I'm Alive!

After over 24 hours of flying, I arrived safely in Tanzania yesterday afternoon local time. The second flight, a 13.5-hour from Washington D.C. to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was brutal. Though I was exhausted, I couldn't sleep on the plane and reading seemed like too much work, so I watched four movies and listened to African music on the in-flight TV (so much for that GRE study book). I also talked for about 3 hours to the woman sitting next to me, a pastor from Zimbabwe. She had many interesting stories, but it's always a little awkward talking to devout Christians when you are a heathen non-believer such as myself.... especially on a 13 hour flight where there is no escape. But she told me I was a blessed child and that god would look after me while I was here in Tanzania because he sent me here to help people, which was good to know.

When I arrived at the Addis Ababa airport, I had my first African bathroom experience, which really wasn't that bad. I was pleased to find that it wasn't just a hole in the ground. It was almost a real toilet. But just to be clear, this airport was no Washington Dulles. Culture shock #1.

While waiting for my flight to Kilimanjaro at Addis Ababa, I unexpectedly found a group of six other people from my EWH group, or rather, they found me wandering around looking lost and weary. Good thing I was wearing the T-shirt. What a relief. 

Most of the students are from Duke University and other U.S. schools, though there are many from different countries as well, including Canada, the UK, Germany, and Turkey. All extremely cool people, and equally unsure about what exactly we were getting ourselves into. 

We boarded the plane to Kilimanjaro, and arrived at the airport 2.5 hours later. We met Ben, our EWH "on the ground coordinator." After obtaining visas, we boarded a semi-sketchy looking safari van and headed 30 min down the road to the language school, formally known as MS TCDC (Training Centre for Development Cooperation in Eastern and Southern Africa, don't ask me what the MS stands for). 

The road to TCDC was an experience in itself. Tanzanians drive on the left side of the road, and there seemed to be little regard for traffic rules. I opened the large window and leaned my face out. The air was amazingly refreshing after being stuck on a plane. The weather was mild and slightly humid. The sides of the roads were covered in endless fields of sunflowers and corn. We passed Mt. Meru, the much smaller sister peak to Kilimanjaro. There were many little homes scattered about in between the fields, some more established than others. There were many people walking and biking on the sides of the roads. Many were women carrying large loads on their heads and children leading packs of goats, donkeys, and cattle. People dressed for the most part in "normal" clothes (jeans, slacks, polo shirts and t-shirts), though some were dressed more traditionally in tribal clothing. We passed the small town of Usa river, which consisted of shops haphazardly put together with mismatched paint and bricks. Many people were just hanging out and socializing outside the shops in plastic lawn chairs, often with a beer or soda in hand. They often waved and smiled at us as we passed, especially the children. People here are extremely friendly and welcoming, even to complete strangers. Despite having very little, Tanzanians seem genuinely happy. Culture shock #2.

Sunflowers everywhere! Mt. Meru in the background.
Sorry I haven't taken many pictures yet, this is the best I got. 

We met our host parents and more students with EWH. My host mother is Mamma Gauda, an incredibly friendly woman who insists we call her Mom and gives great hugs. Her home was full tonight, so my roommate and I and a few other students are staying at the cottages on campus until Friday, then we will move in with her. 

The cottages are luxurious by Tanzanian standards. The room has two comfortable twin beds with canopy mosquito nets, old wood floors, a shower with semi-hot water, a flushing toilet, and a sink. And wireless internet! I was expecting dirt floors, hole in the ground, and bucket showers, so naturally I feel pretty spoiled. When I move to Mamma Gauda's house the conditions may not be as nice. Many Tanzanians don't have running water or electricity in their homes. The TCDC is an oasis in the middle of poverty.  

Many of the other students are already with their host families, some a 30 min drive away from the school. The six of us who are staying in the cottages for the first nights have our meals prepared by Christopher, which so far have been quite good. Different, but good. We have fresh fruit with every meal, fresh squeezed juice, and a main course consisting usually of rice and mixed vegetable sauce with meat. The bananas are smaller and sweeter. The oranges are all green, but still delicious on the inside. Tonight for dinner we had what I think was leek and potato soup with rice and cooked vegetables. I don't know if this is actually traditional Tanzanian food, my guess is that when I eat with my host family it will be different. Probably more meat based, which will be interesting for my formerly vegetarian stomach. I'll try (almost) anything once. 

I slept amazing the first night. I awoke only once to the sound of crying babies, and learned today that there is an infant orphanage next door to the cottages. They care for orphaned babies until age two, when they are either returned to their families or adopted. 

After breakfast, we started class at 8am, but today it was just an long introduction and tour. Tanzanians are big on tea time, which they have twice a day. Basically, everyone stops whatever they are doing and goes to have tea and socialize together for a half hour. Which is awesome. Americans really need to adopt this tea time thing. 

I went for a run after the second tea, which consisted of running laps inside TCDC. Inside the school we are very safe. The area around the school is also considered safe, but I was still a little worried about going outside alone. I ran a little down the road outside of TCDC between the school and the orphanage. Some people gave me funny looks, but they always waved and smiled at me. A van tightly packed full of little boys dressed in school uniforms drove past me, and when they saw me they all leaned at the windows smiling and waving hysterically at me, yelling "Karibu!! Karibu!!" (Hello/welcome). This made my day. Running is very much an American thing I guess (culture shock #3). In other countries, people assume if you're running you must be being chased by something or you've just robbed someone.  Maybe tomorrow I'll be brave enough to venture outside the walls with a friend....or four. 

I have adjusted amazingly well to the time change (10 hours ahead of California). The bugs really aren't that bad, but I do have one massive mosquito bite on my face. Cute. Pray for no malaria. 

Tomorrow is our first day of formal classes. Swahili in the morning, engineering labs in the afternoon, in between lunch and tea. I can't wait to start learning from Swahili. Though most people speak some English here, I feel really stupid talking in English. I feel like a "silly american," you know?

And with that I'll leave you with the fun fact of the day: you all know at least one Swahili phrase. "Hukuna Matata." It means no worries. And if you don't, then, well, I'm sorry you seriously missed out on childhood. You may also know this one: "asanta sana (thank you very much) squash banana (squash banana) wewe nugu mimi apana (I'm a monkey and you're not)." Doesn't really make sense Rafiki. 

Usiku mwema! (goodnight!)