Yesterday I had what may be one of my favorite moments since moving to Tanzania. I visited an HIV+ client in a rural area around Kilimanjaro and the late afternoon light made the inside of the small mud house even darker. As we finished the visit and began to file out of the house there was an elderly woman standing in the outer room and greeted us each as we walked by. I was the last one to walk through and I greeted her with the standard Swahili greeting for an older person. She started to speak but then did a double take as she pulled me closer to the light coming from the front door and with genuine surprise said “wewe ni mzungu!” (you are a white person). She couldn’t believe that there was a white person in her house and she didn’t even know it (unlike the children who had gathered outside the small window to peer in and look at the white woman). Then she said in English “Good morning, how are you?” (a phrase she may have learned from her grandchildren) She was so tickled to have a white person at her house and even asked me to stay and sleep over for the night. With my hand in hers and, still in a bit of shock, she went on and on talking about the “mzungu” at her house. She walked back to the vehicle with us, still holding my hand, and invited me back again.
I hope that I can take her up on it one day.
4 comments:
Yay for new posts!! I love your stories- here and during our "chats". They make your experience come alive for me. Keep posting!
Unbelievable! Incredible! What a different culture you are experiencing!
What you did for the least of these you have done unto me.
He is rejoicing over you with singing!
I agree with Jessica....yay for new posts. A pretty cool experience, I had a homeless guy ask me for money today in LA - thats about the same thing. jk.
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