I finally arrived in Tanzania! The trip started on Thursday morning, and after an early drive from CT with my family, I met up with my fellow volunteers (Abby, Alice, Becky, Duffie, Liz, Meghan and Tracy) at JFK airport and we headed for Tanzania via Dubai. The flight was a bit long- 12 hours from NYC to Dubai, and another 5 hour flight from Dubai to Dar es Salaam (the city in Tanzania where we will be staying for the next couple of weeks for orientation). At the airport we were greeted by Ashley, our field director, and headed to our hotel. On the drive we got a first glance at the beautiful city of Dar. The streets were filled with cars and people, the climate is quite comfortable (felt like a warm spring day in SoCal) and there are many beautiful lush green trees everywhere. I am already starting to get a strong sense of excitement about my home for the next year.
Where we are staying is a relatively nice hotel, with electricity, running water, A/C and even some intermittent wi-fi internet! As we checked in, we received our schedule for the next few weeks, and it certainly seems like it will be an intense orientation- filled with language training, teacher training and also just getting to know more about the way of life in Tanzania. I’m really looking forward to getting started, even though I know it’ll be a bit overwhelming at times. As for right now, I’m just looking forward to getting some solid rest to recover from the long trip. I’ll try to get some pictures up in the next few days for everyone to see.
The Baldes are so excited for you! We are also still recovering from the early morning trip to the airport. Oddly enough, I think we got home around the time you got to Dubai. We miss you already!
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