Wedding Celebration

On Saturday night I was fortunate enough to attend another community celebration, this time a wedding for two of the members of the Mzumbe community.  The couple that was married was Abel Simon Mtali (a former Mzumbe Secondary School teacher) and Magdalena Hadija Katakweba.  To be honest, I didn’t know either the bride or groom personally, but as a member of the Mzumbe community I was welcome to attend along with the rest of the Mzumbe staff.  Of course I was more than happy to attend to experience how a traditional African wedding compared to weddings I’ve attended in the U.S.  While there were some similarities to American traditional weddings, overall it was quite a different experience that exhibited many of the hallmarks of Tanzanian tradition that I have come to understand and appreciate.

Wedding Invitation- In English and Kiswahili

Last week I received my invitation that welcomed everyone to the ceremony, which was held in Morogoro town and to the reception held at the nearby Mzumbe University campus.  Since the church in town where the ceremony was held was not easy to get to from Mzumbe, most of the invited guests (including myself) did not attend the formal ceremony.  However, at the reception there was a video broadcast of the ceremony so it was possible to see a bit of the wedding ceremony as it occurred earlier that day.

The invitation noted that the reception was to begin at 7PM at the reception hall at Mzumbe University, but since this is Tanzania where there is no hurry, most people did not arrive until around 8:30PM.  There were chairs set out facing an elaborate display, including a head table for the wedding party and an open floor.  After an hour when most of the guests had gathered and were socializing a bit, the reception ceremony began.  As is traditional with most of these ceremonies I have attended, there was a Master of Ceremonies (usually a friend of the family) who proceeded over the events.  First, she called each of the bride and groom’s families to enter the hall, and as each family came in they were dancing while accompanied by a brass band.  Following the family entrances the wedding party entered in a similar fashion.  Once everyone was inside, it was time for the bride and groom to enter.  All of the guests crowded the entrance and as the band started to play the newlyweds entered as the guests cheered and welcomed them in.

The Family Entrance and Brass Band

The Reception Hall

The Bride and Groom Cutting the Cake

After the entrances, the MC welcomed members of each family to say a few words for the bride and groom.  This was followed by the cutting of the cake and also a toast to the bride and groom from all of the guests.  After the toast, all of the guests lined up and went to toast the bride and groom one by one.  At about Midnight it was (finally) time to eat dinner.  Everyone lined up in the back of the hall and we were treated to a large plate of delicious food including all the traditional foods like rice, pilau, chicken, beef, bananas and watermelon.  Once everyone enjoyed their meal, there were a couple of final proceedings to take place.  The MC called upon the each of the families to come up and present their gifts to the bride and groom.  Dancing to music, each family brought up their gifts including a new refrigerator, and kitchenware and some linen.  After that, anyone else who had gifts to present the bride and groom were called up as well.  Finally, at about 2AM the reception ended after a short performance from the brass band and some closing remarks from the MC.

Presenting the Gifts to the Newlyweds

As always, I was thrilled to be a part of yet another community celebration and experience the traditions of Tanzania.  It was a great event, and like the other ceremonies I have been fortunate to attend I was amazed at the warm welcome and sense of community that is such a big part of Tanzanian (and African) culture.  It was a fun and truly festive celebration for the new couple and I am grateful to have experienced it during my time here. 

Respect of Elders

In Tanzanian culture, it is very common and expected that you pay respect to those people who are older than you are.  Whether it is someone who is much older than you are, or even just a few years older, it is not unusual for them to expect to be greeted properly.  In Swahili, there is a word said when greeting someone who is older than you are- “Shikamoo” (Sheek-a-moe).  This phrase literally means “I hold your feet”.  In response, you will hear them say to you “Maharaba” (Mah-hah-rah-bah).  It’s a common greeting for those who are older than you, and it is said as a sign of respect.  Most often, it is used for someone who is clearly older or elderly, and also it is how children will greet any adult.

As an American, this has been one cultural aspect that has taken some getting used to.  In the U.S. there is not really a culture of formally respecting your elders, so there are many instances where I will just greet an elder as I would anyone else.  Because there is a culture of individuality in the U.S., when most people become adults they often will treat everyone equally.  Sometimes people in the U.S. might even be insecure about their age and if they were to be acknowledged as being older by a particular greeting signifying that then they might even take offense.  In Tanzania, it’s quite the opposite.  I have yet to truly understand that if I forget to greet someone who is older with “Shikamoo” if they will take offense.  Usually I just tend to greet people who are senior citizen age with this greeting, because to be honest I sometimes still feel uncomfortable greeting someone not too much older than I am with a greeting acknowledging that they are older.  It also can be a weird experience when I hear students and children greet me with “Shikamoo” because I don’t see myself as what we would typically call an “elder.”  I certainly respect this tradition, but as I said, it has been one of the more difficult cultural aspects to get used to only because it’s quite a foreign concept to Americans.  However, the more I do get used to it, the more I understand and respect it.  It shows a sign of respect for all people and a respect for the tradition that the elders exhibit for those who came before and will come after them.  While it might not become a cultural tradition in America anytime soon, I certainly think it is one aspect of Tanzanian cultural that would have a positive aspect in American society. 

Always On Your Toes

You know those commercials on TV for Staples stores where there is a giant red EASY button that people press to make all their problems go away?  Well, if those actually existed, there would not be any lack of need of them in Tanzania.  In Tanzania, although life is really simple, it’s certainly never easy.  One of the most difficult aspects of this experience has been facing all of the unexpected challenges that come on a regular basis.  Just when I think I’ve settled in and overcome most of the major obstacles to come my way, it seems like a few curveballs get sent along that always force myself to adapt to new challenges and changes.  Both in my daily life and in life in the classroom, I am always kept on my toes and have to really learn how to improve myself and my situation in spite of these challenges.

A good example on dealing with daily challenges lately has been the recent lack of a regular water supply.  Over the past few weeks our water has been shut off every now and then (and it's been off completely for the last three days straight), and there’s never a regular time of day when you can expect it to be on or off.  Same goes for electricity.  Sometimes this can be really difficult when you are relying on water for a shower or to wash your dishes or even just cook dinner.  While this has been really challenging to face at first, it’s taught me to think ahead and just learn how to adapt to this kind of situation.  Now I just have to fill up a lot of large water containers when we do have water, and take advantage of the situation when water does flow (meaning always take a shower when you have the opportunity!)  Plus, it’s gotten quite a bit hotter over the past few weeks (it is getting to be Summer here, after all), so there are times when the lack of water can be extremely frustrating. 

In the classroom I am always learning to adapt because not only am I still getting the hang of teaching English, but I’m also learning the nuances of the system of education here in Tanzania.  As any other teacher will tell you, one of the most important skills to have in a classroom is adaptability.  As I am learning, you can be extremely well prepared to teach a class, but no matter how well prepared you are there are always going to be unforeseen challenges thrown your way in a classroom. 

It can be quite exhausting at times dealing with new challenges on a daily basis, especially the truly unforeseen ones like loss of water and electricity, but I’m learning that it’s not always a bad thing.  In every challenging situation I face I inevitably find a good lesson from it, whether the outcome is good or bad.  As I continue to stay on my toes, I learn more about myself on a daily basis and I’m developing many skills that will keep me well prepared for any test I will face in the future.  Although this is not one of the easiest aspects of living and volunteering abroad, it is certainly teaching me the most valuable lessons about who I am and the challenges I can overcome.

Recipe: Bean Burgers

As I’m learning new skills in Tanzania, like cooking, I thought it would be fun to share a recipe now and then for some of the food I’ve successfully pulled off.  This also might be something good for future Tanzanian volunteers to use, too.

One of my favorite meals so far that I’ve made are Bean Burgers.  They’re pretty simple, and really delicious.  As a good hamburger is one of my favorite foods back home, it’s a great recipe that is not only delicious, but also a good cure for culinary homesickness from time to time.  Also, since it’s difficult to get beef (especially ground beef), it’s a pretty tasty substitute if you add enough flavor to the recipe.

I’ve pulled this recipe from the Peace Corps cookbook I’ve been using frequently, but decided to put some of my own touches on it, after a few times experimenting with the recipe (It serves about 4 people).

What you will need are the following ingredients:

1 Cup of cooked beans

½ Cup of cooked rice

¼ Cup of flour

1 egg

¼ teaspoon of salt

Pepper to taste

Onion

Garlic

Other spices or diced veggies, as desired

After you cook the beans and the rice (make sure they cool off after cooking, so as not to burn your hands), add all of the ingredients in a bowl and mush them together with your hands to form a sticky pile of burger batter.

Bean Burger Batter

Let it sit for 30 min to one hour.  Then form into patties.  Don’t make the patties too big, since it will be difficult to fry them up if they’re too large.

Patties ready to fry

You should be able to make about 4 decent sized burgers.  Heat up some oil and once it’s pretty hot, fry up the burgers until they’re nice and browned on either side (I like them a little on the crispy side).

Frying the burger

Serve on a bun with any of your favorite burger fixings (ketchup, cheese, veggies, etc) and enjoy!

It's not quite an In-N-Out burger, but it's quite tasty!