Click here to view our Picture GalleryFelix visits Cape Cod
In June 2005 Felix N., a teacher at the Dr. Herman Wrice Community Center in Majengo, Tanzania, visited the location of his sister-school in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. The following is his reflection on the experience...
After a couple of weeks taking my leadership studies at the Columbia University in New York, I kept in touch with Jessica, telling me how eager was the Charter School to meeting someone from their sister school. It reminded me all the activities that we have been doing with our sister school, the cultural exchange package, the UN Millennium Goals and the message board communications on the One World Youth Project website, etc.
On 24th of July Dr. Cathy from Miracle Corners of the World Trust, our partner organization, and I drove from New York to Cape Cod. It was a 10 hour drive due to the traffic jam, so many cars on the way. While on the way to Cape Cod Jessica would call often asking where we were heading. I could feel her feeling and enthusiasm on meeting us.
As soon as we arrived in Cape Cod, Jessica and her mother came to pick me and Dr. Cathy left for Massachusetts where she intended to stay for that night. We were both happy to meet each other again and I was very happy to meet Jessica and her Mom too.
We left for Allison’s house, a teacher from our sister school who was eager to meet me too. We found Allison waiting us in her beautiful wooden house, cape cod house style. Ms. Allison is energetic woman and you can always feel her confidence in her voice. She lives with two dogs who eventually became my friends; they would wake me up in the morning when am late.
The next day Allison, Jessica, students/parents from the Charter School, and I and went to the whale watch in the Atlantic Ocean. Both students' parents and students were very excited to meet me and we had many conversations about Tanzania and Dr. Wrice Community Center. I never saw the whales live before, only on TV. The day turned out an adventure, we saw many whales jumping, they are very big mammals with different colors and something interesting about them is, they don’t feed on other creatures, said Jessica if I recall well.
After a whale watch, we went to the Charter School and I had a tour with some students showing me their classes and their school. It is a unique school, built underground with beautiful environment and most interesting the teachers and the students are very friendly, they would always make me feel as I am part of their school, which is right as far as One World Youth Project is concerned.
Then after, we went to the Charter School teacher's party, where I met at least each and every Charter School teacher. We had a nice food and drinks, very different from were I come from. After having conversations with teachers one of Jessica's former teacher, madam Barbara invited us for dinner at her house the next day. She is a good cook; every body would talk about her professional cook.
The day we went to Barbara's house for dinner I met some new friends including Jessica's Father, who has a lot of sense of humor. He taught me some magic on playing cards and he can read your mind!! He is giant and very talented man. And madam Barbara’s food was truly delicious just had a time to prove it by myself; I wished she could invite us again for another dinner.
Ms. Jessica and Ms. Allison would keep me busy visiting different places all the days that I stayed in Cape Cod. We were even welcomed to a radio station in Cape cod and had interviewed with the broadcaster, something that made my school famous within few day in Cape Cod. Also we went to the concert performed by young musician from high school, I really enjoyed the unique music and the new friendly people I could always meet.
Cape Cod looks like an Ireland with beautiful seaside, green trees and beaches. Swimming is something famous there; you can always see people go swimming. To me Cape Cod seems like a beautiful place to live in the world, "said Ms. Alison" I can confidently say she is right but to me it was a cultural shock if not environmental shock. In Arusha, Tanzania where I come from, it is about 800 miles far from the seaside, you can only swim if you have a swimming pool. Jessica and Allison took me to the seaside so I could swim, Jessica even bought me a short, which meant she was serious wanted me to swim. Fortunately, I only managed to put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, which I feel proud of. To be honest, I never swim in my life; also wearing shorts in the public in Tanzania is something strange, only children would wear shorts. I think Jessica and Allison realized I was having difficulties in copying with the new culture and environment and they would stay liberal and offered me choices.
The more I stayed the more I kept adopting and learning a lot about Cape Cod. One day Ms. Allison bought me a big "lobster" for dinner, which she called it small. It is a creature which looks scary with big arms look like scissors. They live in the ocean and it is a very familiar food in Cape Cod. Jessica insisted me to try but I could not. Allison managed to eat her lobster, which I think it tasted like chicken to her. I would try to eat lobsters some days though.
Another adventure was Jessica and Allison and I going to pray to the Catholic Church, I was the only who practiced catholic religion but this could not differentiate us because we all prayed together on that day.
I spent my last two days with Mr. Paul's family, he is also the teacher from our sister school. He is a very wise man with a scientist characters. His wife is also a teacher, very charming, who broke the record on asking me questions. She welcomed us at the college where she teaches. We took a tour at her school and she introduced Jessica and me to the principal of the school. I was very excited to have a conversation with the principal of the school, I felt very special.
I would like to take this opportunity to thanking One World Youth Project and the Charter School for their hospitality and welcoming, I really enjoyed my stay in Cape Cod.
After a couple of weeks taking my leadership studies at the Columbia University in New York, I kept in touch with Jessica, telling me how eager was the Charter School to meeting someone from their sister school. It reminded me all the activities that we have been doing with our sister school, the cultural exchange package, the UN Millennium Goals and the message board communications on the One World Youth Project website, etc.
On 24th of July Dr. Cathy from Miracle Corners of the World Trust, our partner organization, and I drove from New York to Cape Cod. It was a 10 hour drive due to the traffic jam, so many cars on the way. While on the way to Cape Cod Jessica would call often asking where we were heading. I could feel her feeling and enthusiasm on meeting us.
As soon as we arrived in Cape Cod, Jessica and her mother came to pick me and Dr. Cathy left for Massachusetts where she intended to stay for that night. We were both happy to meet each other again and I was very happy to meet Jessica and her Mom too.
We left for Allison’s house, a teacher from our sister school who was eager to meet me too. We found Allison waiting us in her beautiful wooden house, cape cod house style. Ms. Allison is energetic woman and you can always feel her confidence in her voice. She lives with two dogs who eventually became my friends; they would wake me up in the morning when am late.
The next day Allison, Jessica, students/parents from the Charter School, and I and went to the whale watch in the Atlantic Ocean. Both students' parents and students were very excited to meet me and we had many conversations about Tanzania and Dr. Wrice Community Center. I never saw the whales live before, only on TV. The day turned out an adventure, we saw many whales jumping, they are very big mammals with different colors and something interesting about them is, they don’t feed on other creatures, said Jessica if I recall well.
After a whale watch, we went to the Charter School and I had a tour with some students showing me their classes and their school. It is a unique school, built underground with beautiful environment and most interesting the teachers and the students are very friendly, they would always make me feel as I am part of their school, which is right as far as One World Youth Project is concerned.
Then after, we went to the Charter School teacher's party, where I met at least each and every Charter School teacher. We had a nice food and drinks, very different from were I come from. After having conversations with teachers one of Jessica's former teacher, madam Barbara invited us for dinner at her house the next day. She is a good cook; every body would talk about her professional cook.
The day we went to Barbara's house for dinner I met some new friends including Jessica's Father, who has a lot of sense of humor. He taught me some magic on playing cards and he can read your mind!! He is giant and very talented man. And madam Barbara’s food was truly delicious just had a time to prove it by myself; I wished she could invite us again for another dinner.
Ms. Jessica and Ms. Allison would keep me busy visiting different places all the days that I stayed in Cape Cod. We were even welcomed to a radio station in Cape cod and had interviewed with the broadcaster, something that made my school famous within few day in Cape Cod. Also we went to the concert performed by young musician from high school, I really enjoyed the unique music and the new friendly people I could always meet.
Cape Cod looks like an Ireland with beautiful seaside, green trees and beaches. Swimming is something famous there; you can always see people go swimming. To me Cape Cod seems like a beautiful place to live in the world, "said Ms. Alison" I can confidently say she is right but to me it was a cultural shock if not environmental shock. In Arusha, Tanzania where I come from, it is about 800 miles far from the seaside, you can only swim if you have a swimming pool. Jessica and Allison took me to the seaside so I could swim, Jessica even bought me a short, which meant she was serious wanted me to swim. Fortunately, I only managed to put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, which I feel proud of. To be honest, I never swim in my life; also wearing shorts in the public in Tanzania is something strange, only children would wear shorts. I think Jessica and Allison realized I was having difficulties in copying with the new culture and environment and they would stay liberal and offered me choices.
The more I stayed the more I kept adopting and learning a lot about Cape Cod. One day Ms. Allison bought me a big "lobster" for dinner, which she called it small. It is a creature which looks scary with big arms look like scissors. They live in the ocean and it is a very familiar food in Cape Cod. Jessica insisted me to try but I could not. Allison managed to eat her lobster, which I think it tasted like chicken to her. I would try to eat lobsters some days though.
Another adventure was Jessica and Allison and I going to pray to the Catholic Church, I was the only who practiced catholic religion but this could not differentiate us because we all prayed together on that day.
I spent my last two days with Mr. Paul's family, he is also the teacher from our sister school. He is a very wise man with a scientist characters. His wife is also a teacher, very charming, who broke the record on asking me questions. She welcomed us at the college where she teaches. We took a tour at her school and she introduced Jessica and me to the principal of the school. I was very excited to have a conversation with the principal of the school, I felt very special.
I would like to take this opportunity to thanking One World Youth Project and the Charter School for their hospitality and welcoming, I really enjoyed my stay in Cape Cod.
