Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Time Has Come

          I’ve spent years yearning to live in Africa, months researching study abroad programs, and weeks brainstorming a clever name for this blog (to little avail). In fact, waiting for this experience has become so habitual that I’ve almost forgotten that something will come of all the anticipation. Even as my friends post updates from Ecuador, London, and Italy, my own departure feels like an asymptote which will never be reached. And because I can’t fathom that the day is here, I spent most of winter break gathering stuff for our apartment next fall instead of getting ready for Tanzania... oops. 
          As I’ve talked to family and friends about my upcoming semester, the responses I’ve gotten have been pretty standard. In order of least to most frequent— genuine excitement, a suggestion of my ludicrousness, sorrow for my parents, or sheer confusion as to where Tanzania is and whether it’s the same as place as Tasmania (it’s not). This initial reaction is usually followed by a few questions— What will you be doing there? Why’d you choose Tanzania?— with the answers now rolling off my tongue as effortlessly as my college list did senior year of high school. Aside from the customary warning to be safe and avoid getting sick, the conversation typically ends at that. 
          However, a couple weeks ago at a burger joint with my great-aunt Cookie, I was caught off guard. “But WHY are you going to Tanzania?” she insisted, clearly unsatisfied by my rehearsed answers. 
          While there are a multitude of reasons why I chose this program which include the 30 nights of camping, hearsay of Tanzanian friendliness, and the fact that English is one of the country’s official languages, I want to be sure to dispel the notion that I’m going to Tanzania “to help the poor Africans” or "save the world" as my doctor put it yesterday. That is far from the truth. I am going to Tanzania to better understand and deepen my respect for their culture, history, and lifestyle; To observe their interactions with the natural environment and participate in a society different from the one I’ve grown up in; To relieve my curiosity, meet awesome people, and see first hand the possibility for another way of living. It’s probably more accurate to say I’m going to Tanzania to be helped. 
          This blog is a place to break misconceptions about Africa, communicate with family and friends back home in an economical fashion (compared to a $5 per min Verizon phone call), and most importantly, tell stories. 
          Despite my negligible Swahilian vocabulary— consisting primarily of phrases from the Lion King—  and the intimidating life supply of medication stashed in my backpack, I could not be more excited. It will certainly be a long, phoneless day of travel from St. Louis to Detroit to the Netherlands to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, but if my patience has lasted this long, what’s another few hours? The wait is finally over! It’s Tanzania Time.