Experience at Tanzania

Traveling to Tanzania was truly a memorable experience for me. The moment we arrived to Dar es Salaam I felt good about where I would be for the next days. The first week while we were there i can't express in words how much we were able to do. We went on a bike tour around the city where we visited different neighborhoods and got o learn about the people who live there. We went to Dar's beautiful beaches, we went to carving classes and learned about their detailed and hard work put into their art pieces. The food at each restaurant was so good, and taking Swahili classes really helped when we wanted to do some local shopping around the city. My home stay experience at Stahabu, a village near the coast of Tanzania was unspeakable. Spending time with my home stay family made me realize a lot of things about myself and my relationships with my own family back at home. Working with the children from the village for our community service project was o much fun, and a worthy experience to share a space with kids eager to learn. Working at a construction cite to help build a school made me realize the importance of having a space where everyone can have the opportunity to an education. When spending time with other members of the village and dancing along with them, I felt connected to their community and at home. In Arusha, I was surprised with how much history was behind the community center in which we stayed. I had the opportunity to paint a mural with other members of my group and I was amazed by how it turned out, we really went beyond our expectations. At the Massai, the complete different environment that i was exposed to caught my eye the moment we arrived. Meeting our mommas, dancing with them and beading them are of the many memories I will forever keep because of how kind and energetic they were. Learning about their daily lives, their chores, their traditions amazed me in so many ways because they lived such simple lived and yet they were so happy to share with one another without any problem. The safari in Kilimanjaro left me speechless, the view there was more than beautiful, the animals we got to see were very exciting and truly out there in their habitat, it was nice to be able to see them out in the wild instead of closed in in cages or glassed rooms. I fell in love with Tanzania as a whole. The landscapes were huge and different from another making each of them unique in their own ways. The sky was so clear sometimes, you could see so many stars and even shooting stars if you got lucky. The people were so warmhearted, full of energy and their happiness was easily contagious. Their culture was so interesting to learn about and to be a part of, I do hope and I know I will see myself going back in a few years.