Swahili Update

I promised a while ago that I'd post a video speaking Swahili! Here it is, my Swahili update for better or for worse.

https://youtu.be/BpwZCG3ilUs

(Subtitles should be automatic, but if not, you can turn them on!)

Please note that I made many mistakes! Thanks Elly for humoring this silly request and asking me random questions.

African Women in Technology

Sometimes I like to write post titles in Swahili, but that won't happen for this one. That's because in Kenya, where I went last weekend, Swahili is used less often than in Tanzania. It's still a national language of Kenya along with English, but Tanzanians often joke about the broken Swahili in Kenya, and (from my observations, though I don't think I'm alone) Kenyans speak much better English on average than Tanzanians.

Kenyan language is actually pretty entertaining. We were sitting in a fancy hotel ballroom in Nairobi chowing down delicious lunch, and I couldn't help but listen to a conversation occurring between Kenyans on the other side of the table (we being my roommate, our coworker, and I). One would tell a story in mostly Swahili, and then both parties would immediately switch to English to exchange comments and opinions.

One major difference between Kenyan Swahili and Tanzanian Swahili is the standard greeting. Below are examples of how this works in each country.

Diamond Platnumz : Mambo?
Freddie Mercury : Poa

(Diamond Platnumz is arguably the most popular musician in Tanzania right now, and Freddie Mercury, though not Tanzanian by blood, was born in Zanzibar.)

Lupita Nyong'o: Sasa?
Barack Obama : Poa

(Lupita Nyong'o and Barack Obama both have origins in the Kenyan Luo tribe.)

"Mambo" means "things," so I interpret this greeting as, "How are things?"

"Sasa" simply means "now," so I interpret this greeting to be a little like a slang "How are you doing right now?"

Why was I in Kenya saying "Sasa" instead of "Mambo" in the first place? I went to Nairobi with Sanae and Regina, the three of us a sampling of the female engineers at Sikubora, to Nairobi to attend the African Women in Tech Conference. We were incredibly thankful to Sikubora for substantially supporting us through our trip, and to Tanzania's Tech Chix for introducing the conference to us in the first place.

The conference, hosted by the Kenyan group Akira Chix, started with a keynote address, delivered by a 23-year-old Kenyan CEO. After we all became inspired and pumped to think about the conference theme, "Can technology serve?" for the rest of the day, the attendees split up to attend various "breakout sessions" occurring over four different time slots. I really appreciated this aspect of the conference because it allowed me to personalize my experience. Here's what my schedule looked like after the keynote address, showing the sessions I chose.

- 10:00am - 11:00am: The Un-Silicon Valley Way To Start Your Business
- 11:10am - 12:10pm: All Systems Go: What Next After Writing Code
- 12:15pm - 1:15pm: Cyber Security Awareness Training
- 1:15pm - 2:30pm: fancy ballroom lunch
- 2:40pm - 3:40pm: Social Entrepreneurship as a Way to Sustainable Future

All in all it was a busy and fun day, and Akira Chix surprised everyone by ending the conference with a live band. It was a nice way for everyone to mingle and enjoy time together before going back to their daily routines.

I'm happy I got to spend the weekend in a different city, and Nairobi is indeed quite different from Arusha. Beyond the language contrasts already noted, Nairobi is much much bigger and also more Western. In Arusha, if a woman shows more than her knees, it's not considered tasteful, and most Tanzanian women don't expose more than their ankles. This conservation of skin is not as much of a concern in Nairobi. I also saw more women with colorful hair and piercings than I would in Arusha. Finally, I didn't think the food in Nairobi, though tasty, was quite as good as that in Arusha. Traveling to Nairobi was exciting and refreshing, but I oddly found happy to return "home" to Arusha, even though I'm just as much a visitor there.

Hot Weather, Hot Springs

The weather's getting pretty hot in Arusha. So far, it's been surprisingly temperate for an African country on the equator, but this is due the city having an elevation of about 4,500 ft. Now, the afternoons are hotter and hotter, leaving me looking for places to cool down.

There are a collection of hotels and lodges in Arusha, which is a gateway for tourists to many national parks. These hotels have pools, and there's one near my apartment that I go to on occasion. However, a place affectionately called Maji Moto (hot water) definitely wins me over when I think about places to cool off. Maji Moto is a hot spring a little over an hour's drive from Arusha, though the water itself is actually not that hot. A more official name is Chemka Springs (chemka = boiling), though that's equally as misleading. The name Chemka, though, comes from the appearance of the spring, which bubbles a bit in some places. The water is not boiling, but rather a welcoming and refreshing temperature, inviting its guests to dive right in.

There's even a rope-swing hanging from a sturdy tree branch.

It's beautiful. The water reflects a pure, clear blue-green, and pockets of sunshine slip through the wide, shading tree leaves.

Another reason I love this place is its proximity to a collection of baobab trees. In Tanzania, baobab trees can be considered sacred, and prominent ones are used as tribal meeting places. People here eat a sugar- and spice-coated seed from the tree, and I've heard parts of the tree have medicinal properties as well. There's one baobab tree near Maji Moto that can be climbed.

All in all, Maji Moto is the perfect place to relax on a hot day. The water is rejuvenating, the spring and surrounding area are beautiful, and there are plenty of other activities to enjoy nearby. I plan to return during the nearest weekend with a staggering forecast.

If you look back at that graph of average monthly temperatures I included, you'll notice that November and December are some of the hottest months in Arusha. I return to Boston at the end of December, jumping back into campus life during some of the coldest months there. I can't say I'm looking forward to leaving the nice weather here behind.

Moshi

"Wikiendi iliyopita nilienda Moshi." Technically, this translates literally to "Last weekend I went to Smoke," since the name of this town--Moshi--means "smoke" in Swahili. (That's right, "wikiendi" means "weekend.") So, though I don't smoke, I did go to Moshi to play ultimate frisbee.

Upon arrival at the central bus station, I immediately noticed a few differences between Moshi and Arusha. The bus station itself was quite spacious and sparsely populated, save for the swarm vendors that still held up baskets of snacks to the windows of big buses to attract customers. For a center of business in East Africa, it was relatively quaint, compared to Arusha's big yet crowded, hectic central bus station.

Moshi, which sits quite close to the base of Kilimanjaro, has an incredible view of this mountain when it's not concealed by a swarm of clouds. I got a quick glimpse of only the peak on the ride home, but beyond that, I might not have realized Africa's tallest point was anywhere near Moshi without prior knowledge. In Arusha, one might be able see Kilimanjaro on an unusually clear day from certain eastern parts of the city. I myself have never been able to see Kilimajaro from Arusha. Our more constant view in Arusha is Mt. Meru, not quite as tall as Kilimanjaro but still an impressive height and, as word on the street goes, a more difficult climb.

Daladala fare turned out to be equivalent to that of Arusha, and the small group of Arusha players hopped into one to get to Moshi's field. Though the driver and konda setup is the same, and the paint and sticker situation is the same, the daladalas themselves are a slightly different van make from those in Arusha. On the way to the field, I noticed more trees and flowers and general greenness than in Arusha, but not an overwhelming amount.

When we arrived at the field, I remarked that it was a lot more dusty and difficult to play on than that of Arusha. Despite this fact, Moshi's ultimate players are very talented. Though I had no clue what the score was for most of the game, they were surely beating us. I think Arusha's players had a great time, yet left motivated to improve and excited to host Moshi's team in Arusha in the future.