where slaves left the heart 
Bagamoyo 18.02.2010
Questa settimana ho riscoperto la mia piccola grande Bagamoyo, che, pur vivendoci da due mesi ormai, conosco poco e riesce a stupirmi ogni volta…
Domenica, dopo una giornata trascorsa per la prima volta nel mio enorme lettone con la compagnia della musica, della grammatica swahili, di un buon libro e dell’immancabile ventilatore, sono uscita nel tardo pomeriggio con l’intenzione di avventurarmi tra le strade impolverate di Bagamoyo e andare verso il mare per godermi le ultime ore di sole…
Inaspettatamente mi ha accolto una Bagamoyo più movimentata e allegra del solito e alla mia curiosità è stata presto data risposta… più di una In fact, as I passed person has approached me for Valentine's Day greetings .... That's right, Valentine, who would have said, an event for this small seaport ... Curiosity is increased when a few steps from one of most popular, Corner, I discovered a large number of people aiming to take a bunch of kids shooting a music video! Given the particular event, I decided to change my plans, sit at the bar to drink a "soda" and observe the movement around me! More than the fact itself - two "singers" dressed as a rapper, two girls, fashion, music, a microphone, a computer and a camera - to invoke the mio interesse è stato il variegato gruppo di persone fermatesi ad osservare: bambini al collo delle mamme, bambine con vestitini arrangiati e sporchi, ragazzine con il velo insieme ad amiche più spigliate con jeans attillati e magliette aderenti, donne con i secchi appena riempiti al pozzo, altre pronte a vendere qualcosa, ragazzi in cerca di un incontro, uomini di una certa età con il tipico berretto tanzaniano, donne anziane accompagnate da un bambino… tutti lì, incantati, quasi il tempo si fosse fermato! Per poi disperdersi un attimo dopo, una volta finita la musica.
Concluso lo spettacolo, ho ripreso la mia strada verso il mare… Fino a domenica ero stata in spiaggia sì e no quattro volte, mai da sola e sempre at the beach where there are various resorts that host Western tourists ... where I do not feel too uncomfortable to get in costume, because the world go by is always short and I can still pretend to be a tourist, rather than a volunteers working with a local NGO. Generally, the beach on a Sunday is always empty, because there are no fishermen at work and why the people of Bagamoyo hardly see the beach as a place to spend your free time and maybe cool off a bit 'in the sea.
But Valentine's Day it seems everything changes ... This time I took to the "port", where during the week leave the fishing boats and houses so that the fish market. Passing through the many ruins dating German colonial empire, which "remember past sad and glorious at the same time" of the town, you get to the ruins of an old Arabic fort, where slaves were once concentrated in Zanzibar to send .. . And that, in some ways, maybe it's also the place that gave rise to the name of the town. Bagamoyo in fact wants to say "here I leave my heart", a phrase probably refers to slaves who were brought here to be sold overseas and that, therefore, abandoned any hope here. And indeed:
"The atmosphere of quiet sleepy and seemingly Bagamoyo lies a history of a different kind. In Make the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Omani sultans who ruled in Zanzibar also controlled many coastal cities of Bagamoyo and made the culmination of many caravans that arrived on the coast from the heart of the continent. Caravans laden with ivory, but also of "ebony", a euphemism with which slavers defines trafficking. Bagamoyo became the main hub of the slaves that were collected and sent to the great market of Zanzibar which is only 42 km of sea, before being sent to their final destinations. "
If usually, in utter desolation of the beach, you will You can almost imagine the slaves, all lined up ready to be boarded, it was not so ... differently than usual this Sunday, in fact, a river of people welcomed me with open mouth ... leaving some families with children, some lonely man, but especially so many young blacks ... many dots for a few miles of beach: the "rub" of Bagamoyo . Not only that, in fact quite unusual, many people in the water. Of these also some girl! Only a pair of shorts with the most courageous and costume, complete with all the other clothes (and, paradoxically, much more sensual of friends) ... and then, boys engaged in capoeira exercises, others to drink beer and dance to music from a car not far away, still others simply to walk hand in hand back and forth on the beach ... a different beach, I fear I will have no way of seeing it again for a long time and therefore I wanted to enjoy until the end, risking a bit 'dangerous to stay until dusk as a woman ... as white as myself ... but the people were so many that it was hard to be afraid ...
Today, with still images of the head in Sunday's events, I thought I'd run home, pick up a book and get back on the beach ... Once arrived, I quickly realized that I would not stop ... the situation on Sunday was only a memory. The beach is almost non-existent due to the high tide and what little was occupied ... many fishermen, all men, intent on their work, some kid in the water, no women ... I felt an intruder, not uncomfortable, but intruder! and I took the puzzlement in their eyes as I passed. I never dreamed I sat down to read in that situation and I was left with no choice but to go away ... at all bitter, indeed, with a smile for being at least share a bit 'of a "piece" of everyday life that is one of the main economic activities in this town. Too full of enthusiasm, but I did not want to go home and I walked between "the evocative ruins that rise between the coconut palms that surround the beach .... " Right here I was drawn to a lively music of drums and of course I approached. Among the remains of two old houses, I found a group of boys and girls to dance to the beat of drums, the typical local dances. The temptation was to throw them together without shame, but I'm limited to join with other observers. The situation was funny, because the dance group was composed primarily of girls, but of all ages in an age of ten years ... and then you guys about playing the drums, a xylophone and a drum really improvised. All this went on for over an hour and, because every time they stopped and gave advice to each l’altro su come muoversi, ho immaginato che stessero facendo delle prove. E infatti, perché ovviamente come mzungo non sono passata inosservata e alla fine ho avuto modo di scambiare due parole con loro, si trovano due/tre ore ogni giorno a provare nella speranza di poter offrire un giorno il proprio show ai resort sulla spiaggia, per intrattenere i turisti. Nonostante non fossero proprio professionisti, sarei rimasta per ore ad osservarli incantata, a riempirmi della polvere che si alzava ai loro passi… e a sorridere come una scema! Più il ritmo incalzava più anche i loro movimenti diventano spontanei e naturali, nel vero senso dei termini… movimenti semplici, ma che io, anche provando, non potrei imitare per quel famoso “ritmo in blood, "they obviously have.
Silvia Volpato
Volunteers in the Civil Service - Tanzania
