I Miss Bacon

Hamjambo!

It's already been three weeks since I arrived in Zanzibar and they've definitely been packed with everything from orientation to Kiswahili to snorkeling (and a not sun fun part was being stung repeatedly by jellyfish, but luckily no one had to pee on me) to getting lost in Stone Town (which is very easy to do with narrow winding roads and no grid system like New York).  But I'm really starting to learn my way here - both in directions and in culture.  African culture, Tanzanian culture, Zanzibari culture, and Stone Town culture are deep and rich and very different from the United States.  Religion plays a huge part of defining Zanzibaris' lives, and since this week was the thirteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, I thought it would be a good time to write about the Muslim culture here.

But first, baby sea turtles!  We visited a turtle sanctuary and got to see the turtles in all stages of life, from a few days old like these guys to just being ready to be released into the wild.  

Now, a disclaimer. Those men that attacked the US thirteen years ago did share the same religion as the Zanzibari people, and before I left, I would get concerned looks when I mentioned that Zanzibaris are predominately Muslim.  Those men didn't just attack the United States on that day, they also attacked the religion and the way of life for over 1.6 billion people.

Clothing:                                                                                                   

One of the first cultural differences I noticed getting off the plane in Zanzibar was all the headscarves that women wear.  The only time I saw someone's hair in public was if she was white.  Women are generally covered from neckline to ankles in loose-fitting clothing with a headscarf to top it all off.  Depending on how religious the woman is, she will either just wear her headscarf when she leaves the house or she will add a baibui to it, which is the face covering with a slit for her eyes (just don't call it a buibui, that's a spider, and the spiders in Zanzibar are MASSIVE OH MY GOD).  And when women leave the house, many wear a black overcoat, so walking around outside, you wouldn't think that these women have much style or care too much about what they wear.  But once you're inside a home or office, everything changes.  The baibui comes off, the overcoat comes off, and the most beautiful, colorful, fun fabrics are revealed.  Women have such an amazing choice of fabric in Zanzibar - I recently had my first experience at the market which if I were to describe it in one word, that word would be "balaa".  Go look that one up.  But that's a story for another day.  Anyway, I love the fabric choices women can have here - and women are very proud of their clothes (I mean, I would be too).  They're also very loose-fitting and flowy, one part because women aren't supposed to show the shape of their bodies, and one part because it's too effing hot in Africa to wear tight clothes.  Your body is only for your husband, and he's the only one who needs to see it.  And by covering most of your body, you also protect yourself from the harsh African sun.  Some of the wanafunzi (students) have taken to wearing them in public, and we've gotten comments on how beautiful we look, another indicator of how much headscarves are respected here.  And I kind of like the look on me too...

There's a very special way of tying headscarves that I finally figured out!

Prayer:                                                                                                       

I consider myself lucky that I'm not studying abroad in Saudi Arabia, where the call to prayer is so loud it wakes you up at 5:30 am every day to make sure you don't miss your morning prayers.  In Stone Town, I usually hear the call to prayer while I'm awake, but it's not so loud that it would disturb any non-Muslim.  My new favorite study spot is this rooftop bar that overlooks the ocean, and the call to prayer is a bit louder there since the tower is about 200 feet away from the bar.  But the sunset over the ocean is totally worth it.  

Hajj:                                                                                                            

Last night I was able to see the beginning of a big part of Islam - making the hajj.  The hajj is something that every Muslim must do if he or she is financially and physically able, and that is to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.  The trip is full of religious understanding  and Muslims are considered very pure when they return.  Our group of wanafunzi visited a member of our program who is leaving for hajj in the next few days.  She invited us all to her home and we presented her with a new headscarf she can wear on her journey.  While excited, she knows that there is a small chance she will never come back from hajj.  Every year, with the massive crowds at Mecca, people, especially smaller people, are trampled to death, and it is recommended that before making hajj you get your affairs in order just in case something were to happen.  When she told me this, I thought about how morbid it was and why anyone would want to risk a terrible death in the name of Islam.  Then I caught myself.  This same kind of thing happens at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican when a new pope is elected.  This same thing happens every year at Walmart during Black Friday, a "holiday" that celebrates the accumulation of material goods.  I later was very upset with myself for mentally criticizing someone's way of life before thinking about how my culture views similar things.

Mecca (yeah, all those dots are people).  Looks like you're more packed than on a daladala

And lastly, the reason for the title of this post.  As part of Islam, you cannot eat or drink anything that is considered dirty.  This includes consuming alcohol or drugs as well as consuming pork.  And with the population of Zanzibar being more than 99% Muslim, pork is a rarity on the island.  So yes, I sincerely miss pulled pork, pork in the crockpot, pork on the grill, and I definitely miss bacon.  

Thanks for reading!

Kim