Jacque, the engine...start the engine!

Remember that scene from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indie has just escaped the temple in South America, he is running over the hill yelling at his friend to start the plane. All of a sudden the camera pans out a little and we see that he is hauling ass because he is being chased by the locals with spears and blow darts? That was me this morning.

Of course I was not running for my life, but I was chased – by village children. On this particular Sunday I was feeling pretty active so I decided to go for a run. I spiced up my regular routine by running in the opposite direction to a neighboring village, but I forgot one key thing.

In the eyes of most people here I am something they do not see everyday, thus I am stared at where ever I go. I sometimes forget I am a novelty, so I fooled myself into thinking I will just have a nice relaxing run. Unfortunately that will never happen here. The kids were waiting for me to come back and I tired to outsmart them by taking a back path, but they got the jump on me. As I picked up my pace all I could hear, giggles, screaming, yelling and laughter over my techno running mix blaring through my headphones.

Unwanted attention is strange. At first you feel like a celebrity. You think to yourself, wow...so this is what fame feels like. After a while the novelty wears off for you and you begin to realize why we constantly see celebrities flipping off the paparazzi (I do no envy them). Admittedly, now, I have no patience for it. I will deliberately avoid situations if I am not feeling up to dealing with the extra attention. Foolishly I believed that after a little while the people around the area I live would get used to my presence and see me as one of them. In someways, this has happened. I have friends in the village, most of the people in the immediate neighborhood know my name and what I do and I am rarely asked for money. On the other hand I feel far from integrated outside my village. I go to town and am still treated like a tourist. I run to a neighboring village, am mistaken for a deity, placed on a thrown, fed apples and Diet Coke and fanned with palm leaves. I walk on the street and am still called things like, Baby, Sister, White Girl, Dada, Hey You, Whitie, Mzungu, etc. I try to buy something at the market or a store and the price is immediately marked up 5,000 shillings. If I do not pay exact change on the public bus I have to remember to ask for my change back. It is the small things like this that make me still feel and remind me that I am an outsider. Anyway... this is something I have been struggling with lately and something I cannot change. It is part of this whole experience.

Yesterday another interesting thing happen on my way to Tukuyu. I jumped on a coaster around 11am. I was pretty hungry and so I bought a piece of grilled corn out of the window at one of the bus stands. Venders set up little grilles, shuck corn, grill it and sell it on sticks to people passing on buses and in cars. It is 200/= and it is a really good snack. Occasionally you get a piece of what I would consider “cow corn” and you sit on the bus chewing very methodically, like a ruminant, and after a while you cannot feel your jaw. As with any food item here, it is customary and culturally appropriate to offer it to others. So, you split the piece of corn in half and offer it to the person sitting next to you or behind you. Sometimes I am really hungry, pull the “I'm white card” and keep it all to myself. Yesterday I was feeling particularly generous and offered it to the older woman, “bibi”, next to me. She unexpectedly declined and when I asked her if she was sure, she opened her mouth, pointed to her infant like gums and said, “Sina Meno” or “I don't have teeth”. Hmm. That would pose a problem/ how do you repond to that? Pole (sorry) is what I said, as I tried not to laugh or look too surprised. I guess I would label that experience as “something that would never happen in America”. Never a dull moment here...

Well that's all I have for today. Just thought I would share those two interesting/ funny experiences. Hope you are all having a great Sunday and enjoying the first days of March!

All my love from TZ.