Maria

 Maria

July 11, 2011

            I had the recent pleasure of spending an entire week with Neema and Maria at my home in Mkuu.  If this is what it is like to be a grandmother, I am really looking forward to it.  I had a lot of fun, especially with Maria.  I say it jokingly, but there really is something special about Maria.  She is six now and is completing her second year of pre-primary school.  Already I am seeing the benefits of enrolling her in a good, private English medium school.  I am sure she speaks English better than Yuda.

            One afternoon, Maria and I were out on the porch coloring pictures.  A man on a motorcycle drove up, stopped, and asked me something in rapid fire Kiswahili.  Maria looked up at him and said in a stern voice, “Speak English!”  The man looked quite flustered and said nothing.  I thought he probably did not know how to speak English, so I saved him from embarrassment and repeated what I thought he said in Kiswahili.  I was right; he wanted to sell me charcoal for cooking.  (Too bad I am leaving soon, because my understanding of Kiswahili is really improving). 

            There are many things that Maria loves: braiding my hair and sticking flowers behind my ears, eating, singing, dancing, drawing pictures, watching movies, and reading books, but the thing Maria loves best is to talk.  One evening when the power was out, we were all sitting together in the living room, so I suggested that we tell stories.  Maria eagerly volunteered to go first.  She told some complicated tale in Kiswahili.  Aggie translated into English.  Maria said she had another story, so we encouraged her to tell it.  I was amazed when she started telling a story in English!  OK, it was a very short story, but the child was speaking English!  Another day we boarded a very crowded bus to go to town.  Some kind old woman told Maria to sit on her lap so that she would not be crushed in the crowd.  I was standing nearby, and I could hear Maria jabbering away.  Several times I heard her say my name in conversation and I heard the bibis laugh.  I am sure that those women now know all of my business.  I was not so upset, but when we arrived in town, Agness gave Maria quite a lecture about talking to strangers.  A few days later, Maria was once again carrying on an animated conversation with a stranger, and the lady turned to me and said, “I am a primary school teacher, and this child will be going to A-level for sure!”

            Thanks to friends and family, I now have many movies on my computer.  Aggie loves to watch American movies, but Yuda often loses interest half-way through because he does not know the language and has not had enough life experience to understand what is going on through context.  When Maria and Neema asked to watch a movie, I was not sure if they would understand enough to enjoy an American movie, and I have no Tanzanian movies.  Anyway, I decided to show them Up, an animated movie about a little boy and an old man.  Aggie had once told me that I really know how to speak to children (she probably really meant that I speak Kiswahili like a child), but I thought I would try my skills at translating the plot.  It seemed mostly to be for Neema’s benefit, because Maria seemed to follow the story pretty well.  Over the course of the week, we also watched Finding Nemo, Madagascar, Over the Hedge, and a couple of episodes of Harry Potter.  Translating a cartoon may not be so difficult, but how do you explain events in Harry Potter?  Leave it to Maria; she shrieked with laughter at all the funny scenes (remember Dudley’s pig tail) and shouted “Ery Pota, Ery Pota, toka! Toka!” (Harry Potter, Harry Potter, get away from there!  Get away from there!) when Harry was in especially precarious situations.  Movies can be so educational.  Throughout the week she summarized the stories for whoever cared to listen, and I often heard her saying, “Mr. Fredrikson, I am so tired!” and singing, “I like to move it, move it.”  When I took the girls to a restaurant in Moshi, we saw some goldfish in a tank.  Maria called out, “Ruthi, Ruthi!  Look, it is Nemo!”  Luckily she did not insist that we help him escape.

            Adorable little Maria, so intelligent, so clever, so funny; she can always make me laugh.  All Maria’s stories make me wonder about her story.  How will it turn out?  I sense her insecurity at times, like the night I woke up to find an arm wrapped tightly around my neck.  As I tried to extricate myself, she latched onto me like a leach.  I held her for a bit and then felt a quick kiss on my cheek.  I kissed the top of her head and after a few minutes, I once again heard the sound of her rhythmic snoring.  I gently rolled her back onto her side of the bed.  In addition to her loving nature, she also has a very stubborn side.  She lives a difficult life, and I wonder which aspect of her personality will become the stronger one.  Will she grow up to have a compassionate heart helping out the needy, or will she become a mercenary soldier fighting only for herself?   She insists that she is coming to America to visit me one day, so maybe I will have the opportunity to find out. 

            God bless Maria, protect her spirit, and help her to grow strong in your love.