Personal Narrative: My Experience In Tanzania

Superior Essays
I felt uncomfortable as I looked around. Everything was so distant from what I was used to. I could the eyes looking at me wondering why I looked so distinct from them. I wasn’t that different from all of these people, but in their minds, I was completely diverse. Being in Tanzania, I learned that these contrasts can stand out. Even though I wasn’t that different from them, they thought I was important and special. My favorite experience in Tanzania was visiting a school named Lutangilo Secondary School. The school was on the top of a mountain so it was magnificent, but we were stuck in a tiny car for over four hours and it was an atrocious road. It was bumpy, twisty, and hilly. Driving on the road was almost like a roller coaster except it was worse. It was also steamy and humid in the car. Because of this, my sister got incredibly car sick. I knew that it was going to be a lengthy ride. Before we arrived at the school, we jumped out of the car so we could breathe. We assumed that we would have a few minutes to calm down and feel refreshed as we walked the quarter mile, but a mob of students arrived. As they came down a hill, they grabbed my hands. They ran to me and asked me how I felt.
“Sister, are you feeling sick?” one girl asked me. “I am okay, thank you”, I replied to the girl.
“We heard that someone felt sick”, a boy replied.
“My sister is sick, but she is back there and she feels better”, I replied, but I didn’t know where my sister was or how she actually felt. They also draped wreaths made of vines and leaves around my neck and some girls gave me small bouquets of flowers. They waved branches around us. They were delighted that we visited them. Their smiles shined and their voices were full of joy. They had a sense of excitement. They sung and danced with energy and joy as we walked to the school together. When we arrived at the school, everyone started dancing with us. They would grab my hands and hug me. I don’t usually enjoy dancing, but it was enjoyable. It was almost too uncomfortable because they were acting like I was better than them. They acted like I was way more important than them except it’s false. I don’t believe that I was any more important than they are because they overcame many challenges in their lives. They all have worked diligently in their lives to have the opportunity to go to school. After dancing and singing with us, the students had a surprise. They had a show so we could see all of their talents. They danced and sang. I watched in awe as they did aerobatics. They showed us flips and cartwheels. They showed us all of their soccer tricks. They also sang their school song that the headmaster wrote himself. They sang in perfect synchronization. After the performances, we got a tour of the school.
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It was gorgeous. They appreciated every little thing that they had. The classrooms were filled with an insufficient amount of room for all of the students, but instead of complaining about how crowded it was, they were happy and grateful for the opportunity to learn. The supplies and equipment that they had were basic and ancient, but they used them and appreciated everything. They had also just built new dormitories for the girls. The girls used to sleep in classrooms, but now they had two new dorms. They had to share bed, but all of the students were fine with it. During the tour, we noticed everything that they needed. They really needed a new kitchen and dining hall because it looked like it was scorched from all of the smoke. They also need more nutritious meals because their ugali and beans wasn’t very filling for how much the students had to work. They needed to build laboratories for science because it is a requirement that all schools have two in order to teach students. The headmaster wanted to be independent though, he only wanted help with sizable projects. Later the school made us a feast. We had rice, chicken, peas, and bananas. It tasted delicious, but all I could think about the

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