Hello friends!
Welcome to the second official update of my journey with the BVC! These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of trying new foods, new adventures, and so much more! I intend to update this blog weekly (aiming for publishing every Sunday), but I was busy exploring Tanzania last Sunday (more about that in the blog) and time got away from me. So, this post will be a bit lengthy as I recap the past two weeks, but know that I will try to publish weekly to keep things from being too overwhelming for myself, and my lovely readers. 🙂 So, with that out of the way, let’s get into my first two weeks in Hanga, Tanzania, the site that I will be living at for the next 11 months!
Week 2 (July 20 – July 26)
July 20: My first full day in Hanga definitely got us off to a running start! We started off the day with Lauds and immediately after Lauds, me and Allan met with our site supervisor, Fr. Amadeus. Fr. Amadeus invited us on a tour of Hanga by car later in the day, and we gladly accepted as we were eager to get to know the place we would call home for these next 11 months. After meeting with Fr. Amadeus, we went to breakfast, and met three Italian veterinarians who were in school at the University of Bologna and were volunteering in Tanzania through a program called Vet for Africa. (Picture 1 features all 5 of us and Father Amadeus) After breakfast we had a little free time before all five of us met up with Fr. Amadeus, who gave us a tour of Hanga! Little did I know, but Hanga was so much bigger than I had previously realized! Hanga includes, a kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and even a seminary for young men! Hanga also has a million little shops and stores where you can buy all sorts of things like laundry detergent, or rubber boots. Hanga Abbey is an incredibly self-sufficient place, everything has a purpose and things that have served their purpose are repurposed into something else (i.e. potato peelings and other food scraps are used as animal feed), and so nothing is truly ever wasted in Hanga. After concluding the tour, Allan and I explored Hanga, had lunch, and took advantage of our extensive period of free time in the afternoon to further familiarize ourselves with Hanga, and continue unpacking our luggage. In the evening, we went to Vespers, had dinner and went to bed early.
July 21: Day Two in Hanga came rather quickly, and it felt like I had just closed my eyes, when I was opening them again to my alarm going off at 5:30 AM. Tuesday morning played out exactly like Monday. Lauds, followed by breakfast, and then followed by some free time to explore Hanga! Fr. Amadeus met with us and chatted about potential assignments for the year we are in Hanga. He asked if I was interested in helping in the Vocational Training Center with computer literacy, to which I said yes. Fr. Amadeus said he would chat with some folks on potential assignments, such as the computer lab, and other options for myself, and Allan. Lunch couldn’t come soon enough, and before I knew it, we were already well into the afternoon! Soon, 6 PM was upon us and it was time for Vespers, with dinner to follow and an early bedtime. 🙂 (Pictures 2 and 3 below are of various spots in Hanga!)
July 22: Wednesday went by rather quickly, the Italian veterinarians, whom we had become fast friends with, invited us to the farm to help them with the animals. While they gave some of the cows vitamin injections, we got the opportunity to explore the farm, which has pigs, chickens, and cows! After the cow injections, we went with some of the workers to gather hay for the cows from the field, and so this was a new experience and something that I found to be quite fun! (Picture 4 is of me, and Allan, in the trailer full of hay!) The morning flew by while we were helping on the farm and before I knew it, it was lunch time! The afternoon brought more time to explore/rest, and then Vespers, dinner, and bedtime.
July 23: I awoke Thursday morning feeling like I had gotten hit by a truck, and I feared that I was coming down with something, and did what you should NEVER do, and googled my symptoms. Of course Google said it could be malaria, and that I should go to a doctor to receive proper treatment. I am someone who would rather just wait and see if my symptoms get better or worse rather than acting immediately, but you don’t want to do that with malaria, as the longer it is in your system, the more dangerous it can get. So, while Allan went to the farm, I went to the St. Bernard Health Center in Hanga, which is run by the monastery. The experience was quite pleasant and I walked out of the health center roughly two hours later with a negative malaria test and a positive attitude. The doctor thinks it was just sheer exhaustion catching up with me given the incredibly busy two weeks we had endured. After I got back to my room, I decided to take a nap until lunch as I was coming down with a headache and felt a nap was the best thing I could do for myself. I woke up two hours later feeling much better and ready for lunch! Once again, the afternoon went by rather quickly, while Allan went back to the farm, I rested in my room and took this time to download a few books to read on my Kindle! The evening had the usual activities, vespers, dinner, and bedtime.
July 24: Friday brought exciting new experiences and foods! Earlier in the week, the girls had invited us on a trip with them to Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) in Mbamba Bay, which was just a 4 hour drive west of Hanga. We would leave Saturday morning and come back Sunday evening. So on Friday, Fr. Amadeus invited the five of us to have dinner with him and the head of the Hanga Seminary, so that we could all spend time together before we left for the weekend. The food at the Seminary was fantastic, and I discovered what has easily become one of my favorite foods in the Tanzanian cuisine, Chapati! Chapati reminds me of a crepe, but is thicker. It is typically flour, oil, and sometimes eggs and sugar, and it is either steamed or fried. It originated in India, but Tanzanians adopted it through trade and has made it their own. Anyways, it was a phenomenal dinner and a wonderful way to start our weekend.
July 25: Saturday morning came, and I got to sleep in an extra hour, as the car to take us to Mbamba Bay was leaving at 7 AM. The drive to Mbamba Bay went by rather quickly for me, as I ended up sleeping for most of the trip. But once we arrived at the place we were staying, a house run by Benedictine Sisters on the shores of Lake Nyasa, I was wide awake! The views from the house were incredible, and we were all very eager to get to our rooms, drop our stuff and go to the beach! (Pictures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are all pictures from our trip!) Now, unfortunately it is not safe to swim in Lake Nyasa as there is a parasitic worm that lives in the lake that can infect a person with something called schistomiasis, which simply put, is not a good thing to contract. So we just walked along the shores of the beach and enjoyed the ocean breeze and sand. After a brief walk on the beach, we headed back to the Benedictine House for Lunch, and then headed into town, where the monk who came with us on the trip, Br. Irenaus, gave us a quick tour. After the tour, we headed to a place called the Bio-Camp which was owned and operated by a friend of Br. Irenaus, and what was really cool about the Bio-Camp was that all of its electricity was generated by the waste of the animals they care for (cows, pigs, and chickens). (Picture 10 illustrates how the process works) The Bio-Camp also had amazing hiking trails that ended with incredible overviews of Lake Nyasa! (Picture 11 shows the amazing view from our hike!). After we finished hiking, we headed back to the car and after a quick pitstop at a different hotel that Br. Irenaus wanted to check out, we headed back to our hotel for dinner, and then promptly went to sleep.
July 26: Sunday morning was a slow one, and really the first day in almost 2 weeks that I had woken up past 7 AM, which felt amazing. 🙂 After a nice breakfast, we got dressed and left the hotel to head to the Bio-Camp for lunch, and to hang out before heading back to Hanga that afternoon. When we got there, the staff had set up chairs on the beach for us, and served us some hot coffee, and so we were able to relax and enjoy Lake Nyasa (from the beach of course). (Picture 12 is us on the beach!). After some beach time, and lunch, we began the long journey back to Hanga, and this time I was awake for most of the trip, and let me tell you, it felt a lot longer this time. 😂 We got back to Hanga just in time for dinner, and after dinner, I went to sleep, exhausted but fulfilled by an incredible weekend!
Week 3 (July 27 – August 1)
July 27: Monday morning of my second week in Hanga, once again came very quickly and my day was relatively uneventful. For my morning work period, me and Allan went back to the farm to continue helping out with farm chores, this week was harvesting the maize (corn) from the fields! So, we spent our morning, and afternoon work periods helping shuck corn! After the afternoon work period had concluded, we had roughly 1 hour to relax before Vespers, Dinner and bedtime.
July 28: Tuesday was very similar to Monday, both our work periods were spent harvesting corn, and after the afternoon work period came vespers, dinner, and bedtime. I was definitely starting to get more into a rhythm as the days went by, as our schedule was basically the same every day, and so the days just seemed to start flying by!
July 29: Wednesday went very similarly to Monday and Tuesday, my work for the day was harvesting corn, but we had a little extra free time in the afternoon and so me and Allan went to go try Chipsi Mayai from one of the shops in Hanga. Chipsi Mayai is essentially a french fry omelette, and is a dish frequently assosciated with Tanzania and is the most well known “street food” dish in Tanzania. It is made by frying some potato strips in a pan and then pouring scrambled eggs over it and cooking it all together, it is typically served with a vegetable salad containing onions, and cabbage, as well as Pili Pili (Hot Sauce). It was, as I expected, an incredible dish! (Picture 13 shows Chipsi Mayai!).
July 30: Thursday brought some new experiences and some hard goodbyes. Earlier in the week, I was invited by some of the kitchen staff to help bake some bread for the weekend. So, I said goodbye to the farm and met with my good friend Victor, who works in the kitchen, and spent the morning, and afternoon helping to bake some bread. (Picture 14 is some of the bread we baked!). Some goodbyes were also had, as the Italians were leaving on Friday, and so me, Allan, and two of the monks from the monastery took them to the bar next door (called the Papaya Garden) to celebrate their time in Hanga, and to say goodbye. Allan brought a deck of cards and taught everyone a game called Old Maid, all in all, it was a great way to spend a Thursday evening and to celebrate our dear friends before they left for home. (Picture 15 is all of us playing cards!)
July 31: Friday had me back in the kitchen helping peel potatoes, and shell peas, as well as helping to prepare some rice for the coming lunch and dinner hours. We said goodbye to the Italians, and after they departed the rest of the day flew by really fast, and before I knew it, I was crawling into bed for the evening.
August 1: Saturday was my first official “weekend” day in Hanga, as we had been absent the weekend before due to our visit to Lake Nyasa. Saturday’s function almost exactly like the weekdays, and my work periods in the morning and afternoon were spent baking more bread than I have ever seen in my life. (Pictures 16 and 17 show all the bread we baked) After work concluded, Vespers, Dinner and Bedtime came quite quickly.
If you have read this far, I appreciate you reading, and I apologize for the length! Again, I am trying to make weekly posts, so that these posts will not be so lengthy, for your sake, and my sanity. I hope you enjoyed learning about what I am doing in Hanga so far, and I am excited and already thinking about next weeks post! Have a wonderful week friends, and as Br. Germanus (Picture 18) says “enjoy life”! 🙂
Cormac 🫶🏻
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