"The horses know the way to carry the sleigh over white and drifting snow..." Bursting into sleighing songs was irresistible as 111 members of USM LAC Senior College Outdoor Adventure Club set out to explore the fields and woods of Harrison on a sunny February 16. Sleigh bells ringing, two golden Belgian horses, Madison and Dixon, stepped smartly across the fields following a trail that led into a fairytale Woodland. A light snow clung to the branches." It's like being in a Christmas card!" One member exclaimed.

Here is a short bit of news from what we like to call the senior college of the foothills. We wish we could report on rapid melting, but it doesn't seem to be case quite yet. Indeed, even the sap has been flowing more slowly due to the colder than normal March temperatures.

Rather than dwell on any of that, however, Gold LEAF members packed the campus North Dining Hall and went "virtually" to Tanzania, with the help of Elizabeth Ferry, who spent a total of 27 months there, and returned just last Fall. Elizabeth now teaches at our local high school but was somehow still full of boundless energy even at the end of a long school day. Her vibrant and engaging presentation pulled everyone into the warm days and nights of East Africa. At the same time the group preferred not to dwell too deeply on the tarantulas, rats, and other such creatures that she encountered there.

After a geography lesson, in which Tanzania was overlaid with New England so everyone could grasp its size, Elizabeth described her 3 months of training before launching into her two years of Peace Corps service. With no private cars or vehicles in the small rural village where she taught in a large classroom, she had to join everyone else in relying on the local bus networks. At one point, suffering from swelling and a rash which became quite dangerous, she had to undertake an uncomfortable journey to South Africa in order to get proper treatment.

The local diet, in terms of availability and her taste preferences, was generally vegetables. Once in a while a care package would arrive from the states, but once she saw the price of postage, she discouraged much of that. Immersion is a well-known method of learning a lesson and so Elizabeth now speaks Swahili, learned mostly through living with her first host family who were wonderful and with whom she has stayed in contact. During her years of service, she met and fell in love with another Peace Corps volunteer who was working near the East Coast of Africa and they are now engaged to be married. When her fiancé returned he settled in Alaska, and Elizabeth will will be moving there as soon as the school year ends.

The afternoon was filled with our own type of immersion: Several attendees where invited to dress in traditional garb and the particular clothing was described in terms of its purpose. One woman wore the hijab and another pair dressed as a school girl and school boy. A number of other artifacts were shared and explained. Lastly, there was a fantastic video showing her work and conveying the local spirit of music and energy. Many thanks go to her, and safe travels to another part of the world, the most northern state of the U.S!