Ten Facts about Tanzania

Hey Everyone,

I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up on my blogs lately, but getting to the internet the past few weeks has been challenging. I'm officially done with my internship now, and I've left Mwanza too. Now I'm in Dar es Salaam waiting for my flight tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I thought I'd just do a fun little list of facts about Tanzania that you may or may not already know...here it goes:

1.) Tanzania is home to the Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the "spice island" of Zanzibar.

2.) There are over 175 tribes/ethnic groups in the country and most of them have their own language. That means that people are learning their mother tongue, Swahili, and English if they make it all the way through secondary school.

3.) The average wedding dowry usually consists of cows or money and is given by the groom's family to the bride's family.

4.) The Maasai people believe that every cow in the world belongs to them. In fact, they oftentimes steal cows from other people.

5.) It is common for two people of the same sex to hold hands in public, but it is frowned upon if there is public affection between the opposite sex.

6.) When twins are born, the first one is always named Kulwa and the second is always named Dotto.

7.) If a thief is caught stealing in public, he/she is beaten horribly by everyone around (before police come) and sometimes even beaten to death.

8.) There is a small albino population in Tanzania, and they are oftentimes discriminated against and even killed. Some traditional medicine doctors pay big money to get the body parts of albinos.

9.) Tanzania only gained independence in 1961 after being colonized first by the Germans and then by the British.

10.) Swahili time is different than the clock/time we're used to. It coincides with the sunrises and sunsets (i.e. 1:00 is when the sun comes up)