Lydia Hartsell

(Goodbye Tanzania. Thank you.)

 On Sunday morning at 8:45am I left Tanzania.  It was truly a bittersweet moment.  Over the past year, I have grown to love many parts of Dar es Salaam and had started to call it home.  Alternatively, certain parts of the city still make me cringe (ferry port, bus station…) and specific traits of Tanzanian culture irritate and sometimes infuriate me.  Throughout the last month, I reached my peak of frustration in persistently trying to complete my thesis (and finally finishing my requirements!) while seeing the most amazing sites of Tanzania with good friends, Wes and Nila.  Upon reaching my last week in Dar es Salaam, I felt an attachment to the city that I thought I would never know.  Unfortunately after a series of trying events halfway through the week, I was more than ready for my return to the United States.  I plan to detail the last two months of my life in Tanzania to a greater extent than this short paragraph, but first I wanted to let you all know that I have returned safely to the US.  I have left a part of me in Tanzania, and plan to return to revisit them throughout my upcoming years in medical school and thereafter as a physician.  Foremost, thank you Rotary for this opportunity to experience a new culture, to uniquely develop my understanding of international health, and establish relationships that will last a lifetime.