Magic Moments

Around May 7th…

Looking back now…it might not have been such a good idea to kiss the Blarney Stone (to get seven years of the gift of gab) before coming to a country where English is not the first language!! I'm sure even the ones who don't understand english are getting tired of hearing me talk...lol

All kidding aside though, it is very strange the ups and downs I've had because of limited communication. There are times that I feel so isolated that I want to jump on the next plane home…(good thing it’s outrageously expensive to change my ticket or I might have…) but then the next moment, I experience something so wonderful that I feel like I’ve just been given one of the greatest gifts that the universe has to offer…just want to share some of these moments with you…

I was walking down a dirt road just outside of town when a lady starts waving at me and inviting me to come over… I walk over to her hut and she pulls up a small stool for me to sit on in the dirt. About six children gather around us… I start off with some of my Swahili and tell her my name and where I am from. Between writing in the dirt and using my Swahili dictionary, we have a short conversation. I then took a picture of them before heading off down the road. I kept looking back as I walked and the children were all waving at me until I was out of sight. About two weeks later, I took Felician (a teacher) back there with me and brought the picture in a frame. She told Felician that she has never had a picture before…

I sat and made balloons for the children and gave them some sweets. I'm not sure if she knows what a gift she gave me by inviting me to share some time with her family.

Another time, I went to visit one of the teacher’s Mr Msebya’s family…He has six children and there were a few of his neighbours’ children there as well. One neighbour girl around the age of two kept running up behind me but if I turned around, she ran away to her Mom screaming. (some children are terrified when they see a Mzumgu…ie..white person and it’s possible for the young ones, that I am the first one they have seen) I started making balloons for them, and gave out some sweets and by the time we were singing and dancing, the young neighbour girl was up front and centre dancing with me…
Before heading home, Mr Msebya gave me a live chicken as a thank you… I was very happy when his young son agreed to carry it home for me. What a sight we must have been walking through the village at twilight…about 10 children and I, singing at the top of our lungs, waving balloons and carrying a live chicken…

You may start to see a theme here but it seems like a lot of my magic moments involve the children of Tanzania…they are so carefree, happy and fun to be around. I have a small group of the village children and quite often we play soccer, sing and dance or just sit and drink sodas…I’m not sure how they spot me but every time I come out to the canteen, they come running across the field to see me.
One day, I was sitting out marking some essays and I heard singing. I looked up and the group was coming across the field. They came up to me and just stood and sang songs in Swahili to me…precious!