Re-entry, real life

I spent my final few days in Arusha scrambling to buy gifts, finishing interviews, spending time with friends, and figuring out how to get to the airport. The last one turned out to be a bust, as I lined up a shuttle that I was going to ride there, only to check back early Thursday morning to find out it had been canceled. I ran around Arusha for an hour or two looking for another shuttle, but apparently there were no others that day that would get me to the airport in time to make my flight (at least none that I could find). I eventually admitted defeat and decided that spending $40 on a taxi for the hour-long ride to the airport was probably worth it to ensure that I actually did make it onto the airplane home. It actually turned out nicely, because my mama knew a taxi driver who let my dada Rachel and cousin Erick make the trip to the airport with me, so we got to say goodbye at the very end. Saying goodbye was awful...Rachel and Erick were both crying, and I was tearing up. I felt guilty too, because while I was very sad to be leaving I also had things and people to look forward to in the states, so I definitely had some positive emotions mixed in with my sadness. But for them, it was just me leaving - nothing particularly good about it. When I got here, there was already an email from Erick making sure that I got home safely. I will miss all of them very much, and hopefully will get to see them again in the future.

The trip home was long: Kilimanjaro to Nairobi, Nairobi to London, London to Detroit = 27 hours total. Plane rides do not really bother me though, and I was especially content because both long flights had personal TVs for each passenger and an array of movies to watch. I arrived in Detroit on Friday afternoon to discover my luggage was missing, which did not surprise me too much. My dad and sister Sarah were waiting for me, and even though I was kind of self-conscious about looking like some dirty wild jungle-woman, I was happy to be home.

Being back in the U.S. is still strange...it has not been especially hard for me to pick back up with my normal way of life, but it makes Tanzania seem surreal, like an elaborate dream. I am having some food issues - not stomach problems, but taste bud problems. It is super weird, they are all ragged and you can tell by looking at them that something is seriously wrong. I think the fact that I ate mostly tasteless ugali, rice, etc. for two months made them hyper-sensitive to more flavorful foods? And I have been eating a lot of textured and seasoned foods that I could not get in Tanzania...now it hurts to eat a lot of things so I am regressing back to bread, cheese, and apples for a few days, hopefully they heal soon.

Meanwhile, I finally submitted my AMCAS application for medical school yesterday! Overall, I am pleased with it and I think it represents my collegiate career well. Now I am studying for the MCAT again, which I am re-taking on August 22 (two days before returning to Notre Dame for my senior year). My first batch of MCAT scores were not awful, but I feel that I can do a lot better so I decided to take the test again. The only downside is that I now do not have much time to spend outside, so my current extremely pale state is probably not going to significantly change. People find it hilarious that I came back from Africa paler than I left. Explaining that it was winter in Tanzania does not seem to help much; after all, it was AFRICA.

As part of my AMCAS application, I had to submit an essay describing my significant research experience for MD/PhD (in anthropology) programs that I am applying to. I am going to post that essay in this blog (see above post) in case anyone who read this over the summer is interested in the specifics of my medical anthropology research that I conducted in Tanzania. Otherwise, feel free to skip it :)