The Beginning!

Hujambo!? Well, since I had no idea what to expect upon my arrival in Tanzania, last night and today were quite exciting and answered a lot of questions! Before the flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro, about 15 of the EWH members were all grouped together so I was relieved to know I couldn’t get lost from there. Although slow, everything went smoothly with getting a Visa and finding my bags (of course if you are from the U.S. visas are $50 more than if you are from Europe- lame!). After that we all packed up on a bus and headed to the TCDC Language Center (where I will be every day during the week for my classes and training). There we had to find the host parent who had our name on a sign around our neck! So there I met Mama Jones, put my bags in the car and headed to her house. I now have 2 host dada (sisters), Anna and Amena, as well as a kaka (brother), John :D.   We have barely had any electricity so far since there has been some type of power shortage due to a lack of maji (water)- which means we also don’t have running water. I took my first bucket shower since last summer and was proud to see that I still have pretty good aim from all the latrine practice I got last year  J . I have one other EWH member sharing a room with me.  Ash-girl is from Zimbabwe and has been going to school at Duke for two years-it’s been fun comparing things we normally do and learning about what things are similar or different from here and her home. This morning we arrived at TCDC on a dala dala (the equivalence of a Kenyan matatu) which is about a 10 minute ride in a super crowded van for 200 shillings (about 15 cents!), Mama Jones showed us how the system works so we can go ride by ourselves from now on. Today we started our first classes with an introductory to Kiswahili and what to expect the next couple of  weeks along with a tour of all the facilities at the language school. I am very excited to start doing the labs and maybe even being able to understand some of the conversations at the dinner table! This weekend EWH has a planned all day group activity on Saturday and I think I’ll be going to church to see what it is like! So I will probably be posting again on Monday when I have internet access. My favorite phrase of the day was Mambo- the Tanzanian “What’s up”? With a response of Poa, Safi, or Dole (cool, clean, or thumbs up) I am realllllyy excited to get to know everyone and learn more and more! Tutaonana !