learning to carve


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Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam
August 13th 2006
Published: August 13th 2006
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Saturday, I went into Mwenge where the carvers I have started teaching English to at night work. It is a nice market there, lots of individual shop stalls, lots of tourists on the rougher side go there to pick up artwork to bring back home. Usually the carvers that sell (and are exploited by) the shopkeepers work right in front of the shops under a few rows of trees that shade them and protect them from the busy, smelly, loud road. But today I went to learn to carve from one of my friend’s students and all of the trees were bulldozed. The artists were not given any advanced notice and started making makeshift shelters out of tarp and sticks to shield them from the sun, so that was a downer. But then this wonderful man taught the three of us to carve. He is really a brilliant artist, 22 years old, and is practically fluent in English after being for 8 months in these 1 hour informal night classes run by volunteers who pick it up and try to pass it along to newcomers when they leave. He patiently taught us for four hours. Must give a shout to the Waldorf school which prepared me in knowing the feel for wood and the hand-tools some of which were the same types we used in carving. We passed this block of wood around the four of us, he correcting us every now and then, and we left with the beginning of a nice head of a Massai warrior. We were imitating his much larger one he has already almost finished. His is about 3 feet tall, it took him almost 2 weeks because he works so fast and so well, and he will be paid about 100 dollars for it and the shopkeepers will get 200. We are going to try to come back every Saturday so work on this one and make three before we leave so that we all take one home. The size we are working on (about 9 inches) would get about 700 shillings, or about 6 dollars, for the carver and the shop would sell it for 15 US dollars. Wish people would buy direct from the carvers, that’s why many are learning English, others say they don’t know why they want to know they just want to. The sounds are great there, all sorts of pounding and sanding and tapping, about 50 people working along the road, barefoot, sitting on little wooden stools with a hunk of wood held down on the ground with their feet. One of the carver’s friends who works behind him makes beautiful portraits based on photographs. They are carved reliefs you can hang on the wall. Very innovative, very life-like and well done.
Then the group of us decided to go to a relatively swanky Italian restaurant where I spent 12 dollars but worth every penny because I have been eating basically the same thing everyday, rice and beans or rice and fish, but mostly rice and beans. Another note on the food, the passion-fruit juice is AMAZING. So sweet, so fresh, a great staple but cant be found on campus yet.
Trying to plan a trip away from Dar, but not sure if we will get the vacation time we expected. Gombe would be amazing, its rather expensive to get to and to get in and all that, but not sure how many years the wild chimps will be there and so few people go to Gombe still because its so hard to get to. Also thinking about taking the train inland as far as I can and turn around, to see the country without spending time in any one place. The train that goes into
Classes start soon (the 28th of august). Need to start trying to find professors on Monday to see if their classes will be offered or not and what the classes are. VERY confusing process. The registration here is incredibly informal and chaotic. Schedules change based on what the majority of students want for the first 2 weeks of classes. I am supposed to register for twice as many classes as I will take because they get cancelled. Further, I have a list of 50 classes that interest me, just don’t know what they all are based only on their titles. wish i had the luxery of all the information they give out at sarah lawrence.

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14th August 2006

passionflower
beside the juice...before the fruit comes to be, it is one of the purittiest flowers ever. record the wood carving (sounds) too..if you can...prefer no video. sounds like ya'll need to get out for nite-life before classes hit. sweet. cheers from midwest america. x

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