Body language

One the things I love about Tanzania is the wealth of non-verbal communication that litters every day. For instance, when I am running desperately late and speed walking to the dalla dalla that is rocking back and forth on its shocks in anticipation of leaving, all I have to do is lift my eyebrows once or twice and the conductor knows I need to be on that dalla dalla and governs himself accordingly. The eyebrow wiggle and a sharp lift of the chin are key tools in catching someone's attention and, usually, they indicate that you want whatever the other person is offering.

My second favourite gesture is the reverse "twinkle, twinkle little star" hand movement. Doing this motion does not indicate that you are a fan of children's nursery rhymes, rather it is a come over here gesture. If you are in a restuarant and want the waiter to come over to your table, a little twinkle, twinkle is all you need. Of course, you have to catch your waiter's eye first. Then there are the guys who sell individual sweets, 2 tablespoon packets of peanuts and lone cigarettes that get your attention by carefully balancing a roll of coins in one hand that they jounce together to form a distinctive and compelling sound.

Last, but not least, there is the handshake and tano. I know, we shake hands in Canada too. However, the Tanzanian handshake is a little bit different. It starts out the same as the Canadian handshake, but instead of letting go at the end, you start sliding your hands apart before you grip each other's fingertips (kind of like when you lock hands to do a thumb war) and flick your thumbs across each other. We may have to try out this handshake when we get home. Then there is tano. Tano literally means five in Swahili, but it is also means when two people each make a hand into a closed fist and bump each other's knuckles together. If you are getting really fancy, you can tano with both hands before bumping elbows. It is what all the cool kids do, including one of my younger co-workers and I.