Letter 19, January 14th, 2004 / My Trip to England, and Life's Appreciation

Let me start with the food. I was at first shocked by how much more quickly I seemed to get full in England. I couldn't eat as much, yet over the course of three weeks I still put on weight. I'm still puzzled by that one. The other thing was how strong flavours were in things like cheese, beef jerky, chocolate, potato chips, coffee and bread. All of those things being things I don't get to eat that often or at all.. The flip side of that was that all vegetables and fruit, namely tomatoes, oranges, lettuce and cucumbers were almost tasteless - although they looked really good. The verdict - fruit and vegetables taste better no matter their visual imperfections in Tanzania, while the processed stuff tastes better in the Western World. That was only the first trial, but something tells me things won't change too much if I put that theory to the test again. I also felt really bad leaving any food on my plate, but then, with a fridge and a microwave left-overs are a bit more justifiable.

It was really hard to get over my feelings of waste in other areas though:- like the toilet and shower. I laugh at myself cuz I used to be the child that would sit in the shower until the water went cold. Not so anymore by any means. The other thing that irked some of my hosts I think........(perhaps they didn't notice) was that I have become near incapable of flushing the toilet if all I did was pee..............

Rereading this, I realize some people might think I've become a bit self righteous about energy/water conservation..I'm not trying to be, but I'm only trying to express how much my view of what one truly needs to live in this world has changed in the past year. I didn't realize the adjustments I'd made in my own lifestyle until I'd left it briefly - or returned to it, depending on how you look at it.

I have to laugh at the fact that I felt like people were in too much of a hurry to do things - especially as I've always been a " planner". I'm still a fast walker though - don't know if I'll ever change that as I kind of like it.

I arrived back in Tanzania on January 2nd, 2004 and then went to our Mid-Service Conference in Dar. That was a good time to see other volunteers, but I was more than ready to leave and get back to my village. I finally got back to Ndwika yesterday. (The rains have come, and so the roads are pretty bad - delaying the trip back a bit). I am excited to get started with this term, despite the Form 11 results which I had been thinking pretty positively about. They weren't so good in the end; but if I can keep the enthusiasm going from last term, I will be happy. I have a lot planned in terms to secondary projects this terms - doing more with the Peer Leader Group, hosting a Girls Empowerment Conference for all the girls at my school and continued work with the primary school.

That's it for now,

All my love to you

Jessica