Now that I have been in Tanzania for over two months (wow, time has flown!), I have to say that it still isn't easy. I am living a very comfortable life- I have my own room, hot water, wifi, easy access to almost anything I could need- but it doesn't feel like home yet. I am struggling with building close relationships and missing my friends at home and in Uganda and of course missing my family as well. I know I haven't really been here very long yet, and am hoping this will change with time. For any of you that wouldn't mind, I would really appreciate prayers though.
Despite some personal challenges, there are many things that are wonderful about being here: I'm getting good work experience, taking an African dance class, drumming class and Swahili lessons and have met many interesting people. Tanzania is a beautiful country and I can look outside each day and see Mt. Meru and if I'm lucky I can sometimes catch a glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Next weekend I'm planning to go to Lake Babati, which is known for being home to hippos. I appreciate the warmth of the sun and often think about how cold I would be if I had been home over the last few months.
St. Jude's is located in Moshono, not far out of Arusha town. It's a pretty quick taxi ride if we need to go anywhere. There are many good places to eat around town and I have even been to a couple of movies at one of the shopping complexes (MUCH cheaper than going to a movie theater at home- just a little over $5 and it shows current movies). There are about 40-50 international volunteers working at St. Jude's and the rest of the staff is Tanzanian. The majority of international staff are from Australia, since that is where the founder is from. I think I have learned more about Australian culture since I have been here than Tanzanian. I work in the Sponsor Relations department, and since the majority of sponsors are from Australia, have had to adjust to different spelling of words when writing emails: changing many 'o' words to 'ou' and z's to 's'. For some reason the hardest for me has been, when talking about school subjects, saying 'maths' instead of 'math'. Apparently Americans do a lot of things "wrong" (or different, to be less offensive).
There is volunteer housing on campus, which is where I live. The campus is good-sized and is walled-in. St. Jude's has over 1500 students, divided between the Moshono campus (where I am) and the Smith campus (for secondary students, about 40 minutes away). The office is about a two-minute walk from my room, which is quite convenient for popping over to get coffee or tea during the day. Right now I am sitting outside, within view of my room, on a couch under a nice covered area. It just started to rain so I guess I'm stuck here for a while.
At church last Sunday, the pastor read us Mary Oliver's poem The Summer Day, in which she ends with "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" This was a good reminder for me not to just let days pass me by, but to truly live them, regardless of where I am. At the moment I happen to be in the beautiful Tanzania, and shouldn't take that for granted because before I know it my time here will be gone. It's so easy to get in the rhythm of life and day to day tasks and not take the time to explore new possibilities. I know this is something I struggle with and need to change.
Anyway, that is all for now. I know I've neglected my blog for far too long, and I would like to say I'll be better about it from now on, but I've said that before and look what happened :) So I'll just say that hopefully it won't be another 5 months before I post again.
