Saying goodbyes

From a week ago...

Well, I’m no longer in Tanzania. It is completely and totally shocking and I still don’t really know how I feel about it, but I’m here in London and working on looking back and appreciating the whole experience instead of missing it.

Last time I wrote, I was still writing my research report. It was a long, slow process, made longer by the fact that it was so difficult to concentrate on the work when there was a whole new world opened up to us by Chris and Theo. We visited their houses, we played with their puppies, we saw beautiful views and explored the farmland. We taught at the school Theo teaches at. I wished that we had weeks more to see the area and explore like this. However, my research project really interested me and I felt it was important to the community, so I spent long nights and half of my days just working on the paper and analyzing data. It was great talking with my advisor, Mwamhanga, and discussing different aspects of the research and how it could be applied. Interviewing the Lake Manyara park officials was really interesting, and made me realize how important our work with SFS is and how much we truly can contribute, which helped me to forge ahead and continue to work hard on the research.

My favorite view

Claire, Abby, and me

The meeting place tree

Don't pet the dogs!!! Well, except this one...

Cornfields!

Chris jammin out to Abby's ipod... in a cornfield.

Happy happy happy

Sunrise on our last morning

As the end drew closer, it was hard to believe that it was really coming. I pretended that it wasn’t so that I could finish my paper and prepare my presentation without that pit in my stomach that comes with knowing how short the time is becoming. Our presentation was on May 5^th, and we left on May 7^th. It was too short a time in between to even realize it was happening. Our presentations went very well; many of the community members came, and even our painter and carver friends from Mto wa Mbu showed up.  Most importantly in terms of impact, the park officials representing TANAPA (the environmental authority in Tanzania) came to see the presentations. I presented a short piece of my research on the environmental information channels currently used for environmental education, and those with which local stakeholders would prefer to be informed in the future. I also talked about how to increase locals’ attendance at village meetings where TANAPA and NGOs presented environmental conservation information.  I was pretty nervous speaking, but one head park warden came up to me afterwards and congratulated me on my confidence. “You know how to say what you know like you know it,” he told me. I was glad that he thought so! He also told me that it was part of the African tradition to present a song, and asked whether we’d prepared one. I was taken aback since it hadn’t occurred to me that a musical performance would be expected after a formal presentation, but told him I’d look into it. A few minutes later we were all singing “In the Jungle” for the crowd, which in the US would have seemed absolutely ridiculous but was greatly appreciated by our Tanzanian audience.

Research presentation

Moving out was crazy. So many thoughts to sort through, so many feelings about the place, but all I had time to do was gather my things and try to stuff them into my dilapidated bags. One large Maasai spear, two smaller ones. One bow and set of arrows, a bag of Maasai jewelry, a bag of volcanic rock. Wooden elephants, little gifts I’d received, and a bundle of little papers with email addresses scribbled by all the people I would miss. The bags packed, I sent them off in the big truck taking them to Kenya, and headed to Rhotia to spend one more afternoon with Chris and Theo.

The walk to Chris’ house was strange. As Abby, Claire, and I walked downtown, children came to greet us and grab our arms as usual, people stared as we arrived  in town as usual, and the usual smells and dust filled our senses but we knew it was our last walk and it made it different. I tried to soak in all the smells and noises and scenery, hoping to capture it in my mind forever. We hung out at the house for a while and played with two of Chris' puppies, and looked through his old photo album, now partly filled with some pictures we’d given him from our time there. He and Theo each gave us a picture of theirs with a note on the back like we’d done for them.

Photo album

One of Chris' photos from the album

Of course I had to post a couple more cute baby animal pictures before this blog ends... I know you guys were really missing out on those! :P

Little dance party on the hill :D

Later, we wandered up to the big hill overlooking Lake Manyara near Theo’s house, where we had flown the kite and had picnics before. Chris and Theo gave us each little golden heart necklaces. I wanted to cry. It was so sweet. It's hard to explain, but this short friendship has been so pure and good for all of us. We all learned something about each other, and about another place and another culture so foreign to us but made real through our friendship. I think all of us felt this strange loss at the end, like we were losing a part of that special connection to each other’s worlds. I can’t imagine this semester without them being a part of it.

Self-timed picture on our favorite hill... there were cows about to trample the camera.
That's Lake Manyara in the background!

Saying goodbye to our SFS group and all the staff was really difficult the next day. It felt so fake, like we would be seeing each other a few hours later. Sometimes that makes it easier to part ways after having been together for so long. We all hugged goodbye at the airport in Arusha, and tried not to get too teary. Difficult for me, as you can imagine. Luckily, I was distracted by trying to manage the pillow case full of things, the huge backpack filled with all of my books and other heavy gear, the wooden bow, and my guitar, all supposedly going with me as carry-on. Somehow it all worked out and fit on the plane (and was allowed on the plane—that’s how you know you’re in Africa) and we got to Kenya in a short time.

Driving through Arusha

The other students on the group flight and I were greeted by staff at the Kenya airport, where it felt quite strange walking and remembering our arrival there at the beginning of the semester. When we arrived at the Nairobi SFS camp, we were all amazed. It was so beautiful! A pang of regret hit me as we moved into our bandas for the one night we would be staying, and I got the feeling that this would be our next field station and our trip wasn’t done. When I walked into the kitchen that night, bongo flava music was playing loud on the radio, Arthur the head cook was dancing along and cooking as usual, and the kitchen was filled with the warmth, steam, and good smells of a delicious dinner. We all joined in and helped him finish up the cooking, wishing it weren’t the last time. It was one of the many times I have felt in Africa that little chores, simple things that could be boring or tedious, are done with a sense of community that makes them into something really nice. I hope I can take that with me in the future.

Arthur, Liz, Katrina, and Brittany in the kitchen on our last night in Kenya

Long exposure night shots from earlier days in Kenya 

Katrina, Moses and I sat outside and talked until it was late that night, and I could see all the stars through the trees as I lay on my back next to the fire. We woke up early and headed to the airport in the land rovers, and had our last game drive in the grey of the morning. The wind blowing in my face and the zebras and gazelle running against the background of the city was nice and reminded me of all of the other times I have felt that same freedom this semester. I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been.

One last post is coming to you that I will transcribe directly from a journal entry I wrote on the plane to England…