Tanzania is Your Country

We had the Amani picnic on May 26^th, we went with the entire kids and staff to a nearby Lake. We had sack races, tug of war, eating contest, etc. It was a good, tiring day. It’s really strange at Amani now, we only have 26 kids! A lot of the staff members are on vacation as well, it’s so quiet. It’s break so a lot of the kids are back with their family for a couple of weeks. This week we’re making jingles out of soda caps, a bit challenging since most of them can’t tie knots, but there’s so few of them I can just take four or five at a time.

This is one of the new kids, really annoying, and annoyingly cute.

I’m going to a wedding this Saturday! Really excited, I’ve heard they’re completely different than western weddings. I always see wedding parties in the roundabout near where I live, I have no idea why they go there. They dance and take pictures and videos, then get in a car decorated with ribbons and drive through town, followed by a band playing from the back of a pick-up truck. I hear the wedding bands every weekend from where I live, and pretty often during the week as well.

I start traveling on Monday, I’m going to Victoria Falls and will be traveling for two weeks. I head to Dar es Salaam on Monday, an eight hour bus ride. I’ll stay there one night then catch the TAZARA train. It’s a two day train all the way through Tanzania and Zambia. I’m traveling with three friends, so we were able to book all four beds so we have a room to ourselves. First class has four beds and a table, and food delivered if you like. I’ve never been on a train for two days at a time before, not sure how it will be. The train goes to Kapiri Mposhi, where we catch a two hour bus to Lusaka, then a six hour bus to Livingstone. At Vic falls I’m hoping to white water raft, river board, zipline, and fly over the falls in a microlight. I don’t think I’m brave enough to bungee jump or gorge swing, but we’ll see. I’ll cross the border into Zimbabwe as well, probably just for a day. I really won’t have much time there, it takes so freakin long to get there and back and I only have two weeks. And the train only leaves twice a week, so I have to catch it back on Tuesday. Only the weekend at the falls really, and hopefully, if the train isn’t delayed, I’ll be back in Moshi on Friday.

Then I only have one week left in Moshi! Really, really sad about it. I love Moshi, and the kids, and my friends here. Walking around town today (souvenir shopping for family) I kept running into people I know, literally every ten minutes or so, I love it! The kids know I’m leaving soon, I’m definitely going to cry when I say goodbye to them, and I think some of them will as well.

Michael: When do you leave?

Me: July

Michael: No no no, August.

Bakari: No no no, October.

Michael: No no no, December. America is not your country, Tanzania is your country.

The iPod Saga

I came here with an old 80gb iPod, lost that one on a daladala, I don't think it was stolen, I think I just missed my bag when I went to put it away. So, my family mailed me an old 4gb that was lying around. Not the greatest, the screen light was broken, but it worked, and that's all I need. So then that one was stolen right out of my bedroom at the hostel. I've just received iPod #3 in a package from home. Now to a 2gb shuffle. It is kind of annoying that you can't choose what to listen to, but it is forcing me to listen to something other than Bongo Flava (Tanzanian pop) and Ray Lamontagne, so I'm actually liking it. I changed my schedule at Amani so that I teach Tues/Weds/Thurs (Monday is meeting day) and now on Friday I have designated time to listen to music with the kids. They were so happy to have an iPod back, more were dancing last Friday than I've ever seen. There are some crazy dancers at Amani, it's always hilarious.

Next week I'm taking a couple kids on a field trip into town! They're being rewarded for specific things in music club like recorder, dancing, and reading rhythm. We're going to a local church where they'll be able to try out an electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drum set. Then I think we're going to a park in town to have lunch and play on the playground, I'm thinking of getting ice cream as well. So this is where some of the donation money is going to (the rest went to buying instruments).

We had some kids return to Amani this week! Michael, who was here for two weeks about a month ago then ran away. He's very smart and speaks a bit of English. I hope he stays because he's friends with a little guy at Amani who has HIV, who gets teased and beat up a lot. He told me last Monday that he wants to run away because the other kids hit him, but then his friend Michael came back so hopefully that helps him. He's become very clingy towards me and is always by my side when he's not in class. His new medicine has had some side effects lately and he's been sick and feverish, sad to see.

This is Michael on a study tour in Arusha, before he ran away.

Next Saturday is the Amani picnic! We're all going to a lake near Arusha. I was put on the committee to plan the day, so that part is a bit stressful. It also happens that we're having a big party at the Hostel the night before, really bad timing. I'm just hoping to get through the picnic, with the help of red bull, and lots of water.

This weekend I went to Lake Chala, I've been there many times but this was the first time I used public transportation to get there...it was interesting, to say the least. The way there wasn't bad, I got in a minivan at the bus stand, packed full, non-stop to where I needed to go, which was an intersection about 15km from Chala. There I was supposed to meet my friend Tulo. I tried to call him but my phone for some reason wouldn't call and wouldn't allow me to answer calls. Eventually I was able to answer, but I was waiting there for a little bit. And it was super awkward. I was probably the only white person around for miles. I went to stand in the shade, someone brought me a stool over. So I'm sat there, and about 10ft away, too afraid to come any closer, were at least 20 kids, staring and giggling. One of them knew a little English and kept asking me for money. There was also a drunk guy, who was either mad at me or attempting to keep watch over me, I'm not really sure. Every single other person was staring at me from afar. Every once in awhile someone would come over and ask if I needed a ride, I at least know enough Swahili to say that my friend is coming. The way back to Moshi was even more interesting. I couldn't get a ride from Tulo this time, so we called a bodaboda (motorcycle taxi), who took a "short cut" on a foot path through a forest of thorn trees. They're not bushes here, they're trees. So that was terrifying, the whole time spent trying to see around his head so I knew when to dodge the thorns, did not like that at all. It was insane, I felt like I was in a movie. Once we got through the trees though we were on a wider path (a car with 4 wheel drive could take) going through fields, it's a very beautiful area of hills, and there were whole fields of sunflowers in bloom. Next was a really bad dirt road with everyone we drove past staring at me and/or yelling. This all took at least a half hour, until we got to the junction and the bus was right there, no wait at all. Unfortunately the bus was also packed, so I had to stand up for most of the ride, at least a half an hour. And by stand up I mean leaning awkwardly over a person in the seat beside me, standing more diagonally than perpendicular, leaning on a chair and holding on to the luggage rack, hoping not to fall on the child beside me. They pack more people in one bus than would ever be legal back home, and more than I would have thought physically possible, it's actually quite impressive. But I did get back just fine, with a couple scratches on my legs to show for it, but with enough daylight to walk back to the hostel, where a delicious dinner of makande (maize and beans) awaited me.

Hospital!

So now that I’m better I figure it’s OK to tell everyone what’s been going on recently. Starting Monday April 30^th I had a headache, body ache, and extreme fatigue. It lasted all week, the headache being the worst, and I missed a lot of work. If I wasn’t better by the following Monday I was going to the hospital.

Then, Saturday morning I woke up and thought I had a bruise on my right shin, but it was just a small red patch that felt like a bruise. It got a bit bigger throughout the day.

Sunday morning I woke up and it was huge, read and swollen, it looked like I had a second kneecap halfway down my shin. There were more red spots on my legs but at this point I couldn’t tell if they were just bug bites or not. They got worse very quickly and it soon became clear that there was something very wrong.

Everyone was going out for lunch but it hurt to walk so I took a bodaboda and met them there. By the end of lunch it was much worse. The spots were all over my legs and extremely painful. I could barely walk, when I stood up it was unbearably painful, but if I could get by that first step it was OK. I decided I’d see a doctor first thing in the morning. I couldn’t sleep that night because of the pain, so I got up to get a glass of water so I could take melatonin to help me sleep. Trying to stand up was horrendous. Next to the pain I felt when I woke up in the middle of surgery, this was the worst pain I’ve felt in my life. I tried to walk through it but I couldn’t balance on my right foot long enough to get my sandals on. Eventually I did, got my water, and got back to bed. Through the night I could feel that they were a little better, I could move around a bit more.

When I woke up on Monday my legs looked a lot better, and I wasn’t even sure if I needed a doctor. That is until I moved; the pain was still there, not nearly as bad though. The swelling seemed to go up the instant I started walking. I could walk much easier than the previous night, but I could not stand still without a lot of pain. The manager of the hostel took me to a local clinic, complete with a couple drops of blood on the floor in the waiting room. I’m not sure how long we were there, maybe 9am to at least 1pm. First I had to check in. sit and wait. get  weighed. sit and wait. see the doctor, place the order for blood work. sit and wait. have blood taken. sit and wait. see the doctor again. sit and wait. Then finally got my medicine and an injection.

First off they confused the two white people there and almost labled my blood as hers. You know, we all look the same. Then when they went to take blood they dropped the needle on the muddy floor. And still used it. Then they couldn’t find a good vein so they tied a rubber glove around my wrist and drew blood from the back of my hand. The first time I saw the doctor she was dumbfounded, didn’t seem to have a clue what was wrong with me.  I didn’t really get many details after she got the blood work, but pretty much everything in my blood was way too high, white blood cell count etc. The doctor said it’s cellulitis and the infection has spread to my blood. My guess is bacteria got under my skin from one of my very many mosquito bites, or I got it from a bug bite of some sort. The pain and swelling is localized to my legs so that’s a good sign, mostly my shins but it seems to be spreading. She gave me tablets to take for 10 days, cream to apply, and an injection.  I would have to come back the next two days for a check-up and more injections.

Tuesday I went back for a check-up and second injection. My legs felt a lot better in the morning so I just met with the doctor briefly, she said she’d do blood work tomorrow to see if there was any improvement. Then had the second injection. Then of course throughout the day they got worse and went right back to how they felt the day before, no improvement whatsoever.

So Wednesday I went back, the doctor saw me for all of two seconds, I didn’t even sit down and her office was filled with other people. I told her how they’d gotten worse the day before, and that it seemed to be spreading up one of my legs, and possibly on an arm (they look like mosquito bites in the beginning so you can’t tell). She told me to get my injection then come back later to see the dermatologist. She said in Swahili speaking to someone else that the dermatologist would be here “saa tisa” which would mean 3pm, but then she told me in English 2pm…so I waited around 5 hours and when I went back the doctor wasn’t there, turns out he/she comes every other week. They told me to see if the medicine works and come back next Wednesday. Awesome, so what do I do in the meantime? It looks like I’ve been hit in the legs over and over again by someone with a hockey stick.

By Thursday/Friday things were much better. I had been given some Azithromisen to take for three days, but a doctor friend of mine told me to take it longer. Here in Tanzania you just go to the “pharmacy” and say hey I need some antibiotics, OK, here you go. No prescription, no questions asked, so I got three more.

All that's left now, about a week later, is some reddish purple spots. I'm still taking antibiotics and using a cream, but pretty much back to normal!

This is Wednesday, but the picture doesn't do it justice at all.

Moshi

So I’ve decided to compile a list of strange things that I've seen here in Moshi...I'm not even surprised when I see things like this anymore.

• The usual daladala, which is a public bus about the size of a VW microbus, but crammed with at least 40 people. A friend of mine was on one once with a random little boy on her lap, and the boy had a bag in his lap. Then she noticed the bag was moving. It was a live chicken.

• A pikipiki (motorcycle) with at least 20 of those big 5 gallon buckets strapped to the back, like a bunch of balloons. 

• Pick-up trucks full of men with guns.

• Big cargo trucks packed with 100 people standing in the back.

• Two pikipikis, each with a wooden crate strapped to the back, with live pigs in them.

• Cows standing up in the bed of an old pick-up.

• A goat skull on the ground on the way to work.

• A cargo truck full of home goods, with a man strapped to the back. Just hanging there off the back, tied on with a rope, completely at ease.

• Walking down the street and having some guy ask me if I wanted the live bird he was holding in his hand, “just as a gift” (pronounced jift).

• A friend of mine saw a wheel barrow full of half-alive chickens.

• Women walking around with one shoe balanced on their head.

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And here's some more Swahili for your thoughts...

Kesho kutwa   -   Day after tomorrow.

bafu   -   bathroom

tabasamu   -   smile

maharage   -   beans

wali   -   rice

Hii ni nini?   -   What is this? (literally speaking "here is what?")

dakika   -   minute

ahidi   -   to promise

kwapua   -   to steal

tayari?   -   ready?

10 More Weeks

I had April 6^th and 9^th off of work, so I went to the coast for the weekend. All of Friday was spent traveling, luckily I got a ride so I didn’t have to pay for a bus. We stopped in Tanga for a couple hours and continued on to Pangani. I got to swim in the Indian Ocean for the first time! Coming from New England, naturally warm water felt really strange! Pangani is a very isolated little town, there’s not much there at all. I forgot sun block and there isn’t any in Pangani. I am still peeling. We went for a walk on the beach in the morning, then went “swimming” but it was low tide so not really. Then we wandered around town, had some fish for lunch, sat on the wall by the river and watched ships go by while eating fresh oranges. Back at the hotel we ran into some friends from the hostel, I had no idea they were coming to Pangani and they had no idea I was at that hotel! It was pretty funny, we went swimming with them, this time high tide so it was much more fun! And we all had dinner together.

The next morning we were going to visit some other hostel friends, who were staying at a resort across the river and about 15kms away, but found out that they were snorkeling and wouldn’t even be there, so we decided last minute to go to Tanga. In Tanga we stayed on the fourth floor of a hotel, and I realized that I hadn’t been in any building that even had a fourth floor for three months! It was strange being up that high in a building. We had a balcony with a view of the harbor. Tanga town is really strange, it looks like it’s completely abandoned. There are people of course, but there aren’t many jobs. Nothing is maintained there, which is ironic when you see people out in the harbor on their jet ski. We rode a bajaji (google it) to the Amboni caves, which were really cool. Then we went swimming in the harbor. It was Easter and when I got a call from my family I got really homesick, so that kind of put a damper on things. I blame my niece’s adorableness! It’s funny how you can be in a tropical paradise and still be homesick, just goes to show how much family means. Monday again was spent entirely in traveling.

The next week was hard at Amani. Since we had Monday off we had meetings on Tuesday. Thursday was International Street Children’s Day so there was no class, and Friday we had a goodbye ceremony for some volunteers who were leaving, so I had to try to squeeze music club into one day. It did not work. Having all of the starters at one time is insanity, and I ended up not seeing class A or B at all.

International Street Children’s Day (April 12^th) was interesting. We had a ceremony in Moshi with another centre for street children called Mkombozi. Our kids did an acrobatics show and a jump rope show, and the other centre put on some dramas. We also had DJs and the kids had a dance off. It attracted a lot of public attention. Unfortunately it attracted the parents of one of our kids. I was sitting right next to him and this guy that seemed mentally instable came over and started talking, I didn’t realize until later that it was his father. He was crying for a long time, and I kind of forced him to hold my hand, but after awhile he was squeezing my hand and we kind of silently communicated that it was OK. It was really hard seeing a little boy so terrified of his own father, I was nearly in tears as well. I think me being there with him really created a bond. But today at Amani I noticed he wasn’t around, I asked the kids and they told me he’s been reunified. This really worries me. I know the social workers are amazing at what they do, and I don’t know any of this child’s details, but I can’t help but be worried. I saw how afraid he was, and I saw that his father was not entirely there mentally. Maybe he’s been reunified with other family members, or maybe he was just afraid to go home because he’d get in trouble for running away. I don’t know, but I need to find out, for my own sanity.

We also had three of the new kids run away this past weekend, they’d only been with us for two weeks but I was really attached to them already. I nearly cried at Amani on Monday when I found out. They’re such little guys, and they’re so smart and could go so far. I hope they come back. I did notice them talking to some of the Mkombozi kids on Thursday, so I mentioned that to the head of the social work department and he said he would start looking for them there. They usually start by contacting the family, then searching Arusha (a nearby city), then any other street child centres (and now they’ve started searching in Moshi as well). As much as I want to see their adorable faces every day, I’d rather they were at Mkombozi with their friends than out begging on the streets.

These are two of the boys that ran away (the third is in the background).

Music club was great yesterday! I decided to end class about ten minutes early, and to keep one child who seemed to be excelling. So I got to give Mwinyi private instruction, and he learned hot cross buns on the recorder! He’s the first one at Amani to get the whole song! It may not seem like a huge deal, and you can’t really understand how huge it is unless you’ve tried to teach these kids. One Amani kid in your class is like four “regular” kids. They’re a handful! Some are very far behind where they should be, and some are very smart but have lots of behavioral problems. It’s hard to describe unless you’ve experienced it, but hot cross buns really is a big deal! I called one of the teachers into the classroom so that Mwinyi could show off his new talent, and then I had Mwinyi teaching the teacher! It was really funny, and really made him feel proud.

Music club today was awful. It was starters day, and of course if you’ve read any previous blogs you’ll know how hard starters are. Two kids that are normally wonderfully behaved got in a fight today. Not just a little fist fight, these are street kids, they’re tough, a proper brawl. Luckily one of the other kids ran outside and got another teacher and some older kids helped me to break up the fight. I lost a lot of my class during that craziness. I didn’t keep the remainder that long, they just don’t listen, and with recorder that equals a major headache. I kept two of the kids who seemed more able and enthusiastic than the others, and we had a fun time playing B-A-G over and over again. I was not in the greatest mood after that failure of a class, and to add to that I haven’t been feeling well again. But seeing little Amani’s face when he successfully played all of the notes made everything worth it, he was SO proud! And one of the new girls was very good at it, she has a lot of behavioral issues so it’s nice to give her some individual attention and to see her excel.

I only have ten weeks left! It’s crazy, I know it’s quite a long time, but it seems like nothing. Of course I’m looking forward to going home and seeing my family, not having to worry about having power or water, having consistent hot showers, going down the Cape, and hiking in the White Mountains. But at the same time I am absolutely dreading leaving. It’s going to be awful. I love this place, I love the friends I’ve made, and I love the kids. It’s going to be really, really, really hard. But knowing that, I’m trying to enjoy every day. At first I wasn’t sure if it was OK to go around hugging the kids, but now I hug every one that will let me, every chance I get.

Kweli

I guess I’ve settled into a routine here in Moshi Town, not much to blog about in the past couple of weeks.  Last weekend was great though, I was at a friend’s house on Saturday and he has really cute little neighbors, three girls. A lot of babies here are afraid of white people, so at first when he tried to hand me the baby she cried. But eventually I worked my way into her trust and had her on my lap and her older sister beside me nearly all day. At one point I handed her off to a friend and she peed on his lap (no diapers), which I thought was pretty great timing. Then later I was sitting there alone (I think the guys had gone to get soda or something) and the neighbor came in and without saying a word put the baby on my lap and left. Later we brought the kids with us down the road to walk a friend to his car so I had a baby on one hip and was holding hands with the older one. Then my friend tried to take the baby to say bye and she clung on to me and wouldn’t go to him. The Amani kids are older so it’s nice to get some quality cuddle time in with little ones.

Sunday I visited one of my coworkers at his house, got a proper tour, saw his mama’s compound, where he was born and everything. A lot of workers at Amani live nearby each other, pretty close to Amani actually. We went to the local pub (for lack of a better word, not really a pub, hard to describe) and had pork that he had slaughtered that morning. I had been invited to the slaughtering but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to watch that, and I didn’t really want to get up that early. The pork was really good, different than anything at home; we also had roasted bananas. I was stared at the entire time because there are rarely, if ever, white people at that place. And everyone was saying to my coworker that he must have lots of money, just because he knows a white person. Later I tried mbege for the first time, which is Chaga (a local tribe) banana beer. A lot of my friends had tried mbege and warned me how gross it is, it kind of looks like vomit, you nearly have to chew it. But it wasn’t that bad; you drink out of a bucket and pass it around sharing with everyone. While we had mbege we played cards with a bunch of his friends, well, they played, I was mostly confused. I still have no idea how to play that game. They were all really impressed with how I shuffled cards though; it was hilarious! Just the regular way most Americans do it. They kept asking me to show them over and over, and over and over and over again. Later we walked down to the riverside, there were a bunch of naked boys swimming there who at first freaked out a little because a mzungu was there, but quickly grew comfortable enough to see who could splash me the most. I wasn’t really comfortable swimming though; I wasn’t about to strip down with everyone staring at me like a zoo exhibit.

The discrimination here is quite strange. First off everyone thinks you’re rich, and comparatively speaking, you are. If only they knew how much I owe in student loans! Also, most people think you’re kind of an idiot; you’re not taken seriously. Mzungu means someone who wanders around with no purpose. It’s discriminatory and an insult. I figure it’s OK for kids to say it, but I ignore adults who do so.  Today I actually had someone yell “Hey white!” to me, seriously. You’re also charged higher prices for everything, mzungu price. Even at formal institutions like museums you’re charged mzungu price. When you walk around you’re kind of like a celebrity, which I guess can be entertaining but for the most part is annoying. The more Swahili I know though the more accepted I feel.

I did walk to Amani  a lot last week, it takes about an hour. There is a daladala but I need the exercise. It’s funny talking to new people here and realizing the things that have become normal to me. Goat skull on the walk to work, eh, normal. Guy on a pikipiki (motorcycle) with at least twenty 5 gallon buckets strapped to the back of it, like a bunch of balloons, eh, see that every day. Forty people shoved into a daladala (the size of a VW microbus), fifteen people in the back of a pick-up truck, cows standing in the back of a pick-up truck, live pigs in a box on the back of a pikipiki, normal.

We’ve gotten a lot of new kids at Amani in the past week. There is one in particular who is in really bad shape. He just looks awful, sickly, the worst I’ve seen yet, and he’s tested positive for HIV. I nearly cry just looking at him, but then he flashes me the cutest smile (his teeth are way too big for his little mouth) and I can’t help but smile back. I really hope to see him grow healthy and strong with the help of Amani. It’s hard seeing a little boy with HIV and knowing that he is going to have a short life. Hopefully he stays at Amani so he can receive the proper treatment and medication, but there’s only so much that can be done.

When diagnosed with HIV patients aren’t immediately put on medication, only when their T cell count gets below a certain point are they put on medication. Then, the virus is constantly mutating and becoming immune to the medicine, so they have to change to a new medicine. There are only so many medications, so once the course is finished, that’s it. HIV doesn’t kill people, but patients have practically no immune system, and can die from very common things that most peoples’ bodies would just fight off.

At first I see these kids and I'm sad that they've had to go through such awful things, then I think, they didn't have to, some human being did this to them. And that just makes me furious! The things people can do are just awful and shocking. We all know it happens, but to see the results of it every day is different. I have a new buddy at Amani, he's almost always with me (when not in class) and is always writing me love notes. He has the sweetest, saddest eyes. He has a big scar on his arm where his father cut him, nearly took his arm off. And scars all over from where his father burnt him and electrocuted him. What makes it even sadder is that he is still homesick, but it will never be safe for him to go home. He will grow up at Amani.

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On a lighter note, here’s some more Swahili for your thoughts:

Kweli - truth/true/really

Kicha – crazy

Ng’ombe – cow (like the ng in ‘singing’)

Kitimoto – pork (literally “hot chair”, because Muslims aren’t supposed to eat it, so they sneak it real fast, like the chair is hot :P )

Pikipiki – motorcycle

Bodaboda – motorcycle taxi

Daladala – public bus (like a VW microbus)

A lot of words are also like English, with a Boston accent:

Bia – beer

Numba – number

Pepa – paper

Penseli – pencil

Baiskel - bicycle

Gauni-dress (gown)

The months are practically English as well: Januari, Februari, Machi, Aprili, Mei, Juni, Julai, Agost, Septemba, Oktoba, Novemba, Desemba

We made shakers in music club this week! The kids (and staff) thought it was ridiculous to put rice in toilet paper rolls, "Hapana mwalimu, chakula!" (No teacher, food!). I think most kids broke them open and ate the raw rice after class, it was hard enough keeping them from eating it during class.

You should probably sniff it first.

The 10^th annual Kilimanjaro marathon was last Sunday! Myself and some other girls from the hostel did the 5k fun run. I did a lot of walking, but actually more running than I expected. It was actually a lot of fun. I’m pretty sure a Kenyan won the marathon; also I found it really funny when they announced the first white person to finish.

It was nice going back to Amani on Monday, I missed the kids after only a week! Wednesday was a hard day. The starters class is always a challenge (starters are kids who have just arrived off the streets and still need to be assessed to see which class they should join, and kids who are too far behind to join a normal class). My lesson was just completely over their heads. Thursday was great though! I changed things around and it worked out well. A singing warm-up (syllables ex b p m ss) spontaneously turned into a beat boxing lesson, it was hilarious! Then we learned row row row your boat. It’s hard to tell what will work for these kids, that song would not go over well at all with middle school kids at home. But it is completely new to these kids, and in English, so they all loved it. At the end I said “OK, who thinks they can sing it all by themselves?” and nearly all of them came up to the front of the class and sang it one at a time, very proud of themselves. At one point I had one kid beat boxing while the others sang row row row your boat, that was so funny!

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I started Swahili lessons Friday! So here is some more Swahili for your thoughts:
Jina lako nani?   -   What is your name?
Jina langu ______.   -   My name is ______.

Unatoka wapi?  -   Where do you come from?
Ninatoka Marekani.   -   I come from America.

Unaishi wapi?   -   Where do you stay?
Ninaishi Moshi.   -   I stay in Moshi.

Wewe ni nani?   -   What are you? (What do you do?)
Mimi ni mwalimu.   -   I am a teacher.