Scrubbing Shoes and Watching Football: Life as a Local (Saturday 6/13)

It’s starting to feel more and more like summer vacation the way I get to sleep in every morning (only 8:30am). Perhaps it’s old habits creeping back in (staying up late and sleeping in), but I know I’ll get my sleep schedule back in order. When I wake, I go and find Paul for a bucket shower. It’s been three days since I’ve taken a shower and at this point I’m desperate to find the kettle to make some warm water. 

I finally found out the reason why I haven’t been able to find the kettle as it’s been at the neighbors house the entire time (here in Tanzania it’s very common for all neighbors to share things with each other). He goes and grabs the kettle and gives it to me to make myself some warm water. To spoil myself and because I had all the time in the world (it’s the weekend after all), I boiled THREE kettles of hot water instead of two. The bucket bath was wonderful and I even shaved my peach fuzz, or cat whiskers as Eli likes to call them (maybe one day I’ll actually be able to grow facial hair). It was difficult to shave as there are no mirrors here so I had to use my phone camera so I’m sure I missed a few spots.

While taking my time to get ready, Paul was adamant that I hurried up for once. He’s usually very easy going and patient but for some reason today it was very clear I needed to hurry up. I finished getting ready quickly and went back to the office for work (made sure to not forget the very important router!). No one was there when I arrived so I just set up shop and waited. I got some work done, but needed input from Jonathan to move forward. It’s hard to know how to make or design anything out here when I don’t know VST well enough to make official decisions on the programs/projects I’m working on.

Eli and Michael eventually showed up just in time for tea time. We had the regular mandazi and hard boiled eggs to eat. What makes the egg absolutely wonderful is adding a pinch of salt. I think the reason why salt tastes so good out here is because I’m so used to our sodium heavy meals back home! Going back to work was kind of productive up until the electricity went out. The router has a battery so that means we can all still use the internet so I read up about computer chip architecture so at least I was learning!

Seeing as it was beautiful outside, Eli, Michael, and I went outside to play hacky sack. Coming out from the dark office made the transition to the midday sun so difficult; it felt like my eyes were being blinded for ten minutes! Henry was still in a bad mood and refused to join us. Since it was so bright it was hard to see the flying hacky sack, but we all adjusted quickly. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! The weather here reminds me of the mountains in Colorado but with a lot more humidity (although I really can’t feel the humidity here, maybe because it’s cool and not hot?). Midday temperatures sit in the mid to low 70s. When we were finished sacking we went back in and did some more of the same. We ended up not eating lunch until 4pm (sometimes we ate dinner back home at around this time)! A simple spread of rice, beans, and cabbage was served and Eli and I just talked about the interesting night I had last night. He thought it was absolutely hilarious and we had some great laughs.

Not wanting to stay holed up inside, we brought a table outside to play some more cards. Eli and I chose to play Cambio where I proceeded to lose both games. I’m still learning and getting a hang of the strategies of the game. Before I knew it, Paul was there to pick me up and take me back to the house to wash our shoes and do laundry. If you don’t remember, I was pretty hesitant to wash my shoes when he first asked and continued to ask. I never saw the point of cleaning a pair of shoes in a place where everywhere is dirt and immediately get them dirty. At least in the States concrete and asphalt don’t dirty shoes as quickly. 

All in all, it ended up being a very satisfying process and I got my shoes super clean! As Paul puts it, “your shoes are brand new!”. Paul taught me the steps: take out the laces in the shoe, put your shoe in a bucket, fill the bucket up with water, soap up a piece of coarse fabric, and get to scrubbing! Paul washed his own shoes as well before telling me to start on my laundry while he finishes my shoes. I thought this was unnecessary as I already got my shoes super clean. Boy was I wrong! He cleaned them so well he made the dull rubber sparkle. It’s clear he’s got some experience with this. 

When it came to doing my laundry I was a little bit faster than last time, but it still took me until sunset to finish. The whole time I was washing I admired the golden rays pouring onto the rainforest canopy. The scenery made the washing feel so much more enjoyable; however, the perfect scenery came to an end. Farista started burning all of her garbage! This is a completely normal thing to do out here since there are no other ways to dispose of your trash. The only thing that I didn't love was when the toxic smoke floated my way, though thankfully that only happened a few times. In the middle of washing a thundering POP came out of nowhere and I thought a gun went off (impossible as guns are strictly forbidden and outlawed here in Tanzania). Turns out it was just a closed plastic bottle! It scared all of us pretty good!

I ended up washing three shirts, two pairs of pants, and a bunch of underwear and socks. Honestly the most annoying things to wash are the socks and underwear. They obviously get the dirtiest the quickest so it’s important to wash them thoroughly. Whilst I was washing the neighbor, Peter, invited me over to watch a World Cup Game (soccer, Qatar vs. Switzerland). As a reminder, I’ve spoken with Peter before, he’s the one that wants to learn how to speak Spanish (I’ll see what I can teach him). I’ve never watched soccer before so I’m in for a treat. The game starts at 10pm, which is pretty late, but I didn’t want to turn down such a kind invitation. I should also mention that nobody here says soccer. If you do, they look at you with a confused look! It’s only called football and is arguably the most popular sport here.

After finishing my laundry, I organized and cleaned my room to make myself feel a little bit more at home! 

I heard footsteps outside my door and to my surprise it was Luka telling me it was time for dinner at the kitchen. It was rice, beans and chicken of course, what else would it be? I learned that cooked chicken meat in Swahili is “nyama ya kuku”. It was great and I sat by the fire (no other people from my group were there). When I got back I had a little bit of time before the game to blog. In the middle of it a long mosquito was flying around my room and managed to slap it out of the air. I smacked it so hard that it left an imprint on my hand! 

The time finally came for me to walk to Peter’s house! He lives two houses down from Paul. Peter has a nice TV and some couches like the ones you’d find back in the office. There were a total of 7 of us all watching the game, mostly school aged boys! Here I realized why I never watched soccer. Frankly, it’s kind of boring to watch. Since I don’t know what goes into the game or any of its nuances, it all looks the same. It’s 90+ minutes of not much happening. A close call will come every once and awhile and rarely a goal. The one thing I noticed that I preferred about watching a soccer game than a football game is that a soccer game has almost no ads. The clock does not stop for an ad break to happen! 

Throughout the game Peter talked to me and asked various questions about everything to be honest. Some were easier to answer than others, but all in all it was a great conversation. One of the questions was if I knew any African music artists. Since Paul has shown me a ton, I actually could answer this question! They thought it was hilarious when I tried to sing any of the songs I knew.

Towards the end of the game it was almost 12am and I started to fall asleep. The game had been 0-1 (Switzerland up) since the beginning. Thankfully when I woke to look at the screen, Qatar scored a header goal (ball was shot into the goal with the head). It was exciting but we all didn’t react that much as it was late and nobody really cared about these teams. For some reason Peter played the first half of the game in Swahili and then the second half in English. It still made no difference in understanding the game!

The game finished 1-1 which is allowed in the World cup as the rules are all different. I went back to Paul’s house and it was quiet for once. Paul has unfortunately come down with some sort of cold. This means that I’m making sure to stay up on keeping myself healthy! Before I knew it I was sound asleep!