My life in Tanzania

After a month and a half of living between the city of Arusha and the village of Terrat, we already have settled into our own work routine, which changes depending on each part of the project that we’re working on. 

We usually spend the weekdays in Terrat, working closely with the group of Maasai women from the jewelry project and gathering footage and editing the school video. Whenever we are in either one of these places, we can't wait to return to the other one. Being in Arusha, we miss the peace of Terrat, the beautiful sunsets, spending time with the children and having conversations with our Maasai friends. But when we return to Terrat we begin to miss our independence in Arusha, the bustle of the city and going out with our friends.

We have really grown fond of both our new homes, we’re always happy to return to them. When we arrive in Arusha we really feel at home as soon as we set down our bags, tired from the two hour journey on bumpy dirt roads, where we’re either bouncing all over the back seat of the truck or squished between sacks of vegetables.

We stay in Meru House Inn, a small downtown hotel where we’re already friends with the staff, whom we always try having conversations with in Swahili.

In Terrat, we are always excited when we arrive and see the children running to say hi to us and give us a big hug, and to feel the tranquility of this place. We stay in Nasinyari’s house, where we get along with everyone else that lives in that house as well as other visitors (there’s always at least two visitors walking around the house at all times). People in Terrat, specially the children, already know our names, and we already feel like we are part of Nasinyari’s family.

Visits to school are always very exciting, the kids come running towards us to hug us and they teach us the numbers in Maasai and Swahili and we teach them some words in Spanish while they take our hands and arms to have a close look at our skin (they think it’s really funny that our veins can be seen through our skin). We always have at least two children sitting on our laps, while others hold on to our hands and a few more play with our hair and stroke our face until it’s time for us to leave.

We have been extremely lucky to have the opportunity of living and working in the city and in the village so we get a taste of both worlds and so we can really appreciate each place. We love how we have adapted to our day-to-day life in Tanzania. Having friends in Arusha and Terrat and seeing familiar faces when we’re out has really made the time we spend in each place special. All that we can say is that we are really enjoying the time spent here and have grown really fond of our new homes and our new friends!