And I'm home

So obviously blogging while I was in Tanzania didn't happen. Its not that I didn't have the time for it - most of my weekday afternoons were spent just hanging out at the volunteer house not really doing anything. But each day left me exhausted. And blogging on my phone wasn't a convenient option. So here we are.

Tanzania was amazing. The kids were amazing. Africa is beautiful. I cannot wait to go back. I left half of my heart there.

I did write in a journal while I was there so I'm going to try to spend the next week or so blogging about and recapping the things I would've blogged about had I done it there. But until then, let these pictures hold you over. :)

I'm here!

*******This post is probably going to be short, so I'm sorry in advance. But it's midnight here and I'm writing on my phone, in the dark.

I've been in Tanzania(correctly pronounced Tan-zane-ia) since late Tuesday night. There were 8 or 9 other volunteers on my flight in so I definitely didn't have to worry about being alone. It took us close to 2 hours to get from the airport to the volunteer house. It was dark, and I closed my eyes a lot because the driving scared me(not our driver, but the motorcycles weaving in and out around us), but I think there was quite a bit of road construction. The roads up to the 2 volunteer houses are dirt roads that have mounds and huge holes in them. That's the bumpiest ride I've ever had.

Yesterday was orientation. We went over lots of info about health, safety, accommodations, meals, transportation, completed paperwork for our work permits, and then went into town to exchange USD for Tanzanian shillings and get SIM cards for our phones. I just knew the SIM card wouldn't work with my phone since I've got bluegrass cellular and have never really had good luck with my phone while traveling, but luckily I was wrong! It worked so now I've got 15gb of Internet for my phone, which should last the whole time I'm here! And it only cost 37,000 shillings(less than $20 US). The secret to converting Tsh to USD: if something is 40,000 Tsh, you half it and lose the thousand part, so it would be equal to $20 USD roughly(that's not the exact exchange rate) . We all joked that we feel rich carrying around thousand dollar notes! And it seems so expensive when a Coke, snickers, a liter of milk cost 6,700 shillings, but that's actually less than $3.50 US.

I've used Tanzanian public transit a few times now. I think Chicago public transit was preparing me for this. Tanzania uses dala dalas, which are basically oversized minivans. People cram into these things. I think there's 13 actual seats in one, but there's usually way more people than that in one(there were 20 in one I took yesterday afternoon). These cost 400 shillings for one trip, which is about 20 cents USD.
**I'll upload a picture when I can so you can see just how crowded they get.

Today was my first day at Hope Centre. The kids are SO adorable! I'm with the midi-class. The kids in midi-class are probably all 3 or 4. There's only 6 in that class, but there's about 25-30 kids(ages 2 or 3-7) there total during the day for school. I'm going to be there Monday-Friday, 8am-12pm - so I'll be back home before most of you are even awake and starting your day in the US. 😊

Happy birthday to my bff Kaly!!! It's already your birthday in Africa! 😊
And please say some prayers for my grandma tonight - she's having surgery tomorrow(the 3rd).


That's all for tonight guys. I'll write more soon!

Two weeks.

In just two weeks, I’ll be on a plane headed to Tanzania. I haven’t made it well known that I’m going to Tanzania – partly because I’ve been focused on finishing my MSW program, but I think mostly it’s because I don’t want the “OMG, you’re going to Africa?!” reaction. I’m not going to save the world; I’m going to volunteer for one month. I hope I make a small difference for someone and I know that my four weeks there will matter. But I also know I’m not going to change the world in four weeks.

I got an email today telling me about my specific volunteer placement. I’m going to be at the Hope Center in Arusha, Tanzania. Hope Center is an orphanage that houses 13 double orphan (meaning they’ve lost both parents) children who have no related family or connections to other family. According to their website, about 30 more orphans come to the Hope Center on Saturdays – some of these orphans live with extended family. I’m still not sure exactly what I’ll be doing there, my email said a combination of teaching the children English, playing, cooking, and gardening. The Hope Center’s website says children meet for counseling and Bible teachings on Saturday – I’d love to get to be a part of those things too.

Everyone who does already know about me going to Africa keeps asking “How do you feel; Are you nervous/excited/anxious?” My answer: All of the above.

• I’m nervous to travel out of the country for the first time ever by myself.  
• I love flying, but I’m nervous about twenty-five hours travel time.
• I’m scared that I’m not going to be able to find the agency rep at the airport in Tanzania.   
• I’m scared I’m not going to like the food and have to survive on peanut butter and crackers for four weeks.
• I’m scared about the suffering and extreme poverty I’m going to see.  
• I’m excited to meet lots of other volunteers from all over the world.
• I’m excited to experience all that Tanzania has to offer, including a trip to Zanzibar and a safari in the Serengeti.
• But most of all, I’m scared I’m going to love it, that I’m going to fall in love with Tanzania and its people, the kids I’m volunteering with, and it’ll break my heart to leave in July.

You can check out the Hope Center’s website here: http://www.hopeorphanagearusha.org/

(Photo taken from Hope Center's website)