Laura & Michael

When I first arrived in Arusha, I was sharing my house with Laura and Michael. They had arrived in Tanzania a week and a half before me. Laura worked in D-Lab at MIT, so I got to know her pretty well my senior year. Michael joined D-Lab after I left MIT, but we had a lot of friends in common.

My first interaction with Michael was in the barber shop right outside our house. A lot of the kids in the area were calling him Bruce Lee (he is Asian and a lot of the kids like kung-fu movies and don't have a whole lot of other exposure to Asians), so he was going for a new look. They convinced the barber to let Laura use the shaver in order to get the look right. When I came back twenty minutes later, I was pretty sure that he wouldn't be called Bruce Lee anymore. He was sporting a huge mohawk. For the rest of his time in Tanzania, people were calling him Jogoo (kiswahili for rooster). He definitely embraced the name.

Laura and Michael really helped me get settled in the house. They got along with Mike and Mass really well, which helped me feel more comfortable. They managed the kitchen really well (kept it stocked and organized, washed dishes, prepared meals) and didn't complain about my experimental cooking ventures (I still need a bit more practice). They were also much better at keeping the house clean than I (Michael is a squeegee-wizard). Most importantly, we could hang out and talk late at night, which I didn't get to do very often last year.

They also worked really hard while they were here. It was always funny to listen to them as their brains were whirring. More importantly, they were very adventurous, so their presence definitely helped whether we were going to a club or going on a massive hike (I'll talk more about this soon too). They helped us with driving the pick-up (an old truck with the gearshift on the other side was an adventure to learn), they prepared lots of amazing vegan meals, and we could stay up and have really intense games of Taboo.

Now, Laura is back in UAE where she is working on her masters and Michael is back at Tufts finishing up his last year. I wish them both the best of luck and hope I get to see them both soon. I'm going to add Laura's blog to my sidebar soon.