Af-riikka

Football in Pemba. , originally uploaded by rockriikka . Urheilulajeista suurin ja kaunein myös Sansibarilla on - tietenkin – jalkapallo. Suosiosta kertovat jotakin jo lajille annetut moninaiset nimet swahiliksi: löytyy englannista väännetty soka , kirjaimellinen käännös mpira wa miguu (jalkapallo), sekä kabumbu , gozi tai kandimu (jotain hyotya noista mun swahilin tunneistakin!). Otsikon futarilla on täällä tosin ihan toinen merkitys kuin suomen kielessä, sillä se tarkoittaa (kuten epäilemättä myös arabiaksi) ramadan-paaston rikkovaa ruokaa auringonlaskun jälkeen. Tämän reilun puolentoista kuukauden aikana, mitä olen Stone Townissa asunut, olen koettanut enemmän tai vähemmän aktiivisesti saada käsiini naisten jalkapallojoukkuetta. Olen kuitenkin useista lähteistä kuullut, että täällä on sellainen – omin silmin en vain ole vielä kyseistä ilmiötä nähnyt. Viime viikolla olin jo niin kovin lähellä, kun astelin Mnazi Mmojan (tarkoittaa suomeksi yhtä kookospalmua) jalkapallokentille. Minul...

Behind a fence at the Paradise Beach Resort , originally uploaded by rockriikka . I’ve been reading quite a lot of Edward Said ’s (1935-2003) texts lately. He is/was a brilliant writer, I have to say. Said was the one who raised the issue of representation of other cultures and criticised the present (then year 1978) academic scholarship, implementing the power theories of Frantz Fanon, Gramsci or Michel Foucault. Although Orientalism is The Book he is known for, he has written so much more – I especially enjoyed browsing and reading “Reflections on Exile and Other Essays” (2002), anthology of some of his writings. Said’s essays covered topics such as “Representing the Colonized”, “History, Literature and Geography”, an essay for honouring a famous Egyptian bellydancer – and lastly, one of my favourites: “Jungle Calling”, a praise of Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan on the movie screen compared to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books. Quote: “Weissmuller’s African jungle was never filmed on location...

Meeting place of cultures Almost all the introductions to Zanzibar begin with a phrase: “Zanzibar has for centuries been at the crossroads of many cultures”. And yes, thanks to the monsoon wind blowing to and from favourable directions, flourishing trade did develop in Zanzibar and brought with it loads of immigrants, traders and seafarers from around the world. It is a mix made of all these influences and genes that construct Zanzibari people of today. Besides Zanzibaris, other Swahili-speaking peoples along the East African coast have also been multicultural by essence. The rich history can be seen in several cultural traits, such as language (Kiswahili has loan words from several languages: Bantu languages, Arabic, Portuguese, English, Hindi, Gujarati…), music (the most popular local music, taarab is a mixture of Arab, African and Indian influences) or food (Swahili food has a lot of Indian style spices, but they blend into a delicious mix of their own - I will have to do a posting...