AMERICA CHANGES YOU...thoughts from my first few days back in Tanzania!

My journey back to Tanzania started last Monday when I woke up at 3:30a.m. to get my last nice long hot shower.  After stopping for Dunkin Donuts coffee, later some breakfast, and sitting in traffic I finaly made it to the airport around 9:00a.m.  I checked in my 4 bags very quickly as I was able to check in at business class!  YES BUSINESS CLASS! (was able to upgrade my ticket for the long flight using miles) It was then time for the final goodbye.  It has been routine to only allow my friend Steph to take me to the airport since the beginning.  I say my goodbyes to my family and other friends before that.  I absolutely hate goodbyes so I have found the less I have to do at the airport the better.  I am usally good at holding back any emotion during the goodbyes it is usually after that I have a good cry after each goodbye and then I am better.  For some reason this time I it didn't come after each goodbye, as if reality didn't set in until I stepped into the airport, and checked my bags in and then it hit.  After 8 months of being around my family for all the major holidays and birthdays, being able to text my friends from the states on a whim and do things with them, I was now leaving that for the next 11 months.  I still knew that God was calling me to get on that plane and fly to Tanzania, but I also know that each time I leave behind my family and friends from the States it gets harder and harder. 

After riding the first leg on Business Class, I was spoiled.  The food is better, the seats recline so that it feels like you are laying in a bed, and you get your own little table storage area.  It was amazing.  Then I was back to the regular seats for the last leg of my flight.  I made it to Tanzania and quickly passed through customs only to wait on my luggage.  Then the memories of what it is like to live here began, and I began to realize how much AMERICA DOES CHANGE YOU!

(These are just my reflections, not to meant to be positive or negative, just what was going through my head as I returned).

* personal space-- In America its just expected and given. You have personal space and others don't invade it.  Well my Tanzanian brain flipped back on so I knew I needed to go get a cart for my luggage and claim a space as close to the luggage belt as I could.  I had the thought to make myself as big as possible so that my space would not be overtaken.  I kept my bookbag on, which was quite big at this point, because I had stuffed my sweatshirt into it.  The guy behind me for about 30 minutes insisted on talking with his hands, and every time he did he had no problem with bumping into my bookbag.  I found myself getting extremely annoyed and thinking does he not realize he keeps hitting me?  As I did that though I also had to smile as an obvious tourist was standing beside me but back from the luggage belt a few steps.  About the time I was thinking she really needs to move closer, another girl slipped in front of her.  The toursit looked annoyed, but all I could do was smile and realize I was back in Tanzania. 

* Patience...I have lost it.  I thought I was getting better at this before leaving Tanzania, but as I returned I realized that America caused me to lose every once of patience I had.  It just isn't tested on a daily basis.  I was so excited to see familar faces when I stepped out of the airport (thank you Ben, Lauren, and Zwadi for picking me up).  I decided before leaving the airport I would "quickly" exchange money, get a sim card for my phone, and buy internet credit.  The money exchange and the internet credit were smooth.  The sim card.....after waiting for 30 min or so they said I couldn't buy one because their network was down :(  There was tons of traffic on the way home, so again patience was tested.  The next day I went to the mall to see if I could get my old phone number back.  After asking and deciding to just get a new sim card the guy told me but our network is down right now (hmm strike 2).  He gladly told me that the store is open till 6:00 though so I could gladly stick around until then to see if the network would come back up.  It was 2:00 at the time, so I quickly said thanks, but no thanks.  I also got frustrated when checking out at the grocery store.  Could she really scan my items any slower?  Then I thought why do we do it so fast in America, why are we so in a hurry that even the person checking us out must go at super speed. 

*Walking pace...I know I have always been a fast walker, but I don't think I realized how fast until I came back here.  Although I did do an experiement in Disney when I tried to walk as slow as the people around me and I just couldn't do it.  In America in stores and on the streets most people walk at a very brisk pace.  Everyone always has somewhere to go and something to do.  As I was walking through the mall, I realized as compared to everyone else around me I was walking extremely fast.  I have been reminded that things here just move at a much slower pace, and it isn't bad I just need to adjust to it again. 

These are just a few things I have observed in the last few days.  I will have to talk about more in my next post. 

Honest thoughts about returning to Tanzania!

Where did the past 8 months go?  It went so fast I didn't even take the time to blog about it! So here is my attempt at restarting the blogging process with thoughts on returning back to Tanzania. 

In the past few weeks as I have processed returning to Tanzania for my next term of service these are some thoughts I have had...

I love what I do in Tanzania and I can't wait to get back to HOPAC and continue to do the work that God has called me to do there!
Do I have to get on the plane, I really don't want to leave?
I hate goodbyes!!!!
I am so excited to see my friends in Tanzania!
How am I ever going to get back into living in Tanzania...I don't want to deal with the bugs, heat, traffic, lack of electricity, and languague difficulties. 
I can't wait to live in one house and have all my stuff in one place again!
Is it really going to be 1 year till I get to see my family and friends in the States again? Why is it that 1 year seems so long to me and many others seemingly easily stay away for 2 to 4 years without coming back?  Maybe I am not a good enough missionary or committed enough to what I do? 
I can't wait to continue to help the students at HOPAC have as many opportunities to play sports as possible.
How can I continue to develop relationships with other schools through sports and share the love of Jesus with them? 
Will I ever feel settled in a place again or do I even want to? 

Yes these thoughts are all completely random things that have been running through my brain in the past few weeks.  The awesome thing is that through it all I know that I am going to serve exactly where God wants me to be.  I have a deep sense of peace about returning to Tanzania to teach at HOPAC.  I am so thankful that I have a God that can handle my doubts and questions.  I am so thankful that even though it might be harder than it has been in the past to step on the plane that God is going to be right there by my side.  I have learned that one reason it is so difficult to leave here is because I have amazing family and friends that have been such an encouragement to me. Thank you all who have made my stay here possible and so very enjoyable that it is difficult to leave.  Thank you for your continued support and prayers as I embark on the next part of the journey that God has for me.  I am so blessed to have so many people behind me and encouraging me to continue doing what God has called me to do.

Looking forward to having this view every morning again!

One Thousand Gifts

 A few weeks ago I started a small group using the book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp. The book is about the authors challenge to list 1,000 gifts in her life and in the study the challenge is passed on to us to start a list of gifts. At first it seemed like a great idea, who doesn't want to stop, slow down, and recognize the gifts that God has given to us.  We all have them, each one of us has been given gifts from God whether big or small.  Life is busy though, and sometimes it is just downright hard.  I found myself these past few weeks as I prepared to lead the study finding it hard to focus on the gifts.  Life is busy...it is rushed...and there are a "thousand" things that take our time.  I don't have "time" to slow down and look at the gifts and quite frankly maybe I just don't want to.  I am tired, and a bit overwhelmed, why in the world would I want to sit down and list out the gifts God has given me each and every day.  As we discussed this and so much more in small group this week, I was telling someone else sometimes you just have to start listing the gifts whether you feel like it or not; maybe the point is as you start to list them you will feel more thankful and start to have a change of attitude behind it.  Maybe it isn't about us always doing it in the right attitude, but maybe it is just about us starting the list and recognizing those things day in and day out that will slowly start to bend our hearts and help us to slow down in the craziness in life to thank God for his MANY GOOD GIFTS He has given us.  As I said it I knew I was also speaking to myself...so yes life has been hard the last few weeks, but in it all there have been gifts and lots of them ! 


PIZZA from DJ's that makes for a quick meal!

Kids who are willing to get up in the "wee" hours of the
morning to cheer on the crazy people who like to join
in on these early morning events.

Friends who love to run in early morning events...
and legs that allowed me to run in my 2nd half-marathon.

Time away from DAR...mountains...relaxation...
time to reflect on life and seek God's wisdom

God's amazing creation that way to
often I miss in the business of life.

Cute U11 Salasala boys soccer team that just love
to play the game at every opportunity they can get

BEAUTIFUL sunsets that God paints in the
sky and I get to see walking home from work.

A cold, refreshing swimming pool, overlooking
mountains during mid-term break.

Fall parties...bobbing for apples

one that I don't have a picture of but the many friends I have near and far who continue to support me so that I can continue to serve here.

WHAT ARE THE GIFTS THAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU?  HAVE YOU SLOWED DOWN ENOUGH TO SEE THEM IN THE PAST FEW DAYS? 

 

A great ending to a tough week !

This past week was an unusually tough week for me.  There are just some weeks that everything here seems harder and there really doesn't have to be a reason.  This week was just one of those weeks.  I was feeling far away from family, the students seemed out of sorts, all the work that I needed to do wasn't getting done, and so much more just seemed to be hitting me. 

Then Friday came and that morning I prayed that whatever had come over me this week would just be gone.

My day started out with this wonderful group of 6th students.

 

On Monday I gave this class a team-building activity that they struggled through for 2 1/2 class periods.  They tried, failed, talked, screamed, argued, tried, failed and talked some more.  Then they walked into class on Friday, sat down in a circle, talked one at a time, listened to each others ideas, and tried the activity again AND THEY SUCCEEDED.  They burst in to shouts of joy and ran around hugging each other. It was so fun to see all of them smiling and excited that they had accomplished the task.  It made me smile and thank God that I have the awesome privilege to teach these kids.  It also helped begin to lift my spirits :) 

 

This was just one of the things that mad me smile that day, but really the only one I got a picture of.

 

 

It also helped that I then had an amazing weekend with friends.  Here are just a few pictures!

Celebrating with my friend Lauren on her birthday.  It was
a fun relaxing day with friends on an island about a 20 minute
boat ride away from where I live.

Steve and Jenn's boy Gavin with a starfish.
One of the kids that calls me Aunt Rose here :)

Yes this is a birthday cake, but look a little closer.
What do you see oh yeah just a bug crawling around
on our cake, so what do you do after it crawls all over your cake
you take it off and act like it was never there. YUM!

 

 

And then Sunday morning 5:00a.m. some of my friends and I participated in a relay triathlon, at that time in the morning we were not convinced it was a good idea, but after it was all finished we decided it was fun

Before it all began, me, Lauren, Danielle, Winston,
Ali, and Abby.

We had two teams of three!  Lauren and Abby
were the two brave ones who tackled the 750m
open water swim.

And their off....

Danielle on her leg of the race...
20k bike ride

Winston riding for the other team.

And I am off for my 5K run

Ali running in the rain

Finishing with a run across the beach.

My team...Danielle, Abby, and I

All of us after the race... thanks to Christine for
making the signs and taking the pictures.  It
takes true friends like Christine and Jenn to get up
at 5:00 just to come cheer us on!

The HOPAC group.  The 3 guys in the back did the sprint
distance relay on their own.  The two directly behind me
are students at HOPAC and the one on the end is a past
HOPAC teacher, who still lives in DAR with his wife,
and works full-time for Young Life. 

Team-building and Pizza Party

In the last two years I have really enjoyed starting out all my P.E. classes with team-building activities.  I have been working to make sure that all the classes get to do different activities each year.  This year I ordered a new Object-Retrieval Team-building kit that you can do 6 different activities with. In the pictures below the 10th graders are participating in an activity called "Robot Writing".  They were tasked with writing "HOPAC" on a piece of paper.  They were not allowed to get any closer to the paper than the length of their rope.  They  did a really good job with this, but it is a good thing I didn't grade them on their team handwriting!

 

 



The end result!

To celebrate the end of the first full-week my housemates and I had our first pizza party of the year.  It was fun to fire up the pizza oven again and actually put it to use early in the year.  I made three double batches of pizza dough and cooked them beforehand to make the process a little quicker. The housemates helped to roll them out.  I believe we made around 60 small pizzas in the oven on Friday night.  I am hoping a few more pizza nights happen before I leave in December.  Unfortunately I only took this picture of the pizzas and no pictures of people.  

A new beginning...but still patiently waiting !

The first week of a new school year is complete!  Well at least 3 days of the new school year.  I am learning many things by living here in Tanzania, but I think the two main things I have had to work on are patience and flexibility.  When I left in late June for the States I was aware that the soccer field, basketball court, and swimming pool, were having repairs done to them.  I left with a sense of excitement, but also with a bit of concern as those are my major teaching areas and areas of responsibility for sports.  I had great hope that they would all be finished when I returned, but also had a sense that I needed to stay realistic about it all.  I knew that some patience and flexibility was probably going to be needed when I returned, which I prayed that God would provide, you just never know how much until the day comes!

This is what I came back to...

My P.E. storeroom is somewhere behind
was somewhere behind those stage blocks

The basketball court with no roof





The swimming pool with tiles starting to be
put in the day I arrived.



The place that put a smile on my face..
The soccer field was covered in nice green
grass...just needed an extra week of
students staying off of it.



 

I must admit it was a bit hard to stay positive!  This is not the ideal way to start the school year, but it is reality so I might as well make the best of it.  So in the week that I have been back it makes it really exciting when I see great progress being made each day! ( especially since I was told that a lot of these projects were left sitting most of the summer because the materials needed were just not available)! Unfortunately I only have a picture of the progress being made on the basketball court.  A path to my storage room was created by the cleaners almost immediately after I asked :)  The bottom of the swimming pool is completely tiled after one week of work.  The soccer pitch will be opening up this week. 

This is the basketball court roof after only
a day and a half of work !

 One thing that you learn after living here awhile is how to think outside the box.  Our basketball court is the only "covered" place that fits the whole student body.  We typically start the school year out there with a school wide assembly.  What happens when that area is no longer covered and is "under construction"?  You think outside the box and set up assembly outside underneath some shade trees.  Yes, the students had to sit on the ground...even they are learn about being flexible. 

My homeroom (8th grade) waiting for assembly to start.

 

Ben Snyder, the director, starting off the
2013-2014 school year.

 

A SUMMER OF BLESSINGS !

I got to do some very incredible things this summer and I think the best way to show you is in pictures.  I am so thankful for my family and friends and the time I got to spend with them this summer.

Got to spend lots of time with the kiddos doing tons of fun things :)



I spent a week in Canada backpacking and canoeing with these wonderful people.
It was so fun to spend time enjoying God's creation!

One of the beautiful views in Canada.

Had a great time picking blueberries and eating them with some friends.

sweet seats at the Phillies game with my dad for his birthday
along with my sister, brother-in-law, and friend Steph.

Very hot night and unfortunately the Phillies got crushed

Housemates together for the last time at least for awhile at
Winston and Ali's wedding.

My brother making kettle corn after a day of
doing corn with the family.

Family fun time riding some sweet peddle go carts.
Katie (my sister-in-law) some how managed to stay out of
all the photos.

We are not competitive at all :)

Corn, corn, and more corn

Sarah and Emily got to drive this tractor on the
farm I grew up!



My sister and I after climbing one thousand steps.
Katie went with us also, but once again got out of the picture.

 



As you can see I had a great summer.  This doesn't even show everything I got to do, because I am not very good at taking pictures.  Thank you so much to all of you who gave so generously to me throughout the summer.  As I settle back into my house in DAR and reflect over the summer I have really realized how very, very, very, very blessed I am to have so many people behind me as I serve here.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!