It seems like it has been both 3 days and a year and a half since I left Virginia. In reality (at the time of writing this) it has been about 2 and a half weeks. Most of this blog so far has strayed from my initial intentions to make it about nature. I think that is ok though! This is my space to write what I have experienced in general, so I am just going to be putting out what I want to.
It has been a wild ride full of bus rides and long walks. Endeavors into shopping and tailors- or fundis as they’re called here. Lots of learning, and not a lot of downtime. Truly a wild few weeks, and now I have spent about a week now in the Tanga region and it is beautiful here. I’m not sure if it is technically the rainy season or the dry season because it rains about once a day, but only for about 10 minutes. The weather isn’t too hot, it is less humid (surprisingly) than it was back home, and the wildlife is doing its best.
My walk to my school is one of the most beautiful walks I have ever experienced. The mountains near my school seem to rise out of the fields and crest beyond the buildings at my school. Fields full of cultivated plants juxtapose the wild and unkempt area around it. Out of the corner of your eye you will see movement- sometimes a lizard, sometimes a chicken makes its way onto the path on the way up the hill. Maybe this walk will get old eventually, but for now I get to attempt to birdwatch and explore the natural world in my day to day. Dr. Henk, you’d be proud!
At school, on the 29th of July I will be teaching my first class here in Tanzania. The class is Form 3 (I think that means they are about sophomores in HS), and they are starting to learn about neurons. A fun thing about schools here, primary school is all taught in swahili, but secondary school is all in english… a language that they don’t know. This means that while I will technically be teaching in english, I really should be teaching in both english and swahili because imagine being asked to do all your work in a completely new language one day with no previous training!
I am much farther along in learning swahili than I thought I’d be right now. Sure I am mostly just able to greet people and communicate very basic needs and wants, but it’s fine- hamna shida. Did you know that learning a new language is a great way to challenge your brain, keep it healthy, build new neural connections, and fight off diseases like Alzheimers and Dementia in the long run? Stuff that I don’t really need to worry about right this second, but doing stuff like this I think is going to be good for longevity.
Not only am I challenging my brain, but also my body. I am definitely getting more exercise than I was back in the states. Now I am walking most places, plus eating healthier (kind of) I have another post about the food here coming soon.
Certainly it has been a long few weeks. I feel like I am just constantly exhausted, and all I want to do is take a day and just lock myself in my room, but I suppose that is frowned upon here in the land of socialization 24/7 (seriously do Tanzanians even sleep? I am the first to bed and last to rise and I only sleep 7ish hours a night. Once I woke up to all new furniture in the house. There is always someone over. I don’t get where this energy comes from)
I am going to make a post later this week about the culture shock that I certainly have and continue to experience- both the good and the bad and what I have learned from it. For now, I am going to go to sleep! Usiku mwema! Thanks for tuning in to “Carly’s Adventures in Tanzania”.
BioAbroad 
Hi Carly, I am happy that you are having a great time there. This reminds me some comments made by Dr. Jim Grier at North Dakota State University when I was there. He said “a person should fulfill three adventures in his/her life; 1) fly an airplane, 2) experience a new culture by living with them, and 3) write a book. Two done, one more to go!
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