The Beginning of Goodbye

I woke up to the banging of the front door before 5 this morning. Allison, our roommate for the past five months, was leaving. She had to catch a 6 am bus from Arusha to Dar. Yesterday had been such a series of goodbyes and tears that by the time Allison and I said goodbye last night in the house, I just wasn’t in the mood. But it hit me this morning when I woke up and realized she was gone – I might never see her again. It’s strange to live and work with someone in such close quarters for a period of time (our desks at work were side by side) and have that feeling. It was just the three of us – Scott, Allison, and I – for a month before our house grew to five and now six. But through it all, Allison was by far the most considerate and generous housemate we lived it, and a friend.

Even though the last day of school was yesterday, Scott and I will be spending the next two nights with many of the students in Moshi for Sports Weekend. So that gives the whole leaving process a bit of a cushion. We said goodbyes yesterday but we knew we still plenty of student time to look forward to. Maybe not plenty of time, but still more than nothing.

But there were some students that we legitimately said goodbye to, a few of them our favorites, like Lais Lazaro. Usually when I see Lais, his eyes light up and we have extended, prolonged conversations of greeting. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to teach Lais this go-around so whatever time I did get to spend with him was valuable. But yesterday, every time I saw Lais he had this forlorn look on his face. He spent some time in the library yesterday composing a goodbye letter to us. I only know he was doing this because when I walked toward him, he turned over the sheet of paper he was working on. In his letter to us, he referred to Scott and I as family. I wish Lais was going to Sports Weekend, but his forte has never been in athletics, although when he does play basketball or crazyball, he does so with a particular bounce of someone who truly loves it. Lais’s gifts are in the sciences and math and he really is gifted. I’d like to think that we’ll see him again.

The house is starting to wake up. The sun is shining bright and the birds are singing their usual songs. It rained shortly this morning cooling the ground a bit but I can tell it’s going to be a hot one. Scott and I still have to pack up our room before leaving around noon today. We’ll go to Sports Weekend in Moshi, then spend Sunday night in Arusha so we can take off early on Monday morning for one last Tanzanian adventure. Gombe National Park eluded us last time, but we’re determined to get there now.