Greetings from Tanzania!
I arrived safely three weeks ago and have many initial
experiences to share. To cover the basics, I arrived, the food is good, I am
healthy and happy. Allow me to elaborate. The first two nights that we spent in
Dar are a blur. I was jetlagged, tired, there was a lot going on, and we were
meeting many new people. We visited Gonzaga one day. They were doing a bit of
refurbishing, but it looks nice and will be ever better once it’s filled with
the students. It is confirmed that I will be teaching English to standard three
and ICT to standards three and four. I thought ICT was a computer class, but it
is actually learning about all forms of communication including a section on
computers (ya, I still really don’t know).
We traveled to Morogoro, which was an easy four hour bus
ride. Morogoro is BEAUTIFUL. We stayed on the campus of the Lutheran Junior
Seminary which contains the Swahili language school. Our days went like this:
breakfast at seven, morning devotions at seven forty five, morning lesson at
eight, tea time at ten, continue morning lesson until lunch at noon. We had a
long afternoon break at which time I most frequently napped. At two thirty we
began drills (saying the same phrases over and over for repetition) and ended for
afternoon tea at four…does this sound like LOTR to anyone else?, “but what
about second breakfast?” We would do our homework, or play volley ball, or nap
again until dinner at seven. The evenings were free and we played cards and
watched movies with other students in the common area. Our teacher, who is
actually the director of the school, was awesome. He had a great sense of humor
and understood where we were coming from as foreigners fresh in country. We
learned a lot! Mostly the basics of grammar and greetings. My vocabulary has
some growing to do. On the weekend we visited the Masaii cow market (you’ll
have to look online for pictures) and also went on an incredible hike. It was a
good way to ease into the country. The environment was fairly sheltered so the
only Tanzanians we were interacting with were mostly teachers, who well
understood our language struggle and were encouraging and helpful. We made good
friends of our teachers, who are mostly our age and younger.
The four newbies on a hike in Morogoro. (Barbara, Ryan, Becca, and myself)
After two weeks we left for Dodoma. It was hard to say
goodbye to the place and the people with whom we had become so familiar in
Morogoro. The first order of business in Dodoma was to go on retreat with the
eight volunteers (four in Dar and four in Dodoma). We stayed at a
convent/retreat house where the sisters took great care of us. It was a good
time to become more centered and begin to reflect on the other side of this
transition, which is, being here. We had time to share our story, meet in our
communities, and talk about some of the things we are going to inevitably
struggle with while we are here. I was happy to spend time in our community,
talking about the coming year and having that initial bonding time.
Barbara and I with our new friend and fellow graduate Henrick at graduation.
Christmas was great. Since my family was able to have a mini
Christmas before I left, I really didn’t feel homesick. Christmas eve we went
to mass in the evening. It was all in Swahili, but there were a few songs that
I recognized. The best part was a five minute rendition of Gloria, you know,
GLOoOoOoOOOoOoOoOoOoOria. There was a children’s choir who danced and sang in
the aisles of the huge parish. It was awesome. After mass we were invited over
to the Jesuit residence for drinks and (literally) midnight snacks. Christmas
day we spent at the Jesuit residence at St. Peter Claver High School just
outside Dodoma. We cooked a huge meal for twenty five people. It was quite a
dinner. It wasn’t a white Christmas; a torrential downpour would have to
suffice.
All the JVs (sans Barbara who's taking the pic) at our Mexican food themed Christmas eve dinner.
It was seven hours on a bus back to Dar Es Salaam and we
managed to have no problems or delays. I was happy to unpack the suitcase
(finally!) and get my room set up. We have been here three full days now and
the honeymoon is wearing off. Slowly I am beginning to feel the shock of moving
here, settling in, and calling Tanzania my home. It is good though. I am not
unhappy, just acclimating. We have walked around the neighborhood and met many
of the people who are friends of the JVs and some of the men and women who we consistently
buy our food from. Today even we had a tour of the parish compound and learned
about all the communities and schools the parish is a part of.
The Dar Es Salaam JVs with Dodoma in the background. (Barbara, Alyson, Erin, and myself)
For New Years Eve we are having a big party at our house. We
have invited many neighbors, teachers, and Jesuits. It will be a really
exciting evening meeting and greeting many people, but I am happy that we can
welcome so many people into our home. I look forward to feeling a real sense of
belonging. Even a few friends from the language school will come.
Phew, that was a lot. It felt like a lot packed into three
weeks! Happy New Year! Peace.
