A Year of Lent

Easter is now only two weeks away and over the past few years I’ve looked forward to Easter not only for the traditional Easter festivities but also because it marks the end of Lent, and more specifically, the end of a period of self denial of something I’ve chosen to live without. This year was different in that I haven’t chosen to sacrifice something specifically for Lent because I don’t have much to sacrifice that I already haven’t.

I chose to come to Tanzania for this fellowship year because I was compelled by the opportunity to get to work on tackling one of the worlds’ toughest challenges: HIV/AIDS in East Africa. However, though I’ve worked and traveled in the third world many times before, I didn’t realize how many American comforts I’d be sacrificing at the same time. Through the months of forced denial, I’ve come to affectionately call this my Year of Lent.

My first month living in the rural town of Kilwa, Tanzania was hard but I learned to deal with it. When the second month was harder than the first, I didn’t know if I was going to make it the whole year. But then something changed. I started to enjoy the simplicity of my life.

We have so many choices in the US of things to do that there’s an expectation that you do something fantastic with the time you have. At the same time, with so many choices, it’s often hard to decide what to do. Resting is not an option; "you can sleep when you die." Everyone goes to the movies. What can I do that’s particularly fun and unique?

I’m dramatizing it a bit but a pressure does exist to be interesting and do interesting things. The beauty of my life here is that I have very few options of what to do with my free time. There are virtually no choices and consequently there’s no stress to make the 'right' choice.

So my Year of Lent continues and my ‘Easter’ is four and a half months away at the beginning of August. Much as I’ve enjoyed the act of self-denial while participating in past Lents, I’ve also come to appreciate having a whole year of my life filled only by books to read, a beach to run on, and a bed to nap in.

I still find myself craving home and the things that come with it.  However, I’ll undoubtedly miss the simple life of rural Tanzania when I’m back.