Well, its the beginning of my final week in Tanzania, and I've had some time to reflect over the past 3 months...
One thing is clear. I love this continent. They say that once Africa is in your blood, its there for good. I think I've got a severe case of Africaitis. I also love this country, and for all that people complain about the poverty and economics, I've only experienced the beautiful side of Tanzania. The beauty that goes beyond the tourists; the beauty of someone dying of AIDS welcoming me into their tiny shack, and sharing with me their small amount of food. The beauty of floating in the sea, forgetting about time, and discovering the world beneath us. The beauty of being oblivious to time, people's opinions, and the restraints that come with that. The beauty of relationship; especially the endless love shown by family.
The time spent here, has been one of rediscovering beauty. The beauty of my God, the beauty of his creation: the world, this continent, this country. The beauty of people and animals. The beauty of me. I've discovered that beauty is not something that anyone can own, but something that all of us can be a part of, its something we all have enormous scope to experience: life is beautiful. Life is for living, abundantly. Life is for loving: loving God, ourselves, and others.
The funny thing is that, beauty and joy do not have to be limited by our circumstances. Over the last 3 weeks, I've spent a couple of mornings beading with a group of disabled African woman, at a place called the Nuru Centre. Watching, and working with, these woman has been humbling. I found myself observing one of the girls, who can't be much older than me. She is completely deaf, and slightly mentally disabled too, yet she is incredibly beautiful! I found myself pitying her; can you imagine what she'd be like in a different scenario, with different health issues? Can you imagine how much MORE beautiful she'd be? But it was then, that I realized that she is complete in her beauty. She is so innocent and unaware. She is expressive, despite her limitations. I, too, have limitations, as do you. Perhaps those limitations are what create our beauty in the first place? Rather than living life without limitations, what if we all embraced our limitations, and made them beautiful? I reckon the world would be a much happier place...
I'm listening to Lee-Ann Womack's song, I hope you Dance. I'm thinking of my older sister, because she's always expressed beauty through dance. I'm also thinking about how life is a dance. I've had so many rich experiences, I'm feeling full of life! :)
I'm sad that this part of my 'Africa dance' is over. But, I'm looking forward to being home. I love England, I love my family, my friends, and my British lifestyle. And, its only a couple of weeks before I embark on my next big adventure: Parelli Centre, Colorado, here I come!!!
I love belonging to this world. Yes, I'm a citizen of Africa, and I am a citizen of England (Europe) But, most importantly, I'm a citizen of this world.
On a lighter note, I'm looking forward to this week. Today I'll be chillaxing, going with the wind. I'll probably take Delarey (the dog) for a walk on the beach to watch the sunset this evening. Tomorrow I might paddle to the Island again for my last bit of snorkelling, sun, and sea (sss)! Wednesday morning, I'm planning to head down to the Nuru centre again, and probably spend the afternoon either at the market, or with Anja. Mona-Liza doesn't have work on Thursday, my final day, so we'll do something together, and Anja and I will be spending the evening together (doing something fun). I'm considering doing an all nighter, as I have to be up at 3AM for my flight home on Friday! I'm reading Spud, one of the funniest books in the world; close on par with the 'Just William' books! I'm chowing on sweets and fruit. You get (yummmy) South African sweets here, so I'm on a bit of a sweet binge. Right now, I have a bowl of Biltong on one side of the computer, a tin of condensed milk on the other, and I've just finished some Papaya Sorbet.
My final week is GOING TO BE GREAT! :)
See y'all soon
No comments:
Post a Comment