December in Tanzania

Back in the U.S. right now it’s getting colder as winter approaches, the holiday season is just about in full swing, and people are busy at work and school getting ready for the coming holiday break.  In Tanzania, the atmosphere is quite different.  The weather is getting hotter by the day, most schools are closing, people are taking it easy at work and it’s hard to tell if it’s approaching Christmas or the middle of summer here.  It’s a bit disorienting but December in Tanzania seems to be similar to July or August in the U.S.  Kids are out of school, the weather is at it’s warmest and people are generally more laid back and relaxed.

A couple of weeks ago I finished my first term at Mongola Secondary School.  As the last couple of weeks approached, the students were busy taking their final exams before they were dismissed for a break until January when the new school year begins.  It was the first time when I could gauge the progress of the students that I had, and I was encouraged to see them do well on the concepts that I had taught them in the previous weeks.  Although most of the students still had difficulty with a large part of the exam (all of their exams are in English, so a large part of their success on exams depends on their skill level in the language), they all seemed to give it their best effort, which was encouraging for me.  However, as in all schools there were a couple of my students who were caught cheating, but they were appropriately disciplined after their crime was discovered.  I was disappointed in those students, but was happy that it was only a handful out of about 120 of my students.  After all of the test grading was completed, the students were dismissed for their break and the school closed for the year.  I’m glad to have a break for now (even though I’m still teaching classes at Mzumbe), and I’ll be ready to get a few fresh classes and a new start with a new group in January.

As for the next few weeks, I’m just enjoying the low-key atmosphere and looking forward to our Mid-service Conference that will take place in Zanzibar!  It has been interesting to see how Tanzania observes the holiday season, but as I mentioned earlier, you wouldn’t really notice that any major holiday was approaching.  There are some shops with fake Christmas trees, but other than that the lack of a holiday atmosphere is very noticeable compared what I’m used to seeing on the streets and in the shopping malls back home.  Also back home it’s usually not 100 degrees in December!

It has been an interesting experience to be in Tanzania in December.  It is quite a change from home and while it’s getting colder and festive in the U.S., in Tanzania it feels like the country is on a nice, relaxing summer vacation!