I’ve decided to look back at the things I wrote right before I came here. I made lists on this blog of what I was nervous about, what my goal were, etc. Now I’m going to go back and look at them in their full hilarity and embarrassment and comment on the comments made by the old me (via italics):
Things I am most Excited and/or Nervous About that will Probably Obsolete in Four Days (Hopefully because they aren't issues, not because I have bigger issues :D )
-The other students I'm going with: I have been blessed/cursed with a school and major full of people who are somewhat like-minded. I think I'm more nervous about how I will handle the culture shock of being with new Americans than how I will handle the culture shock of being in Africa :)
Oh, how wise I was. Luckily it all worked out, but that was one of the hardest parts, hands down.
-The first pangs of homesickness
They didn’t come nearly as badly as I expected. I’ve come a long way since I was the girl that couldn’t have a sleep over until seventh grade.
-Getting know Arusha
It happened. We were intimate.
-Something happening at home that I can't be here for
Plenty happened at home that I couldn’t be there for. That was another thing that was really hard, but a major part of the learning. Usually I would bail and fly home if something that I wanted to be there for was happening. But I didn’t! Or I couldn’t…
-The fact that I can't carry Elham, Ailish, Seble, Fran, John, and all my other professors, friends, and family in my pocket, even though I know I wouldn't really want that
Who? Oh, I didn’t end up needing them. Apparently my opinions were hiding in there all along!
-Having to eventually leave
Shouldn’t this be on the wild fantasies list below? Just kidding! No, I really am sad to leave, but I think the harder parts will come once normalcy sets in at home.
-First impressions
You just gotta let them go. No matter how hard you try people decide about you almost irrelevant of how much you try to control their opinions. Especially when you are in a group of 8 white kids that everyone knows as a group. I’m really glad I had to deal with that, though. I learned a lot. Also, sometimes it's good to have enemies because it means they aren't creepin on you)
-Nervous that I will be with a group of people who want to "save African children." Sorry if that is brutal...
Well…I didn’t think about how people who think that can learn. And they learned really quickly. Even though we all still have different opinions, I don’t think anyone in the group is disrespectful.
-Being the "girl who talks too much" in my classes
It happened. It changed, though, and turned out well.
-Learning to be without a car and perpetual internet availability for the 3,000 times a day when I wonder about things and want to look them up online
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I can’t wait to drive. The internet thing sucks, but you get used to it. I didn’t even think about driving until a few weeks ago when I realized that at home I drive hours and hours every week. That’s my alone time. It was good to not have those, though.
-Not knowing lots of stuff (which of course is actually a good thing)
I still don’t know most things.
Wild Fantasies That Have Very Little Basis in Reality
-One starlit night I go to a club with my friends to dance. A jam breaks out, the best dancer in the room grabs me, and we wow everyone to tears with our powerful yet sophisticated moves. Later, he invites me to learn all sorts of new dances, become really good at them, and spend all my free time traveling with the dance company I get asked to join.
You know, I might have been able to make this happen actually…but I’m glad I didn’t because things would have turned out differently.
-My new dance partner wants to devote obscene amounts of time to learning Lindy Hop, but he doesn't have to because he is naturally good at it. So we start teaching free classes, running free dances, and create a Lindy scene that quickly spreads to neighboring countries.
This too…I easily could have done this one, but I made a choice not to. Yay!
-I buy a bicycle (hopefully this one is plausible)
Booooooo. It’s ok, though. I would have gotten hit by a car if I had gotten one right away (now I’m a street pro).
-I learn more than I could imagine about peace, law, life, and Arusha. I also get to know all sorts of government/nongovernment people that take me as their humble apprentice,teach me their ways, and invite me to stay in Arusha indefinitely. I tell them I would love too, but I must first return to my Goucherian roots and finish my last year of school. I will return immediately after finishing grad school in Stockholm.
Well…I got fairly close to this actually. But what I realized is that all those government/nongovernment people are just people and they really aren’t all that fancy.
-I become a Kiswahili master in a matter of days.
Hm…there were fleeting moments.
-Although I become best friends with all the people on my program, I also make lots of friends that live in Arusha.
Proved much more difficult than I would have thought. I do have friends, but not in the way I imagined.
-While climbing to the top of a volcano, it erupts over Arusha causing mass amounts of non-harmful ruckus, but everyone escapes just in time, no one is hurt, and nothing is destroyed.
Not quite. Dante’s Peak was on TV the other night, though. I think that counts.
-I become great friends with a local family that I begin to babysit for because at some point during the past few years my maternal instincts kicked in and I became someone who likes kids.
We babysat for our Dutch neighbors a few times. And I have a family here. That’s good enough I would say.
-My new Tanzanian fiancé invites me to stay for the summer and live with his family, though before I leave we decide we are too young to marry and break it off indefinitely in hopes that we will someday meet again. We stay great friends and visit often via the new environmentally friendly airplanes that are invented while I am there.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that whole fiancé thing…haha, actually I did have PLENTY of proposals. I didn’t expect it to be so difficult to choose!
-Every weekend I take a bus to the coast where I meet up with my new group of surfer friends and ride the waves late into the night. We build a sailboat.
No waves.
-I go to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Didn’t happen…but it will someday.
-I find a wonderful community organization to work with and remember that I'm not going to Tanzania to surf, but to learn. I surf anyway, but maybe a little less.
I found three organizations to work with!
-The local karaoke bar has thousands of songs in English, although it doesn't matter because I'm fluent in Kiswahili. One night after throwing a few back, I decide to give it a shot. A member of a local band spots me and asks if I will sing with them. In between my classes, surfing, lindy hop, volunteering, and such, I tour with the band.
Let’s never think about Friday night karaoke again…
-I play basketball and soccer on the side and create a Purple Rain sister team.
Didn’t happen.
-I run "The Pilot" with Tanzanian students.
I decided against this one.
-I am humbled.
Hell yes. I’m also a lot more sure of myself, though.
Four months is a long time. It's also not that long in the big picture, though. I'm just really grateful.
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