So that's it. I'm back. My Tanzanian adventure is over. Or...has it only begun? I learned so much and as hot and dirty as it was, I was starting to get used to it at the end. I was just starting to settle into the lifestyle, the slow pace, communicating with my choppy Swahili. I think sitting at a desk tomorrow will make me feel a bit lost. It will certainly be an adjustment.
On my last day, I decided to do the waterfall hike with the rest of the crew. We were all pretty quiet on the hike and we didn't actually get to jump off the cliff like we thought, so we were a bit bummed about that. The water was just too rough. We did get to see how coffee is made- we picked the berries, removed the beans, ground it, roasted it, ground it again and drank. Yum. Then I had to go while the others set up camp to spend the night there. I wasn't looking forward to the 19 hour flight but the idea of possibly sleeping that long did appeal to me. I was hoping to get back to the house early enough to say goodbye to all the staff, but I only had enough time to pack up my things and wake Frank from his nap to give him a hug. I'm truly going to miss him. He is a product of someone taking a chance on him to sponsor him through school and I think he needs to write a book about his journey. It would be inspirational. It doesn't hurt that he's one of the most beautiful men I've ever known haha...jeez.
I got through customs with nothing more than a comment about my light packing. He said "that's all you have? most girls could never do that". yep. that's right. I told you I was a master packer! My German brother Thomas picked me up from the airport. It's really bizarre coming back to what I used to be so familiar with. It was good to see him and learn that while I was away he'd become a huge Ron Paul fan (woohoo!). Another example of seeds planted taking sprout. I think about how quickly two weeks pass with not much happening as I do my day to day work, compared to my last two weeks. It seems not much happened here while I was gone and yet my world has been altered. Pretty cool.
My kitties greeted me with purring and meowing. I'm glad they didn't forget who I was. I sure missed them. I saw a few strays in Tanzania, but no one treated them as pets. I suppose when you can barely feed yourself, it doesn't occur to you to keep a pet. After spending some time with them, I took a nice long shower. soooooo nice. Then hopped in my car to grab an In-and-Out burger and fries. soooo yum. The next few weeks I will be working on putting together a website with the kids pics and info for sponsoring. If anyone is interested in sponsoring, please let me know. There are many opportunities for not only Neema's kids, but a couple of other orphanages and schools I connected with (and Neema's younger brother's university as well as helping Neema get her own diploma!).
I just have so many mixed feelings right now but it will sort itself out. Thank you to everyone who has followed me on this journey and especially those who have contributed monetarily. You may have no idea how many lives you really changed. The money given to Neema for the kids will help her hire another teacher, which in turn allows them to take on more kids and change more lives. It's a huge trickle down effect and you are a part of it. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for your support, your love, and trusting me with your donations. I have a little bit left that I kept in the account because there are a few things I couldn't buy there that I want to send over to the kids. It's the gift that keeps on giving! I will leave the account open and maybe set up another fundraiser- I want to do some more research on the best way to go about it. Until the next adventure...
Asante sana (thank you very much)
Christine
