Today (Monday, December 10th), we visited Gonzaga Primary School
for the first time. I was so grateful to be surrounded by the energetic
children and the welcoming faculty and staff. While this will not be my full
time work placement, I will be visiting here occasionally with students from
Loyola High School as part of their service requirement. One of the phrases
repeated with each introduction was, “Karibu sana! (very welcome) Feel at
home!” I love this phrase because it is
indicative of the welcoming spirit of the people of Tanzania and my JV
community in Dar and Dodoma. As crazy as it sounds and as much as I miss
everyone already, I do feel like I could be at home here. Granted, I have to
learn A LOT more Kiswahili and cultural norms before I truly feel at ease in
this new place, but the important part is that the 2nd year JV’s and all of our
neighbors, parishioners and students want us to ‘feel at home’ and the
sentiment alone is enough to ease some homesickness. So, rest assured, I have
been welcomed with loving and patient arms!
Katie, so amazing to hear from you. Simple living has become a top priority for me. So I look forward to reading how you do it. I took the liberty of posting your blog entry on my facebook page. Everyone needs to read it and take it to heart, especially in the aftermath of the shocking tragedy in Connecticut: we are all called to live kinder, simpler lives, I believe. I have to say that the ocean pictures do look vacation-y!
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