Homecoming!

I changed my facebook status yesterday to: "31 hours after leaving my Tanzanian house, I have arrived back at my North Carolina home."

As I left Tanzania, I was left with a mixture of emotions. I was remembering how scared I was when I arrived just 7 short weeks ago and realizing how comfortable I had become. The unknowns had become familiars and I was comfortable taking care of the things that used to scare me.

Saying goodbye to people was difficult. The Tanzanians all wanted to know when I was going to come back. The truth was I didn't know, but I just told them that I had to go home, back to Duke, and finish some work. Then I'd see where I ended up. To the same degree that Tanzanians are so welcoming, they hate to see you go. Stay and have another Tangawizi ginger ale, stay and work with the watoto in the hospital, stay and make Tanzania your home.

The cab ride back to the airport with Bwana Carol traced my steps back over the things that had been so foreign on the day I arrived. He had given me an ndizi that was tiny and yellow and delicious and I recalled that I knew one word in Swahili. Now I could carry on a broken Swahili conversation with him and my belly was full of mango and passionfruit. I looked out the window from the plane as we were taking off and I had a visceral feeling that I cannot explain... maybe it was knowing that I was going to miss Tanzania.

I flew into D.C. and could see the bare trees and snow-topped roofs over the Capital City. My bare toes were met with sideways glances from other bundled travelers as to why I was so inappropriately dressed for the frigid weather. Duh, I just left Africa. I checked my bags and immediately went to my connecting gate... after I ordered a grande Starbuck's coffee. Gosh I am such an American!

I landed at RDU and collected my bags. As I rounded the corner to exit the concourse I could see my Dad. I broke into a run and had one of those great airport moments where you say hello to a loved one in front of complete strangers. It felt good to be home. My Dad was no less than thrilled.

What was the first thing I did when I got back? The answer is obvious. I needed Mexican food. One Armadillo Grill chicken taco and cheese queso later, I went home and tackled my next big craving... a steaming hot shower where I did not have to hold the shower head. Then I turned on my cell phone and started making calls across the country to the people I missed most and was excited to talk to again... I started with Denver.

My room is now a complete mess covered in the regurgitation of my bags. Dad made enchiladas for dinner (by my request. I really missed Mexican food!) and I made it until about 7:45 pm before I crashed into my bed (no mosquito net required!). Today I am off to Duke to tie up some loose ends and I'm very excited to see my professors.

It feels good to be home.

Tutaonana baadaye Tanzania!

See you later Tanzania! I am spending my last day in Tanzania hanging with my TZ BFF, Dana. We have lived it up in town, chilled on the compound, and are headed out again after a splendid African afternoon nap. I am trying to pack my bag and feel like a bit of a stereotype of a female traveler as I sit on top of an overstuffed suitcase, trying helplesses (and hopelessly) to close the bulging zipper. Some rearranging will need to happen.

I leave tomorrow on the 5:15 pm flight out of Kilimanjaro headed for Ethiopia, followed by Rome and DC before arriving at RDU 28 hours later. Hamna shida.

I was told by a professor that after the initial culture shock, the next time I would feel sad would be when I left Tanzania. While I am very excited to go home, there is some truth to that statement and I will surely miss TZ. I have missed so much of the fall that I am unsure of what it will be like to get back to North Carolina-- perhaps another culture shock. I look forward to seeing all of you and I hope that my secret fans (read: school friends, family, friends' parents, etc.) will speak up and leave comments. I have loved all of your encouragement and support!

This will not be the last of local townie's TZ blogposts, but it will be the last from the ground in Africa. Kwaheri Tanzania, hello America!

Cravings

Traveling to Africa comes with a complimentary dose of culture shock that I experienced in my first couple of weeks here. I missed so much about America and had a difficult adjustment to the way things worked here in Tanzania. As I finish up my work and look back on my time here, the shock has subsided and I am realizing that there are aspects of life here that I will miss a lot.

Things I missed about America:
-a hot shower, where I could stand without holding the faucet head
-washing machines, and not having crunchy clothes when they come out of the dryer
-good cheese
-fresh brewed coffee
-reliable internet
-perfume

Things I did not miss about America:
-driving 45 minutes to clinic everyday
-12 hour nightshifts
-18 degree mornings and scraping off my windshield
-high priced everything

Things I will miss about Tanzania:
-the produce!
-the constantly blooming flowers
-greeting everyone in the street
-deep fried everything
-the babies wrapped up in kangas

Things I will not miss about Tanzania:
-dumping out the bucket of leaking toilet water three times a day
-dala dalas
-mosquito nets
-body odor
-power outages every day
-being called 'mzungu'

My new Swahili vernacular

When I got off the plane two months ago, the only Swahili I knew was "Jambo!" My TZ friends are quite impressed with how far it has come in such a short time and I have found that certain words and phrases and snuck their way into my speech. I figured I would give ya'll a quick dictionary lesson so that when I get home and I still have TZ on the brain, you can understand what I'm trying to say.

GREETINGS:
Jambo (Response: Jambo)- Hello!
Mambo (Response: Poa)- a casual hello!
Habari- How are you?
... za asubuhi- How is your morning? (Response: nzuri- good)
... za mchana- How is your afternoon? (Response: safi- literally means clean... you would understand the importance of being clean if you rode the dala dala or washed your feet after a day of tromping through mud/dust)
... za jioni- How is your evening? (Response: salama- peaceful)
Usiku mwema- Good night!
Lala salama- Sleep well! (literally "peaceful sleep")
Kwaheri- bye!
Shikamuu (Response: Marahaba) - literally "I lie at your feet" is said as a greeting to elders as a sign of respect.
Hamna shida- No problem (the equivalent of Kenya's "hakunah matata" which I'm sure you all know from The Lion King)

Other words:
dala dala- bus
asante- thank you
sana- very
pole- sorry
karibu- welcome
who- nani
what- nini
when- lini
where- wapi
why- kwahili
really- kweli
ndizi- bananas... mmmmm
embe- mango... mmmmm

That should enable you to understand my Southern Swahili when I get home.

Kwaheri!!!

Karibu

I love the way Swahili uses "karibu" as a welcoming word. It means both "welcome" and "you're welcome". Tanzanians do not wait for someone to say "thank you" before they pronounce "Karibu!", which makes it more of an offering to the guest rather than an obligation.
I walk around town or KCMC and hear, "Karibu mzungu!" to welcome me to Tanzania. I walk into a shop or someone's home and I hear another karibu to welcome me to buy something or to feel at home. As food is placed on the table, a karibu is offered to tell me to enjoy the delicious meal.
In the Carson house we say "Proud to serve." I think the word "karibu" sums up that mentality perfectly.

Gift Giving

In the spirit of Christmas (it doesn't much feel like Christmas here since it is 85 degrees... but my house does have a plastic Charlie Brown Christmas tree that we decorated with tinsel and tiny lights) and in Tanzanian culture, I am spending this week giving gifts to the important people in my life here in Tanzania. Adellaide is the international nursing student coordinator and is getting all things that a nurse should have in her pockets-- a UNC notepad, pens, highlighter, and calculator. Vera is the Duke liason at KCMC and is getting earrings. The clinic nurses are getting American pens (a highly coveted possession). And the doctors are getting bubbles and stickers to entertain the children in clinic. There have been some Tanzanian mamas who welcomed me into their homes and fed me (wayyyy too much), so I am giving them durable grocery bags to take to the market.
Hospitality and gratitude are very important parts of Tanzanian culture so it feels good to show my thanks and appreciation to everyone that has helped me thrive here.
I am getting excited to be back for Christmas. Dad told me that all he wanted for Christmas was me back on American soil, so I'm giving him his gift a little early and coming home next Monday.

The Circle of Life

I just got back from my safari and it was AMAZING! I'm pretty sure we sang the entire soundtrack to The Lion King from start to finish. I was surprised at how easy it is to find the animals and that they are totally used to the big "animals" that drive around and make a lot of noise.

We saw just about every animal and got into a few interesting situations...Don't worry nothing dangerous... There was a fresh wildebeast kill by the side of the road with a lion in a post-lunch coma and we watched two lionesses stalk a herd of wildebeast, hoping for a snack. Sadly, they spooked the herd and there was no kill.

The three parks are all incredibly beautiful in their own ways. Tarangire is full of foothills with winding roads and animals around every corner, while the Serengeti is vast and beautiful with unique architecture of trees and watering holes, and Ngorongoro is a giant crater that is beautiful from above and below and has the best of both worlds with its lush jungle and wide open plains. Camping was quite interesting since our last night had a few uninvited guests... hyenas and wild boards invaded our campground. I stayed put until they were long gone and got up to see the African sky at night. Sunrise was pretty impressive as well. I saw the sun rise over the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. I will post more pictures later, but I wanted you to get a taste of wild Africa.