Weekend in Bagamoyo and other stories...

So, lots to talk about since it has been a while. This past weekend we traveled to Bagamoyo to do some sight-seeing and some beach-ing, but first a few more commentaries that I wanted to mention.

On Thursday night before leaving the next morning, I came home a bit early and it was just Lili (my sister-in-law here) and I who were at home. I was sitting in my room and Lili came in to ask me for some assistance. Lili is 23-years-old, but I soon realized she could barely read or write Swahili, let alone any English. Lili was attempting to fill out an application for seamstress school and she didn't understand many of the questions and couldn't spell many of the words. She would say something aloud, I would write it, and she would copy it on the application. She wrote in pen and then tried to erase what she had written incorrectly, which of course didn't work, and she ended up practically tearing the form in half. Yet she was adamant that she do it herself and when I suggested that Neema (my host mom) could help her, she seemed quite upset.

I do hope she is going to be able to get into the school. I often wonder what these two girls, one 23 and the other 20 (our "domestic assistant"), will do in the future. I assume they'll someday get married, but I don't even know how they meet people. They stay in the house most of the day. Kalista told me about herself a bit and informed me that her parents had passed away when she is young, so how she ended up where she is is somewhat understandable given her circumstances. But Lili's background is more surprising. She lives here with her brother who has at least an undergraduate college education. He is a successful accountant who can support his family, yet his sister can barely read and write, not even her own address. Education and gender equality in TZ does quite evidently have a long way to go.

The next morning the rest of the Georgetown students and I, along with the students here from Princeton, all got on a bus to Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo is about 1 1/2 hours north of Dar and was the former capital of Tanganyika when the German's were in charge of the country. It served as a pit stop for a lot of trade that was coming from the interior out to Zanzibar, especially for the slave trade. The name Bagamoyo memorializes this - it translates roughly to something like "broken heart" or "forgotten heart."

After arriving we went right to the tour of town. For being the capital city not that long ago (early 20th century) Bagamoyo is quite small. It has only recently become a tourist spot. Attempting to get served lunch in Bagamoyo with a group of 25 white people takes at least 2 hours almost anywhere you go. That took up a decent part of our afternoon.

After that we saw the original trading post in town. Scientists are still trying to prove its use as a slave trading stop and elders around town apparently still remember it being such. They were some remains of ceramics and jewelry that were obviously brought from abroad that constituted their "museum." Although the city is in the process of applying for a World Historical Site title from UNESCO, much of the sites and things being preserved are not in good shape at all.

We continued to walk around town to see the old Fort. The guide described it as uniquely Swahili because it had so many composite styles. It was first built by the Arabs who ruled Bagamoyo long before Europeans arrived. On top of that the Germans added certain rooms to it when they took over, and then the British. At one point it was owned by Indians who added the unique Zanzibar style door frames. Later the TZ government used it as a prison until the 1970s. Next we saw the old German Boma and walked down to where the main market was held. Lots of people were just hanging out around here, probably wrapping up their days of fishing or selling fish in the market.

It was really quite amazing to see the men at work fishing and fixing up their boats. People were all along the coast, women sitting with children, young kids playing soccer at the edge of the ocean and many counting or carrying fish in huge buckets. I was a little freaked out because I knew we'd probably be eating that exact fish for dinner, but then again, at least I know it's fresh...

Our hotel was quite nice, or at least for the standards I've quickly gotten used to. I realized when I talked to me mom on the phone that my expectations for lodging have changed dramatically. She said quickly "oh go enjoy your once weekly, hot, running-water shower" when I said "actually we don't really have that here." Nonetheless, I described this hotel that has no hot water (and a rusted out tub), no tv, quite a few holes in the mosquito net I was sleeping under, and a floor that was made of paper, as "nice."

Just found out the internet place is closing. I'll have to continue my tales tomorrow because I definitely still have more to say about Bagamoyo and some of the cool shopping I did today in the carver's market. Oh and Andrew and I have our visas for Egypt!