Saying Goodbye to Arusha: Part I - Karina

I think if you had told me before I left the US to go to Tanzania that I would have had such a hard time leaving Arusha, I would have laughed at you. Nate and I went into this experience as a "test-run" to see how I did in East Africa. We already knew Nate loved Tanzania based on his experience in Moshi in 2007, but this would be a completely new experience for me. I knew I would love the children in Tanzania. I knew that would be the highlight, but I didn't know how I would do with other things: the distance and lack of communication with my family, the inconveniences in a 3rd world country, the communication barrier, the insects, especially...the squatty potties. Well, it turns out that I caught "Tanzanitis"...this is the bug you catch when you visit/live in Tanzania and fall in love (according to a wonderful, amazing woman from the US that has spent 55 years in Tanznia). (Side note - her name is Eunice "Uni" Simonson - she has an amazing story - I'm reading it right now in her book in case you are interested...http://www.kirkhouse.com/Books/I-Count-My-Blessings)

Leaving Arusha (our new friends, the community, Plaster House and kids) was extremely difficult for me...especially given my new connection to those sweet kids at Plaster House that I just gained the 2nd to last week we were there (http://hakuna-matata-evans.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-experience-in-or-and-nates-visit-to.html). Don't get me wrong...I love America! (Happy 4th of July!) I was SOOOO looking forward to returning to the US to see my friends and family that I missed so dearly while we were gone. But, have you ever left somewhere feeling like it's also where you belonged? This sounds so cheesy, but I truly left part of my heart back in Arusha.

Anyway, our last week in Arusha (which was still about a week and half before we left Tanzania) was filled with many events. First, we temporarily said good bye to Karina (and her parents who had flown in the week before). We knew we would cross paths with them on safari and would hang out with them in Zanzibar, but it was still the end of an era (albeit a very short one). Nate and I had lived with Karina for 7.5 weeks. We became a small family. I think she was amused by watching Nate's and my relationship (the good and the bad). She laughed with Nate at my transition from being overly concerned about cleanliness in the kitchen to becoming way more relaxed about that kind of stuff (seriously, you have to relax about that stuff if you are going to cook in Tanzania...I mean, you can be clean...most of the time). She laughed with Nate (common theme) when I freaked out because one of our house lizards fell on me. They laughed when I fell down dramatically in our yard while we were all tossing a frisbee because something (an ant) bit me (it really did hurt - it drew blood). She could not only put up with Nate's sarcasm and teasing, but she could dish it back. She loves life, and her personality is absolutely contagious. We had so much fun, but she and I also had such sweet conversations. I didn't plan to write this much about Karina :) I just realized I'm going to have to break my initial post up into several parts. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Karina (most have already been posted and some will be posted in the upcoming post about our trip to Zanzibar).

Karina and our frisbee friend Mike - They were trying to take a "tough" picture, but Karina was smiling.

Mike was happier about this second attempt.

Celebrating Queen's Day (Dutch holiday) with Vlai

Drinking sodas across from our house at Veronica's Duka. 

Karina was the only one in our house (besides Nate) that kept up with "Football". Here we are at the lovely Mt. Meru hotel. Karina is eating pizza - probably one of her favorite foods. That girl loves her some Italian food!

Here is Karina in the OR assisting on a C-section.

This was really the last time we said goodbye to Karina in Zanzibar.