Salaam

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Tanzania is a peace-loving country. You have only to examine its language to figure that out. Tanzanians have a plethora of ways to say that everything is fine, ok, peaceful, and so on. Salaama, mzima, nzuri, poa, safi, etc., etc. When I asked my Swahili teacher how one says "I'm not doing well", she told me that I shouldn't say that because it raises too many questions! Better to just say, you're fine.

Language is indeed a reflection of culture. Recently, Tanzania held presidential elections, which it holds every five years. The incument, Kikwete, was re-elected, although there were many grumblings of dissatisfaction with his performance. When I asked my taxi driver why, if they were unhappy with him, did people still vote for him. My wise, if not-so-educated or conversant in English taxi driver explained to me that Tanzanians like peace. They have seen the plight of their neighbors in Congo, Rwanda, and Kenya due to friction with political opposition, and they'd rather wake up knowing that their lives will be peaceful, even if they don't have electricity.

Some might call this too complacent. But heck, I call it smart. Tanzanians have their own style of getting things done. As one who prefers peace and diplomacy myself, I couldn't have landed in a more perfect place for me in the continent.

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