TIA and the Importance of Resilience in International Study by Francisco Xavier Luzania

To be totally forthcoming, I slept past a few of my alarms when I  woke up to leave Salem, Oregon to head north to PDX. Unbeknownst to me and my flight companions; late was to be the theme of our journey. Tuesday was the start of an anticipated long journey to reach mine and my ICR group’s destination of Arusha, Tanzania. Long ended up being a severe understatement.  Our first flight was a breeze! A short flight from Portland to Salt Lake City. I took a short nap, watched an episode of Rome, and was able to finally read fifty pages of a book I was neglecting all semester due to the large amount of reading law students already begrudgingly do. But Salt Lake was where the real journey began.

Our plan was so simple. Me and two professors would meet the larger group in Amsterdam so that we could all fly out together. A 15 minute delay. Then a 30 minute delay. Then switching runways. First the plane was too heavy. And then the plane was too light. The weather was too hot for us to take off. But then the rain and wind prevented us from taking off again. Three hours of sitting on the tarmac in delay mode truthfully only cost me and our two professors 20 minutes of travel time. After travel over the Atlantic and finally landing in Amsterdam, we had been sitting in an airplane for 12 hours on what was supposed to be a 9 hour flight. But those 20 minutes had more value than any airline could have anticipated. 20 minutes was the exact amount that the three of us missed our our connection from the Netherlands to Tanzania. Those 20 minutes meant that the other ten of members of our group would be traveling without us. Those 20 minutes demanded of us a commitment and patience that we honestly could never have planned for.

After pleading and effectively explaining our circumstances to the airline staff, Professor Buske luckily was able to secure an early flight for herself to fly through Egypt, then Kenya, and eventually arriving in Tanzania early the next morning to catch up with the rest of the group. More on that later. But, Professor Buske also got myself and Professor Cook tickets to red-eye from Amsterdam to Nairobi, eventually getting us to Tanzania early evening the next day. While this was not the most preferable option, all three of us understood that we needed to simply stay the course and do whatever it took to make it to our final destination and make our group whole again. Frazzled and very tired from our incredibly long first leg of travel, we rested up until Professor Buske departed for her first flight a few short hours after us arriving. Hence began the separate journey of Professor Cook and I making the best of an 8 hour layover.

We chatted, ate, laughed, and chatted more, almost delirious from being awake 37 hours straight throughout our travel debacle thus far. But we needed to stay awake to stave off serious jet lag when we would eventually get to Tanzania. We took our red-eye to Nairobi, Kenya and finally got some sleep while in the air. Very uncomfortable sleep, but at least it was sleep. Our reward for successfully making it to Kenya? Another 8 hour layover! Once again Professor Cook and I conversed while she imparted invaluable wisdom on academics and the legal profession. Meanwhile, Professor Buske was in the midst of another flight cancellation, needing to be rerouted to Ethiopia. But Cook and I were steadfast in our positivity and comfort in knowing that although our travel time had been extended by 24 hours, it is times like these that the destination always outweighs the journey. Eventually all three of us successfully arrived to Arusha and joined the group! All is knowing now how valuable 20 minutes really can be.

This is what I chose to write my blog, our groups first blog, on. I certainly felt like I was going through a ringer. Time meant nothing. Sleep was fleeting. People at airports blended in. And resilience meant everything. There was never a moment that either I or our professor’s lost focus or desire to get to Tanzania and begin working on what we needed to. My excitement and getting to meet up with my classmates and start really contributing to the local society is what kept me strong (and the incredibly company of Professor Cook). International study comes with challenges. The ones you expect like culture shock or new cuisine. And the ones you don’t like brutally long travel delays and needing to stay up way past any reasonable expectations. But, the very essence of international study, in my opinion, and now experience, is just that. Go someplace where your expectations are thrown out the window and the lessons are not easily forgotten. Do work that means something even when the cost on you is great. I was so privileged to be on the trip in the first place. Taking a little longer to get there never changed the amount of good we were going to accomplish. I saw more culture in Europe and Africa throughout this journey that most students do in a lifetime. Seeing Kilimanjaro was worth every minute of trouble. There is a saying Professor Buske taught us. “TIA”. This is Africa. Expected the unexpected and be okay with it. I did not expect most of the past 48 hours. But not only was I okay with it; I enjoyed it.       ///// Francisco Xavier Luzania