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Well it’s hard to believe, but we’ve already been in East Africa for a whole six weeks. This means, among other things, that midterm exams are over, we’ve been on our first expeditions, and that of course we have seen some amazing things. However, it also means that we will be switching sites soon.

Our group just got back from five days in the Serengeti and now that we are back, the reality that our time in Tanzania is coming to an end is starting to set in. I’m really excited for Kenya, but I’m also quite torn up about leaving Moyo Hill Camp. The entire staff have made this place feel like home from day one, and the idea that I might not see them or the children at the local school where we have been volunteering again makes me very sad.

I have been doing whatever I can to take it in stride. In Swahili the verb -hifadhi “to remember” is used in place of the English verb “to miss” so in the last few days in Tanzania I am trying to reflect on and remember all the people I have met here and the memories I’ve made at the site, whether its playing soccer and getting thoroughly demolished but still having an absolute ball, learning to slack line, talking with the askari (camp guard) on the way to bed after a late night of paper writing, or just sitting by the fire and talking to everyone. Leaving will still be difficult, but I think that if I can take these memories with me, it will be all right. It’s oddly fitting that “moyo” means heart, because part of my heart will always be here at the site in Tanzania.