Utapenda Tanzania

Other people tell me about how "crazy" their study abroad experiences were. They went somewhere in Europe. They drank beer and sat on a beach and partied for four months. When asked about their classes, they laugh. If that's the study abroad experience you're looking for (no shame), Tanzania is not for you. If you're looking for something more boundary-pushing, CIEE Iringa might be it. It's four months of adjusting to a completely different culture, floundering through a new language, and using every ounce of resourcefulness and flexibility in your body. I won't sugarcoat it; CIEE Iringa is hard. Living so fully in a new culture, with Tanzanian roommates and then a rural Tanzanian host family, is really hard. But I have never had another experience that fulfilling in my life, and I shaved my head on a Buddhist monastery. It had been my dream for years to go to Tanzania after a summer Swahili intensive in high school, and CIEE exceeded my expectations. Anyone can tell you how much I changed when I was there - I came back more confident and capable in a crisis. And I got to lead my very own Passover seder and #exposethepriest and slaughter (read: be slaughtered) in a soccer game against Tanzanian. Plus, Paolo and Justin, our program leaders, are the greatest. No better people to have in your corner when the going gets tough. If you hypothetically go on an unsanctioned trip to a city two hours away with your host father and hypothetically get in trouble with immigration, they will hypothetically save you. Hypothetically of course.

TL;DR CIEE Tanzania is a fantabulous program 10/10 please go but only if you can handle the pressures of such a different environment and plumbing.