Utafiti na masomo (Research and Studies)
This post will probably be more interesting for those who want to study or do research in Zanzibar - or those who just want to read about different bureaucratic procedures!
So, (people seem to start their sentences here very often with a "so"), this week I have finally started activelly doing something for my Master's thesis. I started my Swahili lessons at Taasisi (The Institute for Swahili and Foreign Languages) - every morning from Monday to Friday, 8-12 am. I can tell you, four hours of Swahili is quite intense! But I can feel progress already, so I guess it's worth it. It's also not very cheap: 4 $ per hour, which adds up to 80 $ per week, and I'm intending to do a whole month in order to get a proper certificate and everything. Plus the obligatory residence permit, 100 $. I wonder what they are going to do with all those five (5) photos that were required for the permit? Good thing in getting the permit is that I don't have to worry about extending my visa (tourist visas are for 3 months only) since the permit is for six months, and I will get resident price for hotels, boats and planes afterwards - usually about the half price.
I also got into a brilliant library, in an institute lead by famous Swahili researcher professor Abdul Sheriff who himself is apparently in Bergen, Norway at the moment. The Institute is called ZIORI, "Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute" (http://www.ziori.org/, also an article at another website, buzzle.com) and they seem to have all the books published on Zanzibari issues during the last 50 years or so. They just opened this year, and everything is still very quiet, but organised. Even if I can't get the permission for the Zanzibar National Archives, I will be able to get some material from ZIORI. Nice. The public library here is really bad (the one in Pemba, Chake Chake was a lot better!), but at the SUZA (State University of Zanzibar) they have at least something. I am trying to get to the archives, too, but it takes time.
My application for the research permit is still pending at the Chief Minister's Office - it's quite amazing that the Chief Minister's (that would be like the Prime Minister in Finland) secretary is dealing with all the research permit applications! So, on Friday when I exceptionally didn't have Swahili lessons, I decided to pop in at the Archives in the morning, just to inquire about my application that I had taken to the Chief Minister's a week earlier. At the Archives I was being told to go ask at the Chief Minister's. At the Chief Minister's I was being told that I need a recommendation letter from the Archives. I actually remember seeing that they had prepared a letter like that for me at the Archives, but apparently they just didn't care to attach it to my application. Back I went, to the Archives (on a sweaty dala-dala ride - the Archives aren't in the Stone Town, but 2-3 kilometres away in Kilimani area) again. Luckily the secretary there took pity on me and promised to send the letter for me - I suppose it was a good thing to wear Swahili-style black clothes and a scarf that day, they treated me a lot more friendly than before! Next week I should hear some news about my permit, if they will accept me or not. Oh, and the permit costs 75 $ and the admission to the Archives is 40 $ for one month. Doing research is not cheap on your own...
Besides studying and researching I've been having very rewarding discussions with my fellow students and acquaintances in Zanzibar, trying to do some bui-bui shopping (more on bui-buis in the next post), drinking hot ginger tea in Forodhani Gardens, and relaxing at the East Coast for a day. I've also geared my eating towards more affordable, local prices - after Ramadan there will be more cheap options for eating, luckily! Tourist restaurants charge for main courses anything up from 4000 shillings (2,5 euros), whereas local food with fish, chicken or meat would be around 1000-2000 shillings (+/- one euro). We also cooked together with Marco, Nicole, Kate and Eddie on Friday, meaning to make biriyani which turned into pilau instead (they're both good, anyway :)) - together with fried plantains, fresh tuna fish sauce and salad topped with a bottle of South African red wine. Delicious! Speaking of which, I still have some of that pilau left in my fridge and it is lunch time...
So, (people seem to start their sentences here very often with a "so"), this week I have finally started activelly doing something for my Master's thesis. I started my Swahili lessons at Taasisi (The Institute for Swahili and Foreign Languages) - every morning from Monday to Friday, 8-12 am. I can tell you, four hours of Swahili is quite intense! But I can feel progress already, so I guess it's worth it. It's also not very cheap: 4 $ per hour, which adds up to 80 $ per week, and I'm intending to do a whole month in order to get a proper certificate and everything. Plus the obligatory residence permit, 100 $. I wonder what they are going to do with all those five (5) photos that were required for the permit? Good thing in getting the permit is that I don't have to worry about extending my visa (tourist visas are for 3 months only) since the permit is for six months, and I will get resident price for hotels, boats and planes afterwards - usually about the half price.
I also got into a brilliant library, in an institute lead by famous Swahili researcher professor Abdul Sheriff who himself is apparently in Bergen, Norway at the moment. The Institute is called ZIORI, "Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute" (http://www.ziori.org/, also an article at another website, buzzle.com) and they seem to have all the books published on Zanzibari issues during the last 50 years or so. They just opened this year, and everything is still very quiet, but organised. Even if I can't get the permission for the Zanzibar National Archives, I will be able to get some material from ZIORI. Nice. The public library here is really bad (the one in Pemba, Chake Chake was a lot better!), but at the SUZA (State University of Zanzibar) they have at least something. I am trying to get to the archives, too, but it takes time.
My application for the research permit is still pending at the Chief Minister's Office - it's quite amazing that the Chief Minister's (that would be like the Prime Minister in Finland) secretary is dealing with all the research permit applications! So, on Friday when I exceptionally didn't have Swahili lessons, I decided to pop in at the Archives in the morning, just to inquire about my application that I had taken to the Chief Minister's a week earlier. At the Archives I was being told to go ask at the Chief Minister's. At the Chief Minister's I was being told that I need a recommendation letter from the Archives. I actually remember seeing that they had prepared a letter like that for me at the Archives, but apparently they just didn't care to attach it to my application. Back I went, to the Archives (on a sweaty dala-dala ride - the Archives aren't in the Stone Town, but 2-3 kilometres away in Kilimani area) again. Luckily the secretary there took pity on me and promised to send the letter for me - I suppose it was a good thing to wear Swahili-style black clothes and a scarf that day, they treated me a lot more friendly than before! Next week I should hear some news about my permit, if they will accept me or not. Oh, and the permit costs 75 $ and the admission to the Archives is 40 $ for one month. Doing research is not cheap on your own...
Besides studying and researching I've been having very rewarding discussions with my fellow students and acquaintances in Zanzibar, trying to do some bui-bui shopping (more on bui-buis in the next post), drinking hot ginger tea in Forodhani Gardens, and relaxing at the East Coast for a day. I've also geared my eating towards more affordable, local prices - after Ramadan there will be more cheap options for eating, luckily! Tourist restaurants charge for main courses anything up from 4000 shillings (2,5 euros), whereas local food with fish, chicken or meat would be around 1000-2000 shillings (+/- one euro). We also cooked together with Marco, Nicole, Kate and Eddie on Friday, meaning to make biriyani which turned into pilau instead (they're both good, anyway :)) - together with fried plantains, fresh tuna fish sauce and salad topped with a bottle of South African red wine. Delicious! Speaking of which, I still have some of that pilau left in my fridge and it is lunch time...
Comments
Save some extra money for the trip home, probably the officers in the airport will tell you that you're missing some stamp on your visa and it will cost you some more USDs or EURs.
Anyhow, that's the African way,,,so accept and enjoy your visit.
Take care!
//Anne o Kjell