Making Friends

Making friends here is a very different process than in the States. Sometimes it is actually very entertaining. It is not culturally inappropriate to approach someone you do not know and begin a conversation. So I have met many of my new friends by simply sitting down next to someone and introducing myself.

A few weeks ago, however, I was the one who was approached. I had tried to visit a couple of my friends on campus, but they were not in their rooms. So I decided to sit and read until my next meeting. I picked a nice shade tree to sit under near the chapel. Not too long after I sat down, I met my new friend. She just walked right up and started talking. We did our best to communicate in Swahili because she could not speak English. It was a wonderful way for me to practice all the things I had learned. She was a very patient teacher as well. Her name is Rachel.

Did I mention that Rachel is only 5 years old?

I learned a lot about Rachel during our time by the chapel. We talked about her family and her school. We talked about what she likes to do. She even drew a picture for me. I asked her if I could take a picture of her with my camera. She became very intrigued with my camera. So I taught her how to push the button to take a picture. She quickly got the hang of it and proceeded to take a picture of nearly everything. She would take pictures of rocks, leaves, trees, cars…. It didn’t matter what the object was. She just enjoyed being able to push the button and then see the image on the back of the camera. She took pictures of my purse, my skirt, her dress. She even took pictures of people as they walked by. Five year olds can get by with a lot more than adults can.

While we sat and talked, we got a lot of funny stares. They always stare at me because of my white skin. But they were even more intrigued that I was playing with a Tanzanian child.

After we had played together for a while, Rachel looked at me and said, “Twende nyumbani kwangu.” Hmmm…. My Swahili brain started to turn as I tried to translate the sentence. Eventually, I realized that she was saying “Let’s go to my house.” Another cultural difference, inviting people to your home is very common and turning them down is very rude. But I wasn’t sure if it would be okay for me to show up at a house with a 5 year old and try to explain to her parents how we met. I did not know if they would accept me. I did not know if they would speak English. I did not know what would happen. I did not even know where they lived. But I knew I couldn’t turn down the offer by my new sweet friend.

So we headed off towards her house. Luckily, it was just down the road from the chapel. When we arrived at her driveway, I thought maybe I would just try and say goodbye to her there and avoid having to go in the house and meet the parents. It was obvious that that wasn’t going to work. (Remember all of this is happening with my limited knowledge of Swahili). So I entered her house praying that the Lord would bring me into a home with kind parents. We sat down in the living room and I met her 12 year old sister Tumaini. Another cultural thing, if you own a TV, you always have it on. Especially when you have guests. So we sat and watched music videos on the TV. After a few music videos, I was introduced to Matilda, a 19 year old girl cousin (You can see a picture Rachel took of her in the kitchen). The parents, however, were not home yet.

The time was approaching for my next appointment, so I told them that I must go. They all asked me to come back again tomorrow. So the next day I returned for another home visit. When I arrived, Matilda invited me to the table to eat with her and her sister. It was my first time to eat in a home. I was given fish, spinach, ugali, and an orange. Ugali is difficult to describe but it is a very mushy type of bread without any flavor. They use it as their eating utensil. They tear a piece off, press their thumb in it to create a spoon, and scoop up the food. A little while later, I was also given a scrambled egg. It was another very interesting dining experience, but praise the Lord that I was able to eat it all.

After lunch, we sat together and looked through pictures. My little friend Rachel was napping so I didn’t get to play with her again. And the parents were not home again, but they told me that they told their parents all about me. I wonder what they thought about their 5 year old daughter having a 22 year old mzungu friend (white friend). Maybe on my next visit I will be able to meet them.

Making friends is always fun in Tanzania!