Clothing and dress are very interesting things. As mentioned before there is a HUGE demand for second hand clothes here in Tanzania. It is interesting when you see such things as an RDU 106.1 Raleigh Durham NC radio station T-shirt on a guy or a Mule Days shirt from a small town in Georgia. On campus for men normal dress is long pants and long sleeve dress shirts. Women usually wear dresses. Me, I wear shorts, tevas, and t-shirt. I have debated on this, but have asked a lot of people what they think about my dress habit and they smile and say that it is what is expected of me and that it is fine because I come from a different culture. Believe me, I tried to wear long pants and a short sleeve dress shirt, but I sweat like a whatever and I can't be doing laundry every day or afford to smell like I would if I kept up that practice, so they don't mind me when I am comfortable.

Tanzanians, however, would not dream of wearing shorts to class. As my roommate told me, he would love to wear shorts, but he says his fellow Tanzanians would say, "What's wrong with this guy?" or they would think that he is trying to be like his Western roommate and neglecting the Tanzanian norms of society. Women are to wear dresses, although there are now some that have begun to wear dress slacks, which seems to be accepted as long as [they are] not tight.

There is a underground group called Mzee Punch which will "punch" a person who is not following what they determine as culturally accepted. A "punch" usually consists of a poster/banner hung from the cafeteria or from the roof of a building naming a person and what he/she has done--their lifestyle, and many things about them, whether they be true or false. More than often Punches target women, because since Mzee Punch is believed to be mostly men, they know how they want their women to behave (so is believed). Unfortunately, what comes after a "punch" is the sad thing, especially for women. It is basically shunning by your fellow students for fear that if they associate with you that they too may be "punched," so the cycle continues. This social outcasting has led to suicides over the years, and possibly to a suicide that occurred a week ago. Students have mixed attitudes toward punch when I have asked them. Men seem to think that it is good because it is keeping the culture and not letting people get Westernized, but it seems also to keep the women where they want them. Women, when I have asked say, "I don't want to talk about it," and that is how intimidated they are by the whole thing. I have been told by my friends in the administration that it began back in the 1960s as a good thing that more so targeted government and the corruption. In 1985 they (Mzee Punch) "punched" the President of Tanzania and police were sent to the university and while they were guarding the cafeteria (the site of punches) they were punched again. That instance is why people credit the group with being such a "smart" and tactical group. Mzee Punch never dies. Each new year they lose members and gain others....---John