Deep Insights from the Ministry of Irrigation

So today I was trying to access the National Irrigation Master Plan on the Tanzanian Ministry of Irrigation and Water website. I had hoped that I could access it through the FAQ link. But instead, I found there is only one frequently asked question for the Ministry of Irrigation. Copied verbatim below is the FAQ: http://www.maji.go.tz/info/faq.php


FAQs
What is water?

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface[1]. On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation.[2] Saltwater oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes and ponds 0.6%. A very small amount of the Earth's water is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products. Other water is trapped in ice caps, glaciers, aquifers, or in lakes, sometimes providing fresh water for life on land.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water

Finally, the answer to my most pressing question in life. And with a source that would make any researcher proud - Wikipedia.

So our SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY is maji = water.

Cookie Time!

Best part of my weekend: baking cookies with friends and some adorable kids from the orphanage. My friend Elizabeth was so generous to entertain my crazy idea of making Christmas cookies with another friend Iris and a few kids from the orphanage where she works.
A bit of backstory: Before embarking on this baking extravaganza, I went down to the central market. Very few people here have ovens, so the idea of a cookie sheet is a bit foreign. After searching through some options, I settled for a pot lid (exhibited below) to serve the general purpose of a cookie sheet. I stopped by the place where you can buy flour and picked up a bag. Back closer to my place, I went to the grocery store to get some other hard to find items, like baking soda. Just before going over to start baking, I thought, you know, I should find out what kind of flour this is, and confirm that it's wheat flour. Well, for all of you out there, I want to teach you this SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY: muhogo means cassava (not wheat)
So thankfully Iris was able to pick up some wheat flour on her way over, so we didn't have to accidentally create the first ever cassava cookies. Along with the flour, Iris also brought (from left to right in the group photo) Bahati, Bakari, Hussen, and Samwel. Since ginger is very common here, I figured it was appropriate to make a few gingerbread men. Well, I actually started by showing how to make a gingerbread girl (to be gender sensitive), but the kids quickly branched out to also making a gingerbread dress (gauni), house (nyumba), car (gari), cup (kikombe), and hand (mkono), among other things. Creativity was flowing freely, and when they came out of the oven (successfully on the improvized cookie sheet), we then mixed up a bit of frosting and decorated with jelly beans and raisins. All it all, it was a baking success and a ton of fun.

Cultural Day

So one of the highlights of the last week was the second annual Cultural Day at the embassy. It was a day to learn more about Tanzanian culture, and also included some great skits that enabled the Americans and Tanzanians to laugh about our cultural differences in a great group therapy type of way. The MC highlighted the stereotypes of the regions of Tanzania, so now I know which tribes are proud, and which ones love money too much, etc.
So here on the left are a few pictures. The first one shows the typical clothes from Zanzibar (the ZAN of Tanzania, these islands are a 2-3 hour boat ride from Dar es Salaam, and is predominantly Muslim). The next picture is a dance of the Masaai, with two of the staff from the embassy featuring the typical red clothing. The next photo are Muslim women from the Dar es Salaam region. And finally we've got a photo of the incredible dance troupe that showed us a dance from each region. The yellow fabric is a kanga, a multi-purpose fabric that serves as a skirt, shirt, dress, baby carrier, etc. This yellow kanga has a map of Africa, as well as a lovely picture of President Obama (slightly hidden here by another piece of fabric).

In lieu of just one SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY, I'll insert one stanza of a song that we learned, with the translation:

Tanzania, Tanzania! Nakupenda kwa moyo wote.
Nchi yangu Tanzania, Jina lako ni tamu sana.
Nilalapo nakuota wewe, Niamkapo ni heri mama wee.
Tanzania, Tanzania! Nakupenda kwa moyo wote.

Tanzania, Tanzania! I love you with all of my heart.
You are my country, your name is very sweet.
When I sleep I dream of you, when I wake up all is well my lady.
Tanzania, Tanzania! I love you with all of my heart.

Wish you were here

Sorry, dear friends bundling up for the cold of winter. Wish I had a transporter beam and could bring you here to enjoy a day at the beach.

SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY: pwani = beach. Example sentence: Namshukuru Mungu kwa ajili ya pwani = Thank God for the beach.