Since my partner Ana has her own interesting experiences here in Tanzania, I thought it would be nice to periodically have a guest post. Without further adieu....
This is a blog-worthy
story that happened to me the other day. I was running errands
around Moshi, as I have been doing almost everyday lately, and a
young guy approached me in the street. I thought he was yet another
eager vendor targeting tourists and trying to convince me to buy
crafts, safari packages, sunglasses or any other thing I, for sure,
didn't need.
I was on my way to the
Coffee Shop (excellent coffee and constant electricity making it one
of my favorite places) and started chit-chatting with the guy whilst
walking. "Where are you from?, how long have you been in Moshi for?,
what will you do here..?"... The guy surprised me when, after I said
that I work for an NGO (non government organization), he asked what an NGO was. When I was done
trying to make clear what an NGO was we had reached the street I
wanted to take and I basically told the guy that I was busy and had
to go.
He seem a bit baffled and
said he will walk with me to the Coffee Shop and then he will leave me
alone, but that he needed to ask me a question. I had no clue what he would be asking me but I thought it would be something about loaning him money, asking on a date, or some other bizarre request. What followed surprised me.
"I have a German girlfriend", the guy says, "and I was wondering if you could give me some clues
on the Mzungu's (foreigners) behavior."
"What?!" I answered, "Can
you give me an example?"(Tanzanians always say this when they don't
understand what you want).
He then tells me that he
is dating this German girl and that they see each other every other
week and go out dancing or for dinner. Turns out he wants to live
with her and he doesn't know what to do. He knows Tanzanian women
behavior but doesn't know what to do with a Mzungu. He also
thought he didn't have enough money to maintain her. Very interesting
question...After a long counselling session I convinced him that
he needed to ask the girl in question because not all white girls
behave exactly the same. He was surprised when I said she will
probably have a job and didn't need to be maintained. And wasn't very
happy to know she may just want a boyfriend and not be interested in
marrying. When I added this bit he exclaimed with disbelief, "A boyfriend...just for leisure?!?!"
Hope he is lucky in his
conquest of the German female, although his description of the
situation leads me to believe that she just wants a boyfriend to go
dancing with...
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