It’s been over a week since we landed in Tanzania. Although I am over 12,000 km away from home, the company that I have makes the way seem shorter. In the evenings when we eat dinner together, we would share stories about the clients that we saw, the activities that we did, and the unfamiliar assistive aids/devices we encountered.
Besides placement-related discussions, I have been privy to more personal details about my travel companions. Through observations and conversations, I have learned some interesting facts about Joyce, Martha, and Jeff. I want to dedicate this blog post to them. Since some of our readers may not be other students in our program, this post will give you the opportunity to learn more about the Tanza Crew. For the students in our program, you might just learn some new insights about the Tanza Crew.
First up is Joyce “creeper” Lee:
1) The origin of this nickname comes from Joyce’s eagerness to take a lot of pictures of young children during the time she and Martha came along on a CCBRT community visit with Jeff and me. After we finished the visit, a group of children from the community congregated by the CCBRT jeep…cue Joyce and her camera. In all seriousness though, Joyce easily builds rapport with children. The paeds department at KCMC are lucky to have her!
2) Joyce anapenda (LOVES) the trees and flowers here. She can’t get enough of all the greenery and taking pictures of them. Thank you for being our camera person!
3) Joyce has difficulties with counting money…guess that stereotype about Asians and Math is not applicable.
Second is Martha or as Jeff calls her M-Dizzle:
1) I’m not sure about the origin of this nickname other than the fact that Jeff created this nickname for Martha when they were in the same study group.
2) Martha’s dad and brother are huge Manchester United fan. They’ll be proud to know that we went to a local pub last Saturday to watch the game.
3) Martha played basketball in highschool. She was in French immersion and took French in her first year of undergrad. She also did the Jonquière Explore language program.
Third is Jeff aka Baba Alex:
1) This nickname has its origins from my first post last week about Jeff’s admirer at CCBRT. She has progressed from “he is handsome” to “I wanna marry him!” She even calls me her sister-in-law. In Tanzanian custom, a woman is recognized by her eldest or youngest child’s name and called for example, “Mama Alex” after her child of the same name. The joke at our placement is that Jeff is “Baba Alex.”
2) Jeff used to work as an educational assistant and considered pursuing teaching. When asked what subjects he would teach had he gone to teacher’s college, Jeff said he would probably teach geography due to his passion for travelling.
3) Jeff loves watching the Food Network channel and is an awesome cook. He prepared dinner for us the past Sunday in the midst of several mini power outages. Dinner consisted of spaghetti with home-made meat and tomato sauce (way better than canned pasta sauce).
Thank you to the three of you for going on this journey with me. Lala salama.
-E
Our explorations have so far led to delicious food discoveries!
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
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