Birthdays!

             There are a ton of birthdays in the student group and staff during the three and half months that I will be in Tanzania. We’ve celebrated three already! The way people celebrate birthdays here is really fun. After dinner, all of the lights are turned off. A few people go outside the chumba (dining hall), get the cake and candles from the kitchen, and pick twigs off of the nearby trees. Then, they line up and walk through the chumba singing a song and waving the branches. One person sings one part that has many different verses, and everyone else sings a response that is always the same. The song itself is not in Swahili but the Iraqw language, which is the language that people in Rhotia speak. (Side-note: Tazania has 124 different tribes, most, if not each, have their own language. The people of Rhotia are from the Iraqw tribe). This song goes on for a good amount of time, four or five minutes, and people start whistling and jumping up and down. Towards the end, two guys will link their arms together and make a seat for the birthday person. They then proceed to swing this person back and forth a few times. When the song finishes, the birthday person gets to blow out the candles, and usually everyone will also sing “Happy Birthday.” The cake then gets cut up into little squares, placed into bowls, and passed around to each person. The cake is extremely delicious— quite dense and a hint of almond flavor. The frosting is pretty much a really thick sugar glaze that is sometimes dyed different colors.

            When we were celebrating a birthday yesterday, I was standing next to Patricia, one of the cooks. After the Iraqw song finished, we both immediately jumped into “Happy Birthday,” but everyone else started clapping. Instead of following everyone else, we proceed to scream “Happy Birthday” as loud as we could, and then, of course, right after we finished singing, everyone else broke into “Happy Birthday.” We both thought that was pretty funny, so we were laughing and hugging each other while everyone else stared in confusion.

            That is just one example of the great moments I have had with the staff. Despite the fact that most of them speak little English and all of us students speak even less Swahili, we all manage to find something to laugh about. The other night during a campfire, one of the guards entertained us with his imitations of various African wildlife, including hyenas and baboons “arguing.” He’s also been teaching us the song Jambo Bwana which is an old pop song that is now mostly sung only to tourists. It’s super catchy, though.  

            I’ve gotten the chance to walk around Rhotia a bit and meet some of the children. I also went on a beautiful and educational hike yesterday, as well as, to the market in Karatu. But… I’m going to save all of those crazy adventures for another entry!

Savanna