Immersed

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Well, how do I put my life into words.... wow. Maybe first, a quick Swahili lesson.

Hujambo! Vipi! Jina langu ni Yussuf. Ninatoka Mericani, jimbo la Maryland, mti wa Silver Spring. Ninasema Kiswahili polepole lakini jana nilijifunza kidogo na leo ninajifunza kidogo na kesho nitajifunza kidogo pia! Upesi, nitajau kiswahili vizuri. Ninatumaini kurudi Mericani, utasahau kwa mimi. Sisahau kwa wewe na nimefiriki kwa wawa siku zote. Nimefurahi lakini ninakosa kwa ninyi. Tutonana baadage. Salama!

Hello! What's up. My name is Yussuf.* I am from America, in the state of Maryland, in the city of Silver Spring. I talk Swahili slowly but yesterday I learned a little bit and today I learned a little bit and tomorrow I will learn a little bit more too! Soon, I will know Swahili well. I hope that when I return to American, you will remember me. I have not forgotten you and I think about everybody always. I am happy but I miss yall. See you later. Peace.

*that’s actually my name. Everybody got a Zanzibari name and mines Yussuf.

This is day ten and it's been incredible. Not every second but most. Where to start?! The past week has been orientation and introductions. A few days at a nice little motel in Stone Town right near SIT's office, followed by three days at a beach resort in Paje, Zanzibar, and then back to Stone Town. Last night was the first night of my homestay, and I'll get to that in a second. My life, for the last week, has consisted of orienting myself to an island where I can't blend in, where people are constantly trying to sell me everything, where directions are better achieved by asking then reading a map, where I say 'jambo' about two dozen times to complete strangers in a typical 5 minute walk, and where every passing car misses you by inches (actually now, inches feels pretty comfortable).

As I mentioned before, I got to swim with dolphins a few days ago in the southeast part of Zanzibar, well worth the 6am starting time. A quick drive to a beach and all 15 of us students and our teachers got on some boats where we motored out into the Indian Ocean. (I've never seen more beautiful bright blue water) After only 20 minutes or so, our guides had spotted a group of dolphins. And almost like a race, our boats (and the other tours too) zoomed over to the herd. Snorkeling gear and all, we all jumped in and just started to follow the dolphins. We weren't supposed to touch the dolphins, and I didn't, but that didn't stop my from trying. I really enjoyed holding my breath and diving down a few feet,ing be wonderfully close to them. They'd occasionally come up to the surface and perform a some acrobatics for us, especially the baby dolphins, but for most of the time, we were snorkeling on the surface while they swam 20 or 30 feet below us on the seafloor.

Eventually, they just swam away from us effortlessly (they probably thought we were the herd) and we gave up chasing them. But it was an amazing hour and I'm only sad that I don't have pics to post of it (although a few people had underwater cameras and maybe I'll steal some of their pictures and post them)

What else… well, I am learning Swahili. You may think I'm just relaxing all day and you're only a little bit right. But I have four hours of Swahili each day, plus homework, and I'm getting pretty good. Now that I'm in the homestay portion of my program, I'm going to be immersed even more in the language. And I'm really happy about it.

It’s a simple language to pick up, honestly. The greetings are very formalized (for instance, the response to "harbari" (how are you) is ALWAYS "nzuri" (fine). There is no other answer to that question. Cool, huh?) Swahili, like much of Zanzibar's culture, is influenced by English, Arabic, Indian, and African forces. (the word for "school" is "schooli" and the word for office is "offisini." Not every word works like that but a lot of times, yeah) The only tough part about the language is the complex noun-subject agreement rules, which we haven't gotten to yet. I never thought I could ever become fluent in another language but I'm starting to think that I might be able to do this.

Ok, my homestay family is wonderful. My homestay mother ("mama") has five children all above the age of 22, two of which live with her upstairs, and six grandchildren, three of which are in the house. I have my own room and I believe that this family is fairly wealthy, at least by Zanzibar standards. Mama speaks great English yet encourages me to speak lotsa Swahili.

Her two children that live with her are both males. I have no idea what they're jobs are. One's single (I think) and goes to the beach every afternoon to work out and play soccer. He's 22, has lots of swagger, and sings Rhianna very loudly in the shower. The other's slightly older, enjoys Mythbusters, and is married with the adorable kids, ages 7, 2, and 1.

The 7-year old boy was shy at first but by the end of my first night, refused to go to bed because we were having so much fun. (He actually really really liked my duck soap holder, for those of you how know what I'm talking about) The 2-year old girl also enjoyed my presence after I busted out a deck of cards, who knew 52-card pick up could be so hilarious. I know I was bragging about my Swahili before but, to be honest, I can understand what she says better than anyone else, so we're def going to be good friends.

I'm staying with a Muslim family: they pray 5 times a day, there are many Islamic influences throughout their house, the women wear headscarfs in public, and I take my shoes off when I come into their house. Yet they are also a fairly modern family too and I'm very interested to see how religion and modernization interact within this house. As an aspiring anthropologist, its a prime learning opportunity. Stay tuned.

So everything is going well. I miss yall bunches but you might as well buy a plane ticket to Zanzibar City if you want to see me in person because I'm not coming home before may. I think I'll have some time to post for the next 2 weeks but when I go to Pemba Island (just north of Zanzibar) for my second homestay, I don't think I'll have any communication. I'll upload some pictures when I get a chance too. Take care. Salama!

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