The first morning on the mountain, Stacey and Wendy and I went running – or should I say tried to run... it's impossibly difficult here! Yes we are at a significantly higher altitude than that of Dar (aka sea-level), but lest we forget we were in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro! So basically it was 20 minutes (the longest of my life) of the steepest, longest, most intense hill workout ever. My lungs burned, my legs were numb and we kept accidentally ending up in front of people's houses because we couldn't tell which paths were roads and which were driveways. But the houses' occupants were always really friendly, waving us in with a good-morning “Karibu!” ("Welcome!")
The more the three of us workout together (we run every morning, 5:45 am baby! And the sunrises are totally worth it), the more I realize how much we depend on one another's strengths in order to both motivate us and enhance our workout efficiency. Stacey's our speed girl, Wendy loves to push the distance, and I guess you could say I'm our resident surge setter for the hills thanks to Birchwood Golf Course in high school CC (I had a busy week in Mori, as you can imagine). Without one another, it becomes so easy to slacken in other areas of the exercise which ultimately hurts our overall fitness and morale. It's so similar to the dependency within the lifestyles of people in Africa, specifically here on the mountain. These places we visit no longer seem scary and primitive but rather sketches of a beautifully intertwined web of dependency on neighbors for many different kinds of survival, whether it be through direct sale and purchase of goods, helping hands in times of need, or a simple conversation or visit. Interpersonal communication here seems critical for Tanzanians in a way that a person rarely sees in the U.S.; Tanzanians LOVE talking and spending time with each other and are very community-oriented, sacrificing personal interest or commitments in order to give of their time and attention to their neighbors.
Similarly, my experiences thus far have led me to see how much interpersonal communication is equally vital for study abroad participants. When things slow down, that's when I enter prime-time for homesickness, during those moments when you feel so alone and not just literally. You also feel alone in the sense that your problems, issues or concerns are things that are troubling only you exclusively, as if no one else were experiencing the same thing. However, just after talking for five minutes with another person, I always find out they are or were feeling the same things in their own contexts and circumstances, and for some reason, it makes me feel a lot better because somehow I feel normal. It takes a lot of gumption to swallow one's pride and discover this, to set aside the “I'm an independent, competent and adventurous adult” mentality, which is essentially the reason why I chose to live in Tanzania in the first place, right? As if college wasn't enough of a ride, I had to come all the way to AFRICA to see what other risks and opportunities awaited me. So to “own up” to others about your fears, thoughts, questions and even a little homesickness now and then is very hard but so very necessary for survival here. Not only is it consolation for a restless heart, but it is also practical insight and a refocusing of perception for a cluttered, overwhelmed mind. Whenever I'm able to talk even for a few minutes with people here about challenges I'm experiencing, it makes a world of a difference for weeks to follow because instead of feeling like I'm floundering in a sea of the unknown (aka Tanzania), I find my footing and assurance knowing that someone else here is dealing with similar issues and finding ways of managing.
*Picture is Stacey (left) and Wendy (right) and me on South Beach in Kigamboni after our run down the shoreline. Moments later, we were definitely splashing around in the sparkling blue ocean and sunburned to a crisp!
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