Last days

After the glorious visit to Ruaha reality set in as I started a series of goodbyes and prepared for my journey home.

After a farewell dinner with Stan, Barbara, Mama Zenda, Mr. Mwachombe, Allen, Miraji and Lucas I got all packed up and prepared for the 40-odd hour journey back home. My visit was complete with one last stop at Lugalo Friday morning where I got to see new friends one last time. (We decided it wasn't "goodbye" since I would see them all over the Skype in the fall.)

In a strange way I was dreading these last few days in Tanzania. Don't get me wrong, I was feeling content with what I had accomplished during my trip and was very ready to see my family, Saint Stephen's colleagues, and most importantly, Andrew, all of whom I missed very much these past few weeks.

The dread was not coming from a feeling that something would happen to me during the journey back to the States or that I would never have this opportunity again. Never see Tanzania again. Never see my new friends at Lugalo again. No, that wasn't it.

I realized that I had some hard realities to face about the way we live our lives in America. Bear with me as I wax poetic a bit, but I learned that the people I met in Tanzania are happy, proud, peaceful because that's just who they are. They don't have the trappings of high-paying jobs, luxurious homes, the latest cell phone, extravagant vacations. They don't need them, and more importantly, they don't WANT for them. They are driven from some intrinsic value...not tangible items...and come across as being such genuinely GOOD people. Lord knows I could use a bit of that--peel back the layers, get back to basics.

Lots of food for thought over the next few days. As I climbed on the bus and waved goodbye to Stan and Barbara I kept hearing the students of Lugalo singing their school song in my head..have a listen, it's pretty captivating. More later as I recap from stateside!