The other day, my Tanzanian friend, Celina and I were having a meeting at the cafeteria near the pastors and teachers college.
As we were eating our morning tea, two of the pastors came up to us and started talking in Swahili to Celina. They all started to giggle a little and I got the feeling I was the subject of their conversation. All of a sudden one of the men said, “Enough of this, we need to speak in English and get HER opinion. We’ve been talking about you. Celina, tell her what we said.”
Celina then said, “This man wants to know how much he needs to pay your father in order to marry you in three months. I said that it would take ten years to be your friend and even then, you might say ‘no’. He is rather disappointed about my opinion and now wants to hear what you think.”
I blushed profusely and agreed fervently with Celina’s opinion. I thought it quite a hilarious situation, however, Kenny, my boyfriend back in Vancouver, did not. Upon hearing the story, Kenny replied, “Tell your father that whatever they offer, I’ll double it!”… Honestly, I’d be quite impressed to see how many cows and goats Kenny could come up with … This experience is yet another classic example of our crazy life in Tanzania.
Please be assured that there are NO plans of marriage in the next 3-12 months or 2 years, especially not to any Tanzanian pastors who offer their cows to my father in return for owning me as their wife… call me old fashioned but I did not swoon.
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