Winding Down

So I haven’t written in a while. It seems that most of my entries begin this way, but as Martha would say ‘such is life’. The semester is winding down and it’s a very odd feeling to look back and reflect on my time here, my adventures (those taken and those not) and the lessons I have learned. I can look back and remember walking nervously down the street to class or eating lunch at the AICC or drumming at Makumira early in the semester and it seems so long ago. However, I cannot pinpoint a moment when things changed and when I adjusted, accepted, learned, conformed or anything else.

I've begun writing a longer journal/blog entry. I'm not sure if I will ever put it up here or not. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

I've been spending most of my time these days finishing up assignments, taking final exams and planning the adventures of my last 2 weeks here. I can hardly believe I'll be finished with school by the end of this week! The first group of students heads home on Monday and then I trade my roommate Sarah for Chris on Wednesday. She actually flies out on the plane he flies in on. Our plan is to hang out around Arusha until Sunday when we go to Zanzibar. Hooray! Then we come back from Zanzibar the following Thursday and leave for a safari the next morning. We don't get back from the safari until Monday and we fly out Monday night. It will be a packed 2 weeks, but I'm very excited that I get to show Chris around and enjoy the beauty of Tanzania (my favorite part) one more time before I leave.

We went paragliding last weekend (pictures to come soon). It was beautiful and a really nice day to be hanging out on a hill watching my friends fly high in the sky. I was a little nervous to run down a hill and count on only a piece of nylon fabric, some strings, a bit of wind, a large Danish man and a quick prayer to carry me up into the sky out of the way of thorny bushes and trees, but I had a great time and really loved it.

Things have really calmed down here. I think everyone is very happy to be going home as it has been one crazy semester. I'm trying to balance enjoying my last few days with my friends with being excited about Chris coming with being excited about going home with knowing that I will miss Tanzania a lot. Whew.