I
haven’t had time to post on here this week, but I need to tell you guys about
the goat races. Woah. My Aunt Barb said something about it being a “clash of
cultures”, and that is a spot-on description of the Dar Es Saalam Goat Races. It is a charity event hosted by
“mzungus”, but there are also Tanzanians and other nationalities that come to
bet on goats and drink lots of alcoholic beverages. A lot of people were in
crazy costumes that didn’t even remotely relate to the Wild Wild West theme,
and it was hilarious. Every half hour there was a race, which consisted of
twelve goats in racing jerseys doing two laps around a small arena. The goats also had fun names, like the title of this post. Goats do
not have much natural motivation to run, so a group of “jockeys” would chase
behind them holding a giant foam bar so the goats couldn’t turn around. It
didn’t seem terribly cruel, but I’m sure the goats were not enjoying it as much
as the spectators. There were many different sponsors who had tents selling
their products, such as Savannah Dry and other beer companies. After the races
closed we all went out to dinner at local restaurants and the food was amazing.
Needless to say, I think everyone had a great day.
This
week has been kind of a blur. Starting Monday we have been going to seven hours
of class every day, and it has been pretty taxing. Swahili is still four hours
in the morning, and we are moving quickly. I did a little bit better on my test
last week, but there is…room for growth. We started our Human Evolution and
Ecology classes, and so far I think I have learned more about the Tanzanian education
system more than anything else. Both of our professors are Tanzanian, and class
consists of them reading off of their powerpoint presentations. In fact, today
the power went out during our Ecology class and class was canceled because our
professor couldn’t show the powerpoint. The classes move incredibly slowly and
there is very little discussion, so there has been a lot of staring off into space
and some people have done some excellent drawings. I think there are a number
of reasons that could explain the teaching style: 1) English is many students’
second or third language, so the professors are accustomed to moving slowly to
accommodate the language barrier 2) Classes are typically supplemented with
discussions in Swahili, and 3) lecture-based learning is viewed as more
respectful. There are probably some other factors at play, but it is hard to
see the whole picture in a place where we have only been living for one month. It
can be pretty frustrating to spend all day sitting in class when we could be
doing something interesting elsewhere, but we are trying to make the best of
it.
On a different note, this weekend
we are going to Bagamoyo, which should be really fun. We are spending the night
there on Saturday; some people will stay in a beach resort, and others will
sleep in tents. I think we are going to draw straws to settle the sleeping
arrangements. I will post about it after the weekend is over, and hopefully
have some nice pictures. Say hi to America for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment