So, I suck at updating this blog!!! I’m so sorry.
As in all things, I am trying to be better. Since March though??? Yikes. Anyways… Dearest Molly Nora Callaghan emailed me asking
these questions about my experience now that I have been here for SIX MONTHS!!!!! I can’t believe it. It feels like 6 days and 6 years. I’m one-quarter of the way home kids…
I decided that the answers to these well-formed and thought provoking
questions (thanks Moll) might be interesting to a wider audience, so here you
go!
How’s
life in Africa?
Life in Africa is at once difficult, beautiful, painful, fun, new, old,
and just nuts… in varying ratios.
I definitely have good days and bad days, more dramatically than I’ve
experienced before. Some days I
feel overwhelmed and that even at this point I have not progressed and things
have not gotten any better for me here… then I remember that I did not feel
that way yesterday.
Also, when thinking about returning home, I used to only feel excitement and longing. I definitely still look forward to going
home, but I am starting to feel like I will miss it here when I go. Bittersweet.
What’s
been your favorite part?
Too hard… but here are some fun things. Kilimanjaro half marathon, retreat in Tanga and swimming in
the Indian Ocean, shopping for beautiful vitenge and khanga, silly
conversations with kids, learning to cook chapatti in the village and laughing
the whole time, getting the words AND dance moves down for a choir song…
A really great experience I will never forget is having kids in the
library at school for the first time.
Until a couple weeks ago the room and the books in it were off limits to
the kids. Now each class has one
forty-minute library period per week.
I gave some brief instruction on being quiet in the library and returning
books properly, but then just let the kids at it. It was so cool to see how excited and engrossed in the books
they were. Most of them have never
had a storybook before. I have
lots of ideas for creating a library program that includes reading comprehension,
fluency, etc, but my main goal is to keep that excitement level up and get kids
to love reading.
Least
favorite?
Also too hard… but probably feeling lonely. You get used to having lots of friends and family around
always planning the next fun event, and then bam… you’re living in stark
contrast to your previous life.
It’s getting easier, but keep the updates coming!
Navigating the use of corporal punishment in school has also been really
really hard on many levels.
What’s
the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?
Cow stomach in banana soup.
The banana soup part was delicious, but I’m really not that brave when
it comes to eating meat. There is
usually a process where I try to identify 1) what animal, 2) what body part,
and 3) meat, fat, cartilage, or bone.
A boneless skinless chicken breast chicken breast is sounding pretty
good about now.
I often try to sit next to Cristina and dish some to her… she will not
only eat, but like nearly any type of meat. A true champ.
What’s
the craziest thing you’ve seen?
Two images come to mind with this question. The first is women carrying things on their heads. It is truly incredible, and it’s
usually with a baby on their back too.
I’ve seen three tables stacked on one another, GIANT bushels of reeds, a
four year old child in a basin carrying the gospel (at a celebration at
church), giant suitcases, and more.
Another one is accidents on the road here. I’ve seen a person lying immobile in the road. One person gathers branches that serve
as what we would use flares for at home: warning the other cars to slow and go
around. Almost immediately a large
crowd of people gathers around the person. I’ve never seen an ambulance at one of these… I have come to
realize how far we keep ourselves from our mortality at home. Here, death is really part of
life.
Where
your favorite place you’ve travelled?
Of course I would love Moshi, right? The views of Kilimanjaro are stellar. I think I need to get to the top of
that at some point.
Also, Morogoro is incredibly beautiful. We had a retreat there just before Easter. See pictures on Flickr.
Do you
drink coffee now?
Not yet. I do, however, eat
lots of peanut butter. So
strange. I’m still having some
cognitive dissonance around it.
Do you
have a favorite kid?
Of course. I have a few,
and often it depends on the day.
There is a kindergartener named Smart who I think looks like Taj Mowry
(The Smart Guy…), which of course I’m obsessed with. There is a first grader named Benson who is so sweet and
tries so hard, but is also just a clown.
A couple pre-one girls, Rehema and Sabrah who seriously crack me up with
their facial expressions (on purpose).
Also one of the littlest ones, Kevi Mdogo, (Little Kevin… there are two and the other one is tall)
who is so little that the baby fat in his cheeks bounces up and down when he
marches.
There is also a group of older girls that I hang out with at lunch
sometimes… they are hilarious.
Tausi, Zena, and Edina. Zena must be about 5’11 and Tausi is maybe
5’0. Of course they are
besties. They have taught me a lot
about language and culture here, and laughing the whole time.
How are
the roomies?
The roomies are good.
Sean’s family just visited us here in Dodoma. They have all just set off for Zanzibar together. It was so cool to see them all share in
Sean’s experience here together.
Also, it was great to have an “outsider’s” eyes on things that I hadn’t
even realized I’ve started to get used to. They also brought some really great gifts, including PRETZEL
M&Ms!!!!
Laura’s siblings are arriving in a few weeks at the beginning of
July. They will be here in Dodoma
and then set off for a siblings safari!!!
Even I will have some visitors with Ms. Ahlbach coming at the end of
June!
Cristina and I have so far have had very different experiences in our
first year. She mainly started in
a very blissful honeymoon period, that is unfortunately starting to wane. As for me, most of you know that I have
struggled quite a bit here, but things are starting to look up. It’s kind of nice now that we are
meeting in the middle. I’m glad we
are sharing this experience together.
Are you
excited/nervous/both to have new ones in December?
Yes. Both. Roxanne and Jamie will make us a
power-house of all females. At
first I was really nervous about it, but on reflection, I think it could be really
fun. Growing up in a family of
three girls should probably have prepared me for this, right?
I am really excited to get to know them, nervous to be a second-year for
them, and sad to say goodbye to Laura and Sean. But then again, it’s not for six months, so why worry!
As always, thanks for reading and thanks for the love. The internet is going too slow to upload pictures, but check some out on Flickr (hannahbrosnan1). Missing you all terribly. Try not to forget about me!!!!!!
