Hello friends!
I sincerely apologize for the long delay in posting, enjoy reading what I have been up to within the past month:
Weeks 10, 11, 12, 13 (September 13 – October 10):
This past month has been an absolute whirlwind and been full of so many things. I will do my best to explain it all in this post! 🙂 As we approached mid September our dear friend Sister Devotha’s time in Hanga was coming to an end, and so we (Allan, Lauren, and I) held a little goodbye celebration for her which included some Chipsi Mayai (essentially a french fry omelette, and some fun cookies from our friends at Hanga Pazuri) before she left (as seen in Picture 1). A fun thing about being in Tanzania is that since we are on the other side of the equator compared to the United States, the seasons are opposite and as a result the days are getting longer here, as they are getting shorter back home. What that has meant is that we are slowly transitioning from getting up in total darkness to head to 6 AM prayer with the monks, to being able to witness some incredible sunrises/sunsets (as seen in Pictures 2 and 10). Another fun thing that longer days have been bringing is the ability to actually see our owl friends rather than just hearing them in the dark (as seen in Picture 3, and Picture 7). There is a colony of owls that live in the rafters of the hostel and we can hear them flying around and making noise throughout the night, so it is quite fun to be able to finally start seeing them as they are nocturnal and the only times we see them are in the wee hours of the morning, or late evening, as that is the only time we share that we are both awake.
With the changing seasons also comes a notable increase in temperature as well, and with no air conditioning in any of the buildings in Hanga, we have had to get creative in ways to keep cool, and luckily we found a popsicle mold in the refrigerator and since we always seem to have some abundance of fresh fruit, we have gotten quite busy coming up with new popsicle/ice cream flavors to test out on those particularly hot days that we are looking for ways to cool down (pictured in Picture 4 is a strawberry watermelon popsicle that Allan created).
Speaking of changing seasons, the 2026 midterm elections are rapidly approaching in the United States. Of course, I wanted to be able to exercise my right to vote even while abroad, and thanks to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), I was able to do so (as seen in picture 5). The process was definitely a lot more work than I anticipated, but in the end, I managed to get all the required paperwork and customs declarations lined up to send it out of Tanzania and back to Minnesota in a timely fashion. While jumping through hoops to mail it back took the bulk of the effort, obtaining the ballot overseas was straightforward, and I thought I’d share how it works because it’s a fascinating process. I requested an overseas absentee ballot through the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website, which offers an electronic form for citizens abroad. Once submitted and ballots became available (in Minnesota, general election ballots were ready on September 18), I received an email with a blank ballot to print, complete, and mail back to Minnesota to be counted. On September 18, I printed the ballot, filled it out, sealed it according to the instructions, and had it ready to ship in about 30 to 45 minutes. The real challenge was getting it registered as international mail. That took roughly 3 to 4 hours of running around Songea town gathering the proper documentation from local offices to ensure the envelope cleared U.S. customs. Thankfully, one of the brothers from Hanga Abbey kindly joined me to help navigate the offices and complete all the necessary forms. Once the post office accepted the envelope, it took just under two weeks to reach its destination and be accepted by the ballot board. It was a learning experience, and I am grateful that this process exists so citizens living or serving abroad can exercise their right to vote … even thousands of miles from the nearest polling booth. 🙂
Another fun friend that we have met while living in Tanzania have been the tiny lizards, like the one featured in picture 6, that are quite literally everywhere we go. Whether it is hanging out on walls, or by lightbulbs which attract tasty treats for them to snack on. They come in various different sizes and can range from the size/length of a thumb to roughly the size of your pointer plus index finger stacked on top of each other. Cribbage has also been a fun pastime of ours during the quiet time/down time we have in the later evenings (as seen in Picture 8), and I will say that I have been on a roll so far this month, and I hope it stays that way. 😆
Teaching has also been going well, like most jobs there are some really fun days, and some equally challenging days for both me, and the students that I am teaching. As seen in picture 9 below is an example of what a typical board looks like during a typical class period. I have been enjoying teaching overall, though it certainly comes with some challenging aspects, but also equally rewarding aspects too.
Picture 11 is just a cool picture that I was able to capture of a rainbow ring around the Sun, this phenomenon is known as a sun halo, and it often indicates that moisture is moving in, which can indicate upcoming rain or snow.
Pictures 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 were taken on a trip that some of the brothers took to Perimiho, we tagged along because the reason for traveling to Perimiho was because the novitiates of Hanga Abbey were playing the novitiates of Perimiho Abbey in a soccer match and we were invited to come watch! Perimiho was beautiful and the three pictures of scenery that are featured were all taken in the courtyard of the major seminary in Perimiho where we stopped for lunch before heading to the soccer field to watch the match. The other three photos (pictures 15, 16, and 17) are of us on the bus to Perimiho, playing cards with some of the brothers, and a picture taken on the shores of one of the lakes in the courtyard of the major seminary. Unfortunately Hanga lost the match, but it was a very competitive game until the last 10 minutes when Perimiho had a quick flurry of goals to seal their win.
Picture 18 is of one of the many street markets in Songea town, you can literally find anything your heart desires here, but the most popular items are fresh, locally grown, fruits and vegetables. 🙂
Picture 19 is a selfie with our friends, Justin, Justine, Victor and Nestor playing cards and enjoying some Chipsi Mayai on Victor’s last day in Hanga before he left for school for the year.
Finally, the video that is featured below is of a goat that was tied up at the back of the Hostel, and I was having some fun messing with it, and it was very confused as to what sounds I was trying to make. 😂
Anyways, I hope you all have enjoyed this post, and I appreciate the patience as I was intending to have this post up much earlier but I kept getting sidetracked/derailed in getting it up. Have a wonderful rest of your week and I will have another post coming soon!
See you soon friends!
Cormac 🫶🏻
PHOTO GALLERY!!!
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