Those New Fangled Fancy Cell Phone Things

In the U.S. and Europe, cell phone are so common, it’s actually surprising to find someone who doesn’t have one.  They’re everywhere, and are both useful and very annoying.

            The same applies here.  Even in the middle of nowhere Tanzania, there will be a student or a very old mama (I mean like 60 or 70 who has never had electricity in her life) who will have a cell phone.  Though there are the fancy ones with internet and stuff that you see often in cities, in my village most people have the older (but practically impossible indestructible) cell phones that were popular during the early 2000s.  It’s funny because in the U.S. my parents would ask me questions about how to do something on the phone.  Well, I saw the same thing happen a few days ago, where an old mama had to get her son to save a phone number for her because she didn’t know how and he plays with her phone all the time.

            Now, I’ve complained many a time about my village not having electricity.  So how does one charge a cell phone when you don’t leave the village for weeks and weeks but still feel that need to call people to say hi?  Well, there’s a little shop that has a solar panel not far from my house.  For about 300 shillings (about 20 cents in the U.S.) you can get them to charge your phone, and they help supply the whole village with charged phones.  Those phones are used a lot.  One cool thing that I’ve noticed is that every phone here has a flashlight (super awesome when walking through the village after dark) and a radio.  Why don’t all phones in the U.S. do that?

            In the U.S., phone calls are generally short and get to the point.  “Hey, where are we meeting up later?  Ok, see you soon.”  Most of my phone calls were maybe a minute long, if not shorter…I would rather exchange pleasantries with someone in person, especially if I’m going to see them soon.  Here, it’s very common for someone to call you just to say hi.  But when I say “say hi,” it means a few minutes of social awkwardness from my end.  They just say many different greetings, then hang up without saying good-bye.  This is the thing that gets me most.  It’s great that people want to say hi, but it drives me crazy when they’re suddenly gone and didn’t tell me in any way except to hang up.

            Phone culture is definitely very different here.  For example, many people have their phones on during meetings, and will answer in the middle of the meeting without thinking it’s rude.  Everyone just waits until they’re finished.  Ring tones are loud, and if you remember “Boom Boom Boom” by the Vega Boys, it’s one of the most popular ring tones I’ve heard in country.  People speak VERY loudly on the phone, almost as if they think they have to shout in order to get their voice to go through the phone.  People will answer everywhere and have very loud conversations that I find a wee bit annoying when I’m trying to sleep on a bus.  People will also play their radios blaringly loud, but being forced to hear everyone else’s conversations and music is just common here.

            The thing about cell phones that I find interesting is the fact that many people never used a phone before cell phones.  In the U.S., landlines are not used very much anymore, but there are many parts of Tanzania that landlines never reached.  The telephone poles just never made it out to the middle of nowhere (unsurprisingly).  It’s as if the country skipped some technologies and instead adopted the technology that works best for them.  It’s like how records never made it here, but portable radios and music files are commonplace.  It’s incredible how much technology really does make a difference, even in places you wouldn’t think it would reach.