A Needed Retreat

I know, I know, it’s been a month. I owe you a good explanation, no? How about I just catch you up…

The first two weeks of December were full of orientation from 8am to about 12:30pm everyday with Marty, Sean, the two female and four male teachers that make up the entire faculty of St. Peter Claver (for this first year, at least). I think I’ll catch you up on that in another post.

Sean and I left for Dar on Saturday the 18th to meet the other volunteers for retreat and Christmas holiday. We bought really cheap bus tickets and heard from a friend this bus gets to Dar in about 6 hours (usually it takes 8!). Sean and I were so excited for a “quick” ride, but unfortunately our bus broke down about half-way through the trip. A breakdown consists of everyone getting off the bus, standing under the one tree on the side of the road for a little bit of breeze and shade, while someone on a piki piki (motorcycle) takes the driver to a nearby shop to get the part that will make the fix. This added about two hours to our trip… not to mention the lack of bathroom stops makes us know never to take that bus company again.

The plan was for Sean and I to stay with the Dar community just Saturday night and then we all traveled north to Tanga the following day. The other new volunteers have arrived, so it was really nice to reunite with some familiar faces. (We all met during JVC orientation in Boston this summer – remember when I missed Erie for the 3rd year in a row? Boo.) Sunday morning Gretchen (2nd year), Shea, Cat, Sean and I took another six hour trip to the region of Tanga where we met Beth (2nd year), Liz, Andy, and Moryah, the four volunteers living in Moshi (by Mt. Kili). All nine of us stayed at the Rosminian (sp?) retreat center. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! There were a few little two story houses with four rooms in each. We all got out own rooms with bathroom – nice! The retreat place was so comfortable, and it sat right above the beach of the Indian Ocean (there was a small cliff so we had to walk down a few stairs to get to the beach). The weather was beautiful and when it was hot we just swam in the warm, warm water. Ahhhh – this truly felt like paradise. Our retreat was really relaxing. We reflected on the four JV values and shared life stories to get to know each other. It was the perfect escape.

The two Sisters that lived there cooked us our meals. We ate fish often and it was so fresh and delicious! I was able to make Mass a few times in the morning (6:30am, yikes!), but it was such a beautiful chapel facing the water and the rising sun. Yes – I saw the sun rise! That was a first, for sure. We saw the tide go in and out everyday. I never knew it was such an extreme change; it went out yards and yards and yards. I guess I figured the ocean would be just like Lake Erie that only changes a few feet. Silly me.

All nine volunteers headed back to Dar on the 24th (Happy Birthday Carrie!) to celebrate Christmas together. That ride back was brutal. There is only one paved road to get about anywhere in Tanzania, and partway through the journey there is a tight bridge that follows a few bends in the road where apparently there are often many accidents. This was one of those lucky days – a semi must have took the turn badly and ended up toppling over, causing an extreme traffic jam. Unlike the States where our police come to direct traffic, the police stayed comfortably in their station (a few feet away) while hundreds of cars and trucks stared at each other trying to figure out where to go. We were stuck in this jam for about 2 hours in the brutal heat with very little place for escape. Because we didn’t want to drink water in case we’d have to use the restroom, we all were not feeling so great in the heat. We retreated to the bush to experience nature very intimately (aka, bathroom break) and found a tiny shops selling biscuits (plan vanilla cookies) to tide us over.

Oh, I forgot a very important detail – our bus was infested with cockroaches. Hundreds of them. Coming out of every corner and crawling over everything. It was so disturbing. By the time the bus started moving again, I had to force myself to sleep so I wouldn’t feel the heat, my weakness, or see those roaches.

We arrived in Dar about 8 hours later and were kindly invited for sodas and dinner at the Jesuit residence. We enjoyed a nice meal, nice company, but were all very ready for bed.

At the volunteers’ place in Dar, we had to share beds, couches, and there was even a tent set up outside to sleep four extras (on couch cushions of course). Dar is so hot; so, so hot. The kind of hot that makes you sweat right after you showered, and you aren’t sure if it’s water or new sweat. I feel for those volunteers there; I don’t think I’d survive two years in that weather.

Christmas morning we went to Mass. I’m starting to make better connections to the Kiswahili Mass now that I’ve been here a while. It’s nice that no matter where you go in the world Mass is always the same. It’s like coming home (even when you don’t quite understand what they are saying). It was a beautiful Mass with many young girls as liturgical dancers in front and a choir that sang a few familiar Christmas songs.

As a group we decided to pull for a Secret Santa and give each other handmade Christmas cards as a gift. So most of the morning I spent much time working on an original popup (a throw back to my younger years when I thought Hallmark was in my future). It was very therapeutic. Some volunteers worked on Christmas dinner (tortillas and mango salsa!) and others went to visit long-time family friends of the Dar volunteers (JVs have been serving in Dar for 15 years now). I went on the second run to visit a family and we walked in just as they were eating. They sat us in their living room and quickly finished eating, cleared the table and reset it and soon invited us to feast. We had not intended to eat there, considering the exciting dinner being made at home but it is rude to refuse. We chowed down and the family now sat in the living room. After dinner we sat again in the living room where they served us an extraordinary fruit salad (mango, papaya, banana, pineapple, carrots, and milk poured over top – sounds strange but it was fantastic) and very large glasses of red wine. I complimented Mama on her pretty bracelets which she quickly removed from her wrist and placed on mine, of course stating “you have.” I am quickly coming to see how generous this society is – it isn’t strange for someone to give you the things right off themselves if you mention how you like it. Mama soon brought out another bracelet and a scarf (used for head wraps and to cover shoulders) for me to take with me. She owns a shops that sells all things of this sort. She was so sweet. I felt a little strange leaving with so many gifts (stated in Tanzania, “jifts”), but it for sure made her happy to be able to share those things with me.

Our group later joined the others at home for a yummy meal, Christmas music (complete with Hilary Duff’s x-mas cd, thanks to Carly from a few years ago!), calls home, and eventually exchanging of our Christmas cards. Calling home was great – but really sad, to be honest. It was the first time I heard anyone of my family’s voices (besides my Mom and Dad) since I left. It was weird not knowing what gifts they bought each other or where they sat around the Christmas tree…

PS: THANK YOU TO MY FAMILY who sent me here with tons of Christmas cards, pictures, and little gifts. They were AWESOME!! There were so many that I decided it would be hard to travel with them, so I opened one every few days in December. It was so much fun! I especially loved all the pictures that I found. You all are the best, I love you so much!

Okay, I think I need a break. Will send another soon. Happy 2011 everyone!