Veerle Koops, Grade 12
UWCEA Arusha Campus
I have a very distinct favorite memory of my time at UWCEA. It took place once upon a weekend, last year. A secondyear friend of mine had to leave Tanzania early, for unfortunate reasons. We decided to go to the most beautiful place I have been lucky enough to see: Chem-chem. A small, heavenly blue spring, in the middle of a small forest in a coffee plantage. Bats, fireflies, deer, gazelles, prey birds and turtles are common, and for this one night we came to disturb their peace.
We took a daladala (town bus) to the place, and spent the night drinking soda, talking to each other and listening to music. In the middle of the night, it started to rain. We found shelter under banana leaves, but soon decided to go swimming in the spring: even though it was very cold, and raining. But we were swimming, in the ice cold water, under the beautiful sky. I found this such an outworldly experience. We felt completely at peace with our surroundings. This was, until my friend and I decided to joke that there was a watersnake, and we were all out of the water within a single minute.
After that, we were very, very cold. It started raining more decisively, and we left to the house of one of my friends that was here as well. We took a taxi, and drove through sleeping Arusha. Finally, we all fell asleep on a big bed, and returned to school in the morning.
I loved this night with all my heart. And now, I love how much I loved it. Apart from the story, it was an important memory because it was the goodbye to a friend, who I haven’t seen since.
We took a daladala (town bus) to the place, and spent the night drinking soda, talking to each other and listening to music. In the middle of the night, it started to rain. We found shelter under banana leaves, but soon decided to go swimming in the spring: even though it was very cold, and raining. But we were swimming, in the ice cold water, under the beautiful sky. I found this such an outworldly experience. We felt completely at peace with our surroundings. This was, until my friend and I decided to joke that there was a watersnake, and we were all out of the water within a single minute.
After that, we were very, very cold. It started raining more decisively, and we left to the house of one of my friends that was here as well. We took a taxi, and drove through sleeping Arusha. Finally, we all fell asleep on a big bed, and returned to school in the morning.
I loved this night with all my heart. And now, I love how much I loved it. Apart from the story, it was an important memory because it was the goodbye to a friend, who I haven’t seen since.
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