And Iโm Back!
Well, after nearly 7 months, Iโm back in Tanzania working at the SEGA Girlsโ Secondary School (http://nurturingmindsinafrica.org/) in Morogoro. And after all that time, it still feels like home and almost like I never left. Although, I guess 7 months isnโt that long in the grand scheme of things?
The hardest thing when I left SEGA in August was knowing that I might not see any of the girls again. And I think this makes complete sense -- I had been here for 2 years. These girls, this community, this country was my everything. So when I returned to the states, as much as I wanted to stay and be with my friends and my family and really start my life there, I couldnโt pass up the opportunity to come back in a new role as the schoolโs Quality Program Advisor. I feel so fortunate and grateful to have been able to come back. When I arrived at SEGA, many of the girls saw me in the car and ran to my house to greet me. Some of the other foreign staff here said they had never seen the girls run so quickly! I was smothered in hugs and smiling, familiar faces the second I stepped out of the car. I think I didnโt realize how much I missed them until I saw them again. Those beautiful, shining smiles get me every time!
My first week has been quite a whirlwind but Iโm in my element here. It didnโt take me long to settle back into the swing of things. Nor was it difficult adjusting to the heat or the slower pace of life; things that took me a long time getting used to when I first came to Tanzania in 2014. I stepped off the plane in Dar, sweating, hearing Swahili and being among few other white people and it felt so normal. I mustโve looked like I knew what I was doing because this German man who lives in Abu Dhabi, started talking to me and explained that he was waiting for his next flight to Kilimanjaro and was worried heโd miss it because of how long it was taking to get his tourist visa. I just smiled at him and calmly said, โhamna shidaโ (no worries). I told him how everything always seems to work out here โ it may be an inefficient and stressful process, but itโll all work out; it always does. He laughed and said he understood, and that it was reassuring to hear that from someone whoโd been in the same boat before.
Hamna shida. Itโs a saying I find myself using over and over and over again here. No water to shower my first night here after my flight and sweaty four and half hour drive to Morogoro.. hamna shida. Drove into a ditch in town and spent at least an extra hour and a half standing in the hot sun waiting as random men put on the spare tire.. hamna shida. Patience is truly a virtue.
