"This book is a page turner, indeed. I was completely taken in by the beauty, the clarity, the intimacy and the honesty of the story and the individuals McIIroy brought to life so vividly. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to share in this experience, page after beautiful page." -- Karen Casey, author of Each Day a New Beginning and The Promise of a New Day Faced with an empty nest, a single mother and linguist from California embraces the opportunity to return to East Africa where she had once worked as a ...
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"This book is a page turner, indeed. I was completely taken in by the beauty, the clarity, the intimacy and the honesty of the story and the individuals McIIroy brought to life so vividly. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to share in this experience, page after beautiful page." -- Karen Casey, author of Each Day a New Beginning and The Promise of a New Day Faced with an empty nest, a single mother and linguist from California embraces the opportunity to return to East Africa where she had once worked as a young woman. Living with four priests in Bukoba, Tanzania on the western shores of Lake Victoria, the author teaches at a small college and works closely alongside her research partner, a Kenyan linguist and poet. Throughout her year in Tanzania, she establishes new friendships and also travels throughout the country, visiting places like Kilwa, the Serengeti Desert and Zanzibar. In this true story, Lee Anne McIlroy celebrates the rich cultural, historical, natural, and linguistic landscapes of Tanzania while reflecting on her own life, exploring what it means to be a mother, a woman, and most importantly, a human being in the modern world.
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Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Lee Ann McIlroy's Sleeping With Lions: A Year in Tanzania documents her time spent as an English Language Fellow for a university in Bukoba, Tanzania. The author's memoir is a poignant portrayal of the landscapes and people who shaped her journey as a woman following a difficult divorce.
McIlroy describes the scenery in Bukoba with eyes of wonderment. Unlike some of her peers, who only see the economic poverty of Tanzania and greater Africa, she indulges in the cultural richness of local life. She sees her time in Tanzania as a way to rediscover herself in a land that has always felt dear to her heart. From the food to the sounds and sights she experiences, she uses vivid descriptors that give the landscape a magical feeling.
The people she meets are a formative part of her journey. She makes an active effort to do more than coexist with her colleagues and the locals around her; she strives to learn from them, even in the most minute ways. She gets to know the family of Ocham, the professor she partners with at the university, and even visits their family home. She has a particular affinity for the priests with whom she stays for the duration of the trip. The priests help her rediscover her womanhood; unlike her ex-husband, who never fully understood her, they respect her career and offer her a set of fresh perspectives.
Finally, as an educator and mom of daughters raised in California, she often considers the conditions in which her students learn and operate. Despite lacking the socioeconomic privilege that her daughters had throughout their childhoods, she describes her students as some of the brightest and hardest-working she has encountered. In contrast to her students in California, students frequented her office hours in droves to reinforce their commitment to their education. In the end, she discovers that it is not wealth that makes a person's life rich; the richness of spirit and passion makes it so.
Sleeping With Lions: A Year in Tanzania is an emotional memoir that shares one woman's journey discovering parts of herself while learning about a new culture. Her strength shines through her stories and is inspirational to those that read them.
