So I Shagged a Tribeswoman

So here we are. Three months and three weeks ago my friend sent me a text wishing me a safe journey and that he looked forward to my blog entry entitled...well, what this blog post is called. It is almost surreal that I am leaving Tanzania. This past four months have been four of the most amazing, fun-filled, eye-opening months in my life. Anyone who has been following my Facebook or my blog will already have an idea of how much I have loved this experience. I have taught some truly adorable children at Gohechi. I have read and talked about some harrowing moments when researching FGM. I have met some of the most amazing people from all over this globe: Australia; America; Canada; Belgium; France; Denmark; Sweden; Norway; Holland; Germany; Japan; Mexico; and, most of all, Tanzania.

I have learned so much while I have been here, about myself and about the world. My bucket list has expanded far more than I have managed to tick off in this four month period. I have seen the natural beauty of Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, of Maji Moto, and Zanzibar. I have seen the beauty of the people here, the local people who try and make you feel as welcome as possible, and the volunteers who are here to really try and make a difference in the lives of the people the come into contact with.

I went on safari, I snorkelled with dolphins, I lazed around on a pristine beach in a five-star resort. I did the things that everyone can do, and usually do, when they come to this part of the world. But I also sat in front of thirty Maasai elders in their village to hold an intimate discussion about their culture, I was a guest at another Maasai village where they sacrificed a goat for our shared feast, I went to the United Nations Internations Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. How many people get to say they have done these things?
I am lucky to have been given the opportunity to do these things,  blessed that I grew up in a family, in a country, where I was given the opportunity to get to where I am now, a university graduate who has taken a year to travel to a different part of the work before he heads to law school writing a blog on his £300 laptop. £300 that I can blow on a piece of unnecessary electronic luxury which could pay for two years of schooling for a child here. We have so much given to us on a plate in the West. In the UK, free education and free healthcare, huge I-max cinemas and excellent sports facilities. Here in Tanzania, they pay for school and hospital treatment and if they can not afford it, they don't go. A large number of the people can not afford luxuries like going to the movies or out to eat every fortnight. The children play football on patches of flat land littered with stones and thorns.

If you, dear reader, are thinking about doing something like this, or know someone who is considering travelling or volunteering, then don't hesitate. Do it but do your research and find the best volunteering programme and company for you. I was lucky in choosing Projects Abroad and Tanzania for my experience. You should not have to take that chance. Volunteering and living with a host family is such an awesome experience and I wish I could live these last three months again. That feeling of stepping off the plane, alone, into a foreign country where you do not know the language and gearing yourself up to call it home for a substantial period of time is a scary one but one that I will keep for eternity.

I talked about the volunteers in another dedicated post but I have to mention them again. On Friday, I was ready to go home. My friends were all leaving or had left. I was looking forward to getting back to (hopefully) working and earning some money. But then I went out on Saturday and met some new volunteers who have just arrived. And now I want to stay. I have learned over the last four years of being thrown into situations where I know no one, first at university and secondly in Tanzania, that I love meeting new people and that I am a social person. All the volunteers are similar and that is what makes it so easy to for me to be able to change my mind so quickly about leaving.

There are so many things that I miss about life at home: watching TV shows like House, Community, Game of Thrones; going to the pub; broadband internet; looking for a new phone; playing computer games. All this stuff that I look forward to doing when I'm back that really does not matter one bit. But I still want to do it. Travelling to a poor country really opens your eyes to how materialistic our lives are but that does not have to mean that one should totally abandon that way of life. I still want a good smartphone. I still want to play FIFA with my brother. I still want to catch up with the TV that I have missed while I've been away. I just hope that I will appreciate the life that I can live.