I made it to Moshi (finally) with only a few little hiccups. I ended up not having any layovers like my itinerary had said but instead was rushing to each plane. In Seattle they made me reprint my ticket and I almost missed the plane. I sat next to an Asian which I could not figure out if it was male or female. The plane was a little longer than 9 hours long and they fed me 3 meals. I had pretzels, egg sandwich, banana, a Caesar salad, brownie, rolls and butter, crackers and pepper jack cheese, pesto pasta, and as many drinks as I wanted.
When I landed in Amsterdam, I had to go through security again. I met a very nice Kenyan named Boney who is studying in South Carolina. The plane was a double decker with three seats on either side and five on the side. I know you really don’t care what I ate but I’m going to tell you anyway. I had almonds, cuscus, salad, mango mouse, rolls, curry chicken, rice, ice cream, coffee cake, fresh fruit and Tuscan pasta.
So...they lied about it being 70 degrees and 50 at night it was 76 at night and in the high 90’s in the day. Also Grace didn’t pick me up some random cab guy named Francis who apparently works with Grace. On our way to Grace we passed 3 accidents. They drive mainly on the left side of the road but that’s not always the case. they drive on whatever side is open and it’s a free for all. No tickets they said and the insurance rarely deals with any issues.
When we finally met Grace she said I couldn’t stay in the hostel because there was no one there and IFRE hadn’t sent her the money for me to stay there so I stayed in a hotel. Also I had to pay the taxi which they told me was already paid for. The hotel had a club at the bottom that didn’t close until 3 am. The shower and the bathroom were one thing, like the light and the shower head were right together and the sink and toilet would get all wet when you turned the shower on. So technically if I wanted to I could poop while showering and then wash my hands without ever moving. The bed had unrecognizable stains on it so I slept on my sleeping bag. In the morning I had 5 mosquito bites on my face, which is great because it looks like I have fat zits, three on my legs, three on my hands and 4 on my arms. I think it’s safe to say I have malaria and will be dead before I return.
I had to get up at 4 am and the taxi driver who said he would be there at 4:30 wasn’t there until 5:30 am. We arrived at the bus place at 6 and the bus didn’t come until 7. We then didn’t leave until 8:30 am. The bus was completely packed and we were told the drive from Nairobi to Moshi was about 3 hours. However, the roads were not there and so we were on a dirt/rock road the whole time. The road cuts through the Masai villages. Everywhere you see them herding cattle and goats and their small huts here and there. The savannah looks just like you were walking through The Lion King.
We didn’t arrive to Arusha until 4:30. I was then on the bus with only 2 other people a man and a woman and we continued onto Moshi. They dropped me off at some random office around 6:30 pm. I had to ask the guy there to call the coordinator to tell him where the heck I was. He arrived 30 minutes later, and Mikyah, I think I found your man. He is probably the most beautiful black man I have met. Don’t worry I got his number for you. He took me to town to get a phone and passport pictures to get my working permit. We then went to the hostel.
I’m rooming with 3 other girls, 2 of which are on a safari right now. The other one is named Ming and is from Malaysia. I am the only IFRE volunteer here. There is Jasen who is a redneck from Texas, Bill an interesting character to say the least from Boston, Sofie the sweetest lady in the world from London, Kristina the German who hates beer, and two girls who are leaving today from Wisconsin. There are two house moms, Ester and Fatuma and her daughter Sumia who is 4 and is making it damn near impossible to write this because she keeps pushing all the buttons. The house is very nice but you have to watch where you’re stepping because you’ll step in chicken shit since they roam free in the house. My first shower was freezing and had no water pressure because apparently I used the wrong shower.
Today I had a quick Swahili lesson and then I had the rest of the day off. They are very relaxed and said whenever I want to wake up and want to go to my program that’s when I’ll go. They also said I can change whenever I want. After our lesson Kristina and I walked to town which is only a couple miles but we chose the wrong time because it was the hottest time of the day. We went to a local café and got some fresh squeezed juice, went to the post office and a couple little stores and now I’m home trying to finish this.
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