Mac N Cheese

I turned 23 in Tanzania last Friday. No – it is not a Tanzanian
tradition to have off of work for your birthday (darn, I know!), but
it was nice to spend the day with the students.

I had a dress made a few weeks ago out of kitenge (printed material)
that I bought in Dar over Christmas. The dress is very traditional
Tanzanian – a shirt and skirt set made out of a single pattern.
Essentially, I was head-to-toe light blue in this thing. When I first
tried it on I felt a little silly, considering it is so faux-pau to
wear only one pattern in the States. Plus, it fits a little bit
differently than most other things I would normally wear. It is quite
dressier than the skirts and tops I’ve been wearing, so I also felt
funny wearing it on any random Tuesday to school. I figured my
birthday would be a good excuse to break it out.

You know, I’ve become very accustomed to not having a long mirror in
my room. It’s nice, because if I would have seen myself full-length
that morning I may have second guessed wearing it. But I showed up to
school, and all day I received countless compliments from other
teachers and students. Many said I looked “so smart” – a phrase that
means you look really sharp, really put together, really great! And a
few of the girls individually pulled me over and said ever so quietly,
“Teacher Laura, you look so sweet today.” I felt like a true
Tanzanian woman in this dress! Kweli!

I didn’t mention it was my birthday to many because I fear the fuss.
But earlier that week with my advisement class we did timelines of our
life, and a few remembered my birthday was the 18th. So there was no
giant cake or whole school sing-along, but rather many little “happy
birthday teacher!”s throughout the day. It was Perfect (yes, with a
capital P)!

And the day ended with my art club – my favorite part of the week. A
few of the girls worked really hard on some beautiful birthday cards.
It was so fun to see them present them to me. It was also fun to
watch all the other students in a panic because they hadn’t made me
anything. Quickly before the class was over they signed their names to
the picture of a truck or a mountain (or a paper airplane and origami
box) under a “happy birthday!” as they lined up for the hugs I was
giving to those who wished me well on my special day. I went home
with lots of paper love, that’s for sure.

The Sisters also gave me a nice little gift that included a
beautifully beaded rosary. They are so sweet. (P.S. Sr. Beatrice
recently sprained her ankle – keep her in your prayers!)

Later when we got home, Jana and Maryrose (our new roommie) met Sean
and me at the gate and sang happy birthday (Maryrose was wearing a
silly homemade pipe cleaner hat!). Afterwards, they proudly
announced, “Want to meet your birthday gift?” Any guesses? A new
puppy? Maybe a cat? Or a rat? (Side note: did I ever write about the
rats we had in our house?) All wrong – they bought me a chicken! Jana
and I have been talking about getting a hen for our yard. It’s a
really big yard that we don’t use often and would be a great place for
the little guy to run around in. And how cool would it be to have
fresh eggs? They named my new kuku “Lola” – a mix between Laura and
Loyola (you know, St. Ignatius of Loyola). He, excuse me, “she” was
beautiful!

Jana and Maryrose were planning a nice dinner for us at home, and my
good friend David made plans to stay in town this weekend (he lives at
the school), so we invited him to join us. When David arrived (a
bottle of “Altar Wine” in hand – not kidding, that’s literally what
the label says), we introduced him to Lola. As I had suspected, he
announced that Lola in fact will not produce anything but a loud
cock-a-doodle the next morning. My sweet friends had bought a male
chicken. Whoops! We had a good laugh, decided to later buy a hen and
instead start a little chicken family! Problem solved!

Maryrose had set the table with beautiful Tanzanian flowers and other
decorations, and she and Jana cooked their secret surprise dinner
while Sean, David, Thomas and I enjoyed some freshly made juice
(mango, pineapple and passion fruit!). The girls also decorated the
walls outside my bedroom with signs proclaiming “Happy Birthday” and
“23!” I felt like I was in college again. Time to eat came, and so
did a massive pot of MAC N CHEESE! YES! They had bought noodles and
cheese from town. You can get both here, but they are really
expensive. Tanzanians don’t eat much cheese, despite the large number
of cows around – I don’t know why! It was a lovely dinner with lovely
friends.

We made it an early night because Sean and I had to head to school
early Saturday morning to be proctors for the students’ exams. They
take all exams on Saturday mornings – strange, eh? All teachers take
turns being proctors, so we only go every other weekend. Watching
them take exams was interesting though; I noticed many took a few
minutes before and even after finishing to shut their eyes, fold their
hands, (some make a Sign of the Cross), and say a little prayer asking
for help from Someone above. I wonder what schools would be like in
the States if students took the power of prayer that seriously.

So we didn’t end up going to the night club I had mentioned last
weekend for Jana’s birthday because our party got smaller than
expected, so we rescheduled for this night. I’m so glad we did,
because our group grew from three to about nine! Everyone came to our
house for a little while to hang out before we left and we had a great
time just sitting around the table, chatting about everything from the
students at school to if there is beer in heaven (FYI, there totally
is).

Club 84 was GREAT! We all had an incredible time. Most of the music
was “Bongo flavor” – a special Tanzanian groove that I’ve fallen in
love with since coming here. Unlike dance clubs in the States, the
dance floor was mostly men, with only a few women in one corner. I
suppose it is not the best “scene” for Tanzanian women to be in, so
most men come with their other male friends and just have a ball.
They didn’t even care there weren’t women. And a few times I tried to
join some groups with my friends and they didn’t even seem to notice I
was a mzungu, or a woman! It was funny! And great because everyone was
simply there to enjoy good music and good friends. I approve
immensely :)

The weekend ended with our friend Rosie (the cook at the Jesuits’)
coming over Sunday afternoon and teaching us to cook kitimoto (pork).
I sometimes visit her during the school day when I have free time. We
talk Kiswahili, she cooks and I watch and learn, and we just laugh and
enjoy each other. I like her and the other cooks/cleaners a lot.
They are my best Kiswahili teachers. We had asked her to come and
show us how to cook pork because she is by far one of the best cooks
that I’ve met. It was fun and such a delicious meal. Hopefully I’ll
be a pro at cooking by the time I come home!