I Made It!

After many long months of anticipation I have finally arrived in the place that is to be my home for the next 8 ½ months: Dodoma, Tanzania. I’ve barely been here over 24 hours but already I have found this place, along with the journey I took to get here, to be quite an adventure, and I know there are only many more to come.

I left Atlanta at 4:40pm on Sunday August 3^rd and embarked on the first leg of what would become quite a long trip. I settled into my seat and prepared for the 8 hour flight I had ahead of me, and having just made my final goodbyes, found myself in a somewhat of a depressed mood, enhanced by my feelings of anxiety for what lay ahead. It wasn’t long, however, before I met Adam, who was seated across the aisle from me. Ironically, he was also headed on a mission trip, and we began talking about our trips and what both of us would be doing. Aside from helping to ease the boredom from the long flight, Adam also helped remind me of what a great experience I was about to embark on, which greatly improved my mood and renewed my excitement about arriving in Tanzania. After all, I was headed to Africa, how could I be upset about that? After a short layover in Amsterdam I boarded my next plane, which with a stop in Kilimanjaro was about a 10 ½ hour trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I arrived in the airport, waited to be approved for a Visa, gathered my bags, and walked outside to find Magi. Magi is an appointed missionary for the Episcopal Church from Griffin, Georgia, who also works in Dodoma. She had been my primary contact for organizing my trip for the past few months, and it was such a relief to see her waiting for me. We then got in a taxi and Frank, our driver, took us to a hotel not far from the airport.

I awoke excited about my first day in Tanzania and I immediately went out to explore. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was directly on the coastline of the Indian Ocean, and although I was in one of the larger cities in Tanzania, the hotel’s location made it feel somewhat secluded. After exploring the grounds I was sitting on the small porch outside my room when I saw a small animal run by, which I quickly realized was a REAL, LIVE MONKEY! I immediately grabbed my camera and followed it to where it had retreated into the trees, and there it was joined by 4 or 5 others. I hadn’t expected to see any exotic animals, except on safari, and for anyone who knows my childhood obsession for monkeys, this pretty much made my first day in Africa….and it was only 10am!

After Magi returned from picking up Elizabeth, another volunteer from the U.S. whom I will be working with, we caught a bus and began our 7 hour ride to Dodoma. This was by far the most exhausting part of the trip. The bus was similar to a run-down Greyhound bus in the States, though very cramped and without the comforts of a bathroom or AC. I was gratefully given a seat in the first row, which allowed me the benefits of leg room, a great view, and an open window. My neighbor, Naftal John Mallel, attempted to teach me a little Swahili on the way, and as a result of his quizzing I had picked up a few things by the end of the journey. The bus ride afforded me the opportunity to see what life is like for people here. All along the way there were people selling produce and other wares outside their mud brick houses which lined the desolate road, and at any point where the bus slightly slowed they were running up to try and sell whatever they could through the windows. We stopped for one 10 minute break the entire journey, so by the time we reached Dodoma we were extremely relieved to be there! We were greeted at the station by Miriam, a missionary from New Zealand. She told us the unfortunate news that she had locked the keys in the car of the Land Rover, and after calling a few people for another car, we finally arrived at what is now our new home.

Elizabeth and I both live in a compound of apartments which belong to the Canon Andrea Mawaka International School. I have a small unit which is made up of a kitchen, living area, bathroom, and bedroom, complete with furnishings. I was relieved to know I will not have to live without hot water here, the only difference being I have to flip a switch on the wall in order to turn on the heater, which takes somewhere around 30 minutes to heat. A few new changes, however, include the necessary evils of boiling and then filtering all my water, and also sleeping under a mosquito net. I am also being allowed to live here rent-free, and Carpenters Kids – the program I will be working for – is generously covering this expense for me. Miriam and Magi also live in units which are part of the school, though they are a compound about 2 blocks away.

Today was quite packed and exciting, as we spent our day traveling around town to get all the necessary things we would need. Miriam and a friend picked us up and first took us to get Tanzanian currency, which is the Tshilling (100,000 = about $100.00). We then visited the Carpenters Kids office where we will be working, bought cell phones, and bought groceries. We took our first visit to the market, which was an incredibly unique experience. It is an open-air market where vendors sell fruit, vegetables, rice, beans, and spices. We bought woven baskets to carry all our purchases, and wound our way through the stalls to collect various things. I don’t know what we would have done without Miriam and Jo there to help us, and it is obvious that though many people do speak English here, speaking Swahili is a necessary skill. After the market we went to a few Western-style grocery stores for additional items such as dish soap, milk, and sugar. Cereal does exist here, which I was worried I would miss, though it comes at a high price. A small box of Special K cost me the equivalent of about $6. Prices for things are quite different here, as everything fresh from the market was very inexpensive, which would be the more expensive items in the US, whereas everything which we had to buy at the Western grocery stores was more expensive, the cereal for example. Gas prices are perhaps the most shocking, however, and while Georgians are complaining about $3.98/gallon, just know it could be much, much worse. Gas here is the equivalent of about $8.00/gallon!

Tomorrow begins our first day of work at the Carpenters Kids office, which I will explain more about later. I am so happy and excited to be here, and so far I have met some wonderful people and had some wonderful experiences. Although I know my life here will be quite different from what I’m used to, I’m going to try and make the most of it, and I know I won’t have any regrets.