Two years ago today I stared out the window of the airplane at giraffes and elephants frolicking in the plains below and became overwhelmed by the realization that my dreams of living and working in Africa were finally coming true. I knew little about the roller coaster ride I was about to embark on, but with a group of 40-some other people knowing just as little as I did, we stepped out into the suffocating humidity and heat of Dar es Salaam and into a country that would change us all.
Two years later I look back at the places I've been, the people I've met, the things I've seen and done, and I'm at a loss of words at how to sum it up. If you would have told me two years ago that I would be teaching 7th graders how to use condoms, building toilets in the middle of nowhere, holding a conversation with a tailor about how he no longer supports Obama because of his stance on gay marriage - in Swahili, or unwrapping an umbilical cord from a newborn baby's neck helping him to take his first breath, I would have told you you've lost your damn mind.
Two years ago if I would have known I would go through some of the things I've experienced here I'm not sure I would have gotten on the plane. But I am thankful everyday that I did; that I've experienced everything that I've experienced, learned everything that I've learned - good and bad, beautiful and heartbreaking. When I was very serious about throwing in the towel if one more fly landed on me, I had friends and neighbors to turn to who knew exactly how I felt and who helped me put things into perspective and remember why I'm here.
I've been pushed to my limits - in good ways and not so good ways - and learned that there is absolutely nothing I can't do. Peace Corps has taught me that, Tanzanians have taught me that. And for that I am thankful.
Here's to all of you in our health and environment training class of 2010 who have strived everyday (well almost everyday...) to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Here's to ugali and mlenda, obnoxious kondas, unforgettable sunsets, drunk bibi's, village runs, that rooster who woke me up every morning at 4:30, a shy student asking for help getting birth control, bats/cockroaches/rats/scorpions, fetching water, no privacy, volleyball, tanzanian buses, call to prayer, climbing the boulders with neighbor kids, and all of the other things that will forever remind us of our time in Peace Corps Tanzania. we did it!
