Observations 1

We have decided to include a post that isn’t about a particular experience, but one that is just a series of observations that have emerged over our time in Tanzania.  Here is our first set of observations.

• Motorcycles – Motorcycles (known as Toyo) are a relatively new phenomenon in Tanzania.  According to a few local sources they have only become prevalent in the last 5 years or so.  They are everywhere!  Most of them serve as taxis, imagine hopping on the back of a motorcycle without a helmet in sight and weaving through traffic. They are basically a swarm on the roads.  It is shocking how quickly they have grown in popularity.
• Education and unemployment – Education (public and private) is available and expected through high school.  It is taught in three languages: local tribal language, Kiswahili, and English (wow!).  The challenge, we learned, is that unemployment is incredibly high, >60%.  As Art the lodge owner explained, it provides little incentive for education when finishing qualifies you, at best, for a job such as cleaning rooms at a hotel.  He thought this mismatch between education and employment opportunity would ultimately lead to social uprising.

• Elections and conflict – Just a few weeks ago, an election office a few blocks from our lodge was bombed during a small, local election (sadly, 3 deaths were the result).  Evidently conflict associated with elections is fairly rare, but Art seemed to think that the next national election (in two years) was positioned to be the first in recent history to be marked by violence.
• “Eh…” - Tanzanians, both male and female, can have whole conversations composed of various intonations of “Eh”.  It became a running joke of sorts to listen to conversations (phone and face-to-face) for the frequency and multiple meanings assigned to “eh”. 
• Mix cropping – Several days were spent walking in or driving through agricultural areas.  The vast majority of time the crops were mixed, such as maize with sunflowers or pine trees with sweet potatoes.  Even in the national forests being raised for wood production, local populations were encouraged to plant food-crops in amongst the trees when they were immature.  This not only made efficient use of available agricultural land, but also protected against crop failure or pest outbreak.
• Posture – Tanzanians have near perfect posture.  We watched many, who even when bending over or lifting things did so in a way that does not place undue stress on the back. We have decided that the local, default of carrying things (heavy things) on your head has resulted in good posture.  It would be hard to balance anything on your head if you slouch (grin).
• Pay scale – Minimum wage in Tanzania was recently raised to 150,000 TZL per month.  That is just over $90 PER MONTH.  We are not rich, by any means, by American standards, but the wages here remind us of how lucky we are.
• Tipping – Evidently Americans have ruined tipping in Tanzania.  We tip too much and Tanzanians know it.  They have learned that if they express disappointment at a tip amount, Americans will often just add money.  The reality is Americans tip far and above any other western tourist.  We knew this, but given the wages here it was hard not to tip handsomely.  Art and some other Dutch tourists we met expressed shock at the 18-20% Americans tip, but at one lunch 20% amounted to ~$1.  It’s hard to see that as too much!
• Sewing with pedals – Just a fun image, we frequently observed sewing machines operated by pedals in several towns.  The machines were often located outside the shops along the sidewalk or dirt road.
• Repurposed shipping containers – There is an atmosphere of “use what you can” in construction here.  In several cases including a national park, holes for windows and doors had been cut into shipping containers.  In context, it appears to be an ingenious repurposing.
• Education and fewer children – You can read from many places in the world that education can lead to lower birth rates.  This is true in Tanzania as well, at least in one village we visited.  In the past, women would have 12+ children.  As education has become more prevalent, it is now more frequently ~6 (still a lot, but it has dropped by half).
  
• Cell phones – Cell phones are everywhere! The smallest, most ramshackle areas will still have small shops for the purchase of cell phone minutes.  In addition, they can transfer money using cell phones via text.  Peter happily explained that it meant there was no need to go to a bank as Tanzanians have limited trust in them.
• Incomplete construction – Unfinished construction is a fairly common sight in and around Arusha.  We learned that this was because loans to build homes or businesses such as a hotel carry an interest rate of 20% or more.  As a result, folks build as much as they can afford and then let it sit until they save more money to continue.