Josh and Roma- Playing music at his house
Roma- Drumming (Pictures are blurry from dust in the air- from all the dancing)
Roma- Dancing and Playing Music
It's a dance Party at Roma's Home!
Two of Roma's ChildrenSeptember 23, 2008
We walked from Josh's village to a neighboring one the next day. We had also met up with two German boys in Josh's village who were there studying the Tanzanian education system who ate pizza with us and drank beer the night before, so they came along too. We walked about 13k to a village which had a volunteer named Jason, he left in July after three years of service, but I never met him. Josh and Jason were close friends since they were neighbors by PC standards, so Josh knows Jason's Tanzanian counterpart, Roma. (We are all supposed to have a Tanzanian counterpart to train and do workshops with. Mine will be Juster.) I want to be careful in explaining Roma- to fully do him justice, because I have never met anyone like him, and it is agreed upon by every PCV who meets him that there is just something special about this guy. Also he is a great example of a PC success story or making change on a small personal scale.
A man walks up to meet us hugs those of us he has met before- but shakes my hand- Roma. He is shorter than I am and thin- attractive, smiling face with a childlike exuberance that can only be taken as a love of people and life, not at all of nativity. Roma jokes that now because Jason is gone, he is the only Mzungu (foreigner) left in his village. This is funny because Roma speaks no English, however, he is very mzungu. Jason gave him almost everything he owned when he left, so Roma has American things all through his house- even a twister board as a curtain. He wears a ring on his finger that says "love" in English. He lives with his wife, Mama David, and his three young children. Roma is different- he plays with his children, is affectionate toward his wife, he cleans up after meals, he is kind to his dog, (which also used to be Jason's)- he says he learned all of these things from Americans and that they make his family happy. A true cross cultural exchange. Roma now rides Jason's bike and helmet (no Tanzanians wear helmets) to vaccinate livestock (a skill he learned from his PCV)- so like I said small scale, sustainable change to a life. I hope that I can have a relationship like this with a Tanzanian. There is no way to describe the way that Roma talks about Jason- besides pure love. Roma is so excited to be introduced to another group of volunteers.
Roma was super excited to have so many white guests- we pitched tents in his yard, which is a great way to stay with a Tanzanian because they don't have to worry about where the white person will sleep and yet you can still take part in all the daily activities. Roma belongs to a drumming/dance group that came over to his place to party with us- we ate dinner, they drummed and we all danced. It was a really beautiful evening with such a warm welcome for us. I was disappointed that I could take so little with Roma- despite the fact that he knows about PCVs, so he speaks slowly in condensed words. But he told me he was sorry that his English was "brokeny"- I told him that my Kiswahili was as well and we smiled at each other- the most basic language.
I wish you could meet Roma and this story would be better- but I must tell it just the same. I am not sure what started it, as I have the unfortunate habit of spacing out periodically when too much Kiswahili is being spoken. But somehow Roma gets on the subject of "Magenie"- which is genie, like we know it- but a very bad spirit. He starts talking about these magenies and encounters with them that he has had. The funniest part about it was he was telling these stories to Josh and I acting out a monologue with Josh translating for me. Josh is an atheist, who fully believes in scientific explanations for everything, so he doesn't buy into all these Tanzanian superstitions. So the funny part was as Roma was acting, he was making Josh translate the whole story to me despite the eye rolls and lack of excitment on his end. I think we all know that I love this ghost/spirit/superstitious stuff- so I was having a great time. It is all so fascinating from a cultural perspective- so I was eating it up, asking questions, responding, etc. Anyways, the story vaguely goes- Roma's wife had called him to come home for "loving time" (Seriously- this is the way he starts the story.) He is on his way home when he sees a genie-I ask how will I know when I see a genie. Answer: The look just like a regular person but they have no eyes, nose or teeth. They also smell really bad...Hmmm... Anyways, the genie chased him and he hide in a field- although, he admits, that it is stupid to hide from a genie as they can get in anywhere and then they just laugh at you for hiding. But this time he was able to escape.
Then he tells us more about genies, because he enjoys that I am so interested. They can rape and impregnate women. When one goes to the fields and leaves their children at home a genie can come and start playing with the children. But then eventually they will eat the child. Also, he has heard of them haunting houses- the solution is to throw a big party and invite the genies. Then when they come you burn the house down... extreme, I know. So Roma acts out all these stories totally straight-faced, thinking that it is crazy that Americans are not fearing the magenie. Josh has his head in his hands and is translating to me in a totally dull, doubtful voice- which is a great compliment to Roma and my excitement. I am attempting to keep from laughing so hard that I cry- and asking josh to question Roma about more things- "What about short genies- like gnomes, or something?" Answer: yes, his mother and grandmother saw them when they were working in the fields. I really wish I had the whole exchange on tape.
I am really happy to have a friend in Roma. Someone who is a genuinely good person and excited about life. Since meeting him I have worked harder than ever at Kiswahili- this way I will have my own really good Magenie story next time we meet.
We walked from Josh's village to a neighboring one the next day. We had also met up with two German boys in Josh's village who were there studying the Tanzanian education system who ate pizza with us and drank beer the night before, so they came along too. We walked about 13k to a village which had a volunteer named Jason, he left in July after three years of service, but I never met him. Josh and Jason were close friends since they were neighbors by PC standards, so Josh knows Jason's Tanzanian counterpart, Roma. (We are all supposed to have a Tanzanian counterpart to train and do workshops with. Mine will be Juster.) I want to be careful in explaining Roma- to fully do him justice, because I have never met anyone like him, and it is agreed upon by every PCV who meets him that there is just something special about this guy. Also he is a great example of a PC success story or making change on a small personal scale.
A man walks up to meet us hugs those of us he has met before- but shakes my hand- Roma. He is shorter than I am and thin- attractive, smiling face with a childlike exuberance that can only be taken as a love of people and life, not at all of nativity. Roma jokes that now because Jason is gone, he is the only Mzungu (foreigner) left in his village. This is funny because Roma speaks no English, however, he is very mzungu. Jason gave him almost everything he owned when he left, so Roma has American things all through his house- even a twister board as a curtain. He wears a ring on his finger that says "love" in English. He lives with his wife, Mama David, and his three young children. Roma is different- he plays with his children, is affectionate toward his wife, he cleans up after meals, he is kind to his dog, (which also used to be Jason's)- he says he learned all of these things from Americans and that they make his family happy. A true cross cultural exchange. Roma now rides Jason's bike and helmet (no Tanzanians wear helmets) to vaccinate livestock (a skill he learned from his PCV)- so like I said small scale, sustainable change to a life. I hope that I can have a relationship like this with a Tanzanian. There is no way to describe the way that Roma talks about Jason- besides pure love. Roma is so excited to be introduced to another group of volunteers.
Roma was super excited to have so many white guests- we pitched tents in his yard, which is a great way to stay with a Tanzanian because they don't have to worry about where the white person will sleep and yet you can still take part in all the daily activities. Roma belongs to a drumming/dance group that came over to his place to party with us- we ate dinner, they drummed and we all danced. It was a really beautiful evening with such a warm welcome for us. I was disappointed that I could take so little with Roma- despite the fact that he knows about PCVs, so he speaks slowly in condensed words. But he told me he was sorry that his English was "brokeny"- I told him that my Kiswahili was as well and we smiled at each other- the most basic language.
I wish you could meet Roma and this story would be better- but I must tell it just the same. I am not sure what started it, as I have the unfortunate habit of spacing out periodically when too much Kiswahili is being spoken. But somehow Roma gets on the subject of "Magenie"- which is genie, like we know it- but a very bad spirit. He starts talking about these magenies and encounters with them that he has had. The funniest part about it was he was telling these stories to Josh and I acting out a monologue with Josh translating for me. Josh is an atheist, who fully believes in scientific explanations for everything, so he doesn't buy into all these Tanzanian superstitions. So the funny part was as Roma was acting, he was making Josh translate the whole story to me despite the eye rolls and lack of excitment on his end. I think we all know that I love this ghost/spirit/superstitious stuff- so I was having a great time. It is all so fascinating from a cultural perspective- so I was eating it up, asking questions, responding, etc. Anyways, the story vaguely goes- Roma's wife had called him to come home for "loving time" (Seriously- this is the way he starts the story.) He is on his way home when he sees a genie-I ask how will I know when I see a genie. Answer: The look just like a regular person but they have no eyes, nose or teeth. They also smell really bad...Hmmm... Anyways, the genie chased him and he hide in a field- although, he admits, that it is stupid to hide from a genie as they can get in anywhere and then they just laugh at you for hiding. But this time he was able to escape.
Then he tells us more about genies, because he enjoys that I am so interested. They can rape and impregnate women. When one goes to the fields and leaves their children at home a genie can come and start playing with the children. But then eventually they will eat the child. Also, he has heard of them haunting houses- the solution is to throw a big party and invite the genies. Then when they come you burn the house down... extreme, I know. So Roma acts out all these stories totally straight-faced, thinking that it is crazy that Americans are not fearing the magenie. Josh has his head in his hands and is translating to me in a totally dull, doubtful voice- which is a great compliment to Roma and my excitement. I am attempting to keep from laughing so hard that I cry- and asking josh to question Roma about more things- "What about short genies- like gnomes, or something?" Answer: yes, his mother and grandmother saw them when they were working in the fields. I really wish I had the whole exchange on tape.
I am really happy to have a friend in Roma. Someone who is a genuinely good person and excited about life. Since meeting him I have worked harder than ever at Kiswahili- this way I will have my own really good Magenie story next time we meet.
No comments:
Post a Comment