Karibu Tanzania

For those who were concerned, rest assured that I am alive, healthy, happy, mosquito bitten but not yet sunburnt, and enjoying my first week in Tanzania. I don’t really have a lot to report just yet. I met the other trainees in Philidelphia and we had a long but mostly uneventful trip to Tanzania. The highlight of the journey came about 5 hours into the second flight when I glanced out the window and was shocked to discover that the ocean had turned tan. I hadn't expected the Sahara Desert to be so clear or so impressive from above. We landed in Kenya for a moment when it was still light out, and the landscape on the way down was incredible. Some of the others claim they saw a group of galloping giraffes (haha alliteration), but I'm not convinced they weren't a hallucination.

Since arriving, I've spent most of the time at the hostel/compound we're basically stuck at this week. My day mostly consists of: wearing long skirts even though my thighs are chafing and I keep tripping, greeting people in horrible Swahili and making them giggle hysterically, being frequently stared at and called “mzungu” (white person), and using a shower that is basically attached to my toilet. Meanwhile, I am still not entirely convinced that I am in Africa. For some reason I felt like "being" in Africa would feel somehow different than "being" feels elsewhere, but obviously it doesn't. I just feel like me, only more aware of my skin color and the importance of nonverbal communication.

On Wednesday we will be moving in to our homestay families, and I expect a cold bucket bath of reality will follow. I’ll be living in a village outside of Muheza with four other trainees, a host Mama (mother) and a host Baba (father) and most likely a few host siblings. Hopefully they’ll find some use for the 10 inflatable beach balls I impulsively packed.

Kiswahili lesson of the day:

Karibu Tanzania: Welcome to Tanzania! Also used to mean "get used to it." As in, "Ouuuch there's a rock in my rice....oh well, Karibu Tanzania!"