Saying Goodbye to Arusha: Part III - The DiGennaros

You have heard me mention Janelle, Simeon, and Malachi a few times on the blog. We met the DiGennaros our first week when hanging out with all the visiting doctors, residents, and med students associated with Arusha Lutheran Medical Center (ALMC). The DiGennaros are from Indiana/Ohio and are spending three years in Arusha.  Almost every Sunday after church, we'd go to lunch with Janelle, Simeon, and Malachi, and Thursday nights, we'd hang out with them at ultimate frisbee (Simeon is quite the ultimate frisbee athlete!). We usually had dinner at their house or ours about once a week. Simeon works with a company that does agriculture type improvement in Arusha and the surrounding villages. Janelle is a massage therapist who volunteers a couple days a week working on the kids at Plaster House. Now, she also volunteers at ALMC doing massage therapy too. Malachi is their 1 year old son, who is absolutely adorable. He knows he's pretty cute too. We got to see Malachi go from a crawling 10-month old to a walking 1 year old!

Malachi at Plaster House

I spent a lot of time with Janelle and Malachi, going to Plaster House a couple times a week. Other times, I would just hang out with Janelle and Malachi at their house, our house, or in town. Janelle often picked me up when she was driving into town to run errands. Janelle was always so honest with me about how their life in Tanzania was going, what she loved about Tanzania, what it was like to raise a baby there, what it was like to be so far away from family for so long, what it was like trying to figure out what her place was in Arusha. Janelle really helped me to get adjusted and was, in many ways, a role model for me (which is kind of weird to say about someone your own age, but it's true). I try to think of what my experience would have been like if they (especially Janelle) had not been part of our lives in Arusha...drastically different. Saying goodbye was hard. Seeing her live life in Arusha made me realize I could too. I really appreciated her friendship and guidance. When they return in 2.5 years, Nate and I plan to take a trip (or trips) to Columbus, OH to visit them. Unfortunately, I never got any pictures of me and Janelle, so I've posted a few I had of Malachi, plus a few that I got from their online albums. :)