I have now been home from Tanzania for a few weeks. It’s interesting writing this now because it feels as though this program was now months ago, although it hasn’t been very long. I ended my program with climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro which was my favorite part of the trip. That experience also introduced me to Tanzanians with the same love for mountains that I have. Being in Africa taught me so many things and has widened my perspective on the way people live around the world. It has showed me how much I don’t know about places in the world, giving me a stronger desire to travel more in the future and learn more. Seeing new landscapes and animals reminds me how magical the world is. Spending time in Africa also shows me how much we are not taught living in the United States about the rest of the world. Everyone in Tanzania can tell me what our political system is and who our president is without having a newspaper or TV. Although, many people in the United States don’t even know where Tanzania is. We need to find more ways of educating our country about the world around us. Therefore I feel like traveling and studying abroad is extremely important to our understanding of the world and learning about yourself.

Although I am very grateful and happy for my experience, I had a very tough time abroad. I felt a bit trapped by my program and would suggest to others that are looking into doing a study abroad to make sure you know exactly what your program will be like. I want to keep exploring in my life, but I have now learned that the structure and the stationary nature of my program in Tanzania wasn’t the right choice for me. I missed my freedom and the way I experience nature back home with biking, climbing, and more. To add to these feeling my boyfriend of over a year broke up with me while I was abroad making my trip a bit difficult for me. The culture was amazing to learn about, but many aspects of sexism was hard to handle. I want to be able to say, like many others from my program, that it was the best time of my life and I never wanted to leave. But I was ready to leave by the end, and it was one of the hardest experiences of my life. By having this challenge although I learned a lot about myself and what I desire for my life. I feel so much more enlightened and I do think everyone should travel as much as you can in life.

Thanks Africa for everything you have giving me, and thank you Washington for welcoming me home :)

End of Program

Looking at the calendar I see almost four months that have passed by, and only 5 days left in my program. It’s hard to remember how it felt when I first got here. I have watched the land turn from sunny dusty days, into a rainy green land. Part of me never wants to leave, although part of me is so ready to go. I miss being in the United States, I miss my life there, and all the people! I miss the food so much!! I can’t wait to go to a restaurant and get whatever food I want, and go home and eat cereal! I miss rock climbing, hiking and the nature of the Pacific North West. I miss my freedom to make my day into whatever I want it to be, along with the freedom of my car and the ability to walk wherever I want. I miss my friends and family. In Tanzania we have very little freedom, we must go places with a buddy and can’t go far. We can’t leave before 6:30am and after 6:45pm. I have learned even more how much I love my home, I am truly excited to continue my life in Washington, USA. Although there are many things I will miss about being here in Africa. The animals here have made my experience. It’s amazing driving down the road to see elephants and zebra crossing the road, along with all my time in the national parks. The Serengeti, the big cats, and the wildebeest migration will be memories I cherish my entire life. The mornings are filled with bird songs, and the nights with all sorts of crazy insects. The culture is exciting and new, and there is a light heartiness to the people here that I want to take home with me. The running trails I will truly miss, the nature and views are stunning. Even though we have little freedom, I feel completely free when I go on runs into the hills and look over our little village and see all the farmers’ homes. Although, the people in this program is what I will miss most. The friends I have made are truly kind souled people. I feel so lucky to have spent my study abroad experience with them, and hope in the future to see them all again.

 Although I feel very much like I do not belong here. Many people in this area have only interacted with other Tanzanian people in their lives. Therefore as a visitor I am always a “mzungu”, a white person, a foreigner. I have learned so much from this experience of being stared at everywhere I go, laughed at constantly for the mzungu things I do, and always treated different. I understand more what it must be like for the minorities in the world who feel out of place, and never fully accepted into a culture. I am excited to be treated as a local again. The ideas of gender equality is something I miss so much. The sexism in Tanzania has been hard to experience as a girl, while trying to still respect the cultural views on the matter. Although, I don’t want to put down any of the people here, they are all still very open and accepting of us living in their village. The locals usually play soccer with us every day, and we have opportunities to volunteer in the local school and help with community service. The people are very kind and friendly, and they aren’t afraid of human contact and greeting each other and us all the time. This is something people the USA should learn from Tanzanians- that we are all neighbors. 

I expect to be in some sort of shock when I get back to the USA. I have lived in a very rural African village for the last four months, and going back to a more developed area of the world will feel different and a bit overwhelming. Although I think the excitement of being home and the opportunities I have there will help me overcome any culture shock I may have. I also can’t wait to tell my friends and family what I have experienced. The “pole pole” (slowly slowly) lifestyle is very different from the culture in the USA. In the United States people are more busy, and active. There is more stress of the busy world with deadlines and hustle and bustle. Here, everyone does their work on their own time, spending much of the day just hanging around each other (mostly the men). I think once I get home I will realize even more the difference of the two countries, and I will find more things I will miss from my time here.

I never want to stop traveling. Being here I have learned so much about the world, things I didn’t know I didn’t know. Although this experience was amazing  it was probably the hardest experience of my life, and therefore maybe one of the most beneficial to my personal growth. I feel I have grown and changed so much, and I will realize these changes in myself even more after I go back to the lifestyle that I previously had. This week I leave my program in Rhotia village and will embark on an extra little adventure climbing Killimanjaro, and visiting the island of Zanzibar. I’m very excited to have small trip on my own in this country! I will then be ending my journey and be landing in Seattle in a few weeks. I don’t know if I will ever come back. There is so many places to visit in the world. Although this experience will shape who I am, and I will always be grateful for my experience I have had here!

Nitakukumbuka Tanzania!

A Day in the Life

Every morning for the last month and a half I have woken up in my mosquito net bunk bed to the sounds of birds as the African sun rise makes the sky around me orange. The sun rises and sets much faster on the equator, also creating a much more dramatic coloration for this short time period. Most mornings I take a daily jog up to the Moyo hill (meaning heart in Swahili). This might be one of my favorite activities in this study abroad experience. I am alone which is rare here, and as I get to the top I get to see the Rhotia village below me along with the surrounding villages and mountains. I also get the view of the Manyara lake and conservation area where I got to see my first large African mammals. This open view makes me feel free and reminds me how special it is to be where I am at in that moment.

My daily life here include lectures, traveling fieldtrips, talks from guests, animal research, and cultural experiences with tribes such as the Maasai. The times I have experiences with the Maasai tribe have shown me such a different way of life. For example during my camping trip in Tarangire National Park I got to spend time asking questions and seeing a Maasia tribesman’s home and family. These experiences have been the most eye opening days of my time here. They also remind me that although their lifestyle is much different, life is still so similar for all of us. I told him to ask me any questions he wanted, and the first one was about our president Trump, and the second was about what our cows look like. Usually late afternoons are filled with playing soccer at the local field, finishing up projects, and times reading in the hammocks on campus. Lately I have been thinking a lot about my desire to see more of African during these down times. I think that has been one of my biggest challenges is not having pure freedom as I do at home. We all eat our meals on camp together unless we are on excursions. We all must help cook breakfast once a week, which has actually become something I think I will truly miss when I leave. We also have community service planting grass on farms or volunteering at the local orphanages. I have also had the opportunity to teach a few English classes at the primary school. On Sundays we get to explore the local villages, do art projects in town, or go on hikes and bike rides. Yesterday I spent my free day hiking to the top of this beautiful waterfall in Ngoronogo conservation area. Here I truly felt like I was in the wilderness. It was so nice to see animals such as baboons not just in the national parks from the jeeps, but on foot. I felt like I was truly in the African wilderness.

One of my largest goals coming here was to try to meet new people and experience the culture as much as I can. Although, meeting locals has been a bit harder than other countries I have traveled to. Although I have had the opportunity to interact with many locals at the markets, during interviews, and in town, many of the gender roles make creating friendships difficult. Many women my age are supposed to stay home and take care of the house, as man have more freedom. Many interactions with men can be seen as promiscuous, and men you talk to may randomly ask you to marry them. Although people in town are so friendly and happy to interact with anyone! I got the opportunity to do a home stay and learn about the culture of the Iraqw tribe. Although I did see the gender roles in this families, the lifestyle is very happy and laid back. We spent the day in their hand built mud and stick home drinking tea and helping with household chores. We cleaned the mud out of the home from the cattle because the cows and family sleep in the same hut. We also helped with cooking and a little farm work. I loved how the kids and parents spend the whole day together! They were not rushing or stressing about any work to be done, just gradually doing their household chores with smiles on faces. Yesterday I was able to talk to a man that lives in Arusha, the big city nearby. It’s interesting to hear how different the culture seems there, and how it seems a bit more similar to my life back home. This made me question how my impressions of Africa might change depending on what region of the country I am living in. I’m excited for our three day spring break in Arusha, to compare these differences.

Many of my opportunities and privileges back home I am starting to miss. It’s easy to not realize the luxuries of first world countries when you spend your whole life there. The food may be my most missed aspect of the United States. Cheese isn’t really a thing here, and I miss quesadillas! Of course I knew I would miss things like rock climbing, and my friends. Although, I find myself missing things I never thought I would, such as going to movies, Washington vibes, grocery stores, warms showers, and not being starred at everywhere I go. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to realize how much I love where I live, and the experience to know how other people live in this world. My advice to anyone else doing this program in the future would be try to talk to as many people as you can, they will laugh at your broken Swahili, but you will learn the culture and language so much more! I am almost half way done with this program, and I have learned so much about this culture, and about myself. With another two months left, I have so much more to come and experience!

First Impressions

Around two weeks ago is when I was getting on the plane to come to Tanzania Africa. The first night we spent in Arusha, where I met the people I will be living with for the next four months. I was surprised that out of the group of around 35 individuals 6 were guys, and the rest girls! Although the dynamic works really well! It seems like pretty much everyone gets along although we all have our differences. It seemed we all felt like we knew each other even after the first day. The SFS Moyo Hill camp is in a town called Rhotia, which is a small village of about 1000 people. It’s primarily an agricultural village. Going into town many people say hello, or “mambo!” This is especially true for the children! Every time I leave camp to go into town, or for field excursions, or even on a run I have kids waving and smiling giving me hugs and high fives. They are all very exciting to talk to anyone! People in the village let kids have more freedom, and no one is a stranger and it takes the village to raise a child. Everyone is friendly and greets everyone.  Although it has very much felt like we get constant stares as we stick out from the locals! Hopefully learning more Swahili will help us create deeper connections to the local people.

     On campus we have clubs we have started which all sounded so fun so I am getting involved in a few! I am in a painting club (where will we paint our houses in accordance to their animal names), athletic club, volunteering at the primary school club, hiking club, yoga club, and more! So far we have been playing a lot of soccer with the community- something I am really awful at. Although, I thoroughly enjoy the experience of being able to spend time with the staff here and other locals.

     Many cultural aspects are much different here! I knew this would be this way, so no big shock coming here, although I wasn’t quite sure what everything would be like. First off we must dress very modestly, that means we must have chest and shoulders covered, and skirts or shorts down to the knees! There are also tailors in town where you buy fabric and then they can make you anything you ask for (very excited about this)! Some girls have already have had shorts, dresses, overalls, and more made! Dating is also done very differently here. You cannot be public about dating, you must be in secret. Once others or your family find out it is assumed you will be married soon! There is no public display of affection for your significant other, although all friends of every age holds hand, and people are very touchy with one another.

     Just last week we got to see our first large African mammals and Lake Manyara National Park. I saw elephants, zebras, wildebeest, impala, giraffe, and even a glimpse at a lion and leopard. We have a few camping trips, one to the Serengeti National Park where I heard that we are more likely to see some large predators. I have really enjoyed the hands on class activities, overserving baboons, scat tracker with the Masaai tribe, mapping the local area, and outside lectures. We have one free day a week where we get to go hiking, take African art classes, go to the markets, or whatever sounds fun! Things are very cheap here so we can do activities or buy souvenirs for pretty cheap!

     I feel like it’s overall very rewarding to view another culture so different from mine own. But at the same time realize how similar we all are together! It’s very interesting to interact with people such as from the maasai tribes where they have a very traditional African culture and we are all still able to laugh about a game of hacky sack that we play together. All of our staff have the same passion for the environment and conserving our planet just as many others do in this society. I feel like I have learned so much, and barley two weeks have passed! I’m excited to see what else is in storeJ

Pre Departure

In two days I leave for Tanzania, Africa where I will be studying abroad for the next four months. One of my biggest draws to participate in this study abroad is my desire to travel. I want to see the world, and Africa is somewhere I have never been. In this country in particular I feel the culture is so beautiful different that it appealed to me over other places. I feel like traveling gives you more ability to learn what the world is really about. Sometimes we get too stuck in our own little worlds we forget how many other little worlds are going on around us. Also how different these other little worlds can be. I want to show myself these new places, and ideas and see how I can grow and truly become who I want to be.

This summer I spent two months traveling alone in Spain and Portugal, and walking across the country of Spain on El Camino de Santiago. Traveling alone was amazing for me, putting myself in a vulnerable position I have never been in. It gave me much courage and insight into the world around me, and the people in it. I’m excited to compare this past travel experience of being alone, to this one being with around 30 plus other students in a very controlled atmosphere.

With the program School for Field Studies I will be doing classes and research working with land use changes, wildlife management, and biodiversity conservation in local areas of Tanzania.  I’m very excited to be getting experience in field work research and hope to be able to apply this to a future career in Environmental Science work for conservation of our planet! I’m truly passionate about keeping our planet’s habitats intact not only for us but for all living creatures. As we all know this world wasn’t made for us! Every living thing shares this planet and we must act to maintain that. Preparing for this trip I read a bit of history about local tribes and the language of Swahili! It’s very interesting all the influences that have made the local African culture the way it is. I’m excited to experience this, and learn a bit of the language myself.  

I am sad to be away from my boyfriend for another few months, along with other friends in my life. I hope distance will only reminds me and them of how much we truly appreciate our presence around each other. I’m very excited to see animals I have only seen in zoos. I also can’t wait to be on another hemisphere and look at a different set of stars in the night sky. I’m nervous to be in a situation with many strangers, although excited for the friendships I will build. Can't wait to see what's to come!

Here we go!:)