Habari ni Nzuri

Good news: We are in Tanzania, and all is well! Internet access has been a little hard to come by, but otherwise life is good. I feel like I have so much to write about, so I guess I'll start with the trip here. If I knew traveling could be so easy maybe I would do more of it. It was smooth sailing all the way through. We left Waterloo a little after 11:00 on Tuesday morning. It was a pretty small plane (Mom you would have hated it) so the ride was a little bumpy, but luckily it only took about 45 minutes to get to Minneapolis. We had a couple of hours between flights, so we passed time by watching news about the swine flu outbreak and a police chase on CNN. Sounds like the swine flu is bad news in the U.S., but so far there haven't been any cases in Africa (knock on wood). Hope they get things under control before it gets much worse.

We left Minneapolis around 3:00 PM on a much bigger plane. Lindsey worked her magic and arranged for us to sit together, which made the 8-hour flight much more bearable. The movies helped too. We flew through the night at some point over the ocean, and arrived in Amsterdam just before 6 AM their time. Most of us didn't sleep much on that flight, so we were starting to wear down a little during that four-hour layover. It was after 10:00 when we flew out of Amsterdam for what would be a ten-hour trip to Dar es Salaam. We probably hadn't been going for more than an hour before I fell asleep, and I think the same was true for most of the girls. We stopped in Arusha for about an hour to drop people off and pick others up, but unfortuately it was dark by then so we couldn't see Mt. Kilimanjaro. From there it was only about another hour to Dar. We got there just before 10 PM. I think the heat and humidity when we got off the plane took a lot of us by surprise, but I'm getting used to it. Amazingly all of our luggage had arrived safely! Pastor Hafermann and Luka were waiting outside the airport to take us to the Catholic Guest House where we would spend our first night. We were all pretty quiet during the 20-minute bus ride. I think we were all exhausted from the long journey and trying to take in the fact that we were actually here. It was dark and we couldn't see much, so I was excited to wake up in the morning and see what Africa actually looked like.

I definitely wasn't disappointed. We woke up around 6:30 on Thursday morning. Everyone seemed to be recharged after a night of sleeping in a bed, and we were all excited for the day. We had breakfast and were on the bus headed to Morogoro around 8. I've never enjoyed a 3-hour bus ride so much. There was so much to see. Driving out of Dar, which is the largest city in Tanzania with almost 3 million people, I was amazed at how alive the city was. We literally passed thousands of people just out walking about the streets. Some things, like seeing women walking with huge baskets of bananas balanced on their heads and chickens and goats in people's front yards made it clear pretty fast that I wasn't in Iowa, or even the U.S. anymore! As we drove out of the city and through smaller villages, I couldn't stop staring out the window. The scenery was amazing, especially when we got closer to Morogoro and could see the mountains. I'm not sure I said 10 words that whole trip, and I think I could have been content riding that way for hours on end. We arrived here at the Lutheran Junior Seminary around 11:30. I was still in awe of the fact that I'm actually in Africa. Our accomadations are really nice. We each have our own room, and when I walk out my door I can see the mountains just beyond the Seminary property. I'm sure I'll come home with a hundred pictures of that view, but it's probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I'll try to get some pics up here soon.

Anyway, we got here, had lunch, which was rice, beans, plantanes, and fresh papaya. We had the afternoon to settle in and explore a little bit. Some of us went for a walk, then we had tea at 4:00, after which Pastor Hafermann led the whole group on a tour of the place. He probably named about 50 different types of trees, and I definitely will not be living up to my biology minor by ever recognizing any of them again, but there was one that was a few hundred years old and so big around that all of us holding hands could barely reach halfway around it. Dinner was at 6:00 - rice, veggies, chicken for everyone else, and fresh pineapple. I could get used to all the fresh fruit! After dinner we had free time the rest of the evening. All the girls got together and practiced being the Wartburg Choir. We sang some songs that we might have a chance to sing when we go out and visit the villages during our time here. Lindsey, Kim, and I found a good place to stargaze. The night sky is amazing here. The moon and stars are so bright, and it is absoultely gorgeous.

Finally onto today. We all met for breakfast at 7:00. Today was our first day of Swahili classes. I was looking forward to actually learning enough to be able to respond when other people greet me here. We had class from 7:45-10:00, when we took a break for tea/coffee. During that time we learned the basic greetings. These have already come in handy on several occasions, and I don't feel completely stupid when someone says hello, or should I say "habari gani" which means "what is the news?" By the way, the news is always "nzuri," or "good" in Tanzania. From 10:30-12 we had more class, during which we learned to introduce ourselves. We had a break from 12-2:3o, then more class. We learned the names of some foods, and also how to say "Nimetoka Marekani" (I am from the United States) and "Tanzania ni nchi nzuri" (Tanzania is a good country). Learning a new language is definitely not easy to do, and five days of classes will only get us so far, but the more we learn the more we'll be able to actually communicate with the people here.

At 4:00 we had tea again. Afterwards we headed over to the orphanage. It was about a 30-minute walk, all of which was incredibly scenic, which seems to be the trend here no matter where you go. My first orphanage experience was a good one. As hard as it is to see all these children who have been orphaned by AIDS, the joy that they find in the little time we spend with them is contagious. Most American children these days would probably get bored playing with bubbles in a matter of seconds, but the kids here were having a blast with them. It is obvious how in need of some love and attention they are, and I only wish there were more that we could do to let them know how wonderfully special they are. I'm glad we'll have the chance to go there most of the days we are here.

We came back for dinner at 6:00, which was pasta, rice, beans, and papaya. We have had the rest of the evening free, with the exception of doing our Swahili homework for tomorrow. Wasn't expecting that! But luckily it wasn't too taxing. Most of my evening was spent attempting to get the internet up and running on my computer, which still isn't actually working all that well, but I'll try to write on here as often as I can. Tomorrow we'll have Swahili lessons in the morning, and maybe a digging project in the afternoon. So far it's been a great two days. Everyone seems to be doing well, and I feel so blessed to be here. Hope all is well back home! Probably should head to bed, it's after midnight here (4 PM there) and it'll be an early morning.

Peace.