Honeymoon

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.