From a Bideshi to a Mzungu

In Bangladesh is a little bit more clear cut: if you are not a Bangali, you are a Bideshi, a foreigner. Just as simple as that. Although, lines can get a little bit blurry when your local friends can swear you have become more Bangladeshi than them.

Things are not that simple here in Tanzania. Here I am a Mzungu. People shout it as you walk by and restaurants and bars use it in their title. A mzungu is a white person. The more appropriate translation is actually “foreigner”; however, I’ve also heard it translated as “one who is perfect” and according to my Tanzanian cultural guide book, literally translated, mzungu means “one who walks in circles”. Either way, when you're in East Africa you cannot escape being called a mzungu.

Apparently the world originated when European colonizers came to the area and were perceived by Africans as walking in circles. I am definitely a mzungu. I get lost, I can’t speak Swahili, I need my sunscreen and my bug spray, and I can’t understand why things don't work the way they should work sometime!

At first I thought it was kind of derogatory, but as I hear more often, I’ve abandoned the idea of being irritated by it. And I didn’t realize how incredibly white I am in the sunlight next to a bunch of Tanzanians until I walked on the beach on my first day in town.Oh well, I’m a mzungu and there’s no getting around it!