Following his 36-year career in the position of director of building and grounds at Shelburne Museum, longtime Shelburne resident Bob Furrer made a decision a few years ago. He was not ready to "retire." His decision was to join the Peace Corps.

After a lengthy application process, in May of 2009 Furrer left Shelburne, family, and friends for a 27-month commitment to work in Tanzania. According to his daughter, Polly Raine, it was a decision that fulfilled his quest for a momentous change in his life.

Furrer has supplied Shelburne News with a first-person account of his time in Tanzania to date. The final part of his report, from the town of Kongei, follows below.

Many plants and flowers that grow in Vermont as annuals and tender perennials grow year-round in Tanzania. Lantana, which I've always thought of as an annual, grows wild as a beautiful shrub sometimes reaching 7 or 8 feet high. On the valley floors, angel's trumpet (datura) grows to 10 feet with a 2-inch caliper trunk. Last week while in my banking town of Lushoto, I noticed one of my favorite herbs, rosemary, growing as a 4-foot wide by 4-foot high hedge! The smell was intense! The Lushoto District is also home to spectacular African violets and exotic wildflowers. On my list of things to purchase when next in Das es Salaam is a bird identification book. I've seen what I think is a variety of fly catcher that is the size of a large swallow with a wispy tail that looks to be 10-inches long. Some raptors I've seen look prehistoric.

In Kongei and the surrounding Lushoto District are many reminders of colonial times, both German and English, but predominantly German. There are many examples of German architecture illustrated by churches, convents, monasteries, and government buildings. There is a convent just up the mountain from my house built by Germans with a cornerstone dated 1875. Kongei is very quiet - no traffic, lawnmowers, snow blowers, powerboats, or commercial/industrial noise. The "people noise" generated by the students is a pleasant part of everyday life and I enjoy hearing it. It starts with the chatter of primary school students as they pass my house on the way to school. At about 7:30 a.m. I hear the drum roll at the secondary school followed by the students singing the national anthem of Tanzania. The primary school follows suit at about 7:45. In the evening there is the definite sound of teenagers emanating from the secondary boarding school, the volume varying from evening to evening depending on the wind direction but always ceasing at 10 p.m. curfew.

Kongei also has its share of oddities including its very own brass band. Its members number between eight and12. Instruments include old trombones, trumpets and drums donated by local non-government organizations. Rehearsals are held almost daily at dusk at the school soccer pitch. I do want to mention the soccer pitch is located on a very pronounced grade but it doesn't dissuade the students' enthusiasm in the least! What the band lacks in musical talent it more than makes up for in sheer energy. The band plays at weddings, graduations and other social events. Last November I remember it leading a funeral procession up a hillside to a neighbor's house while playing what I would describe as a crude New Orleans Dixieland jazz. It was really quite moving!

At about the same time the band finishes its evening rehearsal, thousands of fruit bats take flight from their daytime roost in trees adjacent to the local convent. They're quite large with wingspans between 16 and 24 inches! They fly to the local fruit orchards where they spend the night and return sometime before morning light. When there is a new thumbnail moon in the sky at dusk and they take flight it's a really spooky scene - very Halloween.

I would be less than be truthful if I wrote that the Peace Corps didn't present me with almost daily challenges. This is the first time I've travelled outside of North America since I was a junior in high school and then it was only for three weeks to English-speaking countries. Language remains a struggle, but at this point I can have a casual social conversation in Kiswahili.

In years past, I would have never thought that I'd be where I am at this stage in my life. I consider myself fortunate to have this opportunity. I look forward to returning to Shelburne and my family, but I'm learning and experiencing things that only can be learned and experienced in this beautiful place.

Bob Furrer
rbfurrer@aol.com