I am now on day 3 of being in Tanzania and I honestly don't know where to begin. My brain, eyes, mouth and ears have been working overtime. Taking so much in. It is incredible.
First things first, I am happy, healthy and well cared for. All of the people here are amazing. Tanzanians pride themselves on their sense of peace and hospitality. Everyone I have met so far is so kind and generous and welcoming with genuine smiles that come so easy. In this picture is Steven Ndosi and Natalie. Steven picked us up at the Kilimanjaro airport and has been taking the absolute best care of us. Yesterday he told me, as we were walking, "You are my daughter now and it is my job to make sure that you leave Tanzania in better health than when you came." He is an absolute delight. Natalie is my program mate and is also a wonderful travel companion and I look forward to sharing this experience with her.
So, general information: The flight was fine. It went fast and the jet lag really wasn't bad. Free wine!!!!
We got picked up at the airport after about 20 hours of travel and were taken directly to the school, MS-TCDC. We have stayed at the school for the first 3 nights.
On out first day, Steven took us into Arusha to change money and get cell phones. Wow. It was the most organized chaos I have ever wandered through; trying not be be a wide-eyed, gawking westerner. So much traffic and people walking and driving on broken streets and sidewalks. I tried my best to pay attention as Steven shared pieces of information with me; "Those are the dala dala bus. The stripe on the side represents the direction they go from the center of town. The ones with the Green stripe that say Usa River will take you to the school." Okay. Check. Got it.
And.........the obligatory toilet picture..........
I also can't help a good ol' construction picture.
The air in the countryside is sooooooo sweet smelling. I don't know how to describe it. The air is warm and there is normally a light breeze. It is normally in the 80's (I think....I haven't checked a forecast since I got here). At the school, all you hear is birds and monkeys and people laughing and speaking swahili, which is a beautiful sounding language.
Yesterday, Steven and Aziz took us to Arusha National Forest. It was so beautiful and the landscape changed so much throughout the entire 5+ hour drive. I will post more photos later, but here is a good one of us under two fig trees that grew together:
This is Steven Ndosi, our super fantastic guide, facilitator, friend, everything....
Here are a few pictures of the MC-TCDC campus:
That is all for now folks. The electricity and internet connection is very slow here. This has taken me hours to do (over the course of the day)!
Very soon we go meet our host families!!!!!! We will move into our homes tonight in the village of Makumira about 2.5 km from the school.
I hope that you all are doing well and staying warm and healthy.
Love, Sadie
Sadie!!!
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are phenomenal and you sound in good spirits. I love the two fig trees growing together and the general vibrant quality of all the photos. So lovely to visualize where you are and can't wait to hear/see more. We miss you dearly (Ninja is helping me type this. She is a slow typer and kind of clumsy on the keys) and are getting boosts of wonderful energy every time we think about ya over there. :) Elissa is great/easy too. I love how friendly and open the people already feel to you - No doubt you'll keep attracting a family-like love bubble in your time there. Keep glowing!