Hamjambo marafiki na familia!
We spent the past week at a retreat about 45 minutes away from Njombe at Ohana Amani in the company of the amazing Curry and Luca. They were so welcoming and we all are super refreshed. From starting our mornings with an hour of yoga, to three very healthful meals per day (prepared with the help of our own group members), to engaging in labor including wood hauling and building, we’ve had very energizing days! The amazing food with simple ingredients was made even better because they were garden fresh. That means we actually harvested our own vegetables and fruits to eat. Additionally, we had a very fun birthday party for Jordan with all the works, including a homemade chocolate cake with coffee frosting and a fun shirt party with threads we found around market stalls in Njombe.
Other activities involved a communication workshop, creating vision boards, and a very peaceful and thought provoking six hour solo. With the scent of sage and the sound of drumming, we were sent off into the wilderness after a small ceremony. Some of us chose to not eat during the afternoon, which was enhanced by the hunger banquet we had had the night before. Our minds were still lingering on the fact that the wealthiest countries can consume and waste so much that they may not even need, while so many people are trying to survive with much, much less. It’s difficult to describe the actual emotions that the banquet evoked, but overall, it made me much more aware of my privilege and it made me question how I can change the world to make the differences among people a bit less drastic.
On our last morning at Ohana, we woke up at 4am to catch a 6am bus from Njombe to Dar. This was the beginning of our student directed travel. We were sent off with peanut butter and rhubarb jam sandwiches in hand and it took just under an hour to get to the station. From there, we took 13 hours on a bus that got to be quite stuffy. When we finally ended up waiting in Dar traffic close to the bus station, some of us grabbed ice cream cones through the bus window! It’s so nice and cool up in the highlands by Njombe but it can get pretty hot and humid in other places. Most recently, we took a 6 hour bus ride today on an air conditioned bus! Of course, all of this time at the bus stations (and pretty much everywhere else, too) gives us great opportunities to practice our Swahili with locals. It’s always fun to see how they react when we can communicate in more than just English!
This coming week we will see where student directed travel takes us next…
Siku Njema!
Have a great day!
