I woke up this morning to a couple dozen of emails and Facebook postings from friends and family on my Blackberry. The words were so meaningful, loving and supportive. It came at a time when I was feeling a little defeated and down and immediately got me into the right head space. "I am exactly where I need to be" I said out loud.
The weather is lovely today. It continues to warm up and the sky is blue, albeit, with more than a hint of haze. Although I was going into town with Caroline to the Masai Market and to meet a friend for lunch I threw on some shorts and a t-shirt. Even planning what to wear and if-and-when- I would have time to come back to the school in Njiro to change (for this evening back in town) is a process. This is what I am talking about when I say everything has to be strategized and well thought out when one is without transport.
I pulled a piece of cold chicken from the fridge, made my cup of Nestle instant coffee and went into the office to check email on the computer and back up my hard drive. I played some instrumental guitar music on iTunes and got organized.
Caroline picked me up and off we went to town. We had a vibrant, heartfelt discussion about me, her, the center, our dreams, our personal and professional hopes and the future. Not being one to hold back (is this a blessing or a curse?) I delved right into what is happening in my mind about where I am, what I am doing, my fears, etc. I told Caroline about how many wonderful offers of money and supplies for the center I had received already from some of the best friends and family a guy could ask for. I told her I feel a little hesitant to fire up my crowd as I don't know if this is where I will end up and, in this kind of work (non-profit), you choose very carefully when and whom you ask for donations of any kind. I want to be sure and committed to Caroline and the center before becoming a fund raising warrior (which, by-the-way, is on the best days and in the best economic times a tough job to have). She gets it. The fact does remain I can offer Caroline and the center a lot; as uch as she and the center can offer me focus and a project to run with. Currently the center hasn't an American contact, bank account or fund raising activities so it would be a good partnership.
So, for those of you who know me, you know I can be rather intense when I get my mind set on something (I can hear more than a few of you laughing all the way over here in Tanzania!). For me here, especially since my money was taken, that has created more urgency to find paying work. I came here fully intending to volunteer for a time in order to build experience in the develop/ non-profit sector while certainly not giving up hope that a job would and could come from it. I have been chasing myself around in my head filling my days with pressure and control over something on which I do not have a lot of control. Sure I can continue to send out resumes (with or without tracking comments--hopefully without--thanks Kurt for offering your tech advice and assistance!!!), but as the day has gone on for me and I have come into contact with people I know I am doing exactly what I should be doing and I am exactly where I should be.
I went for a hair cut today just around the corner from the Masai Market. Ali has a hair salon in his house,naturally behind a large, secure, solid iron fence. The moment I walked in I felt this sense of relief. I was welcomed by Ali who offered me a glass of water or tea and asked to sit down. The Tabbie cat (oh, there are 2) immediately jumped on m lap. While only still a kitten it was a bit aggressive about wanting to be loved and stroked. I found there would be no way to sit down with this cat so I stood and walked around a bit while talking.
Ali (born in Dar es Salaam, third generation Tanzanian) is of Indian decent and lived in Vancouver, Canada where part of his family still lives. I immediately knew I was going to like Ali. He wore his hair up with a clip and is tattooed in many places; not your standard Tanzanian. In his chair was the most beautiful, tall, blond woman. Together they were having a grand old time laughing and talking about people and Ali's antics the night before. I distinctively heard a Dutch accent from the lady, and as I always do when I hear that wonderful, familiar language asked "are you Dutch"? She lit up! "Well, yes, I am!" she said. We introduced ourselves, talked about the other Dutch people we knew here in Arusha and listened to each others' stories. Marion has been in TZ for 10 years with her husband and family propagating seeds and plants for export to Holland and on from there to North America. Lovely, lovely, lady!!
Ali invited me to Masai Camp tonight where there is going to be live entertainment (perhaps a group from overseas, maybe dancers as well...?) He assured me he would put me into contact with all the people he knew and in particular a lady from San Diego who runs an educational NGO here. GREAT NEWS! So, it was here at Ali's, at that moment, where I had my latest epiphany (they come and go, sometimes many times in the course of a day) thinking and even saying to Ali and Marion "I need to sit back, chill out and wait for things to happen here!" They totally agreed. "Tom," Ali said, "you are going to meet so many people in the kind of work you want to do. Don't make any decisions so quickly! You haven't even been here a month!" Good advice from someone who has been here in Arusha for the past 16 years. The universe provides.
I enjoyed lunch at the Naaz Hotel Restaurant with a lady I met a couple of weeks ago named Diane. She is from Ontario. We had such a nice visit. It is so refreshing to meet people and find about about who they are and their life stories. Diane is a principal who took leave, came to TZ to do something that "felt good" and ended up falling in love and now works for an NGO orphanage with it's board in the US. We spent a couple of hours together where we enhoyed the first buffet I have eaten from in sometime. You know, I think I hear more laughter all the way from the US again. Beef, chicken, SALAD. Ahhh, I would walk down the longest dusty road to eat there again. And it only cost about $6. Maybe I am feeling better today because I have eaten more protein today than I have in the past 3 weeks combined! LOL! Diane offered to take me on a walking tour of her side of Arusha next week and I gladly accepted.
Moody, the trusty taxi driver, gave me a lift back to the school. He is a good kid, speaks excellent English and sends me kind text messages now and again about how sorry he is about the money and to check into see how I am getting along. I am sure there is some self interest in it as well, like getting a fare when things are slow, but he is a good kid and good on him for having the mind to think about business as well!
So Caroline is back at 1700 to pick me up to attend an NGO networking get together at the bar Via-Via. Again, here I will be meeting so many more people. I am looking so forward to my afternoon at Via-Via and the evening at Masai Camp.
Until next time, thank you so much for the inspiration and supportive words from home!! It has truly made my day!
Asante sana. Kwa here!
PS: Would love to post photos but still trying to sort out how to do it. Also, it sucks up the time on the pay-as-you-go modem which Caroline is paying for, so I don't want to abuse her kind generosity in allowing me to use the modem in the first place.
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