A shorter 'lesson' update!

Due to time constraints on writing and being able to ‘publish’ these blog posts, I am going to a do a quick recap of some of the interesting things I have learned/experienced/witnessed here in Morogoro thus far.

Rule #3: Don’t forget to iron your clothes if you hung them up outside to dry!

           

There are small bugs that like to lay eggs in your clothes if they are left to dry outside (which is the only place that makes sense to dry them) so be sure to iron EVERYTHING because otherwise the bugs leave some nasty bites and are hard to remove from your clothes!

Rule #4: Say Goodbye to white/light coloured clothes!

Mud MUd MUD!!! It is evidently the rainy season so don’t think that anything you wear is safe from all the mud on the roads/streets! Due to the fact that the soil here is quite red, anything that is remotely light in color should just be saved for after the rainy season ends..

Rule #5: “Us westerners have the clocks, but Tanzanians have the time!!”

            Although a somewhat common concept globally, this Tanzanian proverb really helps to explain how things go here, which is pole pole (slowly..) at least most of the time! (to say the least). So Hamana Shida (No Worries/Problems), don’t rush, sit back, enjoy life, and things will fall into place. Personally after my experiences in Botswana I have become a huge fan of this approach in life, I find that it is with ‘the time’ that I have been able to establish the good relationships that I have and if anything, in the end, gotten things accomplished faster then if I hadn’t given the time to start off with...

Rule #6: Celebrate the little things/accomplishments

            So yes, things move Pole Pole (slowly) here, but to me that means it is just even more important to celebrate the little things! Upon meeting the last country manager shortly after arriving in Tanzania he told me very directly “every day that you accomplish anything, big or small, write it down. That way at the end of a week or the month or anytime you are frustrated with the way things are working you can stop and look at it and say ‘Wow, I really should be proud of myself because I accomplished _____’”. This statement has undeniably resonated truer with me than anything else I have encountered here so far and if I can leave people with one thought today it would be that thought exactly because people can move mountains, even if they have to carry each stone one at a time.