Wed am bonus post -- on learnings, highlights, and takeaways

The point of this post is to give you some more of the backstory behind your kid’s experience and to provide some fodder for questions you might want to ask them about their learning and growth (although, I acknowledge, you are a not likely to be hurting for questions when you see them).

Menlo Abroad: Tanzania is a course, not a trip. And starting back at Menlo, we made the distinction, which the students absolutely picked up on, between being a tourist vs being a traveler.  So we’ve had learning lessons in our nearly three weeks here. Hopefully, the students captured many of these takeaways in their journals, because their most profound learning is likely about themselves – how they dealt with new or difficult situations, how they have developed some independence being away from the comforts of home, and how they have had to reach out to people and just understand a world different from what they are accustomed to.  Students most likely developed new self confidence and resilience that they may or may not fully appreciate just yet. And, of course, they made new friends and deep connections – with both Menlo students and with Banjika kids and their families.

This is experiential education, and the students were not really in the mood for too much pedantry from us, but we were able to slip in occasional teacherly reflections in our ANCHOR circles, like: there is a benefit from doing hard things, because proving to yourself that you can meet a challenge gives you confidence to overcome the next challenge. And there will be more hard things to confront in the years, months, and weeks to come. Such is life. All our students at some point had a tummy problem or other discomfort and surely missed their loved ones back home. And all the students had to figure out how to live with their host family -- language and cultural barriers, inevitable awkwardness, and adjusting to new amenities and ways of doing things notwithstanding. This is hard. But they did it.  And they did it well. That is impressive.

Here is another lesson: waking up at 4:45 to participate in the marathon/10k/5k was no one’s idea of fun, but by 7:00 we were caught up in the energy in the stadium; the hype guys had all of us moving and stretching and smiling. We felt like we were part of significant event larger than ourselves, and it felt great. Sometimes, we said to the group later, you have to sacrifice to get a payoff later.  

One more lesson, while we are at it. On our second day in country, we visited two distinguished Tanzanian civic leaders. They opened their house to us, and the Wilfred, who had been a professor, government official, and religious leader, spoke at length about his country, its history, and its people. He was warm and welcoming; he invited us all to the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary next year. He is widely travelled, and he talked about how different cultures have different ways of measuring happiness in life – some are focused on material possessions or education or career achievement whereas he has valued the Tanzanian emphasis on family and community relationships. And the end of our time, though she had been largely quiet, the woman of the house, Faith, who was one of the first prominent female attorneys in the country and helped draft the constitution, stood up and thanked us for coming to her house; she said it was an honor (!) And then she said her hopes for us for our time in the country and to take back home was to see the similarities of all people and use our experience to become ambassadors for peace and understanding.  It was a deeply moving talk.

Changing the subject

There have been so many activities, you might have a hard time keeping track of them all. Here is a list of highlights the students brainstormed the other day, in case you want to follow up on any of this when you see them soon. (Keep in mind, this list was made before our farewell ceremony and goodbyes to our host families and before our safari at Ngorongoro Crater). 

The huge highlight, of course, was meeting our homestay siblings for the first time, then bonding with them over time, and becoming a member of their family.  And bonding with their Menlo peers was another overarching highlight.  Here, not in any particular order, were some of our most impactful, fun, and memorable activities and experiences:

Seeing giraffes on the walking safari at Makuyuni Wildlife Park. Seeing elephants put on a show for us for a long time on the driving part of the safari was also amazing. The zebras were great and so were the baby giraffes we saw on the drive, but the elephants were something else

Everything about Didi, our Makuyuni safari guide

The hype guys at the marathon/5k/10k -- awesome

The time at the Maasai village

The market in Arusha – with a special recognition of “Mr. Spice,” who had us smell his wares

The Makonde woodcarving stop

The Machaka Machaka – the competition, including catching the chicken, at Banjika

The bus rides with the sing-a-longs and good cheer

Learning some Swahili

Being treated like a celebrity by the numerous young kids we’d see on our walks to and from school

Making bricks

The exercise where students had a sheet of paper on their back and their peers wrote the 

qualities of that person they most admire. The tributes were lovely and everyone should feel good about how they were recognized and appreciated. Ask your kid about the adjectives that appeared on their sheets.