Kanga Cloth - Fashion & Utility

One of the most ubiquitous images in Tanzania is the kanga or kitenge cloth worn (mostly) by women.  It's used as an everyday item as well as for special occasions.  Typically, you see women wearing kanga's like a sarong but over western-world clothes, like t-shirts and pants.  The wannabe anthropologist in me did some field work on this phenomenon by taking my inquiries to the remote corners of my house.  I spoke with Christina, our nanny, and she indicated that the kanga is worn as a sarong usually out of either modesty, cultural traditions or purely for fashion.

Some people (and its not just generational) think its inappropriate for a woman to wear pants because "it accentuates their backside" (Christina, 2010).  Rather than just wear a long skirt (which Christina does, but her sisters do not!), they wear the pants underneath to function somewhat as an "insurance policy" from any rogue bursts of wind or overly curious male children. During special occasions like birthdays, funerals, parties or holidays, the kanga is transformed into an outfit - skirt made of kanga, blouse made of kanga and sometimes even a matching headdress made from kanga.

The Arusha Spouses Association.  Speaks to our shared humanity - all cut from the same cloth

Beyond fashion, kanga also serves a utilitarian purpose, most commonly carrying babies. I think the whole premise of Happiest Baby on the Block was based on the baby wearing out-of-sheer-necessity you find in Africa.  Believe me, it doesn't elude me when I'm walking in our neighborhood with Millie in my $100 Ergo.  For their sake, I hope the local women are getting a good chuckle out of it.

Kanga has made its way into the wazungu (Kiswahili for 'white person') world as well making up the base of many curios and trinkets that tourists can take home from their travels.  Better yet, it also shows up in the accessory world in the form of bags, purses, ballet flats, necklaces etc.  Once we come back to the States, I should be easy to spot - I'll be the woman with faded and stained solid color tee's but blinged out in kanga-lined ballet flats and tote bag. 

For the time being, we're doing our best to make our house kanga-chic so check out the new kanga's going on the throw pillows! Whatever scraps of fabric we have left over, I usually turn them into cloth napkins.  You know, doing my part for the Earth (i.e. trying to offset the disposable diapers we use that are subsequently burned.... yeahyeahyeah, I can hear you gasping way over here).

At the kanga shop.  From many....

.... to three

What images stand out most from some of your travels?  How have you been able to preserve those images - photographic or otherwise? 

Not About Millie

I am nearly ready to admit that it's time to rename this blog It's Millie Time because that is basically all we cover. And despite my promises to get better about blogging more regularly, I don't seem to be following through, do I? Why is that? I think its because living in East Africa with a child has become normal and ordinary. Not boring. Just, normal. But it's hard to remember that what is normal for us, may be noteworthy to you, dear readers. So here are a few tidbits that characterize our life here and are unique about the culture:

- we drive on the left side of the road, and at any given moment you are watching out for motorcycles, bikes, cars, pedestrians, wooden carts, donkeys, cows, chickens and children.

- there are also 2ft deep x 3 ft wide uncovered drainage ditches lining each side of the road. did i mention they have no grate over them? so if you swerve too far (in order to dodge above mentioned road co-habitants) you're kind of screwed (i have witnessed a few cars in these ditches, including a brand new Range Rover!). and with minimal street lights, this is particularly nerve racking at night!

- the 'long rains' have started. that seems to mean cloudy days, and lots of rain on and off in the morning. makes morning walks with Millie more difficult. as well as having dry clothes.

- long rains also mean the invasion of the kono kono's - slugs and snails (which give becky the heebejeebees like no other, no thanks to my fear mongering brother who told an impressionable little Becky at the tender age of 8 that she would turn into a slug after having stepped on one BAREFOOT).

- the electricity in our house is pre-paid. it's called luku. we go to the central power company, give them our meter number and about $45, then they generate a unique 16-digit code which we enter into our meter that keeps the lights on (except when there are power cuts!) for about a month. the other day i went to buy our luku and the power company had no electricity, nor a generator!

- when you come to Tanzania (I said 'when' people, not 'if'!), the first Swahili word you will learn without a doubt is 'Karibu.' it literally translates into 'you are welcome' but also really means 'get close' (but not in a creepy-invade-my-personal-space kind of way). you hear it everywhere. when you walk into shops, restaurants, passing the ladies on the street selling tea.... everywhere. it is also a response to 'thank you.' it reminds me of the use of 'aloha' in Hawaii in that i think it sets the tone of the culture - very open and welcoming.

- we don't have a TV, but we have a computer so sometimes at night we watch DVD's that we borrow from friends or that we've received in generous care packages. so far we've made it through five seasons of West Wing, first season of Glee and now we're working our way through Arrested Development.

- except on Weds nights, we play bridge with our dear friends Katie & Ollie

- if you want to get take out here, there are basically two options - Indian food or grilled chicken. both are very good, but sometimes you would just do anything for a pad thai or pupusa!

- probably the third or fourth word you would learn in Tanzania (WHEN you come) is 'pole' (poe-lay). it means 'sorry' or 'i extend my sympathies to you.' you use it the same way you would use 'sorry' in English for the most part, but you also use it to convey your sympathies to anyone doing any kind of work. for example, when Millie and I walk in the morning, I usually carry her in the backpack and people tell me 'pole' presumably for the task of carting around a 20lb baby on my shoulders (roger gets it too when he's out running). but then, the person telling me 'pole' is usually hauling two 100lb sacks of grain on a bike or cutting grass with a machete or doing some other form of insanely hard manual labor, yet they feel sympathy for me and my $100 baby backpack!

So does this jive with the image you had of our life here? Note I didn't mention the fanning of palm fronds while we sit atop our four poster beds being fed grapes by servants in long white robes. I figured you all naturally assumed that part!