Saying Goodbye - Part I

We'll be finishing our Peace Corps service soon and going home, and we have started the extended process of saying goodbye to the people we've known here.  We've learned over these past 2 years that Tanzanians have rituals for dealing with life events, and saying goodbye is one of them.  Americans might say a few words of thanks and leave it at that, but here the process follows a more formal pattern.

Our first goodbye event came about because our headmistress told the president of the school's governing board, whom we have met a few times, that we are leaving.  He then invited her, and us, to dinner at his house.  Besides being president of the board, this man is the Member of Parliament for our district, and has been active in politics for a long time ... a "Big Potato" indeed.

I envisioned a simple, small, dinner party.  Silly me.  We went to the dinner accompanied by our headmistress and 5 of the teachers who make up the "management team" of our school.  When we arrived, we took off our shoes on the porch, as is the custom.  Then we were shown into a large, modern living room, with photos of various prominent people on the walls, interspersed with Maasai ceremonial sticks and shields.  Our dignified host and about a dozen other people were sitting on sofas and chairs circling the room.  We were greeted and we sat as well.  Everyone introduced themselves--there were an assortment of notables, the district education commissioner, political appointees, and political party members.  Over beverages, our host politely asked our opinions on education in Tanzania and conversed with us about global politics.  He mentioned that he had seen an ad on TV, paid for by "Friends of Hillary Clinton", and asked if we thought she would run for president.  He told us that he himself had had Peace Corps teachers when he was in school.   Then various guests, one by one, were invited to say nice things about us, and we responded in kind.

Dinner, served buffet-style, was well-prepared traditional food:  rice, chicken, beef in a sauce, potatoes and bananas.  Afterwards, as a closing gesture, a couple of party members brought out and distributed polo shirts bearing the words "Friends of (our host)" to us and the other teachers.  Of course, Mark and I can't wear them here, as PCVs must stay away from politics, but what a souvenir!