WE MADE IT!

After a 14 hour flight from Dulles to Dubai and another 5 hours from Dubai to Dar es Salam, WE’VE FINALLY ARRIVED! I have been looking forward to the start of this experience for months now, and I can’t believe it’s finally here!

The flight was long….REALLY long…but with the great movie choices and delicious meals provided by Emirates, we were set to go. I rocked the neck pillow, eye mask, and headphones to drown out the whales of the baby sitting across the aisle. I was stylin’ 😛 HA! But in all honesty, the flights went great, we’re all running on about 2 hours of sleep right now, and WE’RE SO EXCITED TO BE IN AFRICA!

Mohammed and Edward met us at the airport (with Linda, the other volunteer that will be with us for the first two weeks) and drove us to our hotel. Everything about this place is so different from America. The weather feels just like you’d stereotypically expect for Africa: hot, humid, but not as sticky as it gets in NoVA in the summer. As we were driving through the city, street vendors would walk in between the lanes of traffic, selling whatever treasures they had. At first I was so worried they we’re going to get hit or run over, but it’s apparently very common here and they actually sell a lot!

The sounds, smells, and feel of this country is so unique…it’s almost impossible to put into words. Everything moves slower. Even though we’re in a bustling city, people drive slower, move slower, talk slower; but the drivers are crazy aggressive here. If you think drivers in NoVA are bad, you have no idea!

Tomorrow we drive to the Iringa district, an 8-10 hour drive through a game preserve. It’ll be like our own personal safari. After sitting on a plane for 19 hours, sitting for another 10 doesn’t sound like the best thing, but everything is an adventure and I’m ecstatic to be here.

Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes before we left! If anyone wants to get in touch while we’re gone for the next 7 weeks, your best bet is to send an email which we can read and respond to when we get to an internet café! (georgiatechgir1@gmail.com) Or just comment here on the blog!

OH, and one more thing…Mom finally set up her blog, so make sure you check it out! Praybelieveloveserve.wordpress.com