August 2018 – Noor Farjo '20

This is week one at Moyo Hill Camp and just like freshman year at Holy Cross, we had a couple of days of orientation to acclimate to the new environment. During those days, we became more familiar with our surrounding community and area. I was also able to finally meet the people that I will be spending the next three months with! We played a lot of ice breakers and name games to get to know each other a little more before classes start.

We all landed safe and sound in Tanzania!

Hannah welcoming you all to our campus

Rega and Carla posing at the top of our campus gazebo

My new home: Chui

-‘Chui’ means leopard in Swahili and all of our dorms are named after African animals!

Bonfire night!

Getting ready to play soccer with the locals

Just a 20 min hike from our campus to see these beautiful views

Still cannot believe I’m here…

See you later, or as they say in Swahili, Baadaye!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, or as they say in Swahili, Karibu!
I’m Noor Farjo, a junior biology major from West Springfield, MA. I’m so excited to share my journey of studying abroad in Tanzania with all of you; always feel free to comment and ask questions!

I’ve been looking forward to my semester abroad since I first attended Holy Cross! I can’t wait to start a journey full of adventures and unique learning experiences. This semester is going to be a time to expand my knowledge on African culture and wildlife, as well as meet people from different schools with different backgrounds than my own.

It’s been a long build up from applying to finally going to Tanzania and attending the School of Field Studies (SFS) program they offer. I applied for this program at the end of my fall semester sophomore year. The application process to study abroad was not difficult, however, I needed to decide my destination and how suitable the available courses would be for me and my major. So, I began my search! Even though I’m very happy and confident with my decision to study in Tanzania, I was not initially even looking into this program. This is mainly because I was not that familiar with it since it’s not the most popular program on campus, not surprisingly said. But, after discussing my options with the study abroad office, I became more familiar with all the amazing available opportunities that Holy Cross had partnerships with. After meeting with them, I felt much more prepared to make a decision that was most appropriate for me. I was open to go anywhere that was unique and would push me out of my comfort zone; SFS in Tanzania seemed like the perfect match for me! I would have never imagined that studying wildlife in Tanzania was ever possible and I am so happy to have found this opportunity before it was too late!

Leading up to my trip to Tanzania, I’ve had a busy summer in which I was a part of many new opportunities that came about through HC and it’s contacts. I started off my summer with the HC Paris Maymester program; I studied the art and history of one of the most iconic cities in the world. This month long summer program allowed me to explore the beauty of Paris as well as the French culture and most importantly food. After this amazing program, I worked, studied, and conducted research at Shoals Marine Laboratory at Appledore island for the remainder of my summer. Now, I’m ready for this next adventure to begin, I’ll keep you posted!

Here are some pictures from my summer experiences!

PARIS