I Made It!

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Hello All,

Thank you for tuning into my latest blog. I finally made it to Tanzania!! Though my trip was quite the soap opera.

After a bit of a tearful goodbye with my family and some unexpected baggage issues at O’Hare, I was finally on my way. My dreams were becoming realized as I found my gate and began to survey everyone who would be on my flight from Chicago to New York. There were some interesting characters: a nice married couple, a couple with their first child (always fun to watch), and the usual businessmen and leisurely travelers. But my favorite were two people who seemed to be arguing in some form of Russian or Eastern European language. The young man appeared to know who the older woman was, perhaps a mother or a relative of some sort, and they appeared to be arguing over something pretty serious. Eventually they just split ways for the rest of the flight, even asking the stewardess to seat them separately for the flight!

Once I got settled into my seat and began my mantra of, “you can do this, you can do this, you can do this…” I found another treat in my seat-mate. I was seated next to a Korean man who appeared to be in his mid to late 30’s. We were mutually ignoring each other as most seat-mates do and took naps in our respective seats…that is until the pilot’s voice came on over the loud speakers and informed us that there was bad weather around JFK and that we were being diverted to Scranton, PA until further notice. AWESOME! That was when my seat-mate opened up and said, “This is my first time to New York.”, in a sarcastic tone.

After the pleasantries of asking each other where we were from, where we were going and why, we landed in Scranton and parted ways for the 1 ½ duration of our spontaneous layover. When we boarded the same plane for the second time my seat-mate decided that he felt comfortable enough to tell me that he was actually meeting a girl that he had never met before for the weekend. I asked if they had mutual friends or anything, getting the sense that they had probably met over an internet dating site. He thought for a second about how to answer my question, and then slowly nodded, “Yeah…mutual friends…” I didn’t ask anymore questions. A while later he divulged more information about how he was really nervous about meeting this girl and that he was afraid that they would have a terrible time. I spent the next half hour listening and nodding as this man spout off his insecurities and fears about whether this girl will be the “one for him.” Could the situation get anymore awkward? Anyways, after finally landing at JFK we wished each other luck on our ventures and he walked away, fidgety and sweating a little.

JFK turned out to be a zoo. No flights had gone in or out for the majority of the day due to the bad weather and people were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I calmly asked for simple directions and found my gate quick enough, though not knowing if my own flight would be delayed or not. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the 12 hour layover I had in London and thought that this might be a blessing in disguise. So I plopped down next to the nearest Starbucks, drank my fill of sweet caffeine (something you should NOT do when you travel), found an outlet for my computer and watched the rain fall outside on the tarmac.

It was finally time to board my flight and I delightfully realized that I was seated next to two NYC teenagers who were making out. Oh yes, I don’t think they came up for air for the next 7 hours. After getting into London around 4am Wisconsin time, I was determined to find the hotel connected to my terminal so I could get some sleep before my next flight that night. I was so happy to find the luxurious Sofitel and happened to arrive just as a bunch of travelers flew in from a delayed American Airlines flight. Apparently all of these people received free vouchers from the airline to stay at the Sofitel for free.

When I got to the desk I asked for a single room and they asked me for my voucher. I said that I didn’t have one and they didn’t ask anymore questions. They simply put me into their computer, didn’t ask for a credit card and gave me the room key and directions. I was so tired that I didn’t ask questions and just zombie walked to my room. I was surprised to find that they didn’t give me a single room, but a double room with a queen size bed, a flat screen T.V. and the most gorgeous bathroom I’d ever seen. I set my wake up call for three hours later and passed out. After waking up and taking a glorious shower, I went down to the desk to check out. When I gave them my room key and told them I was checking out they took the key, typed some things into the computer and said, “You’re all set, thank you for staying with us.” I was stunned and replied, “That’s it, there’s no fee?” And they nodded their heads, said, “No, no fee.” In stunned silence I just sauntered away, trying to rationalize what had just happened. I chalked it up to karma - after having to endure teenagers making out for 7 hours, I deserved a free room.

The flight from London to Dar es Salaam was fine enough. Though my seat-mate was a 21 year old girl from Plymouth, UK who was flying to Dar to meet her boyfriend. For the next 10 hours I endured her discussing her own insecurities about trust-issues with her boyfriend, her innate desire to get married and have kids soon, and all about her parent’s divorce. I’m not sure what it is about me that makes people feel as though I’m their psychiatrist. I usually just nod my head and offer advice or comments every now and then. I should really start charging people.

After making it to Dar I slipped through customs and got my visa easily enough and ran into 5 delightful English teachers traveling to Mwanza to teach in an international school. They were all quite nice and chatty and I became part of their travel company. We sat in the Dar airport for then ext 5 hours discussion previous travels and work and our new adventures to come. I was glad to find other English speakers and people who were in the same boat as me. The flight to Mwanza however, was not so delightful. It was a rickety old plane that was very susceptible to turbulence. In complete exhaustion however, I closed my eyes and found my happy place for the next 2 hours until we landed.

As I stepped off the plane and the wave of heat and the smell of sweat hit me, my stomach did a flip-flop, but not in a bad way. I felt an overwhelming sense of joy. It felt like I was home in a very strange way. My childhood flashed before my eyes and I walked across the tarmac in a euphoric state. Their baggage claim was a small room that barely contained all the passengers from our flight, and was pretty much a free for all. The bags were thrown on a platform and it was up to us to grab them before anyone else did. After gathering my stack of luggage and finding some locals to help me out to the greeting area I spotted Chris, the director of my program. I was so happy that he was there to meet me along with two other international volunteers from NYC, one of the matrons from JBFC and two very sweet little girls.

My stomach did another flip flop as I greeted them and we headed towards the car to begin the journey to my home for the next few months.

Fact of the Day: Time is different in Tanzania. They begin their day at 7am and call it “first hour.” Therefore 8am is 2 o’clock and 8pm is 14 o’clock. VERY CONFUSING!!

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