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Published: December 22nd 2005
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The happy (replacement) family
From left: Upendo, Oliver, Rogate, Emanuel, Elibariki The last time I updated my Blog I talked about the place I am staying, but I didn’t talk about the family who I am living with. They have been really great to me. The pictures with this post show almost of them, so you can tell it is a big family. Since they are relatively well off, there are also regularly various uncles, aunts and cousins around. Oh yeah, and the first day I moved in they miss heard my name as Eric, so that is what I am called there. This is actually quite common, very few people can say Eli the way I pronounce it, so I usually say Ely but my intonation is wrong some how so they usually hear Eric, which is pronounced with a L sound for the R.
Elibariki: He is the youngest of the family at 14, and will be starting form 1 (equivalent to grade 7) in January. He spends the most time with me because he has the least responsibilities right now. So most evenings he is in my room telling me stories in mixed Swahili/English. And he is the first one to give me crap when I am doing
something wrong, like washing my clothes the wrong way or with the wrong soap.
Clara: She is next and is currently attending form 3. She likes to make fun of me whenever I do anything for myself. At least I assume she is making fun of me as she will say something quickly in Swahili to whoever is around, and then point and laugh at me. This mostly happens when I wash my clothes or try and help make dinner.
Oliver: I don’t know Oliver that well because she was only around for the first week after I moved in, and has since gone off to boarding school for form 5.
Carlos: Carlos is waiting to start form 6 in January, so right now he works. A lot. He works seven days a week at a hotel as an accountant. His hours most days are from 7am to 11am and 5pm to 9pm. In addition to that, he also repairs peoples cell phones. When he comes and visits me in my room he usually just sits there quietly and doesn’t say much. I think this is because he is nervous about his English, which is a shame
Isaac (on the left) and his Uncle
His uncle is actually younger than him. I find that when people have large families here, they spread them out a lot. because it is quite good.
Upendo: she has finished schooling, and mostly helps out around the house. At least twice I week I will come home and she is braiding her mothers hair (braiding relatives hair occupies a lot of peoples time here). She also makes bread with her mother and sells it in the morning near the house.
Isaac: He is the oldest of the children at 24. He finished school and up until last week he was working at a hospital doing malaria education. Last week he got laid off because he didn’t have any computer skills. He has taught me a lot of slang Swahili, and likes taking me around the neighborhood to show me stuff…Actually, I think he does it so he can show everyone he is friends with an mzungu.
Emanuel: he doesn’t speak any English, so without one of the children around, our conversations are limited to my crappy Swahili. This means that he knows where I am going and when I am coming back. He used to be a truck driver for a mining company, and lately a cab driver. About a month ago his car broke down quite badly, so he sold it so he would have enough money to cover his kids school fees in January. So now he is doing piece work.
Rogate: She runs the house, and in the two months since I got here I have only seen her without a smile once, and that was because Elibariki slept in and didn’t go get the milk in the morning. I like sitting with her and the daughters when they are cooking just because they laugh so much. In addition to making bread to sell, she also does a bit of tailoring.
A typical evening around the house for me involves getting home around 5:30 or 6:00. Within half an hour of getting home, Elibariki will be sitting in my room telling me stories in mixed Swahili English, regardless of what I was doing when he came in. This continues until he gets bored (only happens if I am focused on getting something else done and not responding to his stories) or I throw him out to go have a bucket shower. Because Mbeya is so high up, cold bucket showers usually involve hyperventilating. Luckily the family I live with keeps warm water specifically for showers, so I don’t have to have cold ones. After my shower Elibariki won’t come into my room for half an hour, so that is when I read or write in my journal.
Later, I’ll either sit with Elibariki in my room, or I go out and sit with whoever is doing the cooking that night, which is always one of the women, and whoever else is around. Sitting with them inevitably turns into twenty questions for me about Canada, but I can usually get them to answer the same questions about Tanzania. I normally eat dinner with Elibariki (and sometimes one of the other boys) in my room at around 9 or 9:30. Then I throw everyone out around 10 or 10:30 and go to sleep.
Something I find interesting in Swahili: Aunts are Mamma mdogo/mkubwa meaning little/big mother depending on if they are older or younger than your mother, and Uncles are Baba mdogo/mkubwa meaning little/big father for the same reason. Cousins are generally just referred to as young brothers and sisters. From my point of view, people here have a much closer relationship with their extended families here
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