10-11th Dec 2018
I’m writing this onboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight to London at 33,000 feet – the captain just informed us that we’re passing over the northern part of the country which brings back so many good memories from the September trip… it’s been almost three months since then – seems much longer, so much has happened!
Flying on my own always makes me feel quite emotional but it’s also an excellent time to reflect… maybe that’s why it’s emotional?!? And as I’m having a ‘break’ from Africa, I guess it’s not surprising that my reflections are mainly around what has happened and what I’ve achieved in the last weeks and months.
I was teaching a friend the quote from Forrest Gump; “Life is like a box of chocolates… etc.” to try to explain my life since I arrived in Tanzania… he’d never seen the film, and probably never eaten filled chocolates either, so quite a wasted conversation. Haha
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Oh, before I go to my reflections I must tell you about what was a wonderful weekend in Moshi.
Friday: lazed by the pool with Carelynn – blissful friend quality time.
Saturday: visited our friend, Jerry, at his family home in a place called Marangu. One of the entry gates to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is there and it’s just super beautiful nature. Jerry’s family welcomed us with open arms and A LOT of food… as is custom. His dad immediately fell in love with Carelynn, his uncle was a fun character who was talking through one of those things you hold against his throat and makes you sound like a robot or a dalek (he’d had a throat cancer operation in India) and I immediately fell in love with his mama!
She’s such a character, a strong woman and quite the joker – she made me laugh so much. Her and I had fun chatting a bit in German as she was telling us about her life. She’s been so many places around the world for education and work (within medicine) – inspirational lady. It was a great afternoon – visiting at somebody’s home like that is really special.
And on the way back we saw a goat on a boda boda – African life! 😂
Sunday: back to Arusha for an afternoon of Christmas fair, which was a little weird in sun and 30+ degrees. And then I had to say goodbye to Carelynn in the evening… so sad, but feel incredibly lucky to have her in my life. Not many people would take two 14 hour bus rides in a few days to spend time with you. Sometimes I’d even struggle to go across London myself… how crappy is that!?!?
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Anyway – back to my reflection! In my glass half empty moments, I don’t feel I’ve done much to shout about, but in my more positive moments (of which there are not as many to be fair) I am proud of what I’ve managed to do so far…
Have done a lot of business research (seen more lawyers in Africa than ever in Europe now), have become slightly less rubbish at Swahili, have built some useful relationships, strengthened friendships, have let my heart react without consulting the brain a few times (baby steps) and bounced back from shitty luck! But most of all I’m just proud that I’m trying to follow my dream…
So now what for 2019?
It won’t surprise any of you that I’d already planned 2019 before I left London (there was a list and everything!), but those plans are no longer in play, so time to make new plans. And I’ll get more clarity of what those are in the next week or two… there are three possible work options for Q1, so please keep your fingers crossed that one of those pan out. Although there’s one in particular that would be my dream job of all time… if I was a person who pray, I would pray for that one!
BETINA IN AFRICA 