the people/culture...

being a white person, i most likely have a completely different perspective on the people and culture in general. obviously - this is true of any outsider, but here's my two cents...

you cannot walk down the street without being harrassed by every local. by harrassed, i mean that in the most sincere, inquisitive way. they want to say hi, ask you how you are, touch you, direct you, call you rafiki (friend), mama (mom) or sister.

the firends that i've met are honest, good people who appreciate what you are able to give and don't expect anythign further. they love to hug you and give to you wahtever they are able to give... food, drinks, fabric, etc.

when tanzanian's interact - you can never really tell if they're arguing or joking. men who are friends, hold hands. women and men show no affection in public. if you're dating - you must always have a third party there to "watch over you". the muslims, christians, masai, and all various local tribes coexist peacefully. there appears to be an underlying respect for eachother and regardless of where we are... whoever we are with runs into someone else they know.

the masai in general are a hard culture to grasp. they still practice female circumsition, they are polygomists, and have a hard time caring about their children. the men live only with the women who provide the most food. men have "age mates" - or men who were born around the same time, they do everything together. become warriors, become respected elders, chase their first cattle together and are allowed to sleep with eachothers wives.

women are divorced for every imaginable and un-imaginable reason. i've heard of everything... because she has diabetes, gave birth to a mildly challenged child, has HIV, can't give birth, the list continues...

the men are all relatively slim and women are almost all obese. getting your hair done is a requirement regularly or, you wear fabric around your head.

they all love music (american hip/hop, r&b) and their own - bongo flava. the dalla dallas have all sorts of hip hop stars blasted all over, with lines such as "GET RICH OR DIE TRYING" on the back... oh the irony.

they all use pay-as you go phones, so there's no voicemail. there is no perception of time or personal space. swahili clock starts at sunrise, so technically 6 hours behind what it should be. if it's actually noon, in swhahili time - it's 6am. annoying.

the most difficult aspect to understand is the overall lack of trust. between eachother their government, etc. which makes our trust with them almost impossible. they steal from volunteers, and will give you mwzungu prices to get more money from you. this is lack of trust is part of the overall unhappiness that i only actually grasped after being there for a few weeks...

overall - the good people i met, are amazing. no one is out to harm you... they are all just trying to get by.