8-10-12
Tanzania, back again baby!
So I have arrived in Dar es Salaam.
The trip went very smoothly. Left
JFK and made it to London with no problems except lack of sleep. I was about to loose it because I was so
tired, then praise the lord, I found three chairs I could lay down on. Hethrow airport is like a mall and all of the
gates have single seats, not good for laying down. Needless to say, I napped and met up with
Christine, who is teaching at HOPAC as well.
It was great that we got to hang out at the airport and fly to Dar
together. We were so excited to land but
were a little unsure about getting into the country. Will we get through the resident line with
only a receipt of our permit and will all of out bags be waiting for us at the
baggage claim? Silly me for ever
doubting the big man. Everything worked
out and I had ALL of my overweight bags!
When Christine and I rolled all of our luggage up to the Rav 4 I was
questioning how everything was going to fit.
Well it all did, even if we had 3 bags in between us and one behind my
head. The pic is great*
HOPAC and my house are on the outskirts of Dar. We dangerously drove, which is the Tanzanian
way, in and out of lanes, almost hitting people, bikers, and animals in our
way, twisting, turning, and swerving our way closer to the ocean. We finally get to the road that many
HOPACIANS live on. It is up a bouncy
dirt road on the hillside. The houses
are laid out in between teak trees and a few lime trees. Christine is living on the same road as
me. She has a little apartment attached
to a HOPAC family’s house. It was really
cute. She has her own garden, a
fantastic view and her stove and fridge outside under an overhang. We dropped her off, met the family and their
dogs and went on to my house. I live
about a 5 minute walk away. I guess a
Greek family owns many of the houses HOPAC teachers and staff rent. This family has been here for a long time and
some of their grandchildren go to HOPAC.
They live in between Christine and I.
My house is huge and yellow. It
has a beautiful view of the Indian Ocean and a large front yard. The house is one floor but has 5 bedrooms and
bathrooms. There is a kitchen and dining
room when you enter. Turn the corner
and it opens up into another dining area, which is mainly used for laundry, a
living room and a beautiful sitting room with a stunning view. There is also a nice courtyard where we can
hang our clothes. My room is quite
large. I have a single bed, a small desk
and drawer, a comfy chair, a mirror thing.
When you walk into the bathroom there is a huge closet and drawers for
all my clothes and toiletries. I have a
large green bathtub and shower. I can
see the ocean from my room and there is a flower garden outside as well. I am so shocked at how nice this place
is! What a blessing.
Only one of my roommates is here, Sara, and her mother is
visiting as well. They are from
Washington State. I did a little
unpacking. I feel like I brought a lot
of stuff!!! Oops. I am already making a pile of what I probably
wont be wearing. I had some tea with
Sarah and her mom and then we walked down to HOPAC to check out the
campus. The school is about a 5 minute
walk from home, so nice and close. The
campus is great. I met a lot of the
staff and they all knew who I was because there is a little blurb about me up
in the teachers lounge area.
My classroom is awesome.
It looks like a regular classroom.
There is a hundreds chart and a lot of supplies! I am overwhelmed with the resources. Everyone keeps smirking when they hear I am
teaching this first grade class. “Oh
they have a lot of interesting personalities, they are a very active
bunch…” It makes me wonder what I am in
for.
After visiting HOPAC I walked home. There is a small community that lives in a
old quarry below the road leading to HOPAC. There is no electricity or running
water. HOPAC does do some after school
activities with the kids there but it is very interesting the night and day
lifestyles. I took a little nap and got
up to go shower. Jane Grueler, who does
a lot of HR stuff, offered to take Christine and I to a yummy dinner spot. Before that happens, I turn on the water to
shower and a giant centipede comes out of the drain. It is no ordinary centipede, it has a red
head and red feet. All that redness
equals DANGER! I didn’t want to be the
new girl loser who can’t handle her bugs so I dealt with it. At first I thought I could take it outside
but it was so long and would probably come right back in. Then I tried to drown it with the water, no
luck. So I got a zip lock bag and so how
got it inside. All the while freaking
out about how gross this thing was.
After it entered its death zone I closed up the bag and hopefully it
suffocated! My first kill haha. I also had another friend, a little gecko,
but he is helpful and eats the mosquitos so he can stay.
So my first, of many bug experiences, is over. Went out to dinner with Jane and Don and
their daughter Sam. We ate at a cute
bungalow looking restaurant. I had red
snapper with coconut sauce and rice. D E
L I C I O U S ! We had great
conversations and good times. I saw the
Southern Cross. There is nothing like a
Tanzanian sky!
If anyone wants to do some praying, my allergies are in full
swing. Who would have thought I would
have allergy problems in Dar es Salaam!
I can’t tell if it’s my room or the air or what but hopefully it will
pass soon.
Anyway, good transition so far! I am excited to fix up my classroom more,
have new teacher training, and meet the rest of my roommates!
 |
| My room! The bed is not in the middle of the room any more haha. |
 |
| Dangerous biting centipede. YUK! |
 |
| Red Snapper with coconut sauce and rice! |
 |
| My home!! |
 |
| Indian Ocean view from yard |
 |
| My yard |
 |
| The front of my house |
 |
| My view |
8-11-12
I finally slept! I
woke up, had a great devotional time. I
sat in out bug open living room that over looks the big and vast Indian
Ocean. Marilyn, the director’s wife came
over. She was so sweet. She brought me cookies and gave me a phone to
use while I am here. She was such a
blessing. She also is willing to give me
a chest of drawers for my room. I was so
glad I got to sit and talk with her. She
really gave me a warm welcome. Everyone
at HOPAC has been soo welcoming and eager to help us and meet us. Stacey, the librarian, and her husband Dan
volunteered to take us into town and do a little shopping and go to the
ATM. I have their son Micah in my class
next year. They are from Kentucky. They are so nice and helpful as well. I went to their house and hung out for a
little that afternoon. Their other
daughter Aida is so cute. They adopted
her from Mississippi and Micah is from Korea.
Aida reminded me of Tucker a little.
I had dinner at Yvonne and ________ house, where Christine is
living. Their home is beautiful. They have a wonderful daughter Raisha. She was born in Burundi. Yvonne
made meat and veggie lasagna, a beautiful salad, and garlic bread. It was delicious. For desert she made Key Lime pie. It was amazing. Everything was fantastic.
No comments:
Post a Comment