Mzungu

Mzungu means white person. There is no word for 'foreigner'. It is very weird to be a Mzungu but not, during our cultural lessons things all apply to me as a Mzungu but I am treated differently. It was very interesting at Kili Center I heard a child call me Mzungu and I thought 'That is the strangest thing ever!'

It is cool b/c Mama Grace calls me daughter of Africa and Mama Judith is always like this is yours, you should stay here. I keep asking them questions to see the difference in black Americans (which is what they call me) and Africans or TanZAnians (that's how they pronounce it).

Beauty - for women it is more beautiful to be light skinned (but not as light as here, I'm kind of light there) but not men they may be called mzungu which is not positive for them. Hair doesn't matter except obviously people of Moshi (or the Chagga tribe) do not have dreadlocks. You know what is interesting? Here they call female friends dada (sister) and male friends kaka (brother), That's probably why black Americans call a brother a black man and so forth.

Tomorrow I go to Kili Center again and then on safari from Thursday until Sunday (b/c of the holiday) so I won't be posting as often. The weeks feel hectic - we go to our placements in the morning then back to CCS for lunch then a Swahili lesson and a cultural lesson then dinner. It's exhausting, but so informative!

Tonight I'll probably go to a dance club. I've been to a bar called Glacier which was awesome outdoor bar with a live band and fire pits so you just grab a chair and sit around the fire (it gets chilly here at night), they also have a tree house.