We're alive! Everything is going great! Yesterday we were picked up at the airport by John our driver.
He drove us to the home base where we met Fulgence Msaki, Mama Fatuma, Lilian, and other staff.
Everyone was so welcoming and kind. We unpacked, rested, and met some previous volunteers who
were already here. The cadets arrived and we ate dinner after. The food is really good, definitely
different but not that much. We got to meet everyone and just hang out. Everyone is great! This
morning we had breakfast and had a house tour and town tour. I love everything about this place.
The town is a little crazy... because of all the haggling. Ok.. pretty crazy! Other than that it is great
and the cadets are very protective so it's great. The kids are my absolute favorite. Anywhere we go
they smile and wave at us. I can't wait to meet my kids in our placement! No language problem yet..
we've learned the basics for haggling and what not but it hasn't been too much of an issue. I just
cannot describe the feeling here! It is absolutely gorgeous and the people are amazing. I could live
here haha. Erika.. not mom. Last night was interesting... many sounds and creaking. Last night a
coconut feel on the roof.. which sounded like a gunshot! I saw a pretty big spider.. not bad and a
hedgehog. We drank coconut milk for the first time.. it was alright. The juice is soo yummy here..
fresh fruit constantly! So last night we heard dogs howling and fighting and many unknown animal
sounds.. it will take getting used to. The house and rooms are very nice! I don't know what else to
say but that I'm loving it! Love you all and miss you!
Love, mom & erika
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Thursday, June 9
We enjoyed our flight to DC because we were able to make friends with the young man who sat by us named John Flanagan. He was on his way home to his sisters wedding. He was a returned missionary who has been going to BYU and Virginia College in Provo. It's cool how you can feel a bond so quickly with another member of the church. Erika is so good with people and talked to him most of the flight and they played cards. John was kind and had lots of great questions. I'm sure he learned many of these skills
We arrived in DC around 11:30 PM but couldn't locate our hotel shuttle in time. They only shuttle until midnight. We saw it pass and tried to run down to it with our 50 pound suitcases but it left too quickly so we ended up hiring a cab. We are now at the Fairfield Inn. I fell asleep pretty fast but awoke very early and my mind wouldn't turn off - this happens quite often lately in anticipation of this adventure.
Our flight takes off today at noon so we can relax for a little before our long flight to the other side of the world. Our next stop is Ethiopia and we found out at the airport that our plane will also land in Kenya before we get to Tanzania. It will be a very long day.
Duane has always taken such good care of us and been our protector and guide on trips. This is a new experience and it's good for us to learn how to figure things out on our own. We may not be as smooth as he is but I know we will be fine and will get to where we need to be. I thought I would have to take complete charge but Erika is helping and showing her maturity and ability also. I am so grateful for this opportunity to have this experience together.
-Mom
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
AFRICAN MUSIC
I think you will enjoy this popular African song which is sung in Swahili-the official language in Kenya and Tanzania. It gets me totally excited for this cultural experience whenever I listen to it. I bet you can't help singing along just like I have to...
The translation is:
Hello, Hello sir. How are you? Very fine. Foreigners, you're welcome. In our Kenya there is no problem. (Repeated several times) Kenya is a beautiful country. A wonderful country. A peaceful country. Everybody is welcome. In our country there is no problem. There is no problem. (till end)
Thursday, June 2, 2011
OUR VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT
Yay! Erika and I finally found out where we will be volunteering. We will be working at Bridge Nursery School in Moshi for children ages 3-5. We will help teach them English, basic math, games and songs. We are so excited to finally know where we will be! Now we need to gather some ideas for this age group so we will be prepared to do some fun activities with them.
 |
| BRIDGE NURSERY SCHOOL |
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
PREPARATIONS
Erika and I will be traveling to Tanzania on June 9, 2011. We are going through the company Cross Cultural Solutions. They organize volunteer programs all over the world. We have been very impressed with this company. They are very thorough and they keep you very safe. We will have drivers, guards, cooks and other people to help us while we are there. We will be staying in Karanga Village not far from the city Moshi. It is close to Mount Kilimanjaro which is the tallest mountain on the African continent, and not far from the border of Kenya. We are getting so excited.
We have been planning and preparing for this adventure for the past 5 months. There were many things we had to do... We had to get passports-luckily Erika already had one but I needed a new one. Then we needed to do tons of research and had many forms and papers to fill out online. We had to prepare resumes. We had to get several shots- MMR, Meningococcal, Hepatitis A & B, DTP, Tdap, Yellow Fever, Typhoid and we also have to take an anti-malarial medication the whole time we are there and for 7 days after we return. Then we had to send in several papers and money to get our Visas for admittance into Tanzania. We had to fill out forms for our work permits which we will need once we get there and we had our picture taken for that, and gathered several documents. We have been learning some Swahili and also learning about the culture, what not to eat or drink etc. It has been almost a part time job! I don't think we really knew what we were getting ourselves into when we signed up. But we are excited and almost ready to go.
Recently we found out we will be sharing "our house" with 28 ROTC cadets from all over the country. There are only 4 of us who aren't a part of that large group. I will be the only "old lady" and Erika will be the youngest. But, we are committed and expect to have a challenging but rewarding time in Tanzania. This trip is totally out of my comfort zone and if you know me you know what I am talking about but it is something that I think will be good for me and help me to grow in many ways. I look forward to serving these people and getting to know what they are like and what makes them happy. I can't wait for my first hug from a small African child. I hope we can forget ourselves and become completely immersed in their culture and be able to share our love and hard work with them.
We owe a huge thank you to Duane for allowing Erika and I to go even though he is worried and the expense has been more than we thought it would be in the beginning. Don't think the cost of the program is the only thing you have to pay for!
It will take us 21 hours of flying time and 17 hours in layovers before we get there. We leave at 5:00 PM on Thursday, June 9th and fly to Washington DC. Then we have a 13 hour layover so we are getting a hotel and sleeping over night there. The next day we will board our plane around 11:30 AM and we have a 13 hour flight to Addis Ababa Airport in Ethiopia which is North of Tanzania. We have a 4 hour layover there and then a 4 hour flight to Tanzania. There will be a driver at the Kilimanjaro Airport to drive us to our home for the next 3 weeks in Karanga Village. Special thanks to Neil & Ruth Ann Lebaron for donating our flights!
I hope to be able to post pictures and journal entries every few days while we are there. I understand they have Internet Cafes but their electricity is also very unreliable so I don't know what will happen.... We will miss you!
We have been planning and preparing for this adventure for the past 5 months. There were many things we had to do... We had to get passports-luckily Erika already had one but I needed a new one. Then we needed to do tons of research and had many forms and papers to fill out online. We had to prepare resumes. We had to get several shots- MMR, Meningococcal, Hepatitis A & B, DTP, Tdap, Yellow Fever, Typhoid and we also have to take an anti-malarial medication the whole time we are there and for 7 days after we return. Then we had to send in several papers and money to get our Visas for admittance into Tanzania. We had to fill out forms for our work permits which we will need once we get there and we had our picture taken for that, and gathered several documents. We have been learning some Swahili and also learning about the culture, what not to eat or drink etc. It has been almost a part time job! I don't think we really knew what we were getting ourselves into when we signed up. But we are excited and almost ready to go.
Recently we found out we will be sharing "our house" with 28 ROTC cadets from all over the country. There are only 4 of us who aren't a part of that large group. I will be the only "old lady" and Erika will be the youngest. But, we are committed and expect to have a challenging but rewarding time in Tanzania. This trip is totally out of my comfort zone and if you know me you know what I am talking about but it is something that I think will be good for me and help me to grow in many ways. I look forward to serving these people and getting to know what they are like and what makes them happy. I can't wait for my first hug from a small African child. I hope we can forget ourselves and become completely immersed in their culture and be able to share our love and hard work with them.
We owe a huge thank you to Duane for allowing Erika and I to go even though he is worried and the expense has been more than we thought it would be in the beginning. Don't think the cost of the program is the only thing you have to pay for!
It will take us 21 hours of flying time and 17 hours in layovers before we get there. We leave at 5:00 PM on Thursday, June 9th and fly to Washington DC. Then we have a 13 hour layover so we are getting a hotel and sleeping over night there. The next day we will board our plane around 11:30 AM and we have a 13 hour flight to Addis Ababa Airport in Ethiopia which is North of Tanzania. We have a 4 hour layover there and then a 4 hour flight to Tanzania. There will be a driver at the Kilimanjaro Airport to drive us to our home for the next 3 weeks in Karanga Village. Special thanks to Neil & Ruth Ann Lebaron for donating our flights!
I hope to be able to post pictures and journal entries every few days while we are there. I understand they have Internet Cafes but their electricity is also very unreliable so I don't know what will happen.... We will miss you!
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